Much Ado About Everything and Nothing

Avixi Lynn

Chapter 1

"It looks like you shit yourself. I'm sorry. It really does, though." Will turned over in the long row of dark blue colored seats in the auditorium of the University of Maryland at the student next to him. Today was the first day of his first class of his first week at the University, and already he was running out of patience.

Will had woken up late this morning due to his alarm clock not being plugged in properly the night before (which he blamed entirely on his new roommates having a game night and insisting-no, forcing-him to join in on) instead of allowing him the peace and time to finish unpacking and setting up his belongings as he liked them in his new room.

His first class was Sociology 100-Introduction to Sociology in the main auditorium in the Social Sciences building on the Southern section of the large campus. Since it was the first week of September, Will had unfortunately run into a lot of busy students bustling about, and he wasn't even two minutes out the door of his shared housing unit when it had begun pouring heavily, each raindrop blasting him on the face as the wind howled wildly.

Many leaves had fallen off their tree branches and been carried off into the wind to land on students, getting caught in their hair, schoolbags, books; as if the wind was mocking them and purposefully making them look shabby on the first day.

Will had slipped on a big pile of leaves as he tried to ascend the large hill that the auditorium was built on, and the water combined with the leaves made for a very slippery slope, and he had tripped and slid nearly halfway down the muddy hill. The only thing he had gained from that little misadventure was a sore behind, and a very muddy stained set of jeans at that.

He had tried to sit upon his fall coat to cover the mess, but many students in the third row where he was seated had already witnessed the mess and laughed it up as if it were the most amusing thing in the world to behold.

Will ignored the immature brats sitting to his left who tried to pull at his coat and observe his dirty jeans and instead turned to a young girl sitting beside him on his right side.

The girl was roughly the same age as Will, had brown colored hair with a slight red tinge in the bright early morning light in the room, and it was tied into a neatly combed and organized ponytail. She had beautiful fair skin with a few freckles on her upper cheeks and nose, and captivating eyes. She had already purchased the course's required textbook, Milestones in Sociology, Third Edition.

She was hastily highlighting the first chapter of the textbook and paused when she felt Will watching her. She lifted up her head and smiled slowly at Will.

"Hey. I didn't mean to disturb you, I was just wondering why you are taking notes and reading so steadfastly." Will offered a small smile and a chuckle, hoping he'd make a good impression and hopefully a new friend.

Will normally had no problem being on his own during classes, but since he met Hannibal, he knew that the older boy had drawn him out of his shell, and encouraged him to socialize more and seek out more friends since Hannibal was going to be dedicating all his time and energy towards his medical research and work at Johns Hopkins.

The young girl closed her book and set the yellow highlighter on top of the dark brown rectangular desk gently. "I always like to get a head start, and I'm planning on completing a double major in Psychology and Criminology. I just like to stay on top of things."

Will was impressed. This young girl was as ambitious and studious as he was. Perhaps he was going to make a very good new friend and hopefully a new study buddy as well.

He nodded and smiled enthusiastically at her. "That's wonderful to hear! I'm planning on majoring in Psychology as well, may take a minor too!"

She mirrored his small. "Miriam Lass."

"Will Graham." They shook hands happily as the room soon flooded with hundreds of other students.

"Is this your first year?" Will asked.

Miriam nodded."I actually transferred out of a college in Texas. I figured University is more my thing, and I want to have a more academic career."

"I don't know what exactly I want to do yet in terms of a career, but I'm just glad to be out of high school." Will stated as he looked around the room for people he could also include in his new study group and friendship circle.

Miriam shrugged. "It's ok, Will. No one knows what they want to do even until third year sometimes. Technically I am still enrolled as a Liberal Arts major but I will change it to Psych and Criminology once all my records have been sent over to administration."

Will was about to speak when everyone else in the room simmered down and silenced their conversations.

An elderly man roughly in his early fifties had entered the room through a side door, carrying multiple books and a briefcase. He set his books on the small desk in the very front of the room and opened up his briefcase to pull out a laptop. He opened the silver laptop and connected it to the screen system at the front of the room and turned off the lights once he was set up completely.

He turned on a small microphone attached to his shirt, and ran a hand through his greying hair as he pulled out small, thin-rimmed glasses and set them on his nose.

