(Don't Go) Sharing Your Devotion 3/3
Part 2
Dustin
Dustin is trying very hard to be a good student and get ahead in his reading. He’s got his highlighters and notebook and everything, and he is so committed to this shit.
Except that he really cannot focus at all.
He’s trying, he really is, but it’s just like, who gives a fuck about The New Deal?
Okay, that’s probably not fair. He’s sure a lot of people give a fuck, and he should too, but come on. It’s so boring. And Chris is sick.
Dustin knows it’s just a hangover, and he’s not really sick, and normal people don’t stress this much over their bros having a hangover, but he is literally physically incapable to focusing on anything else when he knows Chris is feeling shitty. He doesn’t know quite how pathetic that makes him, but it’s just a fact.
Besides.
He knows that Chris isn’t actually dating Eduardo. He said so. Dustin knows it’s true. Despite what Mark might think, he is confident nothing scandalous went down in Eduardo’s room last night.
But still, he can’t help but think. How many movies are there where the two characters pretend to date? A lot. And how does it always turn out? Real dating, that’s how.
For example. Drive Me Crazy. (Shut up, it’s a classic.) Sure, Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier say they are just dating to make their respective love interests jealous. But spoiler alert, the real love interests are each other.
What if that is happening right now? Chris is Melissa, obviously, except hotter and without the lazy eye. So who does that make Dustin? That creepy goth girl that Adrian spurns because she’s obsessed with animal rights? And wait, would Mark be that preppy basketball player? …Okay, maybe it’s not a perfect analogy.
But the point is. Dustin doesn’t want to be the creepy goth chick. He wants to be the real love interest.
And earlier, Chris said he wanted to talk about something. That can’t mean anything good. Maybe he’s going to admit that in the process of faking a relationship, he has fallen for Eduardo’s Latin charms. Oh god, what if they end up getting married, and it’s like My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Dustin is Julia Roberts? How horrible would that be?
Just then, his phone vibrates with a text from Mr. Love Interest himself, momentarily interrupting Dustin’s thoughts. Dustin responds right away, and Chris says he’s coming over, which just makes Dustin more anxious.
He attempts to have a staring contest with his textbook, but the textbook appears to be winning. The more he tries to read about The New Deal, the more obvious it seems that he is only destined to be the false love interest.
A few minutes later, Chris appears behind him, startling him out of his reverie. “Hi,” he says.
“Hello,” Dustin says, and goes wide-eyed. “Whoa. You look-” Chris blushes and smoothes his hair down. Dustin swallows. “Uh, better.”
“Thanks. Um, I mean, I feel a lot better,” Chris says awkwardly. “It’s pretty empty up here.”
“Yeah, that’s why I like it,” Dustin says.
Chris pulls a chair over and sits next to Dustin. “What are you working on?” he says.
“What?” Dustin says, momentarily distracted because Chris smells really good.
Chris looks down at the textbook. “Oh, The New Deal? Awesome! I wrote a big paper about that time period in high school.”
“You would,” Dustin says. Chris shrugs and laughs nervously.
“So…” Dustin says, idly clicking his pen. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Oh,” Chris says. “Um. Yeah. Well. About that.”
“Is this about Eduardo?” Dustin blurts.
“No, what?” Chris says. “Oh, that. No, that’s not-that’s not a thing anymore.”
“It’s not?” Dustin says.
“No, it’s…whatever. Listen, Dustin. Do you remember New Years Eve?” Chris stares determinedly at his hands.
Suddenly, Dustin’s throat goes dry and his heart starts going crazy in his chest. Does he remember? No, he’s only been thinking about (read: fantasizing about, dreaming about, jerking off to…ahem) it every single day for the past three months.
“Yeah,” he says quietly.
“You do?” Chris says.
“Of course.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything about it so I wasn’t sure if you didn’t remember or…” Chris trails off, still looking away.
“You didn’t say anything either,” Dustin points out. He wishes he could figure out what Chris was getting at so he would know what to say without making a fool of himself.
“Yeah, because I thought you were making a point to not bring it up,” Chris says.
“What? What do you mean?” Dustin says, gathering the courage to look at Chris’s face.
“To spare my feelings,” Chris mumbles.
Dustin’s heart is pounding even harder. “Your feelings?” he says.
“Yeah,” says Chris. “I mean, I was the one who kissed you, so…I thought you were just trying to be tactful about…”
“But you made us stop!” Dustin exclaims. “I thought that meant you didn’t-”
“No! I just wanted-we were drunk and I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just-”
Dustin feels warmth bloom in his chest. He smiles and puts his hand tentatively over Chris’s on the desk. “Chris, are you trying to say what I think you’re trying to say?”
Chris chews on his lip (so cute!). “That depends what you think I’m trying to say,” he says. He doesn’t move his hand.
