Chapter 1

Double D pushed the door to his freshman dorm room open and stepped inside, carrying a large bag of move in essentials. He looked about his room at the concrete walls and extra long, but slim, beds. It appeared his roommate had already arrived and set up his own half, but he was nowhere to be found within the confines of their room. The left side of the room held an unmade bed with a pair of shorts casually thrown over the post, sports posters hung over the bed and desk, and a computer set up on the desk.

Edd set down his bag and returned to the taxi to remove the rest of his stuff. He carefully arranged his belongings in drawers and on his desk. He hung a poster of the periodic table of elements over his desk, despite having memorized it years before. Finally he placed Jim the cactus in a place of honor on the window sill. He adjusted his hat and lay down on his bed, spent from moving in alone. His feet just barely reached the wooden footboard at the bottom. In seconds he drifted to sleep.

He awoke hours later to the sound of a key in the door. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and tried to watch as his roommate walked in. Something heavy dropped to the floor in the entrance but the person didn't come into sight right away.

"Ugh no way the Double Dweeb is my roommate," a familiar voice said in distaste.

"K-Kevin? I was not aware that you too had gained admittance to this university."

He rolled his eyes. "Sports scholarship." He started to pull off his jersey and shorts.

Edd tried to avert his eyes but was captivated by the hard lines of Kevin's back and neck. He rarely saw another body in such a state of undress, and it was even rarer to see a specimen as toned as Kevin. His muscles slid gracefully into one another, framing his spine that protruded ever so slightly under the skin. His skin draped over those well-defined muscles like the finest silk and glowed golden from his days spent in the sun during his sports practices.

Kevin pulled a towel out of a trunk under his bed, slung it around his waist and left the room carrying a shower caddy without another word. He returned after about an hour, wrapped in his towel, skin glistening with water and smelling faintly of soap.

Trying to be amenable to the rooming situation, Double D asked, "For which sports did you receive scholarships, Kevin?"

Kevin pulled a pair of mesh shorts up his slim hips and grunted, "Soccer and baseball. Full ride."

"I too received the entirety of my tuition in scholarship."

He snorted. "For what? Physics?"

"Well actually, my senior thesis in entomology and the effects of the dung beetle on its environment. It's quite fascinating—"

"Yeah I'm sure it is." He pulled a t-shirt over his frame and slipped on a pair of sandals. "I'm going to get some grub."

"Oh! If you don't mind, I could accompany you to the cafeteria. I have not eaten since this morning and could do with some sustenance."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Kevin groaned inwardly as the Double Dork followed him out the room. It just figured the one person he was hoping to avoid at college would be the one who he'd be sharing a very small, very cramped dorm room with. The nerd bobbed behind him, and Kevin tensed across his jaw and shoulders. The nerd's slim form was masked in a long v-neck t-shirt and black skinny jeans. He wore the same hat he'd been wearing as long as Kevin had known him and the gap in his teeth had managed to withstand the evident torture of braces in his early high school years, still peaking between his lips when he smiled or spoke. And watching him speak made Kevin wonder, for the thousandth time, what it would feel like to have his tongue slip around that gap.

He had hoped that he would be placed with a stranger, preferably one he wasn't attracted to so that his college reputation would remain as it had been in high school. He had dated girls throughout high school, been the sports hero, and managed decent enough grades that he could have gotten into college without his athleticism, though admittedly not one as good as where he wound up. He acknowledged that he didn't expect to be the sports hero necessarily, but keeping up the façade of being straight and decently smart had seemed possible. Rooming with Edd would be a test of his willpower.

Edd evened with him and kept pace as they crossed campus to the dining hall. "I do wish to thank you for allowing me to attend a meal with you. I did not think you'd actually comply, since you do have friends of your own already."

Kevin smiled a little at the formality of Edd's speech patterns. "No problem, Dork. Figured if we have to live together I should at least try to be nice every once in a while."

"And I appreciate the effort. If there is ever anything I can do for you while we are sharing a living space, please do ask and I will try to accommodate you."

An image of Edd in a compromising and explicit position flashed in his mind's eye. "Uh—yeah, I'll let you know if I can think of anything."

Edd nodded affably. They entered the cafeteria. Kevin grabbed a tray and went to stand in line for a burger and fries. He half expected Edd to tag along but a carefully casual glance over his shoulder indicated that the boy had gone to the salad bar. With burger and fries he grabbed a drink from the soda fountain. Edd joined him a moment later, tray piled with a grilled chicken salad, vegetables, fruit, and a glass of milk.

"Is that all you're going to eat?"

"It shall be most sufficient. I never like to eat heavy. It is most unhealthy for our digestive systems."

Kevin started walking to an empty table. "You coming, nerd?" he called over his shoulder.

Edd skipped forward after him and sat across from him.

Edd would not have expected to have been allowed to sit with Kevin at meal time, but was most pleased to be invited without provocation. He sat across from Kevin with a smile and began to eat. The salad felt slightly gritty on his tongue but the food was satisfying.

