Chapter Five: University

Levon was sure this was a bad idea but he was already way too far in to change his mind. He was parked at Todd's university, staring up at the building Todd lived in.

It had been three weeks since they had last seen each other, and they hadn't had any communication besides the few texting conversations that Levon didn't find nearly as satisfying as talking. It had been Bradly's idea truly, and Aisha and Cash had been all too willing to encourage him. Now he was parked outside the building, unsure if Todd would even want to see him. Levon couldn't even be certain that they would get along. They'd had a small fight right before the winter break had ended over who Ophelia should and shouldn't date. Todd tended to be even more overprotective than Levon and Jasper. Levon thought it was cute.

Levon took out his cell phone and decided to get it over with. He called Todd and brought the phone to his ear. Todd answered on the second ring.

"What?" Todd came and Levon rolled his eyes, trying to alleviate the pressure he was feeling.

"That is not how you answer a call," Levon said and Todd scoffed.

"Are you just calling to criticize the way I answer the phone?" Todd asked and Levon let out an awkward laugh.

"No, I'm actually calling because I'm in your parking lot."

"You're what?" Todd blurted. "You're in the lot?"

"Yeah," Levon sighed. That wasn't the happy welcome.

"Why are you here?" Todd asked.

"Listen Toddy, I'm here. Are you going to interrogate me or are you going to come let me into the building? Do you realize how snowy it is out here?" Levon snapped and Todd went quiet.

"Whatever. I'll be there in a minute." The line went dead and Levon tucked it in his pocket. This was off to a good start. Levon grimaced.

Levon climbed out of his car and grabbed his bag from the backseat. It was Friday and he had packed to stay until Sunday. Assuming Todd didn't kick him to the curb before then.

Todd came out of the building and Levon raised his hand in a wave. Todd was wearing jeans and a nerdy t-shirt, his socked feet stuffed hurriedly into a pair of sandals. He walked and met Levon halfway to the building, stopping in front of Levon with his hands on his hips.

"What's going on?" Todd asked, his eyes narrowed, raking over Levon's form for any signs of distress. Levon had to smile at the thinly veiled concern and Todd glared at him in question.

"I was wondering if you'd let me hang out for the weekend?" Levon gestured to his bag. "I'm looking for a bit of a getaway."

"You can stay as long as you don't mess with my stuff," Todd agreed easily and Levon felt his shoulders slump with relief before he felt like an idiot. Of course Todd would let him stay. Todd would never turn anyone he cared about away, especially not Levon. They weren't friends, but they were always there for each other.

"Have you got any plans for the weekend?" Levon asked, hoping that Todd didn't.

He didn't.

Todd let Levon into his room and Levon gave the small, single room a quick once-over. Todd kept his space neat and organized. It was more personal than his room back home. There was a Game of Thrones and a Hobbit poster on his wall along with a puppy calendar Ophelia had bought him for Christmas. The comforter on his bed was almost the same bright green as Levon's back home and he hid another fond smile.

"So, I was in the middle of an assignment," Todd said awkwardly, kicking off the sandals and padding to his desk chair. "It's due tonight."

"You can finish it," Levon waved him off and Todd dropped into his chair. Levon sat on the bed. It was comfier than his dorm bed. "I'll just read or something."

"You can read any of my books, but I will break you if you wreck any of them," Todd didn't look up, already getting back to work, and Levon let his eyes flick over the books on the shelf above the desk. Levon decided to read the copy of It he had in his bag, settling down on the green comforter. Levon had finished all the pressing schoolwork he had had before he set out for Todd's.

They were silent for a little while, and Levon felt himself becoming more and more relaxed in Todd's presence, and more and more amused with the glances Todd would occasionally shoot over his shoulder. As if he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. But he didn't seem unhappy.

"Levon?" Betto spoke up, stopping in the doorway and blinking in surprise. Todd lifted his head to look at his friend in question.

"Hey, buddy," Levon grinned looking up from the book.

"What do you need, Betto?" Todd asked impatiently.

"Oh," Betto tore his eyes from Levon. "We were going to go get some food then head to the pub. Wondering if you still wanted to come with?"

"I'm not really in the mood for drinking," Todd declined easily. "Maybe next week."

"You and Levon have plans?" Betto smiled a little, amusement rising in his eyes and Todd glared at him. "Sleepover?"

"How about you go fuck off with your other friends," Todd suggested and Betto laughed. He wiggled his brows at Levon and Levon had to laugh.

"I noticed you two getting close over the break. Didn't realize just how close," Betto teased and Todd chucked a pen at him.

