JJ woke up bright and early alongside Spencer, ready to leave for the day and hopefully not see Emily for a long, long time. She hated the way Emily looked at her, she hated the way the room smelled just like lavender, and she hated the way Emily held Elle in her sleep- it was disgusting. Romance was disgusting. Relationships were overrated.
It was obviously hatred.
Spencer offered to accompany JJ to the dining hall, which JJ contemplated for a moment before she decided that Elle and her needed to go grocery shopping so her roommate had to wake up.
"Elle. Elle." JJ shook the brunette slightly. "Elle. Elle, wake the hell up." Suddenly, her hand slipped and she was grabbing Emily's side. Emily's eyes flew open to make contact with JJ, confused as well as terrified.
"What the hell are you doing?" Emily asked, furious as she sat up and threw JJ's hand off her body.
JJ decided to not analyze why exactly the spot Emily touched tingled throughout her entire body, and instead rolled her eyes. "My hand slipped, chill the fuck out. Will you wake her the hell up, obviously she won't listen to me."
Emily scoffed, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on Elle's forehead- her eyes instantly flew open to smile up at the brunette. "Hi." Emily repcoricated the welcome, before nodding to JJ.
"El, we have to go grocery shopping. Let's go. Get dressed. " She walked away from the bed, walking over to her pair of boots and sliding them on. "Hurry, El." As Spencer had left a few minutes ago, JJ obviously had no reason to continue staying there. She scurried out of the room, waiting outside the door for her roommate. She sighed.
Inside the room, Emily watched as Elle put on her outfit from the day before, except for putting on one of Emily's hoodies instead, a big hoodie that simply said, "Rome." It smelled just like her.
"Wait, El," Emily cut in as Elle looked at her from the doorway, her hand on the doorknob. "I… I know we haven't known each other long, but um… would you, I mean, do we like dating?" She asked, anxiety practically dripping off her tongue. El shot her a soft smile, coming back over to the bed where Emily was currently residing.
Leaning in, she placed a soft kiss on Emily's lips. "Of course we are. Text me later, sorry Jayje is dragging me out," and soon after, Emily was alone in the room.
Alone.
Looking towards the floor, Emily observed JJ's makeshift bed on the floor. It looked as if she barely slept the night before, the blankets barely ruffled and the pillow without a single crease. She wondered if JJ had.. Heard them.
Crawling off her bed, she allowed herself to land on the floor, consuming the events of the night before. Derek kissing Spencer, having sex with Elle, Garcia shouting in the hallway, catching JJ stare directly at her skin as she was pulling her pants back up.
Normally, she wouldn't question such a thing. In this case, she did. All of the people watched her as she took down her pants, but JJ watched as she pulled them up? It made no sense to her. Why would she do that? Why would she look at Emily like that?
Emily, frankly, didn't want her to look at her. She wanted her GIRLFRIEND, her cute ass lover, to be looking at her when she pulled her pants back up. She wanted her girlfriend to make note of all the freckles on Emily's back. Instead, it was the girl she absolutely despised.
Just thinking of JJ looking at Emily made her queasy, unable to breath, so she forced the thoughts from her head and tried to focus her mind on the more positive thoughts of the night. She wondered how Spencer was feeling about Derek, she had yet to ask.
She really hoped he wouldn't get his heart broken.
--
The young brunette boy skipped down to the big dining hall, breakfast just starting to be served. The options were limited per usual: an assortment of muffins, bagels, and dry cereal. Spencer didn't expect to eat much as he sat down with a double chocolate muffin, allowing it to sit for a moment. He scanned the horizon, as if he was expecting something. Or someone.
Taking a deep breath, he turned back to his food and picked off a piece between his fingers, dropping it into his mouth. It was fairly quiet within the hall, as it was still early in the day- just approaching 7 AM. Normally he got here a bit earlier to begin his studies for the day, but JJ and him had spoken quite a bit in the early light.