"Good morning everyone. Welcome to Sociology 100. My name is Professor Desroches. A little bit of a background about me: I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of Florida, then moved to Kentucky and attended the University there to complete a Master degree in Psychology. I finally completed my Ph.D. dissertation here at Maryland University. My research heavily weighs on interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships in contemporary society, childrearing values in the twenty-first century, as well as deviancy and its causes in the United States of America."

Will looked around the room and observed many students pulling out their laptops and books immediately, seemingly taking notes, but as he looked around the circular room, he could clearly see that many students were checking their Facebook or Twitter profiles, and he snickered to himself silently at their lack of respect and attention for the learned professor.

"How many people are planning on majoring in Sociology?" The professor's sudden question resulted in at least fifty hands being raised.

"Psychology?" More than a hundred hands went up.

The professor sighed. "Yes, Psychology is always a very popular body of knowledge among this University."

No one said a word as little clicks and taps echoed across the room as students typed on their laptop keyboards hurriedly.

"We have approximately four-hundred students in this class, and since this is an entry-level, first year course, we will only have one midterm, one final exam, and one large reflective essay paper due before the Christmas Holidays."

A few students sighed and others sifted in their seats nervously as the professor typed in his teacher I.D. and signed into the University website page for their course.

"Any further questions related to house-cleaning matters before we go over the course syllabus? No? Good."

It was nearly seven-thirty in the evening when Will finally got back to his housing unit after classes. The first day wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, and he had managed to even get Miriam's cell phone number so they could keep in touch and study together for other classes.

Will was barely inside the shared house, when a slew of balloons, confetti, and party hats were thrown in his direction.

"SURPRISE!" Will leapt into the air with a hand over his heart as Bedelia, Hannibal, Franklyn, his new roommates, and his dogs greeted him at the door.

"You guys remembered!?" Will cried, hugging his adoptive mother tightly and cowered away from her smothering kisses.

Will's birthday was on September 8th. He had only told Hannibal once before, but he wasn't sure if Hannibal would be able to keep a track of it due to his busy schedule.

Hannibal was next to hug Will tightly and he smirked. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Will."

Will felt the paws and muzzles of his dogs assault him over-joyously, sniffing and leaping up on him as they begged for attention.

"Pizza's in the kitchen sweetheart, come on!" Bedelia moved aside and grabbed Will's hand to lead him inside.

"Congrats, bro!" His roommates whom Will didn't particularly always get along with clamped him on the back and punched him in the shoulders and arms playfully as they followed him into the kitchen and attacked the defenseless pizza sitting on the medium sized kitchen counter.

The house itself was a two-floored level house, with three bathrooms, three bedrooms, and one medium sized kitchen. Will paid a shared rent total of four-hundred and eighty dollars a month, which was rather average for a housing unit as the one they were in.

Will sat down in the living room with two slices of vegetarian pizza on a plate resting on his lap as he awkwardly smiled and listened to Bedelia and his roommates sing "Happy Birthday" along with his howling and whining dogs.

"Shut up!" His roommate Charlie Bronson yelled and laughed as he playfully rustled Winston's light colored fur, earning a yawn from the dog.

Hannibal soon entered the room holding up a beautiful large rectangular cake with white and light blue frosting, and blue carefully, neatly printed words that read: Happy Birthday William. The cake had eighteen perfectly arranged candles about, that danced merrily in the light breeze of the house as Hannibal set the cake on the coffee table in front of Will.

"A most pleasant birthday to you, Will." He smiled proudly and stood next to Bedelia as everyone in the room trained their eyes on Will.

Will set his pizza aside and laughed. "Alright, no pressure, guys!" He leaned forward and took a deep breath before pursing his lips to blow out the candles.

"Hey hey! You need to make a wish, Mister!" Bedelia cried as she slid the cake a few inches away from Will's mouth.

"Oh yeah!" Will rolled his eyes playfully and re-adjusted his glasses on his nose. He closed his eyes and paused for a long time. His mind and ears registered the sound of the large circular black clock resting above his head and the couch on the wall, the sound of the TV left on in the kitchen, blaring the news reports, and the sounds of his dogs whining impatiently.

"While we're still young, buddy." A Vietnamese roommate named Philip Nguyen mocked as he sat down on a brown worn out couch impatiently.

Will smirked and blew out the candles all at once perfectly while his eyes were still closed. Cheers and hoots from his roommates and Bedelia echoed about the house.

