Dorm Room 220

2:57pm

Tuesday, 4th of August

Matthias Køhler knew Copenhagen even more than he knew himself. He had lived in the city for all 20 years of his life, and it never got boring to him.

To be fair, he usually went on big holidays with his friends, so he was only in the university when he had to be. He was never usually home.

Matthias usually loved school. He got to see friends; study cool subjects and had many opportunities to study in different countries.

But this year was seriously testing him.

You know in school where you get those competitions in certain subjects?

Well they did the same in this school, and Matthias had entered a photography competition, as it would REALLY boost his grades, by a ton. The competition involved taking photos of your muse and explaining to thousands of students as to why you picked that specific thing.

Well, Matthias had nothing.

It's not like he wasn't inspired by anything, but a muse was one thing, and there wasn't one thing that meant the most to him. Not yet anyway.

If he had a girlfriend he would probably enter photos of her. But he didn't have one. It's not like Matthias wasn't attractive. Hell, girls asked him out all the time. But he just… didn't feel very drawn towards anyone.

Photography students usually picked anything they found interesting to take photos of, but Matthias did the same with people. Anyone interesting drew him forward.

No girl had ever done that to him, and he had no idea why.

All his friends had girlfriends; some had lasted for years before university. But he had not been out with a girl since he was fourteen. It was really complicated, and Matthias couldn't even explain it himself. It was almost like he needed someone else to tell him what was wrong. It stressed him out probably more than it should've, and along with schoolwork, Matthias was always forced away from studying.

Matthias liked partying. More than partying, Matthias liked being drunk, as sad as it sounds. He liked forgetting everything for one night, so he didn't even have to care anymore.

His only anchor to staying sober for at least one night was Berwald.

All of his friends were great, but Gilbert loved to drink a lot and Ned smoked anything he could get his hands on at parties. It makes them sound like druggies and alcoholics. They only did that stuff at parties but Matthias was brought into it, almost every night.

If he didn't want into it, then Berwald was usually around campus for him. He was a normal guy, and that was exactly what Matthias needed at that point, a goddamned normal person.

Matthias usually spoke about all his feelings to Berwald, for the simple reason that he could trust him. The guy was quiet, some would say shady, but Matthias didn't think badly of him. The guy was a secret softie, treating his small boyfriend like a wife. Matthias found it cute, the way he cared for Tino. He wanted to care for someone like Berwald did.

Berwald had tried to set him up with people but Matthias always ended up pushing the date away. He just wasn't interested.

Matthias was cut out of his thoughts by a soft knock on the door.

He stood up, stumbling over his messy clothes and reaching the door. He opened it up to a smaller girl, with mousy hair and a cute face. It took Matthias a while to realize who it was.

"Laura?" He cocked an eyebrow and leant against the doorframe.

"Hello Matthias. Ned told me to give this to you. He seemed very serious about it so…" She smiled and handed him the box that had a note from Ned attached to it.

"Thanks Laura…" He sighed and was about to close the door on her, but stopped.

"Hey, Laura. Are you free tomorrow night?" He asked. The girl turned and shrugged.

"I think so. What were you thinking?" She asked, cocking her head, a bit like a dog that didn't understand what he was saying.

"I don't know. Maybe drinks at seven or something? Tomorrow night. Just at the bar on campus, the one that just opened recently. You don't even have to dress nice, because you're pretty the way you are. I mean you could wear a hoodie and-."

"Matthias. I get it. I'll dress however I want. I'll see you at seven. Don't be late." The girl nodded while Matthias laughed. She turned and left.

Matthias shut the door and sighed. What the hell just happened? Why did he do that? He didn't want Laura to just be like all the other girls, just another rejection. Laura was just so nice, and he knew she would just end up with the rest.

What the hell was wrong with him?