"Get out of here before I get Alexis to write your ass up!" Todd snapped and Betto fled from Levon's view, cackling the whole way. Levon presumed Alexis was an RA. "Pain in my ass."

"I could be the pain in your ass if you prefer," Levon said and Todd scowled at him.

"Just shut up and go back to reading. I'm almost done," Todd turned his back and got back to work. Levon smirked then his phone started buzzing so he checked his texts. Betto was cracking more jokes in their group chat about not being invited to a sleepover in his own building. Then Cash and Aisha were both privately texting him to know how things were going with Todd. Levon ended up putting down his book to chat with them while Todd finished.

When Todd was done he got up and quickly organized everything on his desk. Levon watched him with mild interest, eyes lingering on the jean-clad ass. Then Todd was pulling on a hoodie and a jacket and Levon got up.

"Where are we going?' Levon asked. He pulled on his own coat and grabbed his wallet before following Todd out of the room.

"We need to get some supper," Todd stated. "I'm starving."

"Sounds awesome," Levon agreed and checked the time on his phone. It was six.

They walked down to the campus bar because Todd decided that Levon had to try the wings they sold. Levon was happy to go just about anywhere with Todd. It wasn't that often that they hung out outside of Levon's house just the two of them.

Eventually, they were seated with their platter of chicken wings. It was a cute place, they didn't have one at Levon's Uni. There were plenty of students in the space, a lot of which were drinking. Todd and Levon each had a tall glass of soda.

"You could have gone bar hopping with your friends," Levon eventually said when Todd's eyes lingered on a group of men drinking together. Todd's gaze snapped to Levon.

"You are way too much of a nutcase," Todd snorted. "You'd ruin the fun."

"Are you saying I'm not fun?" Levon arched a brow. He'd had to roll the sleeves of his white-blue striped shirt up to eat the messy meal and was trying very hard not to wipe his hands on his flashy red pants.

"You're a wild card when it comes to alcohol," Todd said. "You're either good for a laugh or you go weird and start talking about sex non-stop."

"Both of those sound fun to me," Levon told him and Todd rolled his eyes.

"Both of those sound annoying, but at least when I can laugh at you it's bearable."

"You don't drink much anymore," Levon pointed out rather suddenly and Todd blinked at the change of subject. He shoved some food into his mouth and Levon patiently waited for an answer.

"It stopped being fun," Todd finally answered.

"Anything to do with how you nearly died that time?" Levon asked and Todd looked to his food, shrugged his broad shoulders. That had been among the worst days of Levon's life; right up there with the time Levon had gotten t-boned at an intersection and broken three ribs.

"I mean, that was a huge wakeup call," Todd snorted. "I thought your moms would kill me if the alcohol hadn't."

"They wanted to kill you," Levon agreed. It had been three in the morning. Betto had called Levon's moms to let them know Todd was in the hospital. Levon ended up driving over from his university and to keep an eye on Todd. It had been a hellish weekend. "I wanted to kill you."

"So, I don't drink much anymore. Don't want a repeat of that," Todd said. "You don't drink much either so it's not weird."

"Yes, but I've never drank much. I prefer to have fun and remember that fun," Levon stated.

"Or you just don't want to embarrass yourself because you're a massive lightweight," Todd smirked. Levon narrowed his eyes and flipped him off with a sauce covered finger.

When they were done eating they stopped at the market for some junk food because they needed to have snacks right after they finished their meal. Todd was unhelpful as Levon snatched up a couple bags of chips and some chocolate covered almonds. Then walked the ten minutes back up to Todd's dorm, arguing over who had to carry the bags.

"Watch a movie or let me kick your ass at Mario Kart?" Todd asked when they were settling back into his room and Levon snorted.

"Like hell I'm ever playing Mario Kart with you again," Levon said. "You gave me a bloody lip last time."

"First of all, that was your fault for standing too close to me," Todd said and started getting Netflix set up on his laptop. "Secondly, that was like a year ago. Move on."

"It hurt and I won't ever forget it," Levon told him. He sat on the bed and made himself comfy with the snacks to watch the movie. "What are we watching?"

"Options are John Wick, Amazing Spiderman or John Wick," Todd said and Levon smirked.

"Amazing Spiderman."

"Wrong, we're watching John Wick," Todd set the movie to play and flicked the lights off except for the dim lamp on his desk. He came and sat next to Levon and put the laptop between them.

"I hate this movie. It's so sad. I love it too much," Levon complained.

"You need to straighten out your opinions," Todd told him with an eye-roll.

"Nothing about me will ever be straight," Levon promised. They ended up watching both the John Wick movies on Todd's laptop, bickering and criticizing different parts.

