Adam checked his hair, not once, but twice in the mirror, before grabbing his hat and heading out into the hallway, where his suite mates awaited him.
"You primped your hair so you could put a hat on, seriously," Nick laughed jokingly.
Adam blushed.
"You ready for some dinner?" Dave asked, as he dug around his pocket to find his key to lock the door.
"Totally, I'm starving," Adam smiled, shoving his own hands into his pockets, for a lack of a better place to put them.
"Hey where's James?" Dave asked, noticing there was only three of them.
"He went off with some girls from upstairs," Adam shrugged, "I don't know."
"Whatever," Nick rolled his eyes, and he opened the door to the stairwell. They may have lived on the 7th floor, but there was no way they were going to take the elevator down when they could just as easily take the stairs down. Going up, however, may be a different story.
The boys chatted harmlessly, talking about their high schools from back home, and what they did. Nick seemed to be the one who would most readily adapt to life at Loyola. It was discussed that Adam was not a party-er by any means, and would spend most of his time studying. Dave agreed to that by saying he too would rather stay home then go get drunk, but he probably wouldn't spend all his time studying. More like playing video games or watching movies. Nick, on the other hand, one could see he liked the ladies, a lot. He said hi to almost every girl that passed. But overall Nick was a good guy, Adam could see they would get along, pending Adam telling the others his secret.
It wasn't a secret per say, it was just something he wasn't willing to share right away. He wanted to test the waters first, get to know their mentality.
But he wasn't sure. He told the Ducks a year ago, only because he was sick of them trying to fix him up with girls. They accepted him, but they never found out about him and Charlie, nor did they find out about Guy. To them, Adam was just Banks, a homosexual with no life. And Adam liked it that way.
The place for dinner was extraordinarily busy. It was supposed to be out on the Quad, but the threat of rain pushed it indoors, and everyone ended up on the 4 floors of the student center. Adam and his roommates were happy with floor two.
He stood in line, waiting patiently for his turn at the hamburgers. He was definitely a fan of hamburgers. He loved red meat. He grabbed some salad to go along with his hamburger, as well as some fruit. He was the first to finish collecting his food and drink, and sat at the table first.
"Mind if I take a seat?" a vaguely familiar voice asked.
Adam looked up, but not at the speaker, and saw there were plenty of seats at the table.
"Go for it," Adam said, turning back to his food. He sipped his water.
The guest took the seat right next to Adam, and even managed to scoot a bit closer to him.
Jesus, Adam could be damn right oblivious when he wanted to.
"Adam," the guest whispered.
"How do you kn-" Adam looked up right into the eyes of his best friend Guy, "Holy shit, Guy," he whispered.
"Hey," he said, like it was nothing.
Just then, Dave and Nick sat down.
"Hey, I'm Dave," he introduced himself, "This is Nick. We're suite mates of Adam's."
"I'm Guy," he flashed a grin, and reached over the table for a handshake.
Adam could not stop staring. Guy, who always had a fair complexion, had come back slightly tan, or, with color at least. He had gotten a hair cut, then again, it'd been three months. He looked a bit more leaner than before, and Adam vaguely wondered if being held by him would feel different.
"Wait, Guy," Adam cut his own thoughts short, "I thought you were going to University of Minnesota?"
"You two know each other?" Nick asked.
"Yea, we went to high school together," Guy nodded.
"Only I didn't know you were coming here," Adam took a bite out of his hamburger, in sudden anger. Why was he mad? Guy was here, in front of him, in the flesh, and he was angry? That just didn't seem right.
The rest of the dinner, the boys chatted nicely. Well, Dave, Nick, and Guy chatted nicely, and Justin too, Guy's roommate, once he joined the mix. Adam was moody however, and only made small little quips when he felt the need.
When dinner ended, Guy and Adam quickly exchanged where each other were living and phone extensions, and made plans to meet later that night.
"Adam, where are you going?" Dave looked up from the TV as Adam passed through the small common room towards the door.
"Remember my friend from dinner, the one I went to high school with?"
Dave nodded, going back to the baseball game. It was an Oriole/Yankee game.
"Yo, Jeter up yet?" Nick yelled from the room where he was changing into his pajamas.
"Not yet. Some other guy is up," Dave yelled back.
Adam smiled, "Well, we're gonna go meet up. I'll be back later," he nodded, and opened the door and slipped out. He looked at his watch. It was 10:15, they were going to meet at 10:30. He was excited. He had butterflies in his stomach.
He couldn't remember the last time he felt this giddy. It was only Guy.
