Half Baked

Chapter 37

Al stared at his phone, contemplating his next action. He'd wanted to date Arthur ever since Arthur claimed that Al seemed to own the common area couch. Well. Part of him wanted to at the time. The other part pointed out that he knew absolutely nothing about Arthur. But now, he wanted to…

Al stared at his phone, contemplating his next need. He was earning money. He had at least one job. He had friends. He had living quarters.

The break-up happened much sooner than Al thought it'd happen. He was sure he would've been struggling all throughout the fall semester, supporting Arthur in his dysfunctional relationship. But no. It happened so soon. He knew he should be happy. Things were improving. Everyone got the tools they needed to be happy. So why was he so scared to take the next step?

Al sat up on the couch and muted the TV.

Would it be too soon if he asked Arthur out right now? Would Arthur think it was too soon? Maybe for now they should just be friends. Maybe. Just until they get back to school. Just until they can be in the same room again. After all, love without close proximity was extraordinarily difficult. Not that Al didn't trust Arthur or vice versa—just that… It'd be hard.

Al picked up his phone and scrolled through his messages.

It'd be a lot harder if he waited and said nothing.

He selected Arthur's number and pressed the phone to his ear. Al listened to the dial tone until Arthur's voice came through the line.

"Hi, Al."

Al could hear the smile in Arthur's voice, and he couldn't help but smile in return. "Hey, Study Bug. What's up?"

Arthur's voice was distant as if he'd turned his head away from the phone. "I'm doing alright. But you were the one who called me. How are you?" The sound in the background cut off.

Al figured it was just the TV. "M'fine. Just happy for you."

"I think I'm feeling happy, too."

"That's great." He grinned, honestly relieved. "You and Alfred are getting along alright?"

"Yes—" Arthur let out a sigh of relief, "—we've had to learn how to interact as friends again. There was some soul-bearing. And we understand what we misunderstood about each other. Mostly. But, yes, we're learning how to be friends again." He gasped. "And Alfred's sort of teaching me how to make friends." His voice went silent momentarily. "… That's not…too pathetic, is it? I'm gaining confidence. If that helps for anything."

"Yeah, no. It's great. Attack the world head-on. Imagine everyone in their underwear. All that crap."

Arthur's side of the line went silent as Arthur attempted to imagine his friends in their underwear. He decided very quickly to halt his imagination. "Perhaps I'll just stick with pretending to be all-powerful."

"Pretending to be all-powerful?"

Arthur laughed. "Yes, pretending. I know I'm just human. It's nice to imagine being strong. It's a…fake-it-until-you-make-it strategy."

"I'm pretty familiar with it. And, hey, if it works, then good." Al settled back against the couch, feeling more comfortable with Arthur already. "I like to use the fuck-it adjustment."

"… You…have sex with lack of confidence?"

Al let out a laugh. "Nah, nah. If something's got you down, just say 'fuck it'."

"Fuck it."

"Yeah."

"Mm. Perhaps just mentally, I'll do that."

"Yeah, whatever works for ya, Study Bug." Al's eyes gravitated towards the TV. He didn't know a thing that the commercials were saying, but honestly he just liked watching the activity on-screen. "So Alfred's doing okay?"

"Mhm, he's asked how to be considerate. I told him he's got sort of a grip on it. He wanted a little more feedback, so I just told him to do everything the opposite of Gil." He stifled a chuckle. "That seemed to work better than stepping around the issue. Honesty's amazing. Who knew?"

"Fuckin' no one. Honesty's a secretive bastard."

"Try as I may, I can't keep up with your facetious nature." Arthur dismissed the conversation's playful tone in favor of learning more about what was going on in Al's and Oliver's lives. "What's Oliver up to? I don't hear him."

Al shrugged. "He's at a friend's house. Gives me some alone time. Oliver's great, don't get me wrong, but alone time is nice, too."

"I agree."

"Arthur," Al murmured, thinking through how he'd ask Arthur out.

"Yes?"

Al stared straight ahead and bit his bottom lip. "… Have you made your schedule for next semester? Tied up loose ends? Figured out where you'll be staying?" His stomach spun with the unfamiliar feeling of nervousness.

"Ah, yes. Way back in March. You know, when the schedule for next semester went up?" Arthur let out a groan at the memory. "I had to wake up early to be on my computer in time to sign up when the schedule opened."

"Oh my god, you nerd."

He laughed. "Well, it was already open for the higher grades. I wanted to have a shot at getting the classes I wanted at the times I wanted. Don't tell me you haven't figured all that out yet?" A glimmer of worry snuck into his voice.

"Nah, I got it all down. I settled for some crap classes about a month ago. But I really had to jump on getting room 1407 with Oliver and Matt. It's pretty hard to get a good four-person room in the Studios." The nervousness morphed into a dire need to go through verbal gymnastics while figuring out Arthur's feelings without suffering rejection.