When both movies were done, the building was pretty much dead silent. They both brushed their teeth, then came back to the room and Todd locked the door, locked them in the room.

"This bed is a lot smaller than the one we share at home," Levon stated, glancing at the single bed. He had a double at home, and even that was a squeeze sometimes with Todd. Todd shrugged and pulled off his jeans. He had on a pair of Batman boxers that Levon was sure could come off with a single tug. Levon looked away.

"If you don't want to share the bed you can sleep on the floor. There are a couple extra blankets in the closet," Todd said and Levon grimaced.

"I am not sleeping on the floor," he said, and Todd snorted.

"Then quit bitching."

Todd climbed onto the bed and Levon got up to strip down to his striped boxer briefs. Todd was laying face down and Levon sighed at the lost opportunity to show his body off to Todd before he tugged a white sleep shirt from his bag and pulled it on.

"Get the lights," Todd ordered lazily and Levon scoffed but did as told. It was dark. Levon stumbled the few steps to the bed and crawled up next to Todd.

"Stop struggling, idiot," Todd snapped when Levon failed to get under the blankets. He fought off a laugh when Todd forcefully grabbed him and dragged him under the blankets beside him. The bed was so small the couldn't lay shoulder to shoulder without being partially on top of each other. "Maybe you should go sleep on the floor."

"Shut the hell up," Levon grunted and rolled onto his side, facing Todd but putting just a smidge of distance between them. Todd was looking at him, head turned toward him. "Who do you think Parker will choose to be his best man?"

"Hoping he'll choose you?" Todd's lips moved and Levon could almost see the smirk.

"I think it's way more likely that he'll choose you or Betto," Levon rolled his eyes. "I think it's pretty clear that I've always been closer to Cash and Aisha."

"You've always been a girl at heart," Todd teased and Levon smacked him on the chest and Todd laughed a little. "He'll probably ask his brother to be his best man, and we'll all be groomsmen. Unless you end up a bridesmaid."

"I completely forgot his brother even existed," Levon groaned. "Of course he's going to pick Connor."

"There are going to be a lot of gingers at that wedding," Todd muttered and Levon had to laugh.

"Afraid of a couple gingers?" Levon mocked and Todd rolled onto his side as well. There was more distance between their bodies now, but much less between their faces, their heads both resting on the same pillow, Todd's minty breath fanning over his face.

"I heard that gingers don't even have souls," Todd whispered seriously and Levon widened his eyes with humour.

"That is pretty scary," Levon whispered back. "Almost as scary as weird boys who break into your house to sleep in your bed."

"I haven't broken into your house in years," Todd defended.

"It was still scary as hell waking up to a random guy climbing into my bed," Levon told him and Todd laughed.

Levon could see Todd's face in the darkness. He was so handsome. Wide eyes and soft lips that looked much too gentle on the firm planes of his face. Black hair messy on his forehead and his nose just a little crooked from a fight too many.

"You keep staring at me. Have I got something on my face?" Todd asked, arching a brow at Levon.

"You've got a little bit of stupid on your forehead," Levon said. "It looks ridiculous."

"Right, thanks," Todd rolled his eyes but used his fist to rub at his forehead. He looked at Levon expectantly. "Did I get it?"

"Here let me," Levon brought his hand up, fingers running over Todd's cheek to rub gently at his forehead. Todd stared into his eyes, a warning there in the wide blue depths. Levon let his eyes drop to those soft pink lips for just a moment, but it was enough for Todd to see. The skin of Todd's face heated under his fingers with Todd's blush and Levon couldn't help a smile at how fucking adorable Todd was.

"I think I got it," Levon breathed, a smile touching his mouth.

"Then why are you still touching me?" Todd mumbled back.

"Are you saying you don't like it when I touch you?" Levon retorted and Todd scoffed, his breath washing over Levon's face.

"How could anyone like your grubby little hands," he said and grabbed Levon's hand, pulling it away from his face but holding it in his grasp. "I don't even know where these have been."

"Mostly just down my pants," Levon smirked and Todd grimaced, releasing him. Levon laughed. "But my lips are very clean."

"Clean or not, you kiss me and I punch you," Todd said and Levon smirked slightly.

"Someday you're going to have to admit that you want to be kissing me as much as I want to be kissing you," Levon whispered and Todd's wide eyes searched his in the darkness.

"Why did you really come here?" Todd breathed the question and Levon wanted so much to kiss him.

"Sometimes I get sick of being around friends," Levon murmured.

"It's a good thing we're not friends," Todd said back, just as softly, a small, crooked smile on his lips. Levon felt a warmth in his chest like no other, felt like he was drowning in emotion. I am so fucking in love with you.

***

Happy Monday!

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