He enjoyed his conversations with the blonde, but wasn't sure his best friend would approve so much of their friendships. They discussed their majors, Spencer shared his which many people wouldn't expect. Most people assumed the young genius would go into the medical field, or at least something of the sort, but it wasn't of interest to him. Instead, he was currently majoring in Criminal justice with a minor in psychology. JJ was perplexed, but after he expressed what he wanted to do with his life, she immediately understood.
Spencer, however, was also surprised at her answer. He would have expected a major in something like nursing, or possibly teaching, as most girls within their school turned towards. Instead, JJ explained that she was going into Communications, although she was unsure of what exactly she wanted to do with that degree. It was different from Emily's. Emily was majoring in International Relations, although she had been contemplating a change in her life.
The conversation with JJ was fairly enjoyable, Spencer usually would get angry if someone spoke to him before he got his mug of coffee but he didn't seem to mind this girl. There was a possibility they would become good friends, he hoped. He had even invited her to breakfast, but unfortunately for him, she declined and forced Elle awake. He wasn't so distraught about her rejection once he got a text from the infamous Derek Morgan (whom he got his number from last night), asking if they could eat together in the morning.
Ripping his mind away from the thoughts of his conversation, Spencer turned to the book he was reading: A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift. The novel wasn't that hard to comprehend, nor was it long, so it was a good warm up for a full day of classes that he had.
Soon, the seat opposing Spencer was being moved, and sitting in front of him was Derek Morgan. The newly arrived guy flashed the smaller boy a smile, reaching his fist forward to give him a fistbump. Spencer, one to not enjoy physical contact with most people, instantaneously froze, but soon gave in and returned the action.
"What's up, Spence?" The boy fought the smile breaking out on his face. He adored when people called him that nickname. It reminded him of his mother, who was currently locked away in a sanatorium for her schizophrenia. She used to read to him all kinds of stories before unfortunately, she had to be put away. While it was the most difficult decision, he knew it was best for both himself and his mother. That's how he ended up raising himself for the most part, which generally nobody knew about. Good job to you, Spencer.
However, hearing Derek say his name so gently caused something to swell inside Spencer's heart. Emily had said it a couple times, even JJ had said it when they were talking, but the way Derek said it was astonishing. It fell so naturally from his lips, almost, and the corner of his lips curled up slightly whenever he did. Shit.
"Derek." Spencer affirmed, shaking his head. "Do you mind if I ask why you invited me to breakfast? I've been trying to come up with a conclusion, however, I've arrived upon nothing. We have never even spoken before, although surely, I've noticed you." He squeaked as he realized what he said, a heavy blush crawling up his cheeks. "I didn't even think you had ever seen me before last night when we.. we um…" He froze.
The boy in front of him chuckled, shaking his head. "Spence. You're a genius. Of course I know who you are. Plus, you're pretty. A pretty boy, thus the nickname." He grinned at him, turning around to look at the display of food waiting for him. "You already got your food? Come on, man, you were supposed to wait." He scowled playfully, rising from his seat and skipping over to the food.
Spencer sat still, contemplating Derek's words. Pretty. Pretty boy. He smiled heavily, taking off another piece of his muffin and popping it into his mouth. The chocolate flavor exploded, it was almost as if being around Derek heightened his senses.
Spencer had read a couple of novels highlighting intimacy among two people, most of which was graphically detailed, yet still could not comprehend how it worked. Spencer hadn't even had his first kiss yet, before the events of last night. As a child, due to his intellectual abilities, was seen as quite a bit of a… nerd, per se. The girls always ran away from him, and the boys wouldn't dare be seen around him. Spencer was never bothered by any of this, until a boy named Matthew befriended him, and soon found out Spencer was gay. He didn't think it was obvious, but the moment Mattie stepped into his room, it was apparent. He had hung up posters of certain political and scientific figures, most of which were men. Matthew assumed and quickly left.
Spencer didn't trust anyone after that rate. He had never come out of the closet to his family, especially not his mom. He knew that she would accept him endlessly, but didn't want to deal with the constant episodes of her back and forth behavior. If he told her, she might accept him one minute but call him a faggot the next. It was unfortunate for him. The only person he had come out to, really, was Emily. Emily had mentioned that she was unsure of her sexuality, but it was obvious she liked women. After that, he allowed people to assume. If someone thought he was gay, he was no longer embarrassed. If someone thought he was straight, he didn't mind either. However, he knew he was gay.
