The three months passed in a blur. Marty had spent most of it preparing for school or at his part time job at a little bookstore, but he did spend a lot of tie with Bradley (although probably not as much time as Bradley would've wanted). Things felt different and awkward between the two of them. It wasn't the same. Maybe it was because Brad was living in the US now and didn't get to talk all that often. Maybe it was because they were just growing up. He didn't know. It made him a little sad, but he didn't dwell on it. He couldn't.

But, today was the day school started (unofficially). It was time for him to move into his dorm and he had enlisted Bradley's help. The other guys – Gavin, Lance, Eli, and Leo – all had to work. It gave him a chance to be alone, kind of. The school was swarming with students unpacking and going to meet teachers.

"This is brilliant. I can't wait to get started," Marty exclaimed as he carried the last box in and wiped the sweat from his brow. Sitting on a box, he sighed and looked around the small space. "Do you want to grab a cuppa and some food before I go meet my professors and get supplies?"

Bradley looked up from where he was standing, picking at a piece of packaging tape that had come loose from one of the many boxes in the room.

"Sure. Oh...here, almost forgot," he said, reaching over and grabbing up a brown paper bag. Bradley took out a mahogany box that was the size of a paint kit and actually that was exactly what it was; a paint and art kit. It had brushes, pencils, pens, finger paints and other such pieces of equipment. On the top of the box was a hand crafted rendering of Camelot; at least one person's depiction of it, but truth be told it was rather accurate.

"Thought you could use it," Bradley said as he handed the box over to his friend.

Marty took it and examined the box. He opened it carefully and examined the supplies. These were fine tools that probably cost a fortune. For a moment, Marty felt like handing it back. He didn't feel like he deserved such a gift. But, he didn't. He couldn't.

"Thanks," Marty said, closing the box and putting it under his arm as the two left his dorm room. "This is really beautiful. I'll be the envy of all the art students." The boy flashed Bradley a grin and raised his eyebrows. "I bet I'll create some masterpieces with these brushes."

Marty stopped talking when he saw a pretty girl with honey blond curls and a round face. She was chatting with a girl that had flame-red hair and a violin case strapped to her back and ripped jeans covering her legs and a loose sweatshirt covering the rest. Dressed in a white tank-top tunic and jeans, this blonde-haired girl threw back her head and laughed at whatever red-haired girl was saying. So enthralled with the smiling beauty, he tripped over a park bench.

Marty cleared his throat and straightened his shirt. "So, um, should we go?" he asked. The young man's voice had gone high and squeaky.

Bradley brought a curled left hand to cover his mouth in an attempt not to snicker. He had seen that coming a mile away! A small part of him had almost tried to snap Marty out of it before the young man had hit the bench, but a stronger part of him wanted to see the boy make himself look foolish. "You are a regular Gene Kelly buddy," Bradley said as he shook his friend's shoulder's a little to hopefully help Marty snap back to reality.

Marty's face turned bright red. He was always tripping and stumbling over his feet as well as other things. Truthfully, it was a wonder he managed to keep his motorcycle up with such ease. "Two left feet," was all Marty could manage. His throat had gone quite dry.

He glanced back at the girl Marty had been looking at only to find her staring back at the dark haired man, an amused smile on her face. "Don't look now, but I think your girlfriend is looking at you!"

"Oh no, shite. She saw that, didn't she?" Marty asked, suddenly looking a bit panicked. Marty felt like disappearing as he glanced over at the girl. She indeed was looking right at them.

He watched as the blonde-haired girl came over to her. "Hi, I'm Nora… Nora Davis, are you all right," she asked. "You took quite the tumble."

"Erm, um, yeah, I'm good," Marty said. "I was just showing my friend here a bit of my improv skit."

"So, you're an actor," Nora asked, a little dubiously.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm an artist," he stammered.

"So Mr. Ruskin, what's your name," she replied (Ruskin being the art department at Oxford).

"Marty… Martin Mysak. This is Bradley Pendleton," he replied.

"It was nice meeting you two. I'll see you later. I'll show you around, Marty, all right," she told him. Taking out a scrap of paper, Nora wrote down her mobile number and hand it to her. "I got to go. Still have loads to move in. Ta!"

Marty put the number in his pocket as he watched her leave. He wasn't sure what to think. "So, uh, should we go," asked the boy.