Chapter Text
George
George has arrived at his new university across the ocean in order to chase his dream at being a coder for a game developer. There was a sense of dread going into campus because he has yet to meet or talk to his roommate. He technically shares a dorm with other guys but the dorm has two rooms for two pairs of people. A month ago he received his rooming assignments when he learned that the school had denied his request for a singular dorm.
Campus was large. When he walked up to his dorm building he took a deep breath. He delayed himself from going by looking around and see all of the people. There were many students with their parents who were bringing what seemed to be their entire room from home to college. All the while George himself brought one luggage, a carry-on, and his backpack which was filled with snacks, not notebooks. He'll get those at Walmart or something.
In the dormitory courtyard, which was just a nice area for people to sit and walk around, there were multiple tables set up for numerous clubs. There were sororities and frats handing out snacks and water to those walking around in the heat.
There were a couple nice faces that looked at him but he largely ignored them except for this one girl who handed him a bottle of water. She told him her name but he was too focused on getting out of the social interaction to retain it.
He entered the lobby to his dormitory building and walked up to the front desk where there was a man in some button down with the campus logo on it. Probably a resident assistant, or R.A. He gave George a hearty smile and welcomed him to the university.
"Welcome, what is your name?"
"Oh, uh George Davidson."
The man's brows raised. "Ah a foreigner. You British?" he asked as he went through the files in front of him. When he found it he handed it to George.
"Uh, yes. Just outside London."
"That's awesome. So in that file are just some code of conduct things. Your R.A will go over it tomorrow so if you have any questions about that save them for then. There is also three keys. A dorm key, room key for in your dorm and your mailbox key. Don't lose them."
The man went through that very quickly as if he was speedrunning the lines he'll have to say a couple hundred times today.
"Got it," George said blankly in response.
"Fabulous. Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, I wasn't here for orientation so I don't know where my room could possibly be," he says as he looks at the number 415 on the envelope he has. The building is 3 floors high. Logically he'd just go to the 4th floor but there is no 4th floor.
The man looks at his number again and then points at the wall. There is a small placard that shows where to go. The current floor has dorm rooms in the 300's, the 2nd floor has rooms in the 400's and the top floor has dorm rooms in the 500's.
George nods in gratitude and starts walking until he finds a flight of stairs. When he gets up to the 2nd floor there is another placard that tells him room 400-422 are to the left. He sees a few people on the floor, most parents who have arrived with their children to help them get situated. When he gets to his door he feels an odd sense of nerves. He feels nauseous like he just may throw up and he hasn't eaten anything today.
Thankfully when he enters there is nobody inside. He goes to the door that has the number 1 on it, which is the room he will be staying in. He walks in and sees two beds. On the far side of the room is a window with the beds on either side of it. There are two desks at the end of each bed and a small dress under the beds which were about 3-4 ft above the ground. To the right of the door were two small closet spaces.
George's thoughts went to all of the students who came in with so much crap. How could they possibly fit everything. There really isn't all that much space in the perspective dorm rooms. Now there is a living area but they aren't that big.
George throws his suitcase on his bed and starts unpacking it by placing his clothes into the drawers below his bed. The closet space has a small bar on the top for hangers so he throw any dress shirts he may need there. He also has two hoodies, which he almost didn't bring because of the Florida heat. However, he gets cold fast and with the central air pumping he bets he'll find use for the hoodies.
After that he tosses his backpack onto his desk and the carry-on onto his bed. He looks around the room and tries to see how he can utilize the space to the best of his ability. He begins to get a couple of his things out like the corkboard, tacks, and a metal cylinder to hold his pens, markers, highlighters, and pencils.
After getting the micro fridge from outside and placing it in the closeted area he decides to go to Walmart. None of his roommates have arrived so he's worried they'll show up when he is gone but he kinda has to trust them since he'll be living with them for the next several months. Being a foreigner makes it slightly harder to travel and he doesn't really know anybody to help bring him someone so he had to get a rental just for today to get what he needs to get and call it a day.
Being on a tight budget means he'll have to stock up on some cheap foods. He has money on his University I.D Card but it likely won't be enough to get through the semester. The best things he could get were ramen and those easy mac cups which can just be thrown into the microwave. He got a brita water filter so he doesn't have to waste money on water and a couple other snacks.
After buying some food he purchases toiletries and other bathroom supplies. The last thing on his list he needed was a TV, but he knew it couldn't be too big. Probably something like 19 or 23 inches.
He hates how he feels forced to sit in his car; forced by the anxiety of meeting new people. He is sure that his roommates have arrived. His feet could not feel more stuck to the ground as he carries his stuff back to the room. When he enters the floor he watches as some guy walks into his room.
"God," he exhales.
Before turning the knob to his room he takes a deep breath and talks to himself. You can do this. You can totally talk to 3 other guys without making an ass out of yourself. This is easy.
It was not easy.
He walked into 3 men milling about in the living area talking to each other. It didn't take long for George to realize that the 3 of them knew each other and suddenly he faced an even more monumental task. It's one thing to try and jive with 3 strangers but when those 3 strangers are not strangers to each other it just seems fruitless.
George found himself startled for a couple seconds too long, until the taller boy walked over to him.
"You must be George." He was wearing a lime green tee with jeans. His hair was slightly blonde and messy, but the kind of messy that looks good. George looked at his eyes and saw they were green.
"Uh, yes."
All 3 of them immediately react to hearing his accent. Subtle reactions, but George, being hyperaware now, was able to see it. He couldn't discern if it was a good or bad thing.
"Cool, I'm Clay. Those two are Nick and Luke. They are vastly less important than I am."
Wait. The boy in front of me is Clay? This is my roommate? This is who I share a room with? George traces the smile on Clay with his eyes, his soft lips standing out like cotton candy at a sporting event. Oh no.
