Netflix and Chill?| DM x FM |
College AU – will eventually be a two parter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Danny's p.o.v
Today is the first day of the semester and I am going to be getting a new roommate. I did have one before the semester started but they didn't like me for some reason, so they requested to move with one of their friends. My class will start before he gets here from what I have been told, so I will be meeting him after my first lessons of the day. I am a bit nervous that I am not going to be there to meet him. I think everything will be fine, they wouldn't put me with someone that would be horrible. I wanted to sleep in this morning, whoever thought a 9 am lecture on a Monday was a good idea needs firing on the spot. This is way too early for my brain to function properly and I'd much rather have a 10.30 am lecture at least.
At least I can say I don't have a hangover this morning like many of the other students I have seen stumbling around with sunglasses on trying to walk in a straight line to their lectures. Some are even still drunk from the night before. Why they decided to do this the night before their courses start, I don't know but it is their mistake to make. I remember being told by my older brother whatever I did do not go and get drunk the night before the year starts. He's been through and graduated college himself, so he has a lot of tips he was more than happy to give me before I left for the next chapter of my life. I feel a little bit underprepared for today, but I am also half-awake so I might actually be just fine.
I am quickly learning that I am not a morning person. Well, part of me knew that already when getting up for high school in the morning felt like a chore. Like whom thought starting school before nine am for teenagers was a good idea? Whoever it was just wanted to see us suffer clearly. I wasn't helping myself though by sleeping in until 11 am on the weekends only to spend the next five days after getting up at 5 am or 6.30 if I was lucky. I would set an alarm and then wake up an hour before or sleep right through it. I was a little excited and nervous for this morning's lectures, so I have been on and off awake all night. By the time this evening comes I will be desperately ready for bed. That will not be good for whoever is my roommate.
Today seems to be a day full of first impressions and I am going to leave a bad impression on my new roommate I can just tell. Who would want to be roommates with someone like me? I know I would not want to be roommates with myself. Anyways enough of the negativity I have a lesson I am going to be late for if I keep having this conversation with myself in my head. I get my notebook and place it in my bag where my pencil case and lunch already were. I might be overprepared or seen as a nerd for showing up with a pencil case with a couple of pens and other things I might need and a notebook, but I am in debt for this. I am going to make the most of it. I chose the music course because I knew I would be the most interested in it.
The first lesson in my opinion is a little boring. It is a typical first day introduction, you have to stand up say your name and say something which you think might be interesting about yourself. Then the main professor goes through all the different topics we are going to be studying while we are doing this course. There is some slight differentiation when it comes to the fact that some people chose different subjects in the ones, we had a choice in than others. I only had to write down what was relevant to me not anyone else. They said we would be given our schedules in an email tomorrow and as we are all adults it is up to us to stick to it and turn up to our lessons on time. It is already different than high school.
Then it was straight into my second lesson which was going to take me all the way up till lunch time and I have no afternoon lectures, so I will go back to my dorm and see if my roommate is there. I think this lesson is just seeing where I am at skills wise with the guitar since I chose that as one of my subjects since I am already somewhat good at it. Since this lesson is more of a one to one then they can find out which areas they need to focus on with each student. I didn't know this was happening today, so I left my guitar in my dorm, but the teacher said it was fine and she wanted me to play on hers first anyway in case mine was out of tune. It probably needs to be tuned anyway because it has not been played in a couple of weeks.
Well it probably has been longer since I last played it and it most likely is out of tune. The main thing is that I managed to impress the teacher during that lesson because she said she was used to people being a lower level ability when it comes to these lessons like they want to learn something new. I just wanted to professionally be taught after years of teaching myself how to play. We couldn't really afford lessons when I was growing up, so this was the next best thing. She kinda didn't believe me at first that I was self-taught, but she went with it after she learned I was not the best at reading sheet music yet. That is something that I wanted to develop and the main reason why I chose guitar as one of my subjects.
It's a nice sunny day in Los Angeles, so when lunch time rolled around I went outside to go and find a nice tree to eat my lunch under. I checked my emails to find my schedule and I was happy to see I still didn't have any lessons scheduled for this afternoon. My side of the dorm needs tidying a little bit. It is not super messy, but it is messier than I would like it to be, and I am still worried I am not going to make a good first impression on my new roommate who probably would have moved in by now. I think everyone had lectures this morning and he probably would have wanted to move in before, so he didn't have to carry any boxes of belongings around with him all morning. That is unless he has a car and can store them in there for the meantime.
