Complicated Love Ch. 3 (Altair/Ezio)

 "This will count for half of your grade this quarter," the teacher announced, earning murmurs of complaints from the class. "Though I have decided to be nice and make this a partner project." Everyone started eying their friends from across the room. "Oh I am not that nice, I have already picked your partner's." The class let out a massive child like groan. " I posted the pairings on the board, you may check it on your way out," the teacher replied, waving off the classes reaction as he finished passing out the rubric.

 Ezio studied the paper he had been given, reviewing its contents intensely. ' This does not appear to be very complicated. If I have a decent partner things should go smoothly. Hopefully I do not get stuck with all the work, I will kill them if I do. They better not be an asshole-" the bell sounded, cutting him off from his thoughts.

 Strolling over to the partner listing, he ran his finger down the list of names. He rose an eyebrow, ' Altair?' The name did not ring any bells. Mentally he began pairing names to faces in his head. 'Oh god, no.' The Italian ran his hand down his face in an obviously annoyed manner. "Why him?" Ezio asked some unknown person in the ceiling, almost begging for a bit of mercy, which he knew he would not be receiving.

--

 "Why so glum my friend?" Leonardo asked while pulling Ezio into a tight hug.

 "It is nothing.... just, I hate my partner."

 "Who is it? They can not be as bad as you think."

 "Altair..." He let out a depressed sigh.

 The artist let out a barely audible chuckle. "You mean that mysterious cute hooded boy? The one who insulted you last Saturday?"

 A heavy scowl graced the Italians handsome face. "Sì. That bastardo."

 "Ezio calm down. I doubt it will be that bad. Give him a chance first, he might not be so bad. "

 "Guess you have a point... who where you paired with?"

 The blond rocked back and front on the balls of his feet. " I do not have one. The teacher asked if I would be ok without one because there is an uneven number of students in the classroom, plus he knows I prefer to work alone on projects. You know how intense I can be with my work." Leonardo's expression became stricken with a dark seriousness as he ran his tongue over his lips.

 It was scary how serious he could be at times. "Trust me, I know." Ezio slid into his car and looked up at his friend, who's face was screwed up in complete thought. Ezio tugged on the artists shirt, trying to get his attention.

 "Huh? Oh. Yes Ezio?"

 "I was going to ask if you wanted a ride but you were in one of your famous dazes."

 Blue eyes began to sparkle again. "Yes, of course I want a ride! I am terribly sorry for zoning out on you, I was not trying to be rude. I simply can not help it."

 "Haha. It is ok my friend. Now get in!" The Italian said laughing at how easily his friends mood changed.

--

 The couch groaned as the Syrian sat roughly down on it and began eying his friend angrily. "Why do you have to be such a smartass about everything Malik?"

 "I was not being a smartass; I was simply saying you should give him a chance first before you bash him so hard." Malik responded while lifting Kadar into his lap. Then wrapped his arms around the younger tightly, pulling him closely towards his body.

 "He is a jock! All they do is 'try' to beat the crap out of us for not doing their work. There is no way in hell he is going to be any bit of help."

 "Stop being a pussy Altair! Do not judge a book by its cover. You honestly do not have any clue what this guy is like. I believe he was the one who stopped everything anyway. So shut your little whining mouth until you actually have a civilized conversation with the guy."

 Altair simply pulled his hood lower to cover his face. He knew Malik had a point, he just never could shut his mouth "...smartass.."

 The older proceeded to snuggle his now asleep brother. Kadar's hand closely held onto Malik's coat; with his face buried into the side of Malik's neck. "You are hopeless Altair," he whispered not wanting to wake his brother.

 "Am not!" He yelled popping out of his seat, making his hood fall off in the process.

 Malik's eyes turned dark black as he glared into Altair's. He continued to whisper , "be quiet you stupid novice! He is sleeping!"

 Altair retreated under his hood like a turtle does its shell. "..sorry, forgot.."

 "Sigh. No, I am sorry for snapping. You know I get protective over him. He is all I have and I care for him so much. His life is hard... he needs his rest." His face soften for a minute only to turn hard a moment later. "I will still kick your ass if you wake him." Malik pointed at the other as he narrowed his eyes. Then relaxed just as quickly and kissed his brother on the forehead.

 Altair threw his hands up in silent surrender. He was used to Malik's mood changes over being protective over his little brother. Kadar was all he had so he could not blame him for being overly attached. Nor did Altair ever want to get in the way of that. He also did not want Malik to be pissed at him or beat the shit out of him. If someone messed with Kadar, Malik did not waste a second to fuck that person up. Plus it was nice to see Malik could relax a little when his brother was around. So Altair remained silent and watched the two from under his hood.

--

 "For the remainder of class you may talk to your partner's about your projects. Just keep your voices down please." The teacher said while massaging his temple with two fingers.

 Ezio awkwardly went over to the hooded figures corner. He pulled a chair from an empty desk and  placed it in front of Altair's , taking a seat quietly. 'What does one even say in this situation? This is just awful, he has not even acknowledged me yet.'

 Altair made no movement, instead he sat there with an amused look on his face as he watched the jock sit there awkwardly. A smirk graced his lips though it was hidden by his hood. It was amusing watching popular people be so helpless, so unsure of what to do or say.

 "Umm.. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

 The Syrian lifted his head to show he was listening, still making zero comments or making it any easier.

 "I am sorry that my teammates beat up your friend; that was not my doing. I was the one who stopped them anyway!" Altair nodded and motioned for him to keep talking. "Plus we will be working together for a while now, so maybe a fresh start would be good? We can not really avoid one another now."

 The other thought for a moment about what the Italian said. Altair then leaned forward in his chair, "I agree, let us start again."

 "My name is Ezio. Ezio Auditore da Firenze." A warm wide white smile spread across his handsome face as he put his hand out.

 "Altair. Altair Ibn-La'Ahad." He shook his hand firmly, noting the other had regained his confidence and his stupid grin. The grin everyone in the room seemed to notice right away, especially the girls... 'A fresh start with a popular, captain of the football team, Lady's man. Wonder how this will go.'

 Ezio watched as the other shrunk back into his seat when everyone turned to look at him. ' He acts tough, yet he is shy. That is so cute... did I just think he was cute? No... well Ezio, here is to a fresh start with an outcast. Hope this goes well.'

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