Chapter Seventeen

Double D's eyes drifted open a few minutes before five, right on schedule. He always was an early riser, so training himself to get up around this time hadn't been the most difficult thing in the world. He opted out of an invasive and noisy alarm clock in consideration of his roommate, who was not an early riser. Not at all.

He snaked himself out of his bed and tip-toed over to the shared armoire and retrieved his bathrobe, towel, and the toiletries necessary for a shower. He also slipped into a pair of shower sandals, careful to keep his noise to an absolute minimum as he carried out his morning routine. He shut the door to their room behind him and made his way to the boy's bathroom.

Despite being used to, and having adapted to dorm life, Double D was still the type who preferred to shower alone and have the time to himself. Some old habits were hard to shake after all, and it wasn't a terrible change of pace for the young man anyway. Very few of his peers were up at this hour and the bathroom was always vacant much to his delight. He slid into the tiled shower stall, drawing the curtain behind him, and hung both his robe and towel on the complimentary hooks.

He turned the aged knobs of the exposed pipework causing hot water to cascade down over him and steam gathered and filled the stall, some of it pouring out of the top and small openings the curtain left and it spilled out into the cold bathroom. He didn't often partake in exposing his head for a multitude of reasons, and all of those were his, but that morning he wanted to feel the hot water pour through his hair and over his body, so he discarded his shower cap and stepped under the deluge, reveling in the feeling.

He let a sigh of relief out as his body began to warm up. It was cold outside the stall, winter still having the region in its cold clutches. This was what he needed. This was how he both relaxed and prepared himself for the day ahead. During his time here he would create a mental checklist for himself going over everything he needed to do, what he would be doing, and his expectations for how much he would get done. This was something that caused so many others stress, but to him, it was therapeutic to create a game plan as it were.

A sound disturbed him as he began to lather himself with his sponge luffa, the suds of the soap coated his small frame as the hot water fell behind him. He stopped what he was doing and listened. Nothing. "Hello?" he called out but received no response. He entertained the idea of donning his shower cap again, better to be safe than sorry after all, but decided against it. Wanting to stand under the water and feel it move over him again. It would loosen his tense muscles, relax him, and wake up every molecule for the day ahead.

When he felt arms encircle him from behind followed by bare flesh pressing against his he almost leaped out of his skin. To say his entire body stiffened would have been an understatement as he bared his teeth and froze. He felt her lips decorate his shoulders and the back of his neck with light kisses as the hot water rained down and the steam welled around them.

"Marie?" he sputtered out, trembling beneath her embrace despite the hot water heating his body. He knew it was her, it had to be. No one else was that brazen or interested in him for that matter. He must have made more noise than he thought that morning and fought off the urge to apologize for his rudeness. There was a time and a place after all.

"Hiya, Dreamboat. Miss me?" she asked.

"Marie!" he said again. This time louder and more forceful, but to no avail, as she tightened her embrace.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." she taunted. He could feel the devilish grin as it spread its way across her face like a snake slithering through the grass. Ready to strike.

"Marie this is hardly appropriate!" he gasped out.

She loosened her grasp on him and he capitalized by breaking out of her arms and turning to face her. She stood there staring at him, a confident expression on her face, "Like you really want me to leave." she challenged as her eyes flicked down from his eyes and back to them, her Cheshire grin only growing, causing Double D to be reminded of his nudeness.

His eyes widened and his grip on the sponge tightened. Her silky hair was darkened by the water giving it the appearance of being a few shades darker than the vibrant blue it was. It clung to the side of her face and her makeup from the day before was running. She also forget to wipe it off every night. The dark eyeliner she wore like war paint dripped down from her eyes as the steam enveloped her. Her pale skin glistened from the water and the low lighting from outside the stall.

