A Night with no Stars - 5. Haute Couture

The bell already rang and Aleks was late again. He tracked a pretty blonde next to her locker and snuck up behind her back.

“Let’s skip math,” he informed more than asked in a blasé tone. Sonia turned in surprise and then deflated when she saw him.

“Ok,” she shrugged without any objection and put her textbook back into the bag. They left through the main entrance, not even trying to pretend they weren’t cutting class. Aleks lit up a cigarette as soon as they were outside. Sonia twisted her face.

“That’s disgusting. I don’t even know why I’m friends with you,” she commented, dismayed. “Garages?” she asked, not even waiting for his answer and grabbing his wrist to drag him across the street.

“Cause I’m the only guy in this school who doesn’t want to fuck you,” he said promptly.

“Oh, that’s right,” she admitted, sounding defeated. Aleks glanced back at the school before it disappeared from their sight.

“You think they’ll give us hell for it?” he asked with just a trace of worry. Sonia shrugged.

“What are they gonna do, call your mother?” she sneered. “She won’t even comprehend what they’re saying. Or mine, all the way up in Stockholm?” Aleks nodded warily. “It’s not like they won’t let us graduate, we’re too awesome for that.” She added cockily. Aleks was about to agree when his phone pinged. He read the message and snickered, aware of Sonia’s curious gaze fixed on him. Maks could be disarming and has he really been doing nothing but cooking and playing Witcher all day? Aleks almost felt bad for him.

“So who’s the victim this week?” she cracked eventually, fed up with him grinning at his phone and acting like she didn’t exist.

“What?” he asked, looking up distractedly. Sonia rolled her eyes.

“I asked who is the victim this week,” she repeated with annoyance. Aleks pursed his lips, pretending to not know what she was talking about, but she only glared harder.

“Ok, so I’ve met this guy…”

“You always meet a guy,” she groaned, then cut to the chase. “So what’s wrong with this one? As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never had a crush on anyone who wouldn’t have some hidden malfunction.”

“Everything is perfectly fine with him, thank you,” he said curtly. “As a matter of fact, he’s completely normal,” Sonia raised her eyebrows.

“He’s normal,” she echoed slowly. “And has hots for you?” Aleks opened his mouth to tell her where she could put her skeptic tone, but hesitated.

“Well, he doesn’t, not exactly,” he admitted reluctantly and then scowled when she broke into laughter. They’ve just got to their spot, so he gave her a leg up first and then climbed on the garage roof after her.

“So it’s one of your pipe dreams?” she figured. Aleks bit his lip, trying to come up with anything that would make his case.

“It’s not completely hopeless,” he started half-heartedly. “Oh! We’re getting lunch today!” he exclaimed triumphantly, as if that settled it. Sonia didn’t look convinced.

“So at least he’s not one of those who would just fuck you on some squat’s sleazy floor without even saying ‘hi’,” she said, staring at him significantly. He narrowed his eyes and poked her in the ribs. “Does that mean he’s loaded?” she asked, suddenly uplifted.

“No idea,” Aleks shrugged, then reconsidered, because Maks had his own big, fancy apartment and no job. “I guess.”

“So go for it!” Sonia goaded him, but Aleks just sighed.

“Yeah, might not be that easy. He’s kind of engaged,” he confessed. Sonia’s eyebrows shot up.

“He’s engaged?” he repeated indigently and immediately changed her tune. “Don’t even go there. Forget about him and stick to that hoodlum of yours.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Aleks reassured her calmly. “We just hit it off. If nothing happens then nothing happens. But,” he left it at that, not able to keep from smiling. Sonia didn’t look very happy.

“You would really steal some girl’s fiancé?” she asked seriously. Aleks rolled his eyes.

“He doesn’t exist solely to be her fiancé, you know. At the end of the day it’s his call.” He shrugged. “And why are we even talking about it, I’ve literally told you nothing more than that he’s nice and I like him and you have to make the whole production out of it…”

“I’m just trying to point out that not everybody who’s nice wants to fuck you…” she was starting to get agitated.

