It was too fucking late for anyone to even be up anymore, and still Tom could hear someone rattling in the kitchen. With an annoyed sigh he checked the time from his phone.
2:30am.
So, it was 2:30 in the middle of the night, and someone had decided it was a good time to wake him up, right before the most important exam of his life. He laid on his bed for a good while, listening to the noises coming from the kitchen, waiting for them to stop so he could go back to sleep.
But apparently it wasn't going to happen any time soon, so with another annoyed sigh Tom got up and put on his shirt before entering the common areas of the dormitory.
He had now been living there for a little over a year now, so this wasn't the first time someone was being noisy in the middle of the night. Normally Tom didn't care since he almost never went to bed before 4am himself, but now he had an exam in the morning which he actually wanted to pass. He had to pass it. Otherwise Mrs. Williams would make him attend all her courses again, 'cause Tom had failed most of them. Tom also had a feeling she would soon lose her mind because of him. So Tom was definitely not going to fail the damn exam.
Amongst some loud clattering, Tom could hear crooning from the kitchen. He stopped by the kitchen door, staring at the source of the noises in disbelief; a tall, black haired boy who Tom had never seen before, was baking something with an almost empty wine bottle sitting on the kitchen counter.
Two-fucking-thirty in the morning, and this guy was keeping Tom up because he was a little hungry. Or got the munchies. There was no way Tom was going to allow it.
"Do you know how late it is?" Tom walked closer, not even trying to hide the anger in his voice. He wanted this guy to know exactly how pissed he was.
The raven haired teen turned to Tom, raising a brow at him. "Actually, I do," he smiled and brought a glass of wine to his lips. "Do you?"
"Damn right I do! I also know I have a fucking important exam in the morning," Tom growled, trying to keep his voice down since he didn't want to wake anyone else up. He wasn't going to be the asshole who wakes the whole floor only 'cause he's awake himself.
"And you're telling me this, because?" The boy turned his back to Tom, returning to his baking.
"Because you fucking woke me up!" It was seriously hard to keep quiet and not just lash out at the guy. "If you hadn't noticed yet, you're living in a dorm with other people, who'd like to, you know, sleep at night. And I don't know about you, but at least everyone else here has to wake up for school in the morning, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd just stop doing whatever it is you're doing, and let me sleep, okay?"
The teen stayed quiet for a while, slowly sipping his wine before he crouched to put something in the oven. Afterwards he turned back to Tom with a tired smile on his lips. "I'm Bill," the guy simply introduced himself. "And you're not being very nice."
Tom blinked dumbly. What? He wasn't being very nice? He wasn't the one keeping Bill up, was he? No, Tom was an extremely nice guy, but even he had his limits.
"And you know," Bill continued before Tom even had the time to think of something to say. "I had a long, long day of moving. I deserve my wine for surviving the whole day with my mother."
"What are you talking about?" Tom asked, starting to get desperate. He kinda wanted to hit the guy in the face, kinda wanted to sit down and hear more.
The guy certainly looked interesting; long, raven black hair with white highlights, and black eye makeup which had gotten a bit smudged. He was wearing black jeans with lots and lots of zippers on the legs, and a oversized Green Day t-shirt. He looked nothing like the people Tom usually hanged out with, but he definitely looked intriguing.
"Oh, you didn't know I was moving in?" Bill asked and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "The other guy, uh, Michael I think, moved out with his girlfriend so I got his room," he flashed a wide smile before drinking again. "You should be welcoming me to the neighbourhood instead of telling me to shut up and go to sleep."
Tom couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. He couldn't tell if this guy was drunk, or if this just was the way he was. Either way, he was still annoying as hell, and Tom really wanted to go back to sleep.
"I'm not feeling very welcoming right now", Tom snapped. Oh, how he wanted to grab a chair and hit this guy in the face with it, maybe then he could get his much needed beauty sleep. "So, this is the last time I'll ask you this nicely: could you just, please, stop baking and let me sleep? Cause I really fucking need it, and if I'm gonna fail my exam and I have to redo all the courses, I'm gonna hold you responsible for everything."
"Redo all courses? Why would you have to do that?" Bill furrowed in confusion, emptying his glass and then filling it up again.