I decide that I can't procrastinate any longer and walk back to the dorm to see what is going on. If I am lucky enough then maybe I can get away with cleaning my side before he gets here. There is no such luck as I see the boxes in front of a door held open by another box. Well, I suppose offering to lend him a hand won't hurt. I knock on my own door which I guess is our door and I almost startled the man inside. Once he turned around to look at me my heart almost stopped. It was no secret to my family and close friends that I am gay and the man I am seeing in front of me is so god damn hot. I had to quickly compose myself so that it does not look like I am creepily drooling over some dude I just met.
He is tanned, but you could also tell it had a lot to do with some kind of Mexican heritage. He is well built and quite muscular. He's tall, maybe even slightly taller than I am but only by an inch or two. His hair is definitely longer than mine and way curlier. We stand for about a minute staring at each other. "Nice to meet you, I'm Danny. I guess I'm your new roommate," I tell him, being the one to take the first step and introduce myself. The man steps over a box and shakes my hand in a gentle, yet at the same time firm handshake. "Nice to meet you Danny. I'm Dylan and yeah we are roommates now," he says, and my god do I love the sound of his voice. I can't believe I have fallen head over heels for a man I just met.
I helped him with his boxes after I quickly tidied up my side of the dorm which took about five minutes at most. We were talking while I helped him get all moved in and we learned more about each other. Things like his birthday is April 11th and his favorite color is green whereas mine is red, and my birthday is the 21st of November. We are only 5 months apart in age which is less than I was expecting for some reason. I suppose at first glance he does look younger until you hear him talk then you know he is over 18. Sadly, we aren't doing the same course, but we have similar interests in music and in art which is good since it will give us something to talk about when we don't want to talk about any coursework we have.
He has one lesson this afternoon which he leaves for which gave me some time to call my best friend Kris and tell him all about my awesome new roommate. He was one of the first people that I came out to and has been supportive ever since. He is hoping to find a nice boy to set me up with, but I told him that I bet I could find one myself before he could. It didn't take long for him to answer the phone and I couldn't help but feel like a younger teen again as I lay on the bed waiting to tell him all about Dylan and how college is going so far. We are supposed to be a band with Stephen and Justin, but we aren't sure yet. I am going to see how far I can get with this course first and how confident I feel releasing songs.
Kris: So, how's the first day going?
Me: Really well… I met my new roommate today too.
Kris: He's hot isn't he? I can tell in your voice that something is going on.
Me: Yeah, maybe I think he's a bit hot.
Kris: Well go on then, spill the beans tell me all about him.
Me: He is tanned, but you could also tell it had a lot to do with some kind of Mexican heritage. He is well built and quite muscular. He's tall, maybe even slightly taller than I am but only by an inch or two. His hair is definitely longer than mine and way curlier.
Kris: And you've fallen head over heels for this guy haven't you?
Me: Yeah, but I highly doubt he is gonna be the same. He's one of those rich kids who have girls swooning at their every move.
Kris: I wouldn't be too sure on that, but I would take it easy. Get closer as friends first and see where that takes you.
Me: Yeah that was going to be my plan anyway. Don't think I want to scare him off especially when he had issues with his last roommate.
Kris: Fair point, it seems like you know what you are doing.
Me: When do I not know what I am doing?
Kris: A lot of the time.
Me: I wasn't looking for an actual answer you know.
Kris: I know, but I thought it might help.
Me: Yeah right, don't you have work to go to?
Kris: Oh shit yea, talk laters.
Me: Talk later.
I love Kris like a brother, but man can he be an idiot sometimes. At least I know for sure if Dylan and I ever do get together which seems unlikely, Kris will support us. I already knew he would support me no matter what which was what made me feel comfortable enough to come out to him. I came out to my family first, but my mother did that think that all mothers do which is like I already knew, I could tell since you were like 13 and just getting interested in relationships. It didn't matter to me because I had the main thing, I needed which was my parents love and support. As long as I have that nothing else matters. People can judge me all they want; I don't really care what they think about me. I'd not enjoy life as much if I dwelled on all the bad shit.