“You’re the one convinced that everybody wants to fuck you,” Aleks shot back.

“Because everybody does!” she yelled helplessly and Aleks couldn’t take it anymore and cracked up.

“You suck,” he said simply, trying to hold back his laughter. Sonia grinned and they’ve both relaxed.

“But seriously, don’t go there, ok?” Sonia got back to the topic, now completely sobered up. “You’ll probably end up with a broken heart. Or a broken nose. Again,” she emphasized, giving him a disapproving glance but touching his face tenderly. “I hate it enough already. You used to have such a perfect nose. We fit together better back when we were both beautiful.” Aleks snorted loudly.

“You’re the most vain person I know,” he said fondly. “And we don’t have to fit well together. You’re not my beard anymore,” he reminded her.

“Don’t burn your bridges. You might still need a beard,” she pointed out reasonably. “And I can’t date a guy with crooked nose, even if it’s fake dating. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Having you as a beard was the worst. I’ve felt like every alpha male in this school wanted to challenge me to a duel. I don’t need this shit.”

“You’re saying you wouldn’t fight them to death for me?” she asked heartbroken. “Asshole.” She scowled. “So, that new guy of yours…” she started after a few beats.

“Maks,” Aleks supplied quickly.

“Maks,” she acknowledged. “Where did he come from?”

“We’ve met in Koszyki Hall on Friday.” His voice hasn’t wavered. He hoped that she and Maks’s fiancée will never meet and start to compare notes, but last Friday already had a cover story and he had to stick with it. He noted down in his head to bring Maks into their alibi and inform him where he was and who he saw, and that neither of them found themselves in any way or form close to the crime scene. It was starting to be quite a party in Koszyki Hall on Friday, people who saw them there should form a club. “I was there with Kostek and Oskar.” With the amount of witnesses who could confirm they were there, and no one being able to say with absolute certainty that they weren't, cause there were hundreds of people in Koszyki Hall on Friday and most of them were going in and out from one dive to another, they should be fine. At least he hoped. Shit, it was all getting more and more fucked up. There shouldn't even be a body in the first place. Who the fuck let that happen? So fucking stupid. Sonia frowned and Aleks tensed, because what could not check out in this story?

“So you’ve just met him in a bar once and you’re already so hooked?” Aleks exhaled in relief.

“Well…” he broke off for dramatic effect. “I might have ended up at his place. And then I might have seen him on Saturday and gone there again. And stayed over. Both times,” he admitted innocently.

“You’re working fast,” Sonia nodded with reluctant admiration. “And it’s supposed to be completely platonic?” she asked skeptically. “I’m not buying it.”

“Neither am I,” Aleks revealed conspiratorially. “That’s where the ‘but’ comes from.”

“You’re incorrigible,” she giggles. “Ok, you kill it dead at lunch thing today, Romeo, you hear me?” She winked and Aleks grinned, but then frowned.

Shit, he was supposed to stay over at Wincent’s tonight. ‘Even the middle of the night is fine,’ he said. Well, he'll have to get over it, because Aleks had no intention of coming over in the middle of the night. Unless Maks won’t be interested in throwing the whole night away. He could probe him a little and prepare an excuse for Wincent just in case. Jesus, this whole juggling was exhausting.

To be honest, Wincent at least held the promise of sex. Maks didn’t. Technically he could have lunch with Maks, call it quits and then go fuck. Or do literally anything else, because with Maks he could either banter or try to avoid his nosy questions and he could think of a lot of better ways to spend the evening. Did he really care that much?

Fuck. Apparently he did.

He felt his phone vibrating and took it out. He saw it was Kostek and for a moment he was tempted to ignore him, but this could have been important, so he sighed and picked up.

“Why are you not in school?” Kostek barked without greeting. Aleks rolled his eyes.

“Why are you calling me when you know I’m supposed to be in school?” he countered, hoping to distract him, because Kostek was always pissed when he skipped, as if he wasn’t doing exactly the same when he was in high school. Only he’s never actually graduated, which should be enough of a clue not to follow in his footsteps. “What’s wrong?” he asked, attempting to stay calm, even though his heart started to beat a little faster. Kostek wasn’t in a habit of calling him in the middle of a day.

