It was nearing the end of the first semester. John had been tied up with so many finals, and Dave was rarely in the room let alone the dormitory building. It was eery, sometimes, being the only one in the room. At night he wasn't sure what to do with himself. Usually he and Dave would hole up in the room and play video games until dawn, or watch scary movies with others in the lobby, or Dave would take John out to off-the-beaten-path clubs where he'd DJ on weeknights.
But tonight, it was quiet. It was only 11pm, so it would be a long time until John would actually fall asleep. He was sort of knee deep in his chem lab homework, sort of being that he had Portal running on his desktop right in front of him. But that wasn't what was really distracting him. On his own personal laptop, he had iTunes opened up to a folder simply called "tunes". It was something Dave had sent him back before they'd moved in to the dorm. Dave had said it was "just some shit i write in my spare time" and "probably the best you've ever heard". There were about ten tracks, all of them labeled as Untitled. John had no idea where to start, so he started at the beginning.
The first track was kind of upbeat, but he had no idea how to describe it in perfect adjectives. Was "jumpy" a good DJ term? He skipped ahead to the fourth song, one that blasted perfectly through his speakers. It had a good bass line, and a few beats that he recognized from other songs. John pictured Dave sitting at his turntables he'd set up in the corner, spinning beats at 3am while John "slept". He was mesmerized by the way Dave worked. His hands always seemed to move perfectly over each..what were they called, disks? And he always knew exactly what he was doing. It was worse when he'd bring girls over to the room, because they'd beg him to show them how he used the tables, and then they'd end up having sex or something on top of them. And John was always "asleep" for this, but he'd get up to pee and end up sitting in the bathroom stall for a good hour or so before he thought it'd be safe. And there was that time the one girl was in HIS bed, but he didn't care much he slept on the floor that night even though he had a class at 8am, no big deal.
John was stopped from his studies, his thoughts more focused on Dave than anything else. Even if the blonde never spoke, thanks to his social anxiety or whatever he called it, he always managed to bug John in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes he refused to use headphones while jamming out. Sometimes he wouldn't turn the tv down while John was studying for a midterm. And sometimes he let random club girls sleep in John's bed. But no matter what, he'd make it up to John. He'd bring home food sometimes, he'd buy a video game for the two of them to play, and sometimes he sent his jams to John to "test how teenage girls 12 and under react to them".
Dave was his favorite person. He couldn't really lie about that. He loved that he was best bros with Dave, and he loved that he could really talk to him about anything. Just about anything. And Dave would always listen. And it made John happy that Dave trusted him enough to talk to him.
But lately, Dave was never there. Literally and figuratively. When he did come to the room, he would instantly put on his headphones and fall asleep or get on his computer or somehow completely ignore John. And then of course there were the nights he wasn't in his room at all.
And John sort of jumped when the door flew open, Dave walking in soaked to the bone. Was it raining? Last he checked, the forecast didn't call for rain or even clouds. "Dave are you-"
"'m fine." It was a mumble, but he spoke. Something happened. The blond never really spoke unless something was wrong. "Just the same old shit that happens all the time, you know. I was-" He stopped short, looking towards John's laptop. "Is that…..Track 4?" John nodded. "You're listening to that old crap?"
"I sort of liked it. I mean, this is my favorite…I listen to it all the time…"
"Why?"
This startled John. Why did Dave care? Shouldn't he be glad? "Forget it, I'll turn it off." The room was no longer filled with the beat and music, and instead carried an awkward silence. John pulled open a text file and began typing nonsense, really. His page was full of random letter smashes, but he was honestly doing anything to keep from looking at or talking to Dave. Dave sighed and pulled off his wet shirt, throwing it to the ground. His hair was now a ruffled mess, as he attempted to smooth it down with one hand. "Is it raining?" Dave nodded. "Hard?" Nodded again. "Um…wanna work on Mass Effect?" There was a pause this time, but he nodded, and John laughed.
—-
It was now about 4am, and all hopes of going to bed were lost. John and Dave had played video games for about three straight hours, and now Dave had headed down the hallway to take a shower, leaving John alone once again. It had been sort of awkward at first, what with the silence and the fact that Dave had been shirtless the entire time. But the two had gradually warmed up per usual about halfway into the last few hours. Turning the TV off, John pulled off his own shirt and jeans, and slipped into pajama shorts. Maybe if he pretended to fall asleep, he could get in the three hours needed before his 8am.
Almost fifteen minutes later, the door opened, and a stream of light poured into the pitch black room. "Christ, John. Leave a light on before you go to sleep." There was a faint click, and the lamp on Dave's side was switched on. John shuffled and turned onto his other side, facing the window. "Oh come on, Egbird. I know you aren't asleep. You pull this shit all the time." This sort of troubled the teen, that his ruse had been figured out. And suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him over onto his back. "Let's go get food." Dave was standing right over him now, fully clothed and clean.
"Dave, it's…..it's 4:30! I'm not going anywhere except to sleep, I have a class in 3 and a half hours."
"Shit man, I'm hungry."
"Check the fridge? There's food there.."
"John I will do whatever you want for a week if you get up right now, put on a jacket, and take me to Mcdonalds."
"Can't you drive? Let me sleep!"
There was silence, almost a defeated silence, before Dave finally spoke. "Fine. I'll be back in a few." John no longer felt his warding presence standing above him, and in just seconds he heard the shuffling footsteps and the door being slammed. And just like that, Dave was gone.
And John was alone, again.