He had a long time to think about where he stood with Guy over the summer. And when it came down to it, Adam was infatuated with Guy. He had every right to be, after what they shared. He was hurt when he begged Guy to stay and Guy left anyway, but he understood where Guy was coming from. Guy wanted to make sure it was worth it. Guy had a lot weighing on this. If being with Adam meant he was gay or bisexual or whatever, Guy was for it. But he didn't have the desire to be with other guys, just Adam. But he was willing to take whatever repercussions would come from being with Adam. Adam knew all this, Guy told him. And Adam had all summer to mull this over in his mind. He had come to decision as well.
Adam loved Guy. Yea, he knew he said it before, that he told Guy before. But he meant it now. He wanted to spend forever with Guy. It took him only a week to realize that Guy was the one for him. He felt it. He felt whole, more so then he did with Charlie.
When he saw Guy at dinner, he wanted to jump into his lap and shower him with kisses. But that had to wait - they needed to talk first.
Adam sat down on the bench by Beatty Hall. That was their meeting place. He was a few minutes early, but he didn't mind. It gave him time to enjoy the night in Maryland. It was warmer now then it had been all summer in Minnesota.
"Still a stargazer?" Guy asked from beside him.
Adam didn't notice that he had even sat down.
"Some things don't change."
"It hasn't been that long."
"Still, some things don't change," Adam looked over at him, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to surprise you," Guy looked down at his hands, them folded neatly in his lap.
"You sure did surprise me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Adam said softly, "It was the best surprise I'd ever gotten. Here I was thinking I wasn't going to see you till Christmas break, Thanksgiving if I'm lucky, and you pop up next to me at dinner? I could of cried."
"Adam," he awed.
"I love you Guy. I want you to know that you're not wasting your time. I'm ready for a relationship, I'm ready for us."
Guy turned to Adam, his eyes teary, "You mean that?"
"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't say it."
Guy swung his leg over and straddled the bench, pulling Adam in between his legs.
"You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words from you," Guy spoke softly, kissing Adam's temple.
"I need you Guy. The only thing that got me through this summer, and that was going to get me through this semester, was knowing at the end of it all, I'd get to see you. I love you," Adam was crying.
"I'm here now. Everything's going to be perfect," Guy tried to soothe him, smoothing out his hair, "We're together now and that's all that matters."
"You primped your hair so you could put a hat on, seriously," Nick laughed jokingly.
Adam blushed.
"You ready for some dinner?" Dave asked, as he dug around his pocket to find his key to lock the door.
"Totally, I'm starving," Adam smiled, shoving his own hands into his pockets, for a lack of a better place to put them.
"Hey where's James?" Dave asked, noticing there was only three of them.
"He went off with some girls from upstairs," Adam shrugged, "I don't know."
"Whatever," Nick rolled his eyes, and he opened the door to the stairwell. They may have lived on the 7th floor, but there was no way they were going to take the elevator down when they could just as easily take the stairs down. Going up, however, may be a different story.
The boys chatted harmlessly, talking about their high schools from back home, and what they did. Nick seemed to be the one who would most readily adapt to life at Loyola. It was discussed that Adam was not a party-er by any means, and would spend most of his time studying. Dave agreed to that by saying he too would rather stay home then go get drunk, but he probably wouldn't spend all his time studying. More like playing video games or watching movies. Nick, on the other hand, one could see he liked the ladies, a lot. He said hi to almost every girl that passed. But overall Nick was a good guy, Adam could see they would get along, pending Adam telling the others his secret.
It wasn't a secret per say, it was just something he wasn't willing to share right away. He wanted to test the waters first, get to know their mentality.
But he wasn't sure. He told the Ducks a year ago, only because he was sick of them trying to fix him up with girls. They accepted him, but they never found out about him and Charlie, nor did they find out about Guy. To them, Adam was just Banks, a homosexual with no life. And Adam liked it that way.
The place for dinner was extraordinarily busy. It was supposed to be out on the Quad, but the threat of rain pushed it indoors, and everyone ended up on the 4 floors of the student center. Adam and his roommates were happy with floor two.
He stood in line, waiting patiently for his turn at the hamburgers. He was definitely a fan of hamburgers. He loved red meat. He grabbed some salad to go along with his hamburger, as well as some fruit. He was the first to finish collecting his food and drink, and sat at the table first.
"Mind if I take a seat?" a vaguely familiar voice asked.
Adam looked up, but not at the speaker, and saw there were plenty of seats at the table.