“You've got any plans after school?” he asked vaguely.

“Not sure yet,” he said uncertainly. “Why?”

“Can you talk?” he asked instead of answering, lowering his voice. Aleks kept himself from looking at Sonia.

“Yeah, I’ve checked on mom this morning,” he said casually. “She seemed… alive. If you can call it that,” he added out of spite.

“Ok, so you shut up and I’ll talk,” Kostek instructed quietly. “They came to Oskar’s today, only to sniff around, but still. Oskar thinks it’s just easier to start with us, but they’re really looking into the other side. And listen up, they’ve asked about you. I’ve told you it’s gonna be a fucking riot. They think you might be some link to them. As if you’d ever associate with a fucking scumbag like Partyka. They’re not fucking stupid, it’s not a murder case anymore, they’ve linked it to the main investigation and sure, Rogal was just a spear carrier, but no matter, if they have an inch of suspicion that he wasn’t ours and is going to lead them to the other side, they will fucking drop everything else.” Kostek took a deep breath, apparently aware that he was getting too frantic. “Listen, they will probably come to ma’s to talk to me today, so I don’t want you to be there. Don’t even show your fucking face, you hear me? If they keep seeing you, you’re fucked,” he finished gloomily. Aleks bit his lip.

“What about you?” he asked evenly, cause that was really the only indication of how fucked they were. He was painfully aware of Sonia sitting obliviously next to him.

“Yeah, I'm not a suspect or anything, all you've told them checked.” Kostek winced, sounding a little bit disgruntled, as if it was insulting that they didn’t treat him seriously enough. “They’ve mostly asked about you. Oskar basically told them that you’re just some obnoxious brat with your head so far up your ass you have no idea what’s actually going on, sorry bout that by the way, but maybe they’ll cross you out as a lousy source if they think you're an idiot. People start to associate you with Wincent and Wincent has been on their radar for a while, even if they don’t know for sure that he’s Partyka’s yet. Does he know you’ve talked to cops?”

“Yeah,” Aleks said curtly.

“Ok, so don’t contact him for a while. Just a few days, for everything to cool off. Tell him you’ve got a tail if you have to. I’ve checked with Sebastian and you don’t, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Seba will let me know if anything changes. Just be good and act natural, keep away from our people, keep away from their people, just… keep the fuck away from everybody. Don’t go back to Praga, cause it’s fucking impossible to keep your distance here. Stay with Sonia or with this new guy from Ochota, but for fuck’s sake, don’t let Wincent find out and snap his neck, we’ve got enough bodies already. Then even if they start tailing you, what's the worse they can find out? That you’re a fag? That’s even better, cause who would be expecting a fag in the circle?” he cackled crudely. Aleks pursed his lips.

“You would be surprised,” he drawled, smirking and completely forgetting that he was supposed to be fooling Sonia. He glanced at her, but she didn’t look intrigued by anything that was said.

“Jesus, this whole world is going to shit,” Kostek winced. Aleks could almost see him shaking his head. “Ok, I can call you from a different number. Pick the fuck up. Don’t talk to anyone. And please, just... play dumb.”

“Got it. Bye,” Aleks hanged up without waiting for an answer.

“More mom drama?” she guessed, looking sympathetic. Aleks’s been eyeing her for a long moment, suddenly feeling that maybe it wasn’t all fun and games anymore, maybe it was about time to start trying to get out of shit instead of keeping getting into it. But on the other hand... so what, the cops breathing down their neck? That was hardly new and nothing they couldn’t handle. Besides, there was actually a bright side of this whole mess. Now he had a perfect excuse not to go to Wincent. He snapped out of his thoughts and rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Yeah, don’t even,” he sighed, pretending that it was just his mother getting on his nerves as always and talking about it was pointless. Sonia bought it without a second thought. Aleks picked his phone back up.

