END OF WEEK TWO

"How's this pose, Birdy?" Gilbert grinned, flexing as he stretched out seductively on his bed. Matthew got slightly flustered.

"Fine, if you can hold it for an hour."

Gilbert nodded very seriously. "Anything for my sexiness to be shared. The world deserves it. My biceps are humanity's saviors."

They both broke out laughing. "Alright, if you really think so. Gotta admire that optimism."

"Aw, c'mon Birdy, y'know you love me." Gilbert winked. "Bet that's why you get me to model for you every day."

Matthew turned bashfully crimson. "No it isn't!"

"Aw, really? Too bad, you'd make a cute wife, keseseses!"

Matthew's face flared scarlet, and his eyes nearly popped out of his face. "Wife? W-where did that come from?"

"Well, you're innocent and shy and easily flustered and super cute... and you're a great cook. You'd make an awesome bride, don't you think?"

Matthew buried his face in his sketchpad. "You're so weird," he groaned, his voice muffled.

"Okay then, how about I be your wife? I mean, we're already living together and I do most of the cleaning anyway."

Matthew laughed, his face even redder. "Gil, no offense, but you don't exactly have feminine charms."

Gilbert gasped. "I am insulted, Birdy! I have charms of all sorts!" He winked, nudging Matthew in the ribs as he added, "Not to mention, I look sexy in anything. Maid costume, nurse uniform, bride outfit, you name it, I can pull it off."

Matthew snorted loudly and slapped his hand over his face a little too hard. "Ow. Oops." Gil's phone buzzed loudly, and Gilbert flipped it open.

"Gilbert! It's an emergency! I'm invoking the bro code!" Alfred shouted over his music as Gilbert held the phone away from his ear and winced.

"Okay, man! You can count on me!" He screeched back as Alfred also held his phone away and winced. He hung up, grinning. "Sorry, Birdy, gotta fly." He ruffled Matthew's hair and ran out of the dorm room.

Matthew sighed. "Al, you suck."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Alfred was still reading at a steady pace. Toris was surprised, both at the way he raced through the books and his growing excitement while reading them. This week he read:

Sunday – Beowulf

Monday – The Odyssey, The Canterbury Tales

Tuesday – Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Wednesday – Crime and Punishment

Thursday to Friday – Don Quixote

Friday to Saturday – Gone With the Wind

Today he had begun the Sherlock Holmes series and was glued to the book. After a while, he gasped as though he remembered something and then made a rather loud phone call to Gilbert. Before he could get distracted again, Toris cleared his throat. "Hey. Alfred."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I haven't seen you doing any homework lately. How are you doing in your classes?"

Alfred laughed. "Aw, don't worry about that. It's fine."

How was it fine? "You know, university is very different from high school. It requires a lot more effort, and there are assignments, tests... Don't you have any of those to do?"

Alfred shrugged. "Tests are no big deal. As long as I pay attention in class, I'll be fine. I'm a fast reader, so I can just skim the textbook. And assignments take me, like, literally no time flat. I type fast. So relax, man!" He patted Toris on the back, but his roommate just furrowed his brow.

"I'm starting to see a pattern in your behavior. I'm quite worried about you."

Toris leapt a foot in the air as Gilbert burst in the door loudly screaming, "Here comes the Bromobile! Choo Choooo!" as he ran towards Alfred in a childish, plane-flying-motion.

"That's a train noise, you fool!" Alfred shouted, offended. "And why the hell does the Bromobile fly?"

"Because it flies!" Gilbert shouted back defensively. Toris put in his earplugs, sighing and massaging his temples.

Alfred stroked his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Touché, my worthy rival."

They both grinned and embraced firmly before jumping up and bumping chests to initiate a secret handshake that began with a bro-fist, had some sort of Irish step dance in the middle along with a sassy finger snap, and ended with ferocious back-to-back shimmying. Toris recalled the first time he had seen this handshake; he had called for an ambulance because he thought they were having seizures near the end. For two popular athletes, they weren't very good dancers, and for the most part their "sweet moves" consisted of flailing about, similar to a person drowning, but above water.

"Man, we are so damn awesome!" Gilbert shouted with gusto, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Hell yeah!" Alfred screamed, high-fiving his friend. He then gasped. "Oh yeah, bro! I almost forgot why I called you here!"

"Sorry," Gilbert replied dramatically, flinging a hand over his forehead like a distressed maiden, "I distracted you with my awesomeness again."

Alfred snorted and grinned. "Yeah, sure. I'll get over it. Anyway, dude, can you go scope out Ivan for me today? Apparently my brother's a home wrecker so you're my best bet." He clasped his hands around Gilbert's. "I'm counting on you, bro! Don't let me down!"

Toris sighed to himself, wondering why these guys didn't realize they were actually total dorks, as he attempted to do his homework over Alfred's loud music. How he could read at the speed of light with this noise blaring he'd never know.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave me a review on your thoughts from this chapter!

Thanks to Anon990 for editing!