“I think...” Dustin says, twining their pinkies together, “You’re trying to say that I’m Adrian Grenier, not Julia Roberts.”
Chris squints at him, confused. “I have no idea what that means,” he says. “But would you like to maybe, um, go out with me?”
Dustin grins so hard his cheeks hurt. “Fuck yes,” he says. Chris grins back, just as hard, and it’s basically dazzling.
“You should kiss me now,” Dustin adds, and Chris smiles even harder, and does.
Chris is just as good a kisser as Dustin remembers. It really shouldn’t be surprising, since he’s good at everything he does. But just. He cups the back of Dustin’s neck and sighs into his mouth, and he’s really, really, really good at this.
“Mmm,” Chris says dreamily when he pulls back.
“Wait,” Dustin says, as something occurs to him. “The Eduardo thing-that wasn’t really just to make Mark jealous, was it?”
“Ummm,” Chris says, “it’s complicated. It all started when-”
“On second thought, tell me later, okay?” Dustin says, teasingly. “More kissing, mkay?”
Chris nods fervently and leans back in. This time there is tongue, which is just wonderful. Dustin clutches at Chris’s shoulders, but the position is getting a little uncomfortable, with both turned in their chairs and their knees knocking together and the desk in their way. So Dustin pulls Chris up, giggling, and drags him into the darkened shelves.
A second later, Chris has him pushed against the shelf. He’s kissing Dustin even harder, and Dustin’s knees are threatening to buckle.
“You smell really good,” he murmurs against Chris’s lips. “Are you wearing aftershave?”
“It’s Eduardo’s cologne,” Chris says, running his hand down Dustin’s side in a way that makes him shiver. “I found it in our bathroom.”
“Nice one,” Dustin responds. Chris starts kissing his neck, and all of the sudden it occurs to him that this is basically like all of his fantasies come to life. With the library. And the kissing. And the Chris. And the kissing Chris. And can you really blame him for being turned-on?
“We should, uh,” he tries. Chris pulls back, looking confused. “Dorm?”
Realization dawns on Chris’s face and he says “Yes, definitely,” so enthusiastically that it makes Dustin grin again. “Mark is still out-”
“Okay,” Dustin says, and runs to grab his books, throwing everything into a jumble in his bag. “Okay, let’s-” He turns around to look at Chris, who is staring at his phone and laughing.
“Chris!” Dustin says. “Are you seriously texting right now?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Chris says hastily. “I’m coming!
Dustin grabs his hand and pulls him along. He grins the whole way back to the room. They stop to kiss a few times and hold hands the entire way.
That’s right, bitch, Dustin thinks. I’m the real fucking love interest.
--
Eduardo
Eduardo really hates everything.
He hates that it’s a bright and sunny day out, as if the weather is mocking his misery. He hates that he still has a headache and that there is nothing to eat in his dorm and the dining hall never serves anything good on the weekends. He hates the fact that he can’t hold his liquor. He hates that he got drunk in the first place and didn’t even have the decency to get anything enjoyable out of it, like an orgasm.
Speaking of, he kind of hates Chris, just for starting this whole thing (even though technically it was Eduardo’s idea). He hates Chris for suggesting their stupid deal and the fact that now Eduardo has to follow through with it.
He hates himself for having the most frustrating and stressful crush possible. And he hates the fact that he gets so upset over it, like he has no control over his own (stupid) emotions.
He hates Dustin…well, he can’t actually think of anything Dustin has done, at the moment, but he’ll think of something. (And now he feels guilty for being unfairly mad at his friends.)
But mostly he hates Mark. For being so confusing, for refusing to take a hint, for refusing to give a hint, for making stupid and unfounded and offensive accusations, for acting like a jealous asshole but not just saying if he actually likes Eduardo. Just for existing, with his stupidly attractive face and the way he always chews on his lip when he’s concentrating and how even when he’s being the worst kind of petulant jerk he still manages to make Eduardo sort of crazy with desire-
Eduardo hates him.
(The worst part is that he doesn’t hate him at all, not in the least.)
His phone buzzes. It’s a text from Chris: Don’t forget our deal!
He groans and pulls at his hair. Yeah yeah I know okay!!!!!!!!!!!! I TRIED to tell him but he’s being a total dbag!!!!!! :( :( :(
He can practically hear Chris smirking when he receives a response a few minutes later.
Mark is a douche, is this news? Surely you knew that when you fell in love with him.
“SHUT UP CHRIS!” Eduardo yells into his empty room. “I’m not in love with him,” he adds grumpily. Then he feels like a weirdo for talking to himself.
SHUT UP CHRIS!!! I’m not!!! he texts back.
Then he sends another text: Don’t say that. Only I’m allowed to call him mean things.
Stupid Chris doesn’t respond.
Eduardo contemplates his options. Maybe he should just tell Chris the deal is off. Maybe he should transfer to another school in a different state…or country…so he doesn’t have to deal with this ever. Maybe he should get drunk again.
