"Wake up or I'm eating all your licorice."

I smiled and rolled over to see Charlie sitting on Guy's vacated bed, his hand in my packet of red licorice.

"Hey," I protested and sat up, rubbing my eyes. "That's my favourite candy you got there. Don't force me to get possessive."

In response, he shoved another piece into his mouth. "I know it's your favourite."

I mock-glared at him, and threw back my covers, pouncing on him.

"Share?" I pouted, opening my mouth to him.

He dropped a piece of licorice in and then placed a kiss on my lips as I chewed.

"Sleep ok?" he asked.

I nodded. "Better than I have in maybe…five years."

Charlie rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious."

He put the bag of candy aside and leaned forward and hugged me. "I'm happy."

I smiled. "Why is that?"

"Because I have you."

I smiled again and hugged him tightly before letting go. I noticed he was already dressed.

"You need help getting dressed?" Charlie asked innocently, putting my bag of licorice away.

"I have to have a shower, but I can do that on my own," I told him, fetching a plastic bag and stick tape. "Make yourself useful and put this on."

He helped me on with the bag, and stuck it to my arm, planting a quick kiss on my lips. "Go shower and then we'll go to breakfast."

I did as I was told and showered quickly, managing to dress myself with minimal help.

"You ready?" I asked as I combed my hair.

Charlie nodded.

We exited my room and started down the hall. I reached for Charlie's hand but he pulled away, choosing instead to put his hands in his pockets.

Ok…

We made our way into the cafeteria and sat down, quickly joined by Julie, Portman and Fulton.

"Hey guys," Julie said.

I smiled at her. "Hey Jules."

"You seem good," Julie commented, ripping the lid off her yoghurt.

I nodded. "I feel good." I looked for Charlie's hand under the table, my hand landing on his thigh. He jumped like he was burnt. He shot me a look and moved his chair away from me.

I ate my toast in silence, confused and a little bit hurt that Charlie could so easily blow me off once we were in public.

Julie kicked me under the table and I looked up at her.

"After breakfast," I said softly, draining my juice.

Without fail, Julie grabbed my arm after we'd eaten and practically dragged me out into the morning sunshine.

"So?"

I half-smiled. "Charlie spent the night."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "You didn't…did you?"

I blushed. "That's none of your business…but no, we didn't."

She smiled. "So, why the face?"

I shrugged. "Ever since we left my room last night, he won't touch me, or even look at me. It's like he doesn't want anyone to know."

She clicked her tongue. "Maybe he's nervous? Or scared?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought so too, but…I mean, he would've said something."

She put an arm around my shoulder. "Well, good luck Adam. I'm happy this is finally happening."

I smiled and gave her a hug, seeing Charlie over her shoulder. That was all well and good, but was anything actually happening?

**

~|~ Sunday, 12:02

So, Charlie and I are an item. Or at least we are behind closed doors. I mean, don't get me wrong, I couldn't be happier to finally have him, but it seems like that we're only together when no one else can see.

After I'd talked to Julie, Charlie made some lame excuse about studying with Fulton and took off, much to my dismay. What's with him? What happened to the loveable, affectionate Charlie Conway I woke up to this morning? Am I suddenly not good enough for him? Man, I'm nervous. Like, more than usual, I'm pacing while writing this, so I doubt this is even legible.

Why doesn't Charlie want to scream about us from the rooftops like I do? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??? How can he say he loves me when he doesn't want to be with me?

Should I go find him? I want to. I want to talk to him, find out what the hell is going on, because I don't wanna waste my time on him if he's just playing with my feelings.

But God, I love him so much. When I held him last night, everything seemed to fall into place, but considering my bad luck, I should've known that everything was too good to be true. I can hear something outside my door. I better go.

Adam D. Banks

**

"Hey," I said softly as Charlie came in.

"Hi," he said brightly, coming over to me, his arms out.

"Wait."

He stopped short, a troubled look on his face. "What's the matter?"

"Why won't you let me touch you?"

Charlie's face broke out into a grin. "You can touch me all you want."

I shook my head. "In public. This morning you wouldn't let me hold your hand or anything. What's going on?"

Charlie looked away, pink crawling into his cheeks. "I'm just…nervous, that's all. I like you a lot, Adam."

I sighed. "I like you a lot too, Charlie. But you let me kiss you and touch you when no one's around, but as soon as we're in public, you avoid me like the plague."

Charlie moved forward. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I guess I'm still confused, not about us, but about this whole gay thing. I kept assuring myself I was straight for so long, and now…I'm not. And it's freaking me out."

I looked into his eyes and my heart melted. "I'm sorry. I'm being insecure and stupid, I didn't even think about how you felt."

He pulled me against his strong chest. "I love you. Never doubt that."

I smiled and hugged him tight. "You ok? I mean, we don't have to tell people about us yet if you don't want."

He let me go and smiled. "I want to. I really do. I want to print it in the newspaper and hand out flyers…I just want to take things slow…I mean, look at us, it's like we're an old couple. Sleeping in the same bed, saying 'I love you'…I mean, don't get me wrong, I do love you, it's just gone from nothing to everything and I'm a little intimidated."

I smiled and stroked his cheek. "I though I was the only one. I'm scared outta my mind that I'm gonna screw this up," I admitted.

He kissed my forehead. "I just want to take it slow. You know, have a couple of dates…things like that. Last night, I think we got too caught up in everything…it was a bit daunting."

I cuddled into him, my body warm all over. "Yeah, I think so too. But, there's no denying how hot you make me."

Charlie laughed. "You don't exactly turn me off either."

I blushed a little. This conversation would only lead us into making out.