"Good form, Will." Hannibal simply said proudly.

"You could have just said: Sweet shit, man!" Charlie joked.

Hannibal didn't even acknowledge the other boy as he held up the carving knife in his right hand, admiring the sharp, clean blade for a few long seconds, almost as if he was going to speak to it and profess his darkest, deepest hidden secrets before he brought it down onto the cake and cut the first slice and handed it to Will.

Their eyes met, and Will blushed as Hannibal intently looked at him and handed him a plastic fork. "Bon appetite."

"You be good, ok sweetie?" Bedelia pinched Will's cheeks lovingly and kissed them roughly as she held him tightly to her.

Will squirmed in her grab as he watched his roommates snicker and whisper to each other devilishly. "Mom, stop! This is embarrassing already!"

She ruffled his hair and smiled warmly. "I love you honey. I am so proud of you, you know that?"

Will blushed. "Ok! I love you too!" He spoke in a hurried rhythm.

Winston head-butted into Will's knees. He looked down at the dog and gently flicked his ear. "I love you too, you little bozo."

"Just call me if you need anything ok?" Bedelia offered her adopted son as he tugged the rest of the dog's leashes and pressed her car key buttons to unlock the doors.

Will nodded and helped Bedelia put the dogs in the car before he gave his stepmother one final hug. "I'll see you during the Holidays mom. I promise."

She sighed and flipped her blonde wavy hair over her shoulder. "I know. Study hard ok?" She ruffled his hair one more time and entered her red SUV car.

"I will!" He waved at her and watched her pull out of the parking lot and drive off into the street as she waved back a final time at him.

Will sighed and turned to face Hannibal standing a few feet away from him in the doorway of the house, hands folded neatly across his front.

Will snorted and gave him a half smile. "Don't look so smug."

Hannibal smiled back. "It's incidental, Will. What would you have me do?"

Will approached Hannibal with a seductive grin plastered on his face. He inhaled the wonderful masculine scent that was Hannibal, and felt himself inwardly groan for contact.

Hannibal and Will had not yet labeled their new relationship. Both boys still were discovering and learning new things about each other, and Will didn't want a label at all for that matter. Since the night of their first passionate kiss in the summer, Will and Hannibal had not initiated further contact. At first, Will had been certain that Hannibal had begun to regret the kiss, but when Hannibal had held Will's hand during the first day after their orientation programs, Will felt more relaxed and at ease.

They weren't exactly "boyfriends" either, but Will often referred to them as such in his own mind. He just didn't want to voice it out loud and have Hannibal retreat. He was not willing to take that chance, so he obeyed Hannibal's space and work time, and tried not to get in the way. Whatever came after was entirely on Hannibal's time and Will allowed the older boy to control the shots, so to speak.

Will ran his eyes up and down Hannibal's tall, lean frame, and inwardly swooned. Hannibal was wearing a black vest, with a white dress shirt underneath it. The first few buttons had been undone, revealing his muscular chest right beneath Will's nose. Hannibal wore his hair professionally and cleanly gelled back today; not even a single small strand of hair coming loose from the rest of the held back group. His skin gleamed in the lights turned on outside the house and in the parking lot, and Will wanted to do nothing more than taste the skin that was shining and almost calling out to him.

"I'd have you do many, many things, Hannibal..." Will flirted. He knew he was taking a big chance, and a big leap in their new relationship, but he wanted to give it a try. Hannibal was a very vocal and verbal person, and Will guessed he was into the whole "dirty talking", but in a very refined manner. Will wanted to take his time and experiment with their word exchanges.

Hannibal's smirk grew wider as his mysterious eyes landed on Will's plump lips. He moved away from his spot at the doorway, and walked towards Will carefully, eyes still on his lips. "Oh? Are you suggesting something naughty then, young Will?"

"Holy balls! He's eating this right up!" Will mentally and inwardly cheered at his plan's success.

He played coy and shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked even closer to Hannibal. "I don't know, I mean, you're older than me, after all. Wouldn't you say you are corrupting a minor?"

Hannibal chuckled darkly and reached out a long hand and rested it on Will's shoulder. "I'd do no such thing, Will."

Will felt his heart drop a little at this statement. So Hannibal didn't want to play along after all. What was he thinking? He suddenly felt silly and wanted to recoil and go back into his room inside the house when Hannibal dipped his head low and brought his lips down next to Will's right ear and whispered huskily.