He continues to mope…that is, consider his options…for an indeterminate amount of time, until finally his phone buzzes again.
It’s from Chris.
I did it :) :) Your turn!
“AGH!” Eduardo shouts and chucks his phone across the room. Then he immediately curses and runs to check that it’s okay. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem at all damaged.
He feels guilty for not being happy for Chris, since the double emoticons obviously mean things went well with Dustin. But he also feels betrayed. How could Chris leave him alone in pathetic, pining, singledom?
Now he and Dustin are probably going to ditch him completely, in their bound-to-be-annoyingly-perfect relationship (because they never fight, do they), and no buffer for Mark’s stupid face and stupid voice and stupid existence-
Eduardo catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror: eyes crazed, hair wild from clutching at it.
“Argh, this is ridiculous, fuck it,” he says decisively, and stomps out of his room, huffing.
When he shows up at Mark’s suite a few minutes later, his cheeks are flushed from the cold and his hair is even wilder. He knows he probably looks like a crazy person (…which might not be an inaccurate impression), but he doesn’t even care.
“Mark!” he shouts and pounds on the door. “I know you’re in there! Don’t even try-”
He’s cut off (and slightly startled) when Mark opens the door. “Jesus,” he says. “What the hell-”
“I need to talk to you!” Eduardo yells.
“God, chill out,” Mark says, and Eduardo follows him into the suite. “What?”
“You are really stupid. Why are you so stupid?” Eduardo says.
Mark cocks an eyebrow. “Am I?”
“You are,” Eduardo insists.
“And why am I stupid?” Mark asks.
“If you have to ask, you don’t deserve to know!” Eduardo says. He knows he’s being a little juvenile, but whatever. Mark started it.
“Can’t you take a hint?” Eduardo says, pulling at his hair again in agony.
“Take a hint about what?”
“EXACTLY!” Eduardo yells.
“I don’t understand what you want me to do,” Mark says. Eduardo wonders, again, if he’s being deliberately oblivious or what.
“You are so-” Eduardo says. Mark gives him a completely inscrutable look, and Eduardo loses his patience altogether. He advances on Mark, pushes him up against the couch, and drags their mouths together.
Eduardo kisses Mark, hard. Mark is frozen, doesn’t respond at all, until Eduardo forces his tongue between his lips. Mark gasps into his mouth, makes a tiny noise at the back of his throat and brings a hand up to the back of Eduardo’s head. Before he can get lost in it (because, wow), Eduardo jerks away.
“Is that clear enough for you?” he says, and his voice is absolutely not breathless.
Mark blinks at him. He looks at Eduardo with what would be a blank stare, if not for the way his eyes are slightly glassy and he’s leaning against the couch like he can’t catch his balance.
“Nope,” he says.
Eduardo narrows his eyes. “What do you mean, nope!?” he says.
“No,” Mark says. “I think I’m missing the point.”
Eduardo wonders if Mark is making fun of him. “Oh my god, Mark, just-”
“Maybe you should repeat it,” Mark says, “see if I get it this time.”
His voice is flat, but he’s staring at his feet determinedly.
Eduardo swallows. His heart feels heavy and swollen with hope. “Yeah?” he says.
“Yeah,” Mark says.
“You mean you-”
“Just fucking kiss me!” Mark says. And well, Eduardo can’t argue with that.
He puts his hands in Mark’s hair this time, along with his tongue in his mouth, and this time Mark kisses back, clutching at Eduardo’s jaw and sucking on his tongue. Mark’s knees buckle against the side of the couch and Eduardo dips him over it, arms around his back, until they both collapse on the couch.
Mark grunts out of discomfort and pulls away long enough to rearrange his limbs. He somehow manages to reverse their positions, so he’s on top, without falling off the couch.
“So wait,” Eduardo says as Mark kisses his neck. “Does this mean you-you like me too?”
“Your powers of observation astound me,” Mark says, but it comes out a little less harsh because he’s tugging off Eduardo’s shirt while he says it.
Eduardo chuckles breathlessly and kisses Mark again. He pushes his hand up the back of Mark’s shirt, splaying his fingers against his skin and making his shiver slightly.
“So does this mean-” Eduardo pulls away enough to say. “Are we-you know, like-?”
“What, do you want a promise ring?” Mark says.
Eduardo laughs. “I-no, I just want to know-”
“Wardo,” Mark says. “If you want me to date you, then okay, fine, I can do that, alright?”
Eduardo grins hugely. “Yes, I want that,” he says.
“Then fine,” Mark grumbles.
Eduardo kisses him and laughs against his lips. “Like it’s such a hardship,” he mumbles.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” Mark says in an entirely unconvincing voice. His fingers inch down Eduardo’s chest and stomach. There is a serious situation developing in Eduardo’s pants.