"Alright, fuck you dude," the one named Nick says.
George nods, unable to say anything and walks to his room with the bags in his hand. Clay follows him into the room.
"So when did you get here?"
"Um, about 2 hours ago or so."
Clay hadn't really unpacked. His suitcase was open on his bed filled with clothes. He did have his laptop already on his desk though.
"I see you got a micro-fridge." George felt Clay was fishing for something. "I happened to pre-purchase one. I figured I would share it with you." Ah there it is.
"Well we could share the one I got. I don't need it for much."
Clay smile grew unexpectedly before he took the conversation on a tangent, "You from the UK? Your accent is-"
George saw the moment for a self-deprecating joke and interrupted him to say, "Weird? Yes. I am from the UK."
They both chuckled, with the other boy shaking his head mid laugh. "I wouldn't say weird. I just wasn't expecting to be sharing a room with a foreigner." The two grew silent. "Anyways, I guess I should go cancel the order for the micro-fridge. No need for two here."
The two went back to putting their stuff away, George mostly placing his snacks in a small plastic bin that he bought and place under his bed next to the dresser. Clay went to leave the room before turning around, "We're going to go to Walmart. I know you just got back from there but is there anything else you may need?"
Suddenly George's heart skipped a beat. The sincere tone Clay used was unexpected. "I'm good. Uh, thanks for asking."
"No problem, George."
Please never stop saying my name.
This was going to be a long year if he is going to stare at Clays smile the way he already has.
When the other 3 guys got back from shopping George was messing around on his computer setting up files for each of his classes to stay organized. He was in the middle of putting his cork board up but then got distracted by the need to eat something so he had ramen.
He turned and saw them carrying a large box in with them. A futon. George pretends to not be paying attention. He hears his roommate walk into the room with bags of groceries and begin to unpack them. The steps get closer as Clay goes to put drinks into the fridge. George sees him place water bottles inside and thinks about telling him he could use the brita but decides against it for now.
As the day continued George found himself ways to isolate. When the 3 boys were hacking away at putting up the futon, George stayed in his room. He felt bad but he got over it. He'd be no use putting together a futon anyways. When Clay came to ask him if he wanted to go get food, he declined. He knew exactly how that would go; he'd be the odd one out and would just want to leave them. His hope is that eventually he'll meld in with them, or at least with Clay.
He looks over to his roommate's side and notices that Clay brought as much stuff if not less than him. There was however a big box of popcorn packets sitting under his bed next to an open case of water, a pack of Gatorade bottles and two gallons of Arnold Palmer Iced Tea.
His desk was pretty boring, just a laptop and couple notebooks on it. Meanwhile, George has added a huge stack of multicolored sticky notes, scotch tape, and a small thing of paper clips.
Later that night when everyone was going to bed, Clay went to shower. When he came back in, George was sitting on his bed scrolling through the internet. He looked up briefly to see his roommate in just shorts.
My eyes are not meant to see those abs. This feels illegal.
"Do you think we should talk about boundaries and such?" he asks as he tosses his clothes in the hamper in his closet.
"Like what?"
George hasn't really thought about boundaries, assuming common courtesy would be obvious, but it can't hurt.
He watched as Clay pulled out $40 from his wallet and handed it to him. He looked up confused. "For the fridge."
George shook his head. "You bought the futon, right? We're even."
Clay nodded and put the money away. "Fair enough. So um I'm sure you know that Nick, Luke and I are friends."
No kidding.
"I dont want you to feel left out. I'm sure this isn't exactly the situation you want to be in, so I want to be respectful to you."
Good manners and abs for days. I need to get out of here.
If there were things George expected to happen today this was not one of them. He almost wished Clay was being fake because it is what he was expecting, but he actually seems sincere. Or George is simping and can't tell what is legit or not.
"Yeah, it's, um, pretty awkward not gonna lie."
Clay raised his arm behind his back and rubbed the nape of his neck and then ruffled his hair. Why is he doing this to me?
"Yeah," he replied dragging out the end of the word. "So I want to know what is off limits if you have anything."
George shrugs. "I honestly don't know. I haven't put too much thought into it. I figured if we just treat each other respectfully we'll be good. You can use my tv if you want." They both chuckle.
"I'm not really a tv guy, I only watch sports but I think we're going to get one tomorrow for the common area."
"Okay." He paused. "Well can I watch tv in here if you are here?"
Clay shrugs. "I don't see why not. Wait. Are you a weeb?"
George nearly choked on air. "A what?"
Clay laughed. "A weeb. Like are you into anime?" George shook is head. "Oh thank god. The other two are weebs."
There was another silence between them. George desperately searched for what to say, but nothing came to mind. "I guess if anything comes up that bothers one of us we'll just speak up. Otherwise be respectful, yeah?"
"Sounds good to me. Actually, first thing I just realize since I'm tired and you are in bed. When do you go to sleep and wake up cause I typically stay up late? That should be something that we share, right?" He nervously laughed and ruffled his hair again.
"I think I'm the same. Monday and Wednesday I'll have to go to bed earlier for my morning class."
"Oh same. 8:35?" George nods. "Then I guess our sleep schedules will be in sync."
"True."
The mood got a bit more awkward as the two boys kept trying to converse. George was conflicted about whether he wanted Clay to be quiet or put on a shirt more. He was just standing there, leaning up against his bed looking at George trying to make small talk. Meanwhile, George was trying to keep his eyes up while his peripheral vision was making him want to look down. In the end Clay offered to be the middle man between George and his other friends telling George that if the other two are annoying he can just tell him and he'll handle it.
George wondered how long this nice act would last.
Will it be longer than my ability not to fall for his smile and body?