He was slender, with immaculate bleached grey-blond hair and a sharp face. His eyes were serious.

"Hi," he said. "You don't know me. I'm Andrew."

"Brendan," I said. "Actually, I do know you. You're Viggo's, um... You were dating him?"

"I am dating him," Andrew corrected me, his eyes narrowing. "He's my boyfriend."

Viggo hadn't made any mention of Andrew since the other day. I was surprised to hear they'd ironed things out, but more than that I was surprised at my own reaction to the news. The words "he's my boyfriend" felt like they'd been flashed in front of my eyes with an intense light, so that they stuck painfully in my vision before beginning to slowly fade away. Well, there you go, I thought. An easy answer to your feelings.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "Nice to meet you." I held my hand out, but Andrew ignored it. He crossed his arms over his chest, an expensive-looking bag dangling from the crook of his elbow.

"Who are you?" he asked.

What was his deal? I understood exactly what Dane had meant, now.

"Brendan," I said, coolly.

"No, who are you? What are you doing hanging around my Viggo?"

"He's my friend." Any patience I might've had had been instantly sucked away. "I need to get to class. Excuse me." I tried to move past him, but he stepped to the side to stop me.

"I saw you two this morning," he said. "What the hell were you doing? Why were you together with him?"

I was beginning to get the feeling that maybe Andrew wasn't telling the truth when he said they were together. There was a tone of desperation in his voice.

"He's my friend," I repeated. "If he's your boyfriend, you can ask him. Excuse me." I stepped around him, and his shoulder hit mine.

"I'm warning you," he called after me. "You better not touch him."

I ignored him and kept walking. I managed to keep my composure, but my heart was racing and my hands were trembling. I really, really hated conflict, and this had completely taken me by surprise. I pulled out my phone and opened our group chat but didn't say anything. I was just too weirded out by the encounter and I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what Andrew thought he saw, but nothing was going on between Viggo and I.

Even though I wanted there to be.

* * *

It was difficult to concentrate through the rest of my classes. I couldn't stop thinking about the run-in with Andrew. I'd never been in a situation like that before, and it got me thinking about Viggo and why Andrew would make the assumption that there was something between us. It was so obvious we were only friends.

Or was I missing something?

I racked my brain, going through the memories of that morning. He'd taken care of me when I'd gotten dizzy, but that was something a friend would do. That was it, there was nothing.

After my last class I walked across campus to get back to my apartment, feeling a bit jumpy. I kept expecting Andrew to pop out of the bushes and start hurling accusations at me. I'd speak to Viggo about it tonight when I saw him at Dane and Red's.

Back home, I stripped off my uniform and hung it up in the closet. On the back of my blazer near the bottom, I picked off a piece of dried grass that had gotten stuck there and held it up to examine it for a moment before tossing it into the trash. He and I had laid together under the tree, and I'd taken that nap. That was it, though. It wasn't like I had my head on his lap, or something. I blushed at the thought. What would it be like to sleep with my head in Viggo's lap? Or Dane's? Or Red's? I imagined Red's would be the most comforting. It'd probably be like lying down on a huge pillow.

I pushed away the thoughts and splashed a handful of cold water onto my face in the bathroom. Just what was I fantasizing about?

After taking a quick shower, I headed over to Dane and Red's place. Viggo opened the door for me, and I was greeted with what smelled like barbecue and fried meat. Red was lying on the couch reading a book, and he looked over the top of it and waved at me. I followed Viggo to the kitchen, where Dane was pulling chicken wings out from a pot of bubbling oil on the stovetop.

"Hey, Brendan," Dane said. "Food is almost ready. First birthday dinner, coming up!"

"Beer?" Viggo asked, holding a bottle out to me. I took it from him, and my encounter with Andrew popped into my mind. Were they together again? What would that mean if they were? Would Viggo not want me to hang around him and everyone?

He frowned at me, and I realized I'd been staring at him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing. Well, actually, something happened today..."

"Yo!" Dane shouted. "Red, come grab a beer! Chicken is ready. Guys, come eat while it's hot."

Red lumbered into the room, and as he passed by me, he gently touched the top of my head with his palm. Was that a pet? Did he just pet me? It was such a quick gesture, but it made my heart skip a beat and tingle with warmth. I could feel the affection in it.