“Where-where are your roommates?” Eduardo says. “They’re out, don’t worry,” Mark says in this low voice that does nothing to help the erection situation.
“But wait--What about my reputation?” he says.
“What about it?” Mark says, playing with the hair at the nape of Eduardo’s neck.
“We should probably stop now,” Eduardo says, although he can’t think of anything he wants to do less. “After all, people might get the wrong idea, if I put out on the first date.”
Mark sighs and rolls his eyes. “That doesn’t matter if it’s me, duh.”
“I knew it!” Eduardo says, gleeful. (Even though he didn’t really know it for sure, did he?)
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Mark grumbles. “You think you’re so clever.”
“I am pretty clever,” Eduardo says. “Admit it.”
“I’ll admit nothing,” Mark says. Without preamble, he slides to the floor, unzips Eduardo’s pants, and yanks them down.
“Oh my-” Eduardo gasps and lets his head thump back, grabbing at the couch cushions. It’s not a promise ring, but somehow he’s not complaining.
--
Chris
Because everything seems to be going in Chris’s favor, the hall outside their suite is pretty much deserted when they get there.
Dustin kisses him against the wall. And it’s so, so good. Chris could do this forever, honestly, just making out, it’s that intoxicating.
Dustin is really good at it, too, better than Chris would have expected. Not that Chris thought Dustin would be a bad kisser-he was pretty good at it even at New Years, when he was drunk-but he never seemed super experienced, and Chris didn’t think he’d be so smooth.
Case in point: Dustin pushes his against the wall, leaning up a little to kiss Chris’s jaw, and slides his hand against Chris’s side. “Where’s Mark?” he says into Chris’s ear.
“Who fucking cares,” Chris says. “Not here.”
“That’s good to know,” Dustin says hotly.
“Yeah, we should-we should go inside,” Chris says as Dustin’s fingers brush at his waist.
“’Kay,” Dustin says, and fishes Chris’s key out of his pocket, all while kissing his neck.
See? Smooth.
“Wow, nice,” Chris says. Dustin grins. “I know, right? I got mad skills.”
Chris grabs the key and tugs Dustin towards the door, laughing. “Wait, wait,” Dustin says. “I should tell you, before we get involved…”
“Yes?” Chris says.
“There’s a small chance that my body could be about to undergo an agonizing process in which I slowly become a superhero,” Dustin says seriously. “I just want you to be prepared for that eventuality.”
Chris raises an eyebrow. “Superpowers?” he says. “That’s hot.”
Dustin’s grin spreads all the way to his eyes. He leans in to kiss Chris again. Chris laughs and fumbles with the key. He finally gets the door open and pushes Dustin inside, laughing and kissing him the whole way and pushing his hand up his shirt.
Just then, they’re interrupted by a high-pitched yelp from the couch. Chris jerks away and turns to see Eduardo making a very strange face.
“Mark! Mark, stop!” he says in a strangled voice. There’s a telltale popping noise, and-
“AH! OH MY GOD!” Dustin shrieks and covers his face.
“Sorry, sorry!” Eduardo says, blushing to the roots of his hair and scrambling to zip up his pants.
“Really?” Chris says. “On the couch?”
Mark’s face appears next to Eduardo. “What the fuck are you doing here!” he yells.
“We LIVE here!” Dustin says. “This is the COMMON room!”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Eduardo says. He looks like he wants to disappear into the couch cushions.
“On the couch?” Chris says again. “That’s unsanitary!”
“I was gonna swallow,” Mark says sourly.
“OKAY THEN!” Eduardo says hysterically.
“This is kind of funny timing, isn’t it?” Dustin says.
“Oh yeah, it’s just hilarious,” Mark deadpans. “Can you leave now?”
“Yeah, um,” Eduardo says apologetically. “Sorry, and um-I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, but-could you-?”
“Where are we supposed to go?” Chris yells.
“I don’t really care,” Mark says. “Away.”
“We both live here!” Dustin says.
Mark scowls and is about to retort when Eduardo grabs his arm and drags him up. “They’re right, Mark, let’s go to my room, okay?”
“Fine,” Mark says, tripping over his feet a little bit as Eduardo pulls him towards the door. “And if you’re gonna make a big deal out of it, then you can’t do anything on the couch either!” he says to Chris.
Dustin shudders. “Like we’d want to now.”
“Wait,” Eduardo says, breaking away from Mark and pulling Chris over to the corner.
“Nice job,” he says in an undertone, smiling, although he still looks a little pink.
“Ditto,” Chris says, grinning. “We did it, man!”
“Wardo, c’mon!” Mark says.
“It would probably be best if we didn’t mention…you know, the stuff from last night,” Chris whispers. “They don’t really need to know.” Eduardo nods vehemently.
“Chris,” Dustin whines.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Chris says. “I’m officially breaking up with you.”
Eduardo just grins and nods. Then he lets Mark drag him out of the suite.
end.