I was struggling to stay awake by the time Dylan came back from his lessons. I was sitting on my bed with Netflix on my laptop, but I could feel my eyes going. I definitely felt more awake when Dylan walked in though. My body is getting used to there being another person in here who can just walk in and out whenever they please because they live here too. "You alright there Danny?" he asks, and I nod as I get up and stretch. I need to start thinking about the plan for dinner and if Dylan wants any food too. "Yeah I was kinda falling asleep and forgot for a moment that you're here too," I tell him, and he chuckles. I am glad that I can be a source of humor and entertainment for him I guess. I close my laptop and move my shoes out of the way.
I had kicked them off like usual and realized now that Dylan could have tripped on them. "I think I wanna switch courses to yours, your professors sound way more interesting than mine," Dylan says once he puts his backpack down. I don't know his timetable but since we have similar courses we might have some of the same professors but not all of them obviously. "Was this one really that bad?" I ask. It doesn't hurt to try and find out more in case I have the same. He lets out a dramatic sigh and flops down on his bed. "My god she is the most boring person I have ever met in my life. She did the whole introduction thing then went straight into textbooks like I thought it was going to be more interesting," Dylan says, well that does sound rather boring.
"Oh my god that is just awful. I hope I don't have her. I've not actually met all my professors today just three. Well, technically two and my guitar teacher. The professors were all like yeah don't worry you're not always going to have nine am lectures and one even got on his desk when he was talking about the energy you need to have in a performance," I tell him. I am doing a mixture of how to record and make my own songs and how a good performer should be on stage. I am hoping that this course is going to help me with my eventual music career. "Wow that does sound better," Dylan tells me. I suppose this is the moment where I am supposed to tell my new friend that he should at least meet a few more professors before making the final decision.
"Well, this is where I am going to be that person and tell you that I think you should at least see who you meet tomorrow. You might only have this boring professor once a week and they rest of them are amazing. Have you checked your schedule yet?" I ask him. He has to think about it, I could see the cogs turn in his head. Then he gets his laptop out and after a few clicks and the sound of frantic button mashing I could tell what he was doing. "Not yet, I didn't think it had come through yet," he tells me, which is fair enough. I am planning on going to the library and printing out my schedule, so I have it on my wall to keep myself organized during my studies. I have a plan to stay organized and on top of my studies.
How well that plan will work out for me in the long run only time will tell. It could either work really well and I'd be completing work with time to spare or I get to the point where I am up all night the night before it is due in desperately trying to cram it all in to get it done on time because I will leave it to the last minute. I look at Dylan as he spends time looking at the email I am guessing that has his schedule in it. "I think you might be right; it looks like I only have her for a maximum of two lessons a week with her," he says, and I smile. If it is only two lessons a week with her then the rest of the lessons will make it more bearable. I know his parents are paying for it, but I don't know how they'd feel if he switched.
I also know that I don't personally know Dylan that well. I can't judge his families decisions on his future without actually knowing them first. I would rather get to know them first before I make any opinions on them. I feel that would be quite rude of me. "I was thinking about getting some pizza for dinner want some?" I ask him. It had been a while since our conversation about the professors and I knew I was getting rather hungry now. I went back to Netflix and had been watching more of the latest series I had been trying to catch up on some I had something to talk about. I knew it was something a lot of people had been watching it and it was a really highly rated show. I had enjoyed all that I had seen so far.
"Yeah, now that I think about it I am pretty hungry," Dylan replies, as I bring up the Domino's pizza website. My plan is to have it delivered to the dorm and that I was going to order myself a small pizza and I drink and then Dylan can choose whatever he wants, and I'll pay for it. He can argue about it as much as he wants it's my little welcome to being stuck with me gift. He can always buy dinner for us some other time. I quickly add to cart what I want for dinner then turn my laptop, so it faces Dylan. "Choose whatever you want, and I'll pay for it," I tell him, and he looks at me a little stunned. I don't think he was expecting this. I bet in his head he was half expecting me to want to take advantage of him.
"Are you sure?" he asks, and all I do in reply is nudge the laptop closer in his direction. I know his parents give him a lot of money, but I will never take advantage of a good friend like that. "I wouldn't have offered if I weren't sure. I don't want to be your friend just because you happen to be from a well off background," I tell him. That seemed to be enough to encourage him to pick up my little laptop and order his food. Then he hands it back to me so I can fill in the details like what dorm we are in and payment. Then I watch as the screen changes to the one where you get the little buddy on the screen who tracks your order and tells very bad pizza related jokes. I got it to come ASAP since we are both pretty hungry.