A large boy carrying a tray did a double take and stopped by the table. "Yo, Kevin, what're you doin' here, man?"

"What do you mean?" Kevin said around a mouthful of burger without looking up.

The muscle-bound man glanced up at Edd then said, "Soccer team has a table in the back. Why you sittin' here?"

Kevin finally looked up. "This is my roommate. I've known him since I was a kid. If I want to eat with him, I'm gunna. Is that a problem?"

He shook his head. "Nah, no problem. Just didn't realize you hung out with nerds." He walked away without looking back.

Edd felt the color rising in his cheeks. "Kevin, if you'd rather eat with your teammates, I understand," he said quietly. "I'm quite used to being alone and would not want to hinder your social interactions with members of an athletic family."

He blew air out his nose. "They can be real jerks. I don't mind eating with you. You're more interesting usually anyway."

Touched, but disbelieving, Edd responded, "I find that hard to believe but I appreciate your efforts for a more genial rapport as roommates. But really, if you wish to eat with your team—"

"Listen Dork, I'm eating here, with you. I don't give two shits about those guys. And you are more interesting. They talk about soccer, getting drunk, and which girl they're going to sleep with next. And that's the entirety of their conversation. You at least have interests, even if I don't understand them. Got it?"

Edd nodded.

"Good." Kevin stuffed his burger back into his mouth and chewed with a vengeance.

Floundering in an unexpected and wholly touching social experience, Edd picked at his salad. "Have you chosen your classes yet?"

Kevin nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah. I'm gunna take Statistics, Chemistry 107, that freshman writing seminar bullshit, and Biology 104. How bout you?" he said before shoving a few fries in his mouth.

"I too am taking Chemistry 107. I've also decided on Biology 202, Trigonometry, American History 100, and I'm thinking that the swim class would be the lesser evil for my physical education requirement."

"I've thought about taking that," Kevin added.

"But you've no need for the physical education, with your athletic scholarship."

Kevin shrugged. "I like to be active. Helps ease tension. Maybe I'll join you in that class."

A bit of excitement fluttered in the pit of Edd's stomach, a sensation he hadn't felt about another person in a long time.

Kevin hadn't actually been thinking about joining the swim class at the time, but when Double D said that he might, he couldn't resist. They walked back to their dorm together, Kevin clenching his hands into fists to keep himself from reaching for Edd's.

When they returned to the room, Edd glanced at Kevin and shyly removed his shirt. Kevin held his breath for a moment and tried to look away. He started rearranging the books on his desk but could only half focus. He kept the slim boy in his peripheral vision. Edd pulled a bathrobe from his closet and put it on before removing his pants under it. He gathered his bathing supplies and put on a pair of foam flip flops. "I'm going to decontaminate myself, please don't lock the door?"

Kevin nodded. The door shut heavily and Kevin fell onto his bed. Images of Double D in the shower crossed his mind; Double D naked, Double D wet…he even imagined joining him in the shower, and the way he would caress the dweeb, feeling his skin slick with water and the tight muscles of his ass. He let out a garbled moan and buried his face into his pillows. He took a deep breath, counting the inhale and exhale like the sport's psychologist had once told him to do. After a few minutes of deep, measured breathing he felt a little better and sat up. He reached under his bed and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He untwisted the cap, took a long drag from the bottle, then replaced it, hoping the bit of liquor would help him calm down.

Edd lingered in the shower, allowing the hot water to run over his body. He pondered his living situation and the irony of it all. He had never disliked Kevin and had recently come to the conclusion that he merely defended himself and his friends from Eddy's bullying. He had accepted that Eddy was the true bully in most every scheme and had severed ties with him over the summer, unable to withstand the taunting and physical abuse that Eddy routinely doled out.

Edd started to lather his mesh sponge and rubbed the soap into his skin, still thinking about his rooming situation. He found it interesting that Kevin chose to sit with him at dinner when he could have spent time with his soccer friends. The blood rose to his cheeks remembering how Kevin had even called him interesting. He wanted to remain interesting to the popular boy, to make a real friend at college, someone who valued his opinion as well as his intellect.

And Kevin might join him in physical fitness swim classes. A shudder ran up his spine as he imagined the boy swimming next to him, or lifting himself out of the pool, water streaming off his back and shoulders. Edd shook his head and pushed his face under the water. He had never had thoughts like these before. He carefully shampooed his hair and tried to keep his mind anywhere but Kevin's physique, but just as one image left his head, the memory of Kevin sliding his shorts up his hips returned. Edd turned the dial on the shower all the way to cold and doused himself under it for a good minute before turning off the water.

He returned to the shared dorm room and quickly pulled a pair of pajama pants up his hips and a t-shirt over his head.

"Welcome back, dude," Kevin said from his own bed.

"Greetings," Edd responded as he crawled into his bed. He curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Edd shook his head. "Just not feeling well."

"Maybe you shouldn't eat off that salad bar. You wouldn't believe the things they say about them. To be honest I thought you'd avoid it just because they can be so unsanitary."

Edd shuddered at the reminder and stored it in his mind to worry about another time.