Dustin
Dustin is trying very hard to be a good student and get ahead in his reading. He’s got his highlighters and notebook and everything, and he is so committed to this shit.
Except that he really cannot focus at all.
He’s trying, he really is, but it’s just like, who gives a fuck about The New Deal?
Okay, that’s probably not fair. He’s sure a lot of people give a fuck, and he should too, but come on. It’s so boring. And Chris is sick.
Dustin knows it’s just a hangover, and he’s not really sick, and normal people don’t stress this much over their bros having a hangover, but he is literally physically incapable to focusing on anything else when he knows Chris is feeling shitty. He doesn’t know quite how pathetic that makes him, but it’s just a fact.
Besides.
He knows that Chris isn’t actually dating Eduardo. He said so. Dustin knows it’s true. Despite what Mark might think, he is confident nothing scandalous went down in Eduardo’s room last night.
But still, he can’t help but think. How many movies are there where the two characters pretend to date? A lot. And how does it always turn out? Real dating, that’s how.
For example. Drive Me Crazy. (Shut up, it’s a classic.) Sure, Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier say they are just dating to make their respective love interests jealous. But spoiler alert, the real love interests are each other.
What if that is happening right now? Chris is Melissa, obviously, except hotter and without the lazy eye. So who does that make Dustin? That creepy goth girl that Adrian spurns because she’s obsessed with animal rights? And wait, would Mark be that preppy basketball player? …Okay, maybe it’s not a perfect analogy.
But the point is. Dustin doesn’t want to be the creepy goth chick. He wants to be the real love interest.
And earlier, Chris said he wanted to talk about something. That can’t mean anything good. Maybe he’s going to admit that in the process of faking a relationship, he has fallen for Eduardo’s Latin charms. Oh god, what if they end up getting married, and it’s like My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Dustin is Julia Roberts? How horrible would that be?
Just then, his phone vibrates with a text from Mr. Love Interest himself, momentarily interrupting Dustin’s thoughts. Dustin responds right away, and Chris says he’s coming over, which just makes Dustin more anxious.
He attempts to have a staring contest with his textbook, but the textbook appears to be winning. The more he tries to read about The New Deal, the more obvious it seems that he is only destined to be the false love interest.
A few minutes later, Chris appears behind him, startling him out of his reverie. “Hi,” he says.
“Hello,” Dustin says, and goes wide-eyed. “Whoa. You look-” Chris blushes and smoothes his hair down. Dustin swallows. “Uh, better.”
“Thanks. Um, I mean, I feel a lot better,” Chris says awkwardly. “It’s pretty empty up here.”
“Yeah, that’s why I like it,” Dustin says.
Chris pulls a chair over and sits next to Dustin. “What are you working on?” he says.
“What?” Dustin says, momentarily distracted because Chris smells really good.
Chris looks down at the textbook. “Oh, The New Deal? Awesome! I wrote a big paper about that time period in high school.”
“You would,” Dustin says. Chris shrugs and laughs nervously.
“So…” Dustin says, idly clicking his pen. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Oh,” Chris says. “Um. Yeah. Well. About that.”
“Is this about Eduardo?” Dustin blurts.
“No, what?” Chris says. “Oh, that. No, that’s not-that’s not a thing anymore.”
“It’s not?” Dustin says.
“No, it’s…whatever. Listen, Dustin. Do you remember New Years Eve?” Chris stares determinedly at his hands.
Suddenly, Dustin’s throat goes dry and his heart starts going crazy in his chest. Does he remember? No, he’s only been thinking about (read: fantasizing about, dreaming about, jerking off to…ahem) it every single day for the past three months.
“Yeah,” he says quietly.
“You do?” Chris says.
“Of course.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything about it so I wasn’t sure if you didn’t remember or…” Chris trails off, still looking away.
“You didn’t say anything either,” Dustin points out. He wishes he could figure out what Chris was getting at so he would know what to say without making a fool of himself.
“Yeah, because I thought you were making a point to not bring it up,” Chris says.
“What? What do you mean?” Dustin says, gathering the courage to look at Chris’s face.
“To spare my feelings,” Chris mumbles.
Dustin’s heart is pounding even harder. “Your feelings?” he says.
“Yeah,” says Chris. “I mean, I was the one who kissed you, so…I thought you were just trying to be tactful about…”
“But you made us stop!” Dustin exclaims. “I thought that meant you didn’t-”
“No! I just wanted-we were drunk and I wanted to be sure it wasn’t just-”
Dustin feels warmth bloom in his chest. He smiles and puts his hand tentatively over Chris’s on the desk. “Chris, are you trying to say what I think you’re trying to say?”
Chris chews on his lip (so cute!). “That depends what you think I’m trying to say,” he says. He doesn’t move his hand.
“I think...” Dustin says, twining their pinkies together, “You’re trying to say that I’m Adrian Grenier, not Julia Roberts.”