"Thanks Danny, you're the first person I have met here who hasn't instantly wanted money off me for something or other," Dylan tells me. That does not surprise me really, a lot of students here won't have that privilege of their parents paying for the entire duration of their courses like him. A lot of us will end up in debt for a very long time and will want someone like Dylan to take advantage of and to help ourselves along in a vicious selfish circle which leads poor Dylan with no real friends who care about him for him and not the $$$$ behind him. "You're welcome Dylan. I'm sorry that you have not had any real friends since coming to college, but I hope that changes now," I tell him. All I want is the best for my new friend that I possibly can get.
He was telling me all about his friend from high school called Jordon and that they were going to start a band together with a few of their other friends soon. That was awesome and I am glad he knows what he wants to do at the end of this. I am not jealous because I am going to be in a band myself soon enough and we can be healthy competition maybe. I doubt it though because from the sound of it we are going to be slightly different genres. By the time that conversation ended our pizzas had arrived. I gave Dylan his and sat on my bed to start eating mine. I am never usually the religious type, but my anxiety had me praying to whichever God was out there that I was doing alright with my friendship.
Every time I look at Dylan I am reminded of the little butterflies just lurking and waiting to spill my thoughts out. I am definitely developing romantic feelings towards him, but I know that I have to keep quiet about it especially since we don't know each other that well. I don't see one of the first topics of conversation over the next few days to be anything about sexual orientation at all. Most people even have the hardest time coming out to people they have known their whole life let alone someone they just met today. It took my all my strength to even come out to Kris and I knew him since we were babies. "You always think this much when you eat?" Dylan asks, making me drop my pizza slice in surprise.
"Not all the time," I reply, as I regain my composure and pick the pizza back up to eat it. I could say I had a lot on my mind at that moment but whenever you say that to someone they automatically ask about it and say things like "A problem shared is a problem halved." It never usually works out and I just feel as if I never should have said anything to begin with. "Sure. Well, if you ever wanna talk about it then I'm here," Dylan says, and we naturally fall back into eating in a relatively comfortable silence. I could feel his eyes on me as I tried not to think about the fact that I had managed to fall in love so quickly. I wonder what he is thinking about and if it is about me then if it is something good or something bad.
I have always been told I am a dreamer, or I overthink too much about things, but I can't help it. It is just the way that I am. I also try and see the best in people even if it doesn't always work out in my favor. I often don't realize I am being taken advantage of until it is too late and by then I've somewhat gained a reputation of being someone who is easy to take advantage of. I know Dylan isn't going to be one of those people because he knows how it feels to be in the position I end up in. I felt the edge of my bed dip with Dylan's weight, and I turned to look at him. I had finished my dinner a while ago and was just lost in my thoughts a little bit. I'm trying not to give Dylan a reason to worry about me. He probably already thinks I am weird.
"I bet this is all weird to you right? You're settled being on your own then I come and ruin your prefect little set up," Dylan asks me. I shook my head; I didn't realize he would be thinking that, and I have been acting slightly different. "God no Dylan. Yeah, it is going to take me a little bit of time to get used to having a roommate again, but I can promise you that you haven't ruined anything" I tell him. I was stuttering and had more issue than I should have done with my words. It was like I was thinking of what to say as I was saying it. I hope that it didn't make things worse. "That's okay then. I was worried about you for a moment there. I don't see you as being the super quite deep in thought type," Dylan tells me.
"Yeah, not often, but today has been a day with a lot of things going on that might take a little time to get used to," I tell him. It is the truth as well; it is not just my crush on him that is making me feel like this. There are other things like the fact that everything has been so crazy with college and starting the course and having a new roommate all in one day can be very overwhelming. Dylan gives me a one-armed hug and I lean into it. I think he'll understand where I am coming from. It is not every day so many new things happen at once. "That is alright then, I will give you all the time you need," he tells me. That is reassuring to know and in return I will do the same for him. It is just kind to do.