12:44 pm. To: Wincent. I can’t come over tonight. Something important came up, I’ll explain when I’ll see you. Everything’s fine.

He sent it, smiling to himself. What Wincent didn't know won’t hurt him, and he had a lunch with Maks waiting for him. And then… let’s see what happens. He couldn’t go back home or stay at Wincent’s, and he had to sleep somewhere, right? He glanced at Sonia. That was always an option, but Ochota sounded so much better.

***

“You’re late,” Maks announced promptly, looking up from his phone and scowling.

“No, you’re too early,” Aleks retorted without missing a beat, grinning and sitting across from him gracefully. Maks raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed by his logic. “Is it always so full?” he asked, looking around in horror. All the tables were taken and people were clustering around the entrance, waiting in a long line for a place to sit. Aleks wasn’t very accustomed with fancy restaurants, but that was fucking ridiculous. “Who did you have to beat up to get this table?” he joked. Maks looked at him as if he was an idiot.

“As much fun as I’m sure a fistfight would be, I took an easy route and made a reservation,” he mocked. Aleks didn’t look offended at all, in fact a huge smile appeared on his face.

“You’ve made a reservation? Just for me?” he asked with delight. “You really do know how to make your date feel special,” he said with fake admiration. Maks cracked up after a short fight and started to shake with laughter. It was good that Aleks didn’t take himself too seriously and had no problem with picking the dating joke up.

“What, no one has ever made a reservation for you?” he asked, not willing to lose their clash. “That’s a bit sad. Your love life must really suck,” he added callously. ‘You have no idea,’ Aleks thought.

“Luckily you’ve came along to make it all better,” he said out loud. Yeah, none of his flings were even willing to show up in public with him, let alone make a reservation in a restaurant. And yeah, it was sad. Not that Maks was any exception here. Maks was just straight and secure about his sexuality.

Great, so he was charming enough to get straight man want to go on pretend dates with him just for the fun of it. His sex life was going to be a smashing success.

“So when was the last time you took your girlfriend out?” he asked casually, trying to move on from his imaginary love life. He really detested the word ‘fiancée’ by now.

“Why?” Maks asked suspiciously.

“I just wanted to see if I was any special.”

“Last Thursday, when I proposed to her,” Maks answered honestly. Aleks blinked. That actually made annoying sense. It didn’t mean that he had to like it though. No one liked when their dreams were being shattered. He kept his expression neutral.

“You proposed in the restaurant? How… tedious,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “I didn’t take you for one of those exhibitionists who like to lay their hearts bare for the world to see. Come on, what if she said ‘no’?” he asked reasonably.

“I didn’t propose publicly,” Maks protested, looking as if the mere idea made him nauseous. “And I’m not in a habit of baring my heart publicly. I don’t really bare my heart privately either,” he added after a short deliberation. Aleks grinned.

“Yeah? You’re such a cold bastard?” he asked, resting his chin on his hand and eyeing him intently. Maks felt a little uneasy under his gaze and was pretty sure he was flushing. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that Aleks was flirting for real. And even knowing that it was all for laughs, he felt weird having a guy saying things like that to him and looking at him that way. He wasn’t sure whether he tolerated it only because it was Aleks, or was the fact that it was Aleks making it even worse.

“Yeah, cold and heartless,” he owned it, deciding to play his game, because his games were pretty engrossing. Aleks made an overly sad face.

“That’s too bad, cause I need a lot of love,” he said ruefully. Maks couldn’t keep himself from losing it and snickered.

“Then you came to the wrong man. Be careful or I’ll think you’re actually hitting on me,” he warned. Aleks raised a challenging eyebrow, giving him an appraising once-over.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he snorted, ending his evaluation and leaning back on a chair. Maks felt a stab of regret and frowned.

“Seriously, so I’m bending over backwards to take you out to such a fancy place and you’re just…” he broke off, pretending that his pride was injured beyond repair. Aleks was doing his best to keep his triumphant smirk in check. Maks was admittedly blind like Ray Charles, but he was already his, even if he didn’t know it yet.

“You get a gold star for effort.” Aleks winked and Maks looked appalled.