"Well, I've failed almost every one of them, so if I don't pass this, Mrs. Williams is gonna-"
"Let me get this straight," Bill interrupted him, holding his other hand up to shut Tom up. "You are mad at me, cause I'm keeping you up. And you are gonna blame me, if you don't pass the stupid exam. And you're gonna blame me if you have to redo all the stupid courses you didn't pass, because you probably didn't care enough to study at all, until this point."
Bill gave Tom a questioning look, and when Tom slowly nodded to agree, Bill continued; "Please tell me, cause I really don't understand, how is it my fault that you failed almost everything? Is it really my fault you fucked up your studies?"
Tom's mind went blank. He had definitely not expected that, and now he had no idea what to say, or if there even was something he could say. Now that Bill had said it out loud, it kinda made sense. It was his own fault he had decided to focus on drinking and partying rather than studying. He had thought he could handle it, a little drinking every now and then wouldn't harm his studies, he could manage.
Apparently, he couldn't. Of course, his drinking "every now and then" was more like every weekend, and when he drank, he drank lots. It was never about grabbing a few beers with friends to get his mind off of school, it was rather competing on who could drink the most shots, or who could chug down their beer the fastest.
However, even if none of it was Bill's fault, Tom still had a reason to be mad at him. It was still half past two, and people were supposed to be sleeping. Bill could go back to his baking in the morning when nobody cared if he was being noisy or not.
"Want a piece?" Bill suddenly asked, offering Tom a plate with a piece of something that looked like shit. "Trust me, it's good."
"I don't want anything but you away from the kitchen, so I can go back to sleep," Tom said, feeling extremely annoyed, eyeing the thing on the plate. Maybe it was mud cake? Tom loved mud cake more than he loved his family, so a part of him kinda hoped it wasn't mud cake, cause he really didn't want to take anything from Bill and mud cake would've been impossible to say no to.
"Taste it, and I'll go to my room," Bill smirked, bringing the plate closer to Tom's face.
Then the smell hit Tom. The wonderful, rich, chocolatey smell forced Tom to inhale so deep he felt a little dizzy. It smelled so good Tom wanted to grab the piece of whatever it was, and rub it all over his body. He wanted to make a soap out of it, no, he wanted a cologne that smelled like it. Tom's stomach was suddenly growling and he felt more hungry than ever. He desperately wanted to taste the thing Bill had made, but he also wanted to stay mad at the guy.
"Oh come on," Bill groaned. "It's a piece of brownie, just fucking taste it, okay?"
Tom eyed the plate for a while longer before taking it with a deep sigh. He didn't even like brownies, but if this was gonna make Bill let him sleep, he would do it.
"Could you give me a spoon?" Tom asked and inhaled the sweet scent a little more. He couldn't help wondering why something so bad like brownies smelled so heavenly good.
"Oh, you eat it with your hands," Bill smiled and took a piece for himself too. "It's a part of the experience to get your hands dirty," he grinned before he took a bite of his piece, making a face full of pure pleasure.
Tom wrinkled his nose. He couldn't believe it was as good as Bill claimed it to be, but he was gonna give it a go anyway. Just to make Bill leave him be.
With trembling hands Tom took a bite of his piece, and he regretted it right away. It was so sweet, soft, and so full of chocolate Tom was sure it was what heaven would taste like. Mud cake wasn't even nearly this good.
"Well?" Bill soon asked, tilting his head a bit.
Tom swallowed slowly, debating with himself over whether he should tell the truth or not. It was literally better than anything Tom had ever tasted, and he was sure it could make him feel better than any drug in the world. Then again, he had been angry at Bill, and he still wanted to be 'cause he had not forgotten how the guy was probably gonna be the reason he would fail his exam in the morning.
"It's okay," he finally gave an answer with a not so convincing voice.
Bill gave him a smile he couldn't quite read. "I'll let you sleep now," he said as he picked up his wine bottle from the counter. "I'll see you around, Tom."
Tom watched Bill leave the kitchen, feeling a bit odd when he was finally alone. It was so quiet it made him a bit uncomfortable, and in the scary silence Tom finished his brownie before returning to his room. He still had a couple of hours to sleep.