Derek quickly came back, holding a plate of multiple donuts and even a slice of toast with butter on it. On top of the butter was a pile of cinnamon sugar, a cinnamon sugar toast. Spencer had heard of this before, but never gotten around to trying it. He generally stuck with the same 5 foods: chicken tenders, fries, muffins, tortilla chips, and dry lucky charms. He was too nervous to break his habits, he didn't know if he would like the food or if the texture of it would make his mouth tingle.
He was interested in the fact that if Derek offered him a bite right now, he wasn't sure he would decline. He trusted Derek to not do anything that would hurt him, trusted him to help in case of it triggering an overload. Derek noticed the younger boy's stare at his slice of bread, and smiled slightly. "Do you want a bite? I love it too much to offer the whole slice, but you can have a bite. I don't mind."
Spencer swallowed the words that were his immediate reaction, "no, no thank you,"and instead nodded briefly. He knew he had to try new things at some point, and why not do it with someone he apparently trusts? He took the slice that Derek was holding out, and hesitantly clamped down on it. A burst of flavor exploded in his mouth, the nice mixture of sugar and cinnamon colliding, making his taste buds cry for joy. It didn't make his texture issues flare up, nor overwhelm him, but instead washed over him like a wave of sweetness.
Derek sat in silence, watching as the boy almost provoked tears in his eyes just from simply the deliciousness of it, or so he assumed. It was more to Spencer. It was comfort that he would be able to try new things, have new experiences, and not constantly be afraid. He didn't have to worry any longer. Shaking his head, he handed the piece of toast back with a smile.
Derek was in awe at the raw emotion of the boy, he had never seen anything like it. Of course he himself had experienced it, but yet refused to show anyone such a thing. He was inspired by Spencer's courage and strength to do so. He was unable to formulate a proper response for a moment, simply just staring at the brunette boy who stared right back. "Good, huh?" Derek finally jokes, taking his own bite of the toast. Most people would get mad about Derek being so lighthearted in such a serious moment, but Spencer laughed out loud.
"Yeah, it was pretty good. I normally do not eat such things, but perhaps I'll start." He shrugged, taking another bite of his muffin. It wasn't the same amount of euphoria as the toast, but it surely allowed for a bit as he continued thinking of his new found safe food. "You never answered my question though: Why are we here?" He cocked his head to the side, looking curiously at the boy opposing him.
The jock hesitated for a moment, unsure of the answer. He asked Spencer to breakfast on a whim, assuming the young genius would be up naturally. He himself would wake up at the crack of dawn to hit the gym before his morning classes started. It was difficult to do such a thing sometimes, but he always found a way to motivate himself. Surely, that was the reason he had invited Spencer to breakfast. He needed a new way to motivate himself to get out of bed besides exercise. He shrugged slightly, taking a bite of his food. "Listen, I'm sorry about last night. I'm sure that made you uncomfortable, which would never be my intention. I did it on a whim, you were the closest person, I didn't want to reach over anyone."
Spencer's heart sank for a moment, although he quickly batted away the disappointment. Of course Derek didn't want to kiss him to actually kiss him, it was just easiest for him. He had to give him credit for being so confident in his masculinity to do such a thing like kissing a boy while straight. "Yes, of course." The younger boy replied, his voice wavering a bit as he responded. Derek wasn't sure if he should comment on the fact that he watched Spencer's face fall, and immediately felt awful.
He knew it was an excuse, but also knew he didn't deserve the younger boy. "But, even though it was like that, I gotta get to know everyone I kiss. It's protocol. So, Spencer, tell me about yourself." The brunette shrugged, beginning to drop a bunch of information.
He couldn't focus on what he was saying, he was too focused on Derek's hurtful words, "it's protocol." How often had he done this?
Derek tried his best to comprehend the info Spencer was giving him, but couldn't get over the hurt filling Spencer's normally bright eyes.
He was an asshole.