"Yeah? What happened?" Viggo asked.

"Mm. I'll tell you at dinner."

I went over to the counter where Dane was tossing the wings in a big metal bowl, coating them in spices. There were two trays of wings on the counter that were already finished, one with a sauce glaze and another with a red, chili-looking coating. My mouth watered.

"You should see how huge your eyes are," Dane said, laughing. He poured the chicken out of the bowl onto another tray and handed me a plate. Viggo and Red came over, and we all loaded up our plates with piles of fried chicken and attacked them hungrily at the dining table. The fried batter and skin gave a satisfying crunch with a burst of the tangy spices and left us all panting to try and cool down the steaming hot tender meat inside. I gulped down a swallow from my beer. It was perfect.

"So good," I said as I cleaned off a bone and dove into my next piece. "You're amazing, Dane."

He gave me a little salute and licked the sauce from his fingers.

"You were going to say something earlier?" Viggo asked, picking up another piece. Red stood up to go for seconds.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "This is kind of awkward to ask, but... Are you and Andrew back together?"

Dane looked up from his plate at Viggo. Red came back with another mountain of wings and began to chomp away.

Viggo's expression changed, and I remembered the way he'd looked that afternoon when he'd arrived at room 303. Pissed about something.

"Oh, Jesus," he muttered. "Don't tell me he talked to you?"

"He said to stay away from you."

"God dammit. No. Hell no, we're not together. He's being crazy."

"You mean, he's been crazy," Dane muttered.

"It seems like he really likes you," I said. "For him to go that far."

"There's a difference between healthy feelings and Andrew's feelings," said Red. I was shocked to see he'd already cleaned off his second helping of wings. "I know because I've met him..."

Dane puffed up. "Should've listened to me, dude. Would've saved you a whole lot of headaches."

"I've learned my lesson."

"Uh-huh," said Dane.

"Anyway," Viggo said, "don't worry about him. Just think of him as an annoying fly. Swat him away when necessary."

Red and Dane laughed.

"I... kind of feel sorry for him," I said.

"You shouldn't," Viggo said.

"I mean, he's acting irrationally on his emotions, but that must mean he must feel really strongly about you."

Dane reached out and touched my arm, and a nice feeling spread up from where his fingers were. "And that is why I knew you were someone we'd get along with. You're a much better person than all of us."

"Speak for yourselves," Red said. "Brendan and I will hold down the fort to balance out you two assholes." He smiled at me, and I felt some butterflies twitter around in my stomach. What the hell! I looked down at my plate, my face going hot. I was getting overwhelmed by these three...

"Seriously, though," said Viggo. "This is a guy who let me know he was into me by pushing me into an empty classroom and sucking my dick. Not to mention, I'm almost certain he messed around with other guys because he was upset that I was hanging out with these two so much."

I snapped my head up, shocked. I imagined Viggo sitting in the one of the school chairs, his pants open as that guy did... things to him. I felt my cock twitch in my pants, and I shifted my position to try and quell the excitement. As crazy as that situation sounded, it was kind of hot. Not the cheating, though. That was messed up. "H-he did that?" I asked.

"Sorry. You probably didn't want to hear that," Viggo said. "But it's true."

"No... I'm sorry that he cheated on you."

I'd felt sorry for him because being in that vulnerable position with someone, where they had your heart and you were completely powerless, was what terrified me about relationships.

Oh god... As hard as I tried not to think about it, my head filled with images of Viggo, his face locked in a grimace of pleasure, his back pressed up against a whiteboard... But it wasn't Andrew who I imagined playing with Viggo's cock, it was me. As crazy as Andrew sounded, I had an awed admiration for someone with the guts to do something like that.

Viggo nudged me, and I twitched. "Hey, really. Don't look so worried."

Worried? Did I look worried? Because that definitely was not the way I felt at that moment. I nodded at him.

"Fuck, that annoys the hell out of me," he said. "He actually came to me today too and demanded I take him back. I can't believe he harassed you."

"It's alright," I said. "I'm not worried about it."

Nope, worry was far from my mind. Instead, my thoughts were occupied with fantasies of classrooms and blowjobs and three hot alphas.