“Only a gold star?”

“What would you like instead?” Aleks asked, leaning in. Maks took a deep breath and forced himself to hold his scrutinizing gaze, even though it felt electrifying and this damn smirk was leaving him a little breathless. Shit. Ok, that was fun, but it was time to cut it out, cause Aleks really didn’t know when to call it quits. Maks suspected that he was just getting started and his head was full with awkward, frisky comebacks that he liked to shamelessly baffle everyone around with.

He had to quickly come up with some safe topic.

“I don’t know, you could tell me all your dirty little secrets,” he blurted out before he could bit his tongue. He had no idea why these words came out of his mouth, because they were everything but safe. Aleks’s eyebrows shot up.

“Kinky,” he remarked, then his eyes narrowed. “So that’s what it’s all about?” he said accusingly. “That’s the reason you’re still talking to me? You just want to know what happened that night?”

Maks frowned. He saw Aleks sulking before, but that was the first time he actually sounded hurt.

“No,” he denied, then added quietly. “That would be a waste of time. I know you won’t tell me anyway.” Aleks was staring at him with indecipherable expression.

“I can’t tell you anything,” he said eventually, sounding tired. It was the first time he wasn’t dodging and creating diversions, but just talked about it calmly and openly. “The less you know, the better for you. There’s no point to dwell on it. If it comes back one day to bite us on the ass, then we will, but right now…” he broke off helplessly. Maks wasn’t sure what to do with that sudden honesty.

“Well, could you at least tell me where does that leave you, given that you know more?” he asked quietly. Aleks smiled half-heartedly.

“Does wondering if I’m safe really keep you awake at night?” he stalled, but Maks was not having it.

“Are you?” he asked, not backing down. “Safe?”

“Yeah,” Aleks said after a few beats of hesitation. “I’m gonna be fine. I just need to lay low for a while and wait it out, so the next time you don't hear from me in twenty four hours, it doesn’t mean I’m lying dead in a ditch, it just means I’m trying to stay out of everybody’s sight…”

“Where?” Maks cut him off. “Where are you going to stay?” Aleks blinked.

“I don’t know, here and there,” he said vaguely. “I’ll figure something,” he added, shrugging and averting his gaze. Maks raised his eyebrows, eyeing him calculatingly.

“Is this your disguised way of asking to invade my apartment again?” he asked with amusement.

“No, that was actually you inviting me to invade your apartment,” Aleks corrected without missing a beat. “If you can take my obnoxious presence,” he added innocently.

“I can take you,” Maks assured him. Aleks dropped his head, trying to cover his smile.

“I though you didn’t like people,” he reminded him quietly. He was literally unable of not flirting with him, Maks was making it so fucking easy and Aleks could barely gather his thoughts, cause he was… fuck, he was good enough to eat.

“I don’t,” Maks admitted casually. “Apparently I’m also into self-harm.”

“Even kinkier,” Aleks said, smiling widely. Maks snickered and pointed to what was left of his lasagna.

“Are you going to eat it?” he asked. Aleks rolled his eyes and pushed the plate towards him.

He rested his chin on his hand and spent a few minutes sipping his wine and watching not very politely as Maks was eating. It was the first time he felt something like that, this famous click. It didn’t even have to be a click in a romantic sense, though that would be awesome, it was just that sometimes people just instantly hit it off. Like they’ve known each other for years. It was just like that for them and he had no doubts that Maks felt it too, he wouldn’t care that much if he didn’t. He had to cool off and get a grip before his penchant for grand, romantic ideas takes over and he starts to dream up some dumb illusions of Maks being his soulmate or some shit.

“Am I dirty?” he heard Maks’s voice and jerked. Apparently he was gawking at him really hard and his expression must have look somewhat dumb. ‘Snap out of it. You don’t actually consider the way Maks eats adorable. You’re pathetic, but you’re not that pathetic.’ He shook his head and cleared his throat with embarrassment. Maks put his cutlery back on a plate. “Ok, so what's next? Home?”