"I'd do so much more than merely corrupt you, Will..." Hannibal's warm breath caressed Will's ear, and the young boy shuddered and unconsciously leaned in close to Hannibal, begging to be held and touched.

"Hannibal..." Will whispered wantonly.

"Yes my Will." Hannibal whispered back, and Will nearly moaned out loud in the night when he felt a hot wet tongue touch his ear.

"Oh my god!"

Will rested his head on Hannibal's shoulder, revering in the feeling of Hannibal's hot tongue sliding up and down his ear, as if it were using his ear as a dance floor and practicing and perfecting its own seductive moves only for him.

Will began panting as he felt himself slowly spiraling out of control.

"Tell me what you want me to do to you, Will. I'll never object if the order is coming from you." Hannibal teased as he brushed his teeth slowly along Will's earlobe.

"He's killing me!" Will felt his heart beating so rapidly in his chest, that he was almost certain Hannibal could feel and hear it as well. But he didn't care. This was by far the most erotic and sensual act he had taken part in during his youth and he didn't want it to stop any time soon.

"Hannibal!" He gasped when he felt those sharp large teeth clamp onto the length of his earlobe and hold onto it for a few moments before Hannibal let go and began running his hot tongue along Will's earlobe, as if seeking pardon for the sudden bite.

"Oh god!" Will cried as he clung to Hannibal desperately, trying to hold back the primal urge of rutting up against Hannibal's hips like a wild animal in heat.

"I see you thoroughly liked that, Will." Hannibal merely pointed out the obvious.

Will groaned a bit louder when he felt a strong warm hand rest upon the small of his back.

"What are you doing to me, Hannibal?" He asked a rhetorical question.

Hannibal chuckled in response.

Will closed his eyes and turned his face towards Hannibal's and was about to rest his lips on the older boy's, when a CRASH! came from inside the house.

Will leapt away from Hannibal, still breathing heavily-though from shock and fear instead of excitement.

"Shit!" He heard Charlie's voice drift towards them from the kitchen.

"Max! You ate all the pizza!" He called to another roommate, Max Flannigan, a boy who weighed approximately two-hundred and ninety pounds of pure muscle. Max was training to become an athlete, but was oddly majoring in Political Science, for one reason or another. Max was always seen stuffing his face, and he didn't seem to cease eating. However, the boy would normally hit the gym right after his meals and work out with the weight sets until everyone else had cleared the gym practically.

Will never got in his way due to his size and his over-all negative attitude. He reminded Will all too much of Jack Crawford, and Will certainly didn't want any more trouble.

"Dude, it was sitting there. What was I supposed to do? Make love to it?" Max retorted back.

"Hey! You even drank all the beer!? What the hell, Max!"

Will turned to Hannibal and ran a hand awkwardly through his hair. Why did his bloody fool roommates have to go and ruin their moment?! It was perfect!

"We'd better head inside." Will said numbly as he turned and practically ran inside the house, not wanting to face Hannibal for the moment. The buildup had instantaneously been broken down. Strange how difficult it was to create something, and so easy it was to destroy it.

He felt Hannibal's eyes on his retreating back as he entered the house and headed for the small set of stairs that lead to his room on the second floor of the house.

He turned before he could be rude, and looked down at Hannibal's feet. "Thank you, for everything. The birthday surprise was a treat."

Hannibal didn't smile but nodded. "My pleasure, Will."

"It was great seeing you again." Will felt as if he were reciting from a textbook rather than genuinely thanking Hannibal for his kindness and he wanted to kick himself in the ass for it. He should have been more warm and approachable.

"I bid you good night, Will." Was all Hannibal said before he turned and curtly exited the house, closing the door gently behind him.

"MAX!"

"Oh shut the hell up."

"Happy Birthday to me indeed." Will sighed as he continued to ascend the stairs. He had never been so happy to close and lock his door as he had that night.

Stars shining bright above you,
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singing in the sycamore tree,
Dream a little dream of me...
Say "Night-ie night" and kiss me,
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me,
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me
Stars fading but I linger on, dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear
Just saying this
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you,
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me!

The voice of Doris Day greeted Hannibal's ears as he walked down the narrow, empty hallways of the student housing building he was currently in as he headed back to his room for the night. The noise did nothing but make him irate, though he did not show it.