"Thank you, Dylan. I will offer you the same. It can't have been easy starting to get settled and comfortable in one dorm only to be told that you have to move because some rude person didn't like you," I tell him, and he chuckles. I'm happy with the way things are going now. I am also really enjoying this hug with him. It's really comforting to know that he has my back. He doesn't look like he is about to stop hugging me any time soon. "Thank you, Danny. It has been a little rough, but having someone like you makes it all worth it," he tells me. I try my hardest not to blush otherwise I would have given myself away before I am ready to. It is taking everything I have not to confess now.
We stayed hugging for an hour. Dylan had brought a TV with him and he had set it up in one of my many deep in thought moments. He turned it on and chose a movie for us both to watch. We only stopped hugging because I went up to use the bathroom and I didn't want to hug anymore which didn't bother Dylan. He also needed the toilet and sat next to me when he came back. We were still next to each other the only difference was that he has not got his arm around my shoulders anymore. "You know I prefer this chilled out relaxed evening with you than the evenings I have had before. Everyone always wanted me to come out partying with them because they'd expect me to pay for it all," Dylan says.
That is fair enough. I am not that much of a partier myself, but I won't say no to a drink or two. One of the main things that my brother always advised me on before I left was to try and balance the party side and the studying without overdoing too much of either. "Yeah, it is nice to just sit down and watch some television with a friend then go out and get drunk on a Monday evening," I tell him. There were already drunken shouts coming from the outside as people have started drinking. It was the same last night and every night since I moved down here. People just can't help themselves and want to just party and get into debt while doing it. I know as the week goes on it is only going to get worse.
Friday and Saturday are going to be the worst days by far. Paydays typically happen on a Friday and by the time Saturday and Sunday come they will have wasted a lot of their money on booze and partying. "Yeah, I've never been much of a weekday drinker that might change when I get older but for now if I want to drink it would be on the weekend," he tells me. That is another thing, our opinions could change at any time as we get older. I might be in my thirties and be drinking every day of the week and having a good time. "Yeah I don't think I could plan where I am gonna be in like five or ten years times," I tell him. This time last year I had not even had a single thought about where I was going to go once I had graduated.
"I didn't have a plan either. I thought maybe a basketball career was going to be where I was headed but talking to Jordon and the others we thought being a band together would be better," he tells me. That is fair enough, I could picture him being a world famous basketball player though if things go wrong. "Yeah, you know if you ever had issues in the band you could always give basketball a go, I bet you would be really good. All I ask is that you remember me when you get famous," I tell him, which sends him into a fit of laughter. Well this is going well then. I am a comedian apparently, which is something I didn't really know. I have made him laugh a lot today which I don't feel like happened with friends before.
"Don't worry Danny. I'll dedicate everything to you and invite you to all my shows," he tells me, which makes me smile. I wouldn't mind going and watching them perform at some point and he knows that I would let him come to mine for free too. "I'll do the same with you too," I tell him. I think he figured that out by now, but there was no harm in reassuring him with that message. The credits start rolling just as I get hit with a wave of tiredness and yawned. Dylan paused the credits of the movie and looked at me. "I think it's time for bed," he tells me, and all I can do is nod tiredly. It is coming up to 12 am and we both know we have lectures at 9 am tomorrow morning so it is probably in our best interest to go to sleep now.
I go into the bathroom and wash up for bed and then get changed into my pjs while Dylan does the same. I double check my phone to make sure I have at least two alarms set to go off at 7 and 8 am tomorrow in case I sleep through the first one. One could argue that 7 am is too early for a college student but it is going to take me an hour to wake up fully let alone get myself dressed, eat breakfast, and figure out where I am going. I am sure by the time the first break comes I will be pushing the boundaries of how long I have before class starts. We also have to make a good impression on all of our professors because it will make a difference on how they treat us throughout the year. It might sound strange, but it is true.
"I can't believe they are throwing us in the deep end with a full day of lectures tomorrow," Dylan says, as he climbs into bed. I was already under my blanket and turned my head to look at my own schedule. "Yeah, but at least they didn't do it today," I tell him. He could complain as much as he liked about having 5 or 6 lectures tomorrow but we both had two maybe three today which is the first day of the semester. "Yeah I suppose you're right. Thanks Danny and goodnight," he tells me. We turn the lights off at the same time after I have said goodnight back to Dylan. I really do think now that this is going to be the start of something incredible. I am going to have a good friendship and potentially romantic relationship.
And that is the end of another one shot. What do you guys think? Feel free to leave requests below but please bear in mind I am working pretty much full time so I might not be able to fulfill them immediately.
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