‘Yes, let’s go home,’ Aleks thought desperately. ‘You’re gonna feed the dog and water the plants, and I will take kids to school. Maybe I’ll do some small grocery shopping on my way back?’

Ok, stop. Keep it simple. Don’t act like an overeager weirdo just because you are one. Try not to scare him off.

“Does it make me easy to go to your place after the first date?” he blurted and instantly felt the need to slam his forehead to a table. Yeah, so much for keeping it simple and subtle.

“It would only if we had sex,” Maks said without second thought in the exact moment the waiter came with the check and looked at them warily. Aleks choked on his last sip of wine. “And we’re not in any danger of that,” Maks assured quickly. Aleks wasn’t sure if he was talking to him, to the waiter or just to no one in particular. “So it’s all good,” he added calmly, giving the suspicious waiter his credit card and glancing warningly at Aleks, who was still coughing. Maks didn’t even blush. Apparently Aleks's brazenness was rubbing off on him.

“Jesus, warn the guy, would you?” he uttered after Maks patted him uselessly on the back and the waiter left, dismayed. He was close to tears, from almost choking to death of course, not from Maks saying that there was no way for the two of them to have sex. That was the problem with pretend dates, no gratification after. Maks just looked at him fondly when Aleks followed him to the door. They've been walking in silence towards the subway for a few minutes when Maks stopped abruptly.

“Did I rise to the occasion?” he asked out of the blue. Aleks frowned.

“Sure,” he said, not knowing what he was hinting at, but he finally realized and his eyes widened. “All right,” he turned on his heel and started to head in the opposite direction. Maks laughed and caught up with him. How could he forget that he promised Maks a drink if he rises to the occasion? And what was the purpose of dates if not making the other person fall in love with you? So yeah, you could say he rose to the occasion.

“I shouldn’t drink with you anymore,” Maks grumbled when they got inside the first pub they saw on their way and sat at the table in a corner. “I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t understand why you blame me that you’re a lightweight,” Aleks shrugged.

“A lightweight?” Maks was appalled. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve poured into myself that night?”

“A lightweight or lack of experience,” Aleks was standing his ground.

“You’re the experienced one,” Maks muttered mockingly.

“Just admit it, you’re not a party kind of guy and you can’t drink,” Aleks said in full conviction. Maks pressed his lips.

“Oh, and you probably party all the time, aren’t you?”

“Is there anything else to do in this godforsaken city than boozing up?” he asked rhetorically.

“So what are you doing when you’re not ‘boozing up’?” Aleks looked at him thoughtfully.

“I can show you,” he offered suddenly. “You wanna have a taste of my world?” Maks felt a shiver going down his spine, because having a taste of his world didn’t sound particularly safe. Despite that he left his drink practically untouched and readily followed Aleks, who managed to drink more than a half of his in one gulp and was already half way out the door.

“Where are we going?” he asked curiously when he caught up with him.

“National Stadium,” Aleks replied casually. Maks frowned.

“Why, what’s happening there?”

“Street-racing!”

“Now?!” Maks exclaimed.

“From dusk till dawn. Or until the cops shut it down,” he shrugged.

“You were supposed to avoid Praga,” Maks reminded him.

“And see how much I’m willing to sacrifice for you?” he grinned innocently.

“This night is far from over, isn’t it?” Maks sighed in resignation. His only answer was a slightly sinister smile. What was it about this guy that Maks was ready to follow him everywhere?

Aleks was doing his best to look self-assured, but he was actually cursing himself internally. This was a bad idea. They will probably run into Kostek or, even worse, Wincent, and there’s gonna be a havoc. Aleks liked to think of himself as an adult, but there were times when his inner kid won over common sense. He did right now, and right now the only thing his inner kid cared about was impressing Maks.

Maybe it was a good idea to listen to him though, cause the only thing the grown up Aleks cared about right now was dragging Maks to bed with him. Or possibly snuggling with him for hours while staring deep into his eyes and playing with his hair, but that he would never admit out loud. So maybe taking him to the lion’s den was not really the worst case scenario.