"Go for it," Adam said, turning back to his food. He sipped his water.
The guest took the seat right next to Adam, and even managed to scoot a bit closer to him.
Jesus, Adam could be damn right oblivious when he wanted to.
"Adam," the guest whispered.
"How do you kn-" Adam looked up right into the eyes of his best friend Guy, "Holy shit, Guy," he whispered.
"Hey," he said, like it was nothing.
Just then, Dave and Nick sat down.
"Hey, I'm Dave," he introduced himself, "This is Nick. We're suite mates of Adam's."
"I'm Guy," he flashed a grin, and reached over the table for a handshake.
Adam could not stop staring. Guy, who always had a fair complexion, had come back slightly tan, or, with color at least. He had gotten a hair cut, then again, it'd been three months. He looked a bit more leaner than before, and Adam vaguely wondered if being held by him would feel different.
"Wait, Guy," Adam cut his own thoughts short, "I thought you were going to University of Minnesota?"
"You two know each other?" Nick asked.
"Yea, we went to high school together," Guy nodded.
"Only I didn't know you were coming here," Adam took a bite out of his hamburger, in sudden anger. Why was he mad? Guy was here, in front of him, in the flesh, and he was angry? That just didn't seem right.
The rest of the dinner, the boys chatted nicely. Well, Dave, Nick, and Guy chatted nicely, and Justin too, Guy's roommate, once he joined the mix. Adam was moody however, and only made small little quips when he felt the need.
When dinner ended, Guy and Adam quickly exchanged where each other were living and phone extensions, and made plans to meet later that night.
"Adam, where are you going?" Dave looked up from the TV as Adam passed through the small common room towards the door.
"Remember my friend from dinner, the one I went to high school with?"
Dave nodded, going back to the baseball game. It was an Oriole/Yankee game.
"Yo, Jeter up yet?" Nick yelled from the room where he was changing into his pajamas.
"Not yet. Some other guy is up," Dave yelled back.
Adam smiled, "Well, we're gonna go meet up. I'll be back later," he nodded, and opened the door and slipped out. He looked at his watch. It was 10:15, they were going to meet at 10:30. He was excited. He had butterflies in his stomach.
He couldn't remember the last time he felt this giddy. It was only Guy.
He had a long time to think about where he stood with Guy over the summer. And when it came down to it, Adam was infatuated with Guy. He had every right to be, after what they shared. He was hurt when he begged Guy to stay and Guy left anyway, but he understood where Guy was coming from. Guy wanted to make sure it was worth it. Guy had a lot weighing on this. If being with Adam meant he was gay or bisexual or whatever, Guy was for it. But he didn't have the desire to be with other guys, just Adam. But he was willing to take whatever repercussions would come from being with Adam. Adam knew all this, Guy told him. And Adam had all summer to mull this over in his mind. He had come to decision as well.
Adam loved Guy. Yea, he knew he said it before, that he told Guy before. But he meant it now. He wanted to spend forever with Guy. It took him only a week to realize that Guy was the one for him. He felt it. He felt whole, more so then he did with Charlie.
When he saw Guy at dinner, he wanted to jump into his lap and shower him with kisses. But that had to wait - they needed to talk first.
Adam sat down on the bench by Beatty Hall. That was their meeting place. He was a few minutes early, but he didn't mind. It gave him time to enjoy the night in Maryland. It was warmer now then it had been all summer in Minnesota.
"Still a stargazer?" Guy asked from beside him.
Adam didn't notice that he had even sat down.
"Some things don't change."
"It hasn't been that long."
"Still, some things don't change," Adam looked over at him, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted to surprise you," Guy looked down at his hands, them folded neatly in his lap.
"You sure did surprise me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Adam said softly, "It was the best surprise I'd ever gotten. Here I was thinking I wasn't going to see you till Christmas break, Thanksgiving if I'm lucky, and you pop up next to me at dinner? I could of cried."
"Adam," he awed.
"I love you Guy. I want you to know that you're not wasting your time. I'm ready for a relationship, I'm ready for us."
Guy turned to Adam, his eyes teary, "You mean that?"
"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't say it."
Guy swung his leg over and straddled the bench, pulling Adam in between his legs.
"You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words from you," Guy spoke softly, kissing Adam's temple.
"I need you Guy. The only thing that got me through this summer, and that was going to get me through this semester, was knowing at the end of it all, I'd get to see you. I love you," Adam was crying.
"I'm here now. Everything's going to be perfect," Guy tried to soothe him, smoothing out his hair, "We're together now and that's all that matters."