Hannibal had felt the increasing amount of sexual tension rising between Will and himself, but he was uncertain of where to take it. Hannibal did not wish to impose on Will, nor did he want to force himself on the younger boy; no matter how much he begged and no matter how badly he wanted to have Will to himself. He felt that Will was merely flirting and playing with him at this stage of their odd relationship rather than actually wanting sexual relations.

Hannibal blamed it all on youth and hormones, but he respected Will's wishes nonetheless. He wanted nothing more than to take Will upstairs to his room that night, and touch him until he came apart at the seams in his hands. Will was now eighteen, and Hannibal felt morally more at ease about taking Will for himself. He didn't want to take advantage of Will, and he knew he would definitely stop if Will should ask. But he knew for a fact that Will simply was not yet ready.

Hannibal had done the gentleman thing to do and simply left when he felt the situation was nearly reaching out of hand, but he almost regretted it when he walked down the hallways and turned left and then right towards his room. He stopped at an open door to the left side of him and peered inside a dimly lit room.

A few feet ahead of him was a medium sized single bed, and all Hannibal could see were shiny clean black dress shoes tapping along expertly to the rhythm of Doris Day's song as it played over and over again in the room.

Hannibal growled lightly and walked forward to knock on the door. "I beg your pardon."

The music didn't stop, and the tapping of the feet didn't stop on the bed.

He knocked again, not wanting to set a foot inside the room. "Excuse me!" He called out a little louder, hoping he wouldn't wake anyone on the floor or in the hallway.

Suddenly, the feet stopped their little dancing moves, and they swung over the side of the bed, and hurried to the far left corner of the room Hannibal couldn't see from his awkward diagonal angle near the door.

He heard the music stop at once, and he breathed out in peace. Silence at last.

The shoes padded over to him suddenly, and the door flew open. Hannibal wanted to hiss in anger when he was face to face with Mason Verger. The boy had messy blonde bed-head hair that stood up stock still, erect like a woodpecker's crown. His glasses were dirty, fingerprints littered all over the lenses, and he was wearing a half un-tucked wrinkled red dress shirt. He looked a mess. His room however was strangely in perfect condition. A bookshelf was resting against the wall above a study desk, the cubicle light turned off, and the top of the desk was cleaned and the books perfectly arranged on the top shelf. His brown-red dresser was next to the bed, and not a single hygiene product was on top of the desk. Only a small square framed picture of Mason and another red-headed young girl wearing her hair in two long braids was displayed, followed by another picture frame of the same young girl on top of a large dark brown horse leaping across a field next to the other picture.

Mason followed Hannibal's eyes resting on the photos and he smiled and laughed out a choked laugh that Hannibal wanted to cringe at immediately. "My sister, Margot. She loves horses. Can't get enough of 'em! She rides professionally and for sport you know. Such a delicate art, horseback riding..."

Hannibal held up a hand to silence Mason. Frankly, Hannibal knew it was too late in the night for lengthy conversations, and secondly, he felt utterly disturbed by Mason Verger's voice. Mason had a slightly nasal voice, but there were times when it graveled out almost like nails going down a chalkboard to Hannibal's ears, and it made his ribcage rattle with anger and distaste for the boy.

"That's all well and good, Mason. But I came by to tell you to kindly turn down your music."

Mason laughed another choppy, annoying laugh. "Way ahead of you, Hannibal."

Hannibal didn't say a word and turned to head back into his room and get some sleep before his seven in the morning shower and then work shift. "Thank you." He called out from over his shoulder.

"Say, would you like to come in for a while? I could use some company." Mason asked as he stepped out into the hall.

"No thank you, Mason." Hannibal answered very quickly-perhaps, too quickly.

Mason looked as if he wanted to crumple onto the floor and shatter in a hundred pieces. He had a genuinely hurt expression on his face, and it seemed as if he was almost pouting; his pink lips curling downward on his face, and his eyes narrowing at Hannibal. "I see...well fair enough, another time then?" He asked as he perked up a bit at the silent hope he had made himself internally.

Hannibal nodded and closed the door to his room. "Fiend." He whispered once the door was entirely shut.

Before he had a chance to turn and set his things inside his room, he heard Mason whisper back through the other side of his door: "You have no idea."

Mason's such a creepy little shit. That's seriously all I can say for now. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!