His mouth fell agape as he stared. He couldn't help himself. Ever since Halloween night, he had been admiring her beauty more and more. He would deny his baser emotions and push them down, telling himself he should focus on his studies over these sorts of things, and remind himself of who he was observing. It was still Marie Kanker. Even if she had grown up to be quite an attractive woman who continued to impress him and they had both agreed that the past was behind them. Even if his attraction to her was growing stronger and in their current situation he couldn't hide behind any sort of innocence, something Marie had taken note of judging by her growing grin.

She took a step closer to him, less than an arm's reach away at this point. Her expression dropped, as he watched the fire flicker behind her eyes. She was panting and he could have sworn it had such an intensity to it he could feel it past the heat of the shower. She stared into his eyes as the water cascaded through her hair and down her body and Double D could only stare back as he found himself in the same state.

What was he doing? He should be screaming or fighting or running. He should be getting away from her like he had down so many times before. She wasn't holding him down or preventing his departure. But, as he stood there, enamored by her, he found not only could his feet not move, or his mouth not form coherent arguments, but that he had no desire to do so. Her beauty had enraptured him. For the longest time Double D had heard the stories of attraction both from his peers and from various works of fiction, poetry being the one that played the most on his mind, but he had never felt the magic that had prompted those words. Never knew this feeling that filled him and made him forget that his feet were grounded.

She bit her lip, and all bets were off. He could no longer deny the chemical cocktail that clouded his vision more than the steam and made him dizzy on his feet. She was a beautiful young woman, that fact no one would disagree with, but there was so much more to her than physical attributes. She was passionate and caring. She was easy to talk to and understanding. She knew what he had been through and on some sick cosmic level, she had been through so much of the same as he had been. Neglectful parents. Alienation from their peers. The ever mounting feeling of doing what others expected.

Yes, that was something she both knew and understood, having voiced that insecurity to him regarding her college performance. She thought she was worthless because that was the expectation that was set on her. Because of her situation, because of what others said, because of a lot of things. But none of them were her. He understood that just like she understood it from his perspective. Everyone had expectations for him. That he would go on to be something great. Someone amazing. Because of his situation, because of what others said.

It took a lot of convincing for his parents to allow him to attend such a low level college when the highest echelon was knocking on his door. But he wanted to be with his friends. He wanted to squeeze every ounce he could out of this while he was able. But no one would get that. No one other than her. They were the same. Like two images from a mirror. Different in the conditions of the reflection, but still all the same.

Before the logical side of his brain could reject him, he moved forward and closed the gap between them. Time seemed to slow down as he inched his head forward and into the embrace of hers. He watched as her eyes closed and her lips puckered, ready for the contact that she had sought for so long from the young man. At that moment he understood that maybe it was something he had sought on his own for some time.

Double D's eyes shot open, and he woke with a start. He took a few heavy breaths as he scanned his surroundings. He was still in his dorm room, still in his bed wearing his pajamas. Sweat poured down his body and soaked through his nightwear. He threw the covers off of him and planted his feet on the carpeted floor, as he swung himself into a sitting position.

He put his head in his hands as he processed everything that had happened to him. It was a dream. He knew that much. But it had seemed so real. The feelings, the imagery, all of it seemed like he had lived through that. Vivid dreams weren't unusual for him, often in the past, he had dreamt of experiments, award ceremonies, and even the occasional outing with his friends. But those were always so grounded, so tame. This had been raw, hot, and sexual. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to look up and at his roommate across from him. Sure enough, she laid there, wrapped in a blanket with her back to him. A light snore was the only sound audible in the room. It was cute, he noted.

He shook himself from his thoughts the moment he realized a smile was working its way across his lips as he watched her. He forced himself to turn away. What was happening to him? Of course, he knew. But he was afraid of it and the implications. He was developing romantic feelings for Marie Kanker and they were becoming harder and harder to ignore.

"Oh dear…" he whispered to himself.

AN: Sorry for the delay, but we're back to our regularly scheduled programing now. This chapter was of course inspired by the phenomenal art by bloochikin/Najja Porter. Definitely check them out if you're unfamiliar.