Kyle stares down at the phone in his hand, eyes narrowed on the text from Jake that says he’s on his way over. It seems far too enthusiastic for a study session, especially given that he was supposed to be going to a party tonight. Kyle sighs, setting his phone face-down on his desk as he pushes away from it. So much for getting work done on his damage algorithm. Maybe if he can convince Jake to read for a bit, he can type up some of the test code strips he came up with earlier.

He twists in his seat, gaze flickering around the room. His dorm isn’t exactly big, but he thinks it’s a decent size for a dorm. His roommate is out tonight, as he is most weekends, so at least they’ll have the space to themselves.

His heart does a weird little skip at that thought, and he puts a hand to his chest, frowning. That’s... weird. And not okay.

Shaking his head, he slides out of his chair, setting to work picking up enough of their stuff to make his room a little more presentable. They have their beds bunked to one side, the other side occupied by a small bookshelf stocked with video games and consoles, a flat screen set up on top. Their mini-fridge-microwave combo is shoved over to the side, two worn but comfortable beanbags taking up the center space between the TV and the beds. Their desks and wardrobes are puzzled into place around the rest of the room.

His roommate, Jasper, isn’t exactly the cleanest guy, but he’s not too messy. Not any more so than Kyle. His desk has books and papers and wrappers scattered everywhere, but at least it’s contained to his desk. Kyle’s own desk has more things, more books and notebooks and knickknacks, but it exists in its own little organized chaos.

He does a sweep of the room, picking up trash and tossing their clothes into the appropriate hampers. He makes his bed meticulously and wonders why the hell he cares. It’s not like he thinks Jake would care. If anything, he’s willing to bet Jake’s room is also messy.

Standing back, hands on his hips as he glances around the room and its strange mix of personality from him and Jasper, he wonders for the millionth time why he agreed to this. He doesn’t want to tutor anybody, let alone some meathead jock. He doesn’t have time. He has his own school work to do, and when he’s not doing that, he’s working on Cry Thunder.

He still has so much to do before he can even release a playable beta for testing, and he really shouldn’t be wasting his time on tutoring. Besides, what’re the odds that it’ll actually help Jake? Sure, he might pass one class, but to bring up his entire GPA by two points this semester alone? Still... Kyle can’t help but feel a little bad for him. The way he talked about it, how desperate he sounded, it’s clear that it means a lot to him that he passes. Maybe it was the pity that temporarily overtook his common sense and caused him to say yes.

Besides, Jake said he would pay him, and Kyle needs to start building funds if he’s going to start investing in servers and storage space for his game.

He gave in for the money, he decides. Getting money for something that’ll be easy, that he can do while still offhandedly working on his game, will be worth it.

He hopes.

Lost in thought, he jumps when there’s a sharp knock on his door. It’s a strange sound, and one he doesn’t hear often. Jasper rarely has friends coming over here, and Kyle never does. The only visitors they ever really get are his RA and occasionally neighbors asking for something.

Heart hammering far too wildly for a simple knock on the door, Kyle scowls as he walks across the room to the door. Lifting his chin, he swings the door open and ignores the weird squeeze in his chest when he finds Jake standing there. It’s a stupid reaction. He knew Jake would be there. Still... it’s one thing to know, and another to see him there, in Kyle’s hallway and in Kyle’s doorway. Wearing nice jeans and a fitted V-neck that stretches across his broad chest and shoulders, clinging to a tapered waist. He has a backpack thrown over one shoulder, and he smiles sheepishly down at Kyle.

“Hey, uh, sorry about the sudden change of plans,” he says, scratching the back of his neck. His eyes wander away from Kyle to the room behind him.

He shrugs, stepping back and gesturing him in. “It’s fine.” He doesn’t mean for his voice to sound so clipped, but it comes out that