Chris squints at him, confused. “I have no idea what that means,” he says. “But would you like to maybe, um, go out with me?”
Dustin grins so hard his cheeks hurt. “Fuck yes,” he says. Chris grins back, just as hard, and it’s basically dazzling.
“You should kiss me now,” Dustin adds, and Chris smiles even harder, and does.
Chris is just as good a kisser as Dustin remembers. It really shouldn’t be surprising, since he’s good at everything he does. But just. He cups the back of Dustin’s neck and sighs into his mouth, and he’s really, really, really good at this.
“Mmm,” Chris says dreamily when he pulls back.
“Wait,” Dustin says, as something occurs to him. “The Eduardo thing-that wasn’t really just to make Mark jealous, was it?”
“Ummm,” Chris says, “it’s complicated. It all started when-”
“On second thought, tell me later, okay?” Dustin says, teasingly. “More kissing, mkay?”
Chris nods fervently and leans back in. This time there is tongue, which is just wonderful. Dustin clutches at Chris’s shoulders, but the position is getting a little uncomfortable, with both turned in their chairs and their knees knocking together and the desk in their way. So Dustin pulls Chris up, giggling, and drags him into the darkened shelves.
A second later, Chris has him pushed against the shelf. He’s kissing Dustin even harder, and Dustin’s knees are threatening to buckle.
“You smell really good,” he murmurs against Chris’s lips. “Are you wearing aftershave?”
“It’s Eduardo’s cologne,” Chris says, running his hand down Dustin’s side in a way that makes him shiver. “I found it in our bathroom.”
“Nice one,” Dustin responds. Chris starts kissing his neck, and all of the sudden it occurs to him that this is basically like all of his fantasies come to life. With the library. And the kissing. And the Chris. And the kissing Chris. And can you really blame him for being turned-on?
“We should, uh,” he tries. Chris pulls back, looking confused. “Dorm?”
Realization dawns on Chris’s face and he says “Yes, definitely,” so enthusiastically that it makes Dustin grin again. “Mark is still out-”
“Okay,” Dustin says, and runs to grab his books, throwing everything into a jumble in his bag. “Okay, let’s-” He turns around to look at Chris, who is staring at his phone and laughing.
“Chris!” Dustin says. “Are you seriously texting right now?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Chris says hastily. “I’m coming!
Dustin grabs his hand and pulls him along. He grins the whole way back to the room. They stop to kiss a few times and hold hands the entire way.
That’s right, bitch, Dustin thinks. I’m the real fucking love interest.
--
Eduardo
Eduardo really hates everything.
He hates that it’s a bright and sunny day out, as if the weather is mocking his misery. He hates that he still has a headache and that there is nothing to eat in his dorm and the dining hall never serves anything good on the weekends. He hates the fact that he can’t hold his liquor. He hates that he got drunk in the first place and didn’t even have the decency to get anything enjoyable out of it, like an orgasm.
Speaking of, he kind of hates Chris, just for starting this whole thing (even though technically it was Eduardo’s idea). He hates Chris for suggesting their stupid deal and the fact that now Eduardo has to follow through with it.
He hates himself for having the most frustrating and stressful crush possible. And he hates the fact that he gets so upset over it, like he has no control over his own (stupid) emotions.
He hates Dustin…well, he can’t actually think of anything Dustin has done, at the moment, but he’ll think of something. (And now he feels guilty for being unfairly mad at his friends.)
But mostly he hates Mark. For being so confusing, for refusing to take a hint, for refusing to give a hint, for making stupid and unfounded and offensive accusations, for acting like a jealous asshole but not just saying if he actually likes Eduardo. Just for existing, with his stupidly attractive face and the way he always chews on his lip when he’s concentrating and how even when he’s being the worst kind of petulant jerk he still manages to make Eduardo sort of crazy with desire-
Eduardo hates him.
(The worst part is that he doesn’t hate him at all, not in the least.)
His phone buzzes. It’s a text from Chris: Don’t forget our deal!
He groans and pulls at his hair. Yeah yeah I know okay!!!!!!!!!!!! I TRIED to tell him but he’s being a total dbag!!!!!! :( :( :(
He can practically hear Chris smirking when he receives a response a few minutes later.
Mark is a douche, is this news? Surely you knew that when you fell in love with him.
“SHUT UP CHRIS!” Eduardo yells into his empty room. “I’m not in love with him,” he adds grumpily. Then he feels like a weirdo for talking to himself.
SHUT UP CHRIS!!! I’m not!!! he texts back.
Then he sends another text: Don’t say that. Only I’m allowed to call him mean things.
Stupid Chris doesn’t respond.
Eduardo contemplates his options. Maybe he should just tell Chris the deal is off. Maybe he should transfer to another school in a different state…or country…so he doesn’t have to deal with this ever. Maybe he should get drunk again.