He let me go a bit and leant his head down, kissing me softly.

I responded gently to his kiss, not wanting to force anything.

He was right, we were jumping in too fast, and if we weren't careful, we'd sink instead of swim. But this felt right, taking things slow.

"You know, I think we should have a date tonight," Charlie said suddenly. "We'll go see a movie."

I smiled. "A, the date cliché. Dinner and a movie."

"Who said anything about dinner?"

I laughed. "You, Charlie Conway, are cheap."

He grinned. "I am. But you love me."

**

"So, 'Pearl Harbour' or 'Legally Blonde'?"

"How about… 'Legally Blonde'?"

Charlie nodded. "Sure thing, babe." He slipped his hand into mine as we approached the ticket booth.

The feeling of being with him, uninhabited was exhilarating. I had a boyfriend. And I got to show him off to the world.

Well, maybe not the world, but Minneapolis, Minnesota was a start.

Charlie tugged on my hand as we moved into the theatre, it already dark, and took seats towards the back.

His arm nearly immediately curved around my shoulders, and we quickly got the armrest up and out of the way.

I cuddled into his side and felt safe and warm.

"Licorice…" I muttered, smiling to myself.

"Did you want licorice?" Charlie asked, looking at me.

I shook my head. "No. It's just that you smell like licorice."

"I do?"

I nodded. "Ever since I knew you, you always smelt a particular way. And there was always a smell I could never pick up on, but I realised the other day, yesterday, that it was licorice. You smell like my favourite candy."

Charlie smiled lovingly. "Hey, it's fate."

I smiled as the previews began to roll and lay my head back down on his shoulder.

His breath flew across my face each time he exhaled, and I'm pretty sure I didn't watch much of the movie. I was mesmerised by him. The way his body felt next to him, and his smell. And the way he traced patterns on my shoulder without realising it. It was the little things he did that reminded me just how much I love him.

"You want some popcorn?" Charlie whispered to me, about halfway through the movie.

"None for me, thanks," I said. "But I'll have licorice."

Charlie smiled. "You could just lick me?"

I blushed, thankful the theatre was dark. He always knew what to say to make me sexually uncomfortable.

"I'll just go with a bag, thanks," I said softly.

In the dark, Charlie sat up, fishing for his wallet in his pants. He moved to get up, but first surprised me with a hard kiss, his lips only lingering on mine for a minute before he exited our row and out the door.

I smiled to myself. Charlie was the sweetest most sensitive soul I'd ever known.

"Here you go," he said when he returned, dumping a bag of licorice in my lap.

"Thanks," I whispered as he sat down. I impulsively reached over and kissed his lips.

He smiled in the dark. "I need to do stuff for you more often."

I didn't say anything, just resumed my place on his shoulder.

The movie was good, although like I said, I didn't really watch much. I just reflected.

"Wasn't too bad, was it?" Charlie said as we strolled from the theatre, hand in hand, and as happy as can be.

"A bit…pink for my tastes." I smiled at him.

He gave me a wry look. "Adam, you're gay, pink is like our colour."

I laughed. "Maybe it's your colour, but it sure ain't mine!"

He laughed with me and placed a kiss on my temple as we walked through the nearly deserted streets of Minneapolis.

"This was fun," I said softly as we reached my car.

He nodded. "It was. We should go out on dates more often."

I threw him my keys and waited for him to unlock it.

"Uh, Adam. I'm not being responsible to drive your porche back to campus."

"My wrist hurts," I told him. "And anyway, I trust you."

He took a deep breath and hit the remote and the buttons popped up. I slipped in and did up my seatbelt.

Charlie started the engine and it roared to life.

"Just drive," I told him and he looked at me nervously.

He pulled out and we shot down the road.

"Man, this drives like crazy."

I laughed. "You're going good."

We careened down the streets of Minnesota, heading for campus.

I reached across the seats and laced my fingers with Charlie's.

"You can drive one-handed, can't you?" I asked him, a smile playing on my lips.

He shot me a look. "Yes, I can."

I smiled as we drove, our silence over the car like a comfortable blanket.

We pulled into campus 20 minutes later and Charlie expertly parked outside the dorms. We walked in hand-in-hand and stopped at my door.

"Ok," I swallowed. "You could come in, we could make out for a bit and you can have the spare bed, or we could part now, go back to our separate rooms and not be able to get to sleep because we're thinking about each other."

Charlie took a deep breath and pinned me to the door. "I'm opting for coming in. Only because that's the polite thing to do."

I smiled to myself and turned around, fumbling with the doorknob and finally getting it open and we quickly locked ourselves in, becoming a mass tangle of limbs as we clawed at each other, desperate for one another's kiss.

There are only two words that describe us: 'hot' and 'heavy'. We fell back onto what I thought was my bed, but which actually turned out to be the hard floor and I grunted as Charlie's weight landed on me.

"We are really getting out of hand," I told him as we lay on the carpet, panting.

He nodded. "I agree. Why is it that we can appear civilised in public but as soon as we're alone all I want to do is kiss you?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But if we keep going like this, we're gonna be doing the 'not sleeping together' thing a lot sooner than we want to."

Charlie took a deep breath. "If it means I get to kiss you…let's sleep together."

I chuckled. "You're just saying that because you want my body."

Charlie laughed. "You can see right through me…"

I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbow. "We're not sleeping together. Not tonight, and not for a while, but that doesn't mean we can't kiss…"

I punctuated my statement with said kiss.

Charlie pushed me away by the shoulders. "How about we just get into separate beds, then?"

I nodded, getting up and reaching down for Charlie.

He kissed me once he was standing. "'Night lover."