Second Hand [manxboy]

Chapter 7

Miroslav stepped into Yakov's office. "Get out," Miroslav said to one of the earners in the room.

The man fled quickly and Miroslav shut the door. "I found Nico's former foster father."

"And?" Yakov quickly set everything down.

"He was killed by other inmates a month after he entered prison. They knew what he had done and the guards weren't keen on protecting him," Miroslav informed.

Yakov swore to himself. "It shouldn't have happened to begin with."

Miroslav nodded sympathetically. "I looked over those counselors she recommended. I think a woman would be best. There are three I think that Nico would do well with, but he should probably pick." Miroslav set out a list of the counselors names.

Yakov sighed and agreed. "Do you really think he's okay, though?"

"I think he could be worse off than just wanting to sleep in his closet." Miroslav shrugged. "He hasn't acted out at school, which is good. He's made friends with Amy. He's ahead on his Russian."

Yakov cupped his head in his hands. "I should have been there. There must be something I can do to make it up?"

"I think he just wants things to go as normal," Miroslav suggested.

"He likes you," Yakov stated.

Miroslav stalled. "I don't know what you mean by that. Adrik does the same job just as well."

"You do know what I mean though. Nico likes you. I'm not so blind to that. He tries to hide it, but he'll ask every once and a while when you're coming around. Then he told me he was gay, and then two seconds later... he wanted you driving to the dance, not Adrik."

Miroslav pressed his lips together. "I've been trying to keep a distance."

Yakov swore to himself. "It's just a crush. I'm not angry at you. I trust you. He's probably just attached to you, since you found him."

Miroslav shrugged stiffly. "If that's all, I have some other work to get around to."

***

Mac dusted his fingers down Nico's exposed back. Nico just drifted with the feeling, laying stomach down on the couch with his head propped up on a pillow. "Feel good?" Mac asked.

Nico just grunted lazily in reply. He'd given up on actual studying days ago.

"Do you ever think you'd be able to... stay the night?" Mac questioned. "At my place. I have my own apartment."

Nico fixed his eyes on Mac. "Why?" He was fine with the way things were. He didn't want anything else.

"I figure we won't be so pressed for time there, and no one to hide from."

Nico hesitated for some sort of excuse. "I can't. My father sends security with me everywhere. They'd want to know why I was going there, or it'd be easy enough to figure out. And trust me, you don't want them to find out." He figured mentioning Bratva wasn't the right idea though. Mac was still in the dark on that.

"I like spending time with you," Mac admitted.

Nico sighed. "Sex is fine and all, but I'm not interested in anything else."

"Oh," Mac let out dejectedly. "Okay. We should actually get to studying, though."

Nico sat up and got himself dressed. Mac settled next to him on the couch and they opened up a textbook. "Oh. There might me one day a week where tutoring is canceled. I might be getting signed up for counseling. I don't know when." Not like they did much studying anyways.