He continues to mope…that is, consider his options…for an indeterminate amount of time, until finally his phone buzzes again.
It’s from Chris.
I did it :) :) Your turn!
“AGH!” Eduardo shouts and chucks his phone across the room. Then he immediately curses and runs to check that it’s okay. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem at all damaged.
He feels guilty for not being happy for Chris, since the double emoticons obviously mean things went well with Dustin. But he also feels betrayed. How could Chris leave him alone in pathetic, pining, singledom?
Now he and Dustin are probably going to ditch him completely, in their bound-to-be-annoyingly-perfect relationship (because they never fight, do they), and no buffer for Mark’s stupid face and stupid voice and stupid existence-
Eduardo catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror: eyes crazed, hair wild from clutching at it.
“Argh, this is ridiculous, fuck it,” he says decisively, and stomps out of his room, huffing.
When he shows up at Mark’s suite a few minutes later, his cheeks are flushed from the cold and his hair is even wilder. He knows he probably looks like a crazy person (…which might not be an inaccurate impression), but he doesn’t even care.
“Mark!” he shouts and pounds on the door. “I know you’re in there! Don’t even try-”
He’s cut off (and slightly startled) when Mark opens the door. “Jesus,” he says. “What the hell-”
“I need to talk to you!” Eduardo yells.
“God, chill out,” Mark says, and Eduardo follows him into the suite. “What?”
“You are really stupid. Why are you so stupid?” Eduardo says.
Mark cocks an eyebrow. “Am I?”
“You are,” Eduardo insists.
“And why am I stupid?” Mark asks.
“If you have to ask, you don’t deserve to know!” Eduardo says. He knows he’s being a little juvenile, but whatever. Mark started it.
“Can’t you take a hint?” Eduardo says, pulling at his hair again in agony.
“Take a hint about what?”
“EXACTLY!” Eduardo yells.
“I don’t understand what you want me to do,” Mark says. Eduardo wonders, again, if he’s being deliberately oblivious or what.
“You are so-” Eduardo says. Mark gives him a completely inscrutable look, and Eduardo loses his patience altogether. He advances on Mark, pushes him up against the couch, and drags their mouths together.
Eduardo kisses Mark, hard. Mark is frozen, doesn’t respond at all, until Eduardo forces his tongue between his lips. Mark gasps into his mouth, makes a tiny noise at the back of his throat and brings a hand up to the back of Eduardo’s head. Before he can get lost in it (because, wow), Eduardo jerks away.
“Is that clear enough for you?” he says, and his voice is absolutely not breathless.
Mark blinks at him. He looks at Eduardo with what would be a blank stare, if not for the way his eyes are slightly glassy and he’s leaning against the couch like he can’t catch his balance.
“Nope,” he says.
Eduardo narrows his eyes. “What do you mean, nope!?” he says.
“No,” Mark says. “I think I’m missing the point.”
Eduardo wonders if Mark is making fun of him. “Oh my god, Mark, just-”
“Maybe you should repeat it,” Mark says, “see if I get it this time.”
His voice is flat, but he’s staring at his feet determinedly.
Eduardo swallows. His heart feels heavy and swollen with hope. “Yeah?” he says.
“Yeah,” Mark says.
“You mean you-”
“Just fucking kiss me!” Mark says. And well, Eduardo can’t argue with that.
He puts his hands in Mark’s hair this time, along with his tongue in his mouth, and this time Mark kisses back, clutching at Eduardo’s jaw and sucking on his tongue. Mark’s knees buckle against the side of the couch and Eduardo dips him over it, arms around his back, until they both collapse on the couch.
Mark grunts out of discomfort and pulls away long enough to rearrange his limbs. He somehow manages to reverse their positions, so he’s on top, without falling off the couch.
“So wait,” Eduardo says as Mark kisses his neck. “Does this mean you-you like me too?”
“Your powers of observation astound me,” Mark says, but it comes out a little less harsh because he’s tugging off Eduardo’s shirt while he says it.
Eduardo chuckles breathlessly and kisses Mark again. He pushes his hand up the back of Mark’s shirt, splaying his fingers against his skin and making his shiver slightly.
“So does this mean-” Eduardo pulls away enough to say. “Are we-you know, like-?”
“What, do you want a promise ring?” Mark says.
Eduardo laughs. “I-no, I just want to know-”
“Wardo,” Mark says. “If you want me to date you, then okay, fine, I can do that, alright?”
Eduardo grins hugely. “Yes, I want that,” he says.
“Then fine,” Mark grumbles.
Eduardo kisses him and laughs against his lips. “Like it’s such a hardship,” he mumbles.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” Mark says in an entirely unconvincing voice. His fingers inch down Eduardo’s chest and stomach. There is a serious situation developing in Eduardo’s pants.
