Murphy was in much better spirits when he was back from that fucking nightmare of bugbites, hiking no less than eight miles a day with a fucking seventy pound monstrosity on his back, and eating food that tasted worse than theirs Ma's. He was back with his brother, who understood why they were at university: to become wiser, stronger, and better able to make a contribution to the world. He liked it that the chapel was always open and he could go and pray in the beautiful place whenever he wanted. That helped in this environment of gross materialism, frivolous cares and pure idiocy. The students were intelligent enough but that didn't mean they weren't fucking idiots. What the fuck were all these stupid fraternities about, buying your friends? College republicans? There was a fucking club for everything. Murph had no time for clubs. The guys in their dorm tried to cajole them to go out to kegs and rush the frats. They went a couple of times but the beer tasted like water and within a half hour, he would find himself griping at Connor that they should leave. He would have surveyed the room and spotted which guys were going to date rape which nearly passed out girls with perfect clarity. Connor would tell him he that he didn't know any such thing, but somehow Murphy knew that he did know. But Connor would leave with him and they would walk the campus and usually wind up at Leah's, where she would be reading or making those incredible botanical drawings, which she would usually wind up throwing in the trash can. Murph had asked her if he could have some of her discards and she said no but a few days later gave him a drawing of an orchid she said was native to western Ireland and pollinated by a specific type of male wasp.
Leah had no use for the fraternity kegs or really anything that didn't involve whatever her master plan was, Murphy thought. And he wanted more than anything to be a part of it. She was so focused and content to do her own thing.
Of course, her own thing usually involved Connor.
Leah had made some friends in her dorm and usually ate dinner with them, but she and Connor always had lunch together. No matter what their class schedules were, even if it meant eating at two before Leah's botany lab after Connor's engineering lab, she and Connor ate lunch together every day. And then they talked incessantly on the phone before bed if he hadn't gone over to her dorm. Ya comin, Connor would ask him and Murphy would sometimes go too. Sometimes he just didn't want to, just didn't want to have to watch Connor flop on her bed, tackle her, make her laugh and keep her undivided attention. Sometimes he didn't want to have to compete with his brother to make Leah notice him only to have Connor draw her back to him with the greatest of ease. It just made him too fucking tired. Tired was what he was calling it when he let himself think about it.
He had never had to compete with Connor for anything. Ever.
But he did get Leah to himself quite often. They had Chemistry lecture and lab together. And they were lab partners. The three of them studied in the library, Connor pouring over his engineering homework while Leah and Murphy often worked together on the class they shared.
Then one day after Chem lab, Leah asked him if he wanted to grab a bite to eat. Not even a mention of should they call Connor too. (Of course, Leah knew Connor was working on a group project due the next day.) Chem lab had run late that afternoon and he was late for the hospital. He almost said yes, but he told her about how he usually went to hospital at dinner time, going in to chat with the elderly patients while they had their meals. He had told Ethel Lowe, a Holocaust survivor, who was likely to die any day now from ovarian cancer that had metastasized into her lungs and other organs that he would be in that evening, and he fully intended to make good on his promise, even if the temptation to eat with Leah by himself was overwhelming—to walk with her through the gardens on the way back to the cafeteria, to get to spend just a little more time with her than usual without having to share her company with Connor.
Then Leah asked if the hospital needed anyone else to help.
"You'll be a great doctor, Murph." She said, when they walked to the cafeteria to get their own dinner, just the two of them after a visit with Ethel Lowe and a few others. She winked at him, poking him lightly in the bicep. "I feel as though I've seen a secret side of you."
He raised a brow.
"You couldn't be all practical jokes and Guinness." She chuckled, tickling his ribs then taking off in a run.
"And cheesy pick up lines." She hollered over her shoulder as he gave chase.
He had managed to get himself passed around her all girls dorm, or that was how Leah had described it, starting with Leah's roommate who had a fake ID and had gotten them two cases of Guinness. That particular night had started with Leah's six friends and the MacManus twins in Leah's dorm room, playing drinking games. Alexis was not hard to look at by any means, tall, blond and a total bitch, according to Leah and Connor. She kept putting her hand on Murphy's leg and chatting him up that night. Leah and Connor kept looking at each other and laughing about something, and now he knew what. They were all elbows and Leah, who never drank to excess, snarfed her beer at one point on Connor's shirt after he had elbowed her. This provoked more laughter out of them. Alexis told Leah she was "so fucking annoying", and Leah and Connor actually fell out of their chairs laughing at that one. Then Marie started feeling like she was going to puke, so Janey took her to the bathroom. Becky started getting sleepy, so she and her roommate Cathy went back to their room. And Alexis began to nibble at Murphy's earlobe. Soon they were kissing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leah and Connor give each other one of their trademark looks: the open mouth recoil that always led to raucous laughter. So he was a little drunk and Alexis had moved her hand up his leg. Then he heard the door open and close. Of course, they did fall against the outside of the door and laugh for a few minutes loudly before taking off to laugh somewhere else no doubt.
Connor and Leah were sitting around eating cereal in their dorm room, when Murphy returned the next morning with a pounding headache. He was met with the two of them laughing their asses off when he walked inside. Walk of shame, Connor grinned. So where do I not want to shine a UV light in my room, Murph, Leah continued. Fuck ya both, he answered, throwing himself on his bed. They howled with laughter at that and pounced on him. Eew, did you really have sex in my room, Murph? Well, yes, he had. Murph noticed that Connor looked extremely pleased with himself.
No doubt those two had stayed up all night, lying in Connor's bed talking about every subject known to man. They had probably eaten an entire box of Pop Tarts and ordered pizza, run around and looked for the giant bullfrogs in one of the nearby ponds like they always wanted to do and rolled down the steep hill in the garden over and over like a couple of kids. The night had likely ended in a burping contest and discussion of who was a better movie hero: Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. And then Leah had probably curled up against his brother with all the trust in the world, that little brilliant body pressed against that of his twin, who refused to discuss Leah with him.
A/N: I'm new here, so is this where I beg for reviews?