"1407. Right. Yes. I remember the scramble for last summer."

"Yeah."

"So you've already got four people."

"… No, I've got three people." Al's heart sunk when he realized another person probably shoved their foot in the door before he could open the offer to Arthur. Great. He'd have to spend next year sharing a bedroom with a stranger.

"Nope. It looks like someone took the fourth place."

"You're checking?"

"Mhm." The sound of Arthur's clicks made their way across the line. "You've got all four beds filled up. I'm shocked, though. To think that, that fourth bed was still open until a minute ago."

Al's side of the line went silent, and he spoke. "Wait, you're screwing with me."

Arthur's smile infected his voice again. "Maybe. Ah— Shit. Sorry. Should I have asked to join you three before I took the space?"

"No! No, no, this is great!" Al let out a relieved laugh. "No, shit. Damn. I missed you. … I thought you were going to stay with Alfred on the first floor."

"Well, while I really enjoy the idea of not having to depend on the elevator, I only room with people I'm absolutely in love with." Arthur shrugged. "And, you know, I'm just friends with Alfred. I'm not in…in romantic love with him. You know the difference and all that."

Al tried to keep his grin at bay. "… So… You like like me."

"Perhaps."

"I thought that was something you tell a guy in person?"

Arthur sucked in air and winced. "Didn't work out so well for me last time. And I don't know when I'll see you in person next. So. It looks like we're sharing a room."

"Yeah. I'll follow your example. I'll only share a bedroom with my boyfriend. Wanna bite the bullet? Take the fall? Make the sacrifice?"

"Listen to more movie clichés?"

"Yeah." Al couldn't keep down his grin. "Let's do all the clichés."

A laugh bubbled in Arthur's throat. "I'd love to do all the clichés with you."

Arthur stepped into his new dorm with a couple of boxes balanced in his arms. He set them on the table beside the door and looked to Al. "You alright?" Al sat on the couch with his legs stretched out. He stared outside at the night sky, unable to take his eyes away.

"Yeah," Al murmured. He glanced at Arthur and waved him over. "C'mere. You looked out the window before, right? It's not like a first floor dorm window."

It was true enough. The only outside view any first floor dorm had was staring into the tiny courtyard and at the other first floor windows. Arthur walked over to Al, skirting the bare-bones coffee table as he went. He settled on Al's lap, commandeering it as his own seat as he looked outside.

"Pretty, right?"

Arthur stared out at the city life. The city lights glimmered like hundreds and hundreds of lights of every color on the world's largest Christmas tree. Every so often, a few lights shuddered as the source was obstructed, but it never brought down the overall glow. Arthur leaned against the couch's back and against the window sill.

Al wrapped an arm around Arthur's waist. "Careful," he whispered, "no screen."

Arthur settled against Al's chest and reached a hand out the window. Ah. Fourteen floors up and no screen. Anxiety tried its hardest to infect Arthur's thoughts, but Al's presence spoiled it.

"It's lovely. I've never seen such a nice view." Arthur rested his head against Al's shoulder as he watched the cloudy night sky. He let out a content sigh, and he never wanted to leave. "… Do you think Oliver's mad that we haven't gotten down to the theater yet?"

"Fuck. What time is it?"

"Eight-fifty."

"Shit." Al's body tensed as if he was going to sit up, but he couldn't bring himself to make Arthur get off him. "Is he alone?"

"Uh-uh. Alfred's with him. So is Matt, Kiku, and Feliciano."

Al rested. "They should be fine without us. We'll all see the movie tomorrow or something."

"We committed. He knows where we live."

Al placed a kiss against Arthur's head. "Then why aren't you getting up?"

Arthur lifted his head and gave Al a sly smile. "Do you want me to get up?"

"No."

"Me either." Arthur looked outside one more time before he let out a huff and stood up. "Come on. Time to socialize. We'll never get out bearings if we start the semester off on the wrong foot." He gave Al's hand a squeeze to urge him along.

Al gave him a smile, squeezed his hand in return, and stood. "Guess we can't leave all of 'em to suffer in that movie."

"Romantic comedies aren't all so bad." Arthur grabbed his keys and wallet and pocketed them. He gave Al a kiss and pulled away before he bit his bottom lip. "Especially since they all end so sweetly."

This is the official end of Half Baked. Thank you, readers, so, so much for taking the time to read this story. I really hope it's been as fun for you to read it as it was for me to write it. If you want to see any bonus Half Baked content or art, please visit the tumblr blog: halfbakedcrew. If you want to stay connected with my story-writing, then please follow my fanfiction account, my ao3 account, or my tumblr blog—all of which are simply: jaistashu.

Thank you again!