“Where-where are your roommates?” Eduardo says. “They’re out, don’t worry,” Mark says in this low voice that does nothing to help the erection situation.
“But wait--What about my reputation?” he says.
“What about it?” Mark says, playing with the hair at the nape of Eduardo’s neck.
“We should probably stop now,” Eduardo says, although he can’t think of anything he wants to do less. “After all, people might get the wrong idea, if I put out on the first date.”
Mark sighs and rolls his eyes. “That doesn’t matter if it’s me, duh.”
“I knew it!” Eduardo says, gleeful. (Even though he didn’t really know it for sure, did he?)
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Mark grumbles. “You think you’re so clever.”
“I am pretty clever,” Eduardo says. “Admit it.”
“I’ll admit nothing,” Mark says. Without preamble, he slides to the floor, unzips Eduardo’s pants, and yanks them down.
“Oh my-” Eduardo gasps and lets his head thump back, grabbing at the couch cushions. It’s not a promise ring, but somehow he’s not complaining.
--
Chris
Because everything seems to be going in Chris’s favor, the hall outside their suite is pretty much deserted when they get there.
Dustin kisses him against the wall. And it’s so, so good. Chris could do this forever, honestly, just making out, it’s that intoxicating.
Dustin is really good at it, too, better than Chris would have expected. Not that Chris thought Dustin would be a bad kisser-he was pretty good at it even at New Years, when he was drunk-but he never seemed super experienced, and Chris didn’t think he’d be so smooth.
Case in point: Dustin pushes his against the wall, leaning up a little to kiss Chris’s jaw, and slides his hand against Chris’s side. “Where’s Mark?” he says into Chris’s ear.
“Who fucking cares,” Chris says. “Not here.”
“That’s good to know,” Dustin says hotly.
“Yeah, we should-we should go inside,” Chris says as Dustin’s fingers brush at his waist.
“’Kay,” Dustin says, and fishes Chris’s key out of his pocket, all while kissing his neck.
See? Smooth.
“Wow, nice,” Chris says. Dustin grins. “I know, right? I got mad skills.”
Chris grabs the key and tugs Dustin towards the door, laughing. “Wait, wait,” Dustin says. “I should tell you, before we get involved…”
“Yes?” Chris says.
“There’s a small chance that my body could be about to undergo an agonizing process in which I slowly become a superhero,” Dustin says seriously. “I just want you to be prepared for that eventuality.”
Chris raises an eyebrow. “Superpowers?” he says. “That’s hot.”
Dustin’s grin spreads all the way to his eyes. He leans in to kiss Chris again. Chris laughs and fumbles with the key. He finally gets the door open and pushes Dustin inside, laughing and kissing him the whole way and pushing his hand up his shirt.
Just then, they’re interrupted by a high-pitched yelp from the couch. Chris jerks away and turns to see Eduardo making a very strange face.
“Mark! Mark, stop!” he says in a strangled voice. There’s a telltale popping noise, and-
“AH! OH MY GOD!” Dustin shrieks and covers his face.
“Sorry, sorry!” Eduardo says, blushing to the roots of his hair and scrambling to zip up his pants.
“Really?” Chris says. “On the couch?”
Mark’s face appears next to Eduardo. “What the fuck are you doing here!” he yells.
“We LIVE here!” Dustin says. “This is the COMMON room!”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Eduardo says. He looks like he wants to disappear into the couch cushions.
“On the couch?” Chris says again. “That’s unsanitary!”
“I was gonna swallow,” Mark says sourly.
“OKAY THEN!” Eduardo says hysterically.
“This is kind of funny timing, isn’t it?” Dustin says.
“Oh yeah, it’s just hilarious,” Mark deadpans. “Can you leave now?”
“Yeah, um,” Eduardo says apologetically. “Sorry, and um-I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, but-could you-?”
“Where are we supposed to go?” Chris yells.
“I don’t really care,” Mark says. “Away.”
“We both live here!” Dustin says.
Mark scowls and is about to retort when Eduardo grabs his arm and drags him up. “They’re right, Mark, let’s go to my room, okay?”
“Fine,” Mark says, tripping over his feet a little bit as Eduardo pulls him towards the door. “And if you’re gonna make a big deal out of it, then you can’t do anything on the couch either!” he says to Chris.
Dustin shudders. “Like we’d want to now.”
“Wait,” Eduardo says, breaking away from Mark and pulling Chris over to the corner.
“Nice job,” he says in an undertone, smiling, although he still looks a little pink.
“Ditto,” Chris says, grinning. “We did it, man!”
“Wardo, c’mon!” Mark says.
“It would probably be best if we didn’t mention…you know, the stuff from last night,” Chris whispers. “They don’t really need to know.” Eduardo nods vehemently.
“Chris,” Dustin whines.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Chris says. “I’m officially breaking up with you.”
Eduardo just grins and nods. Then he lets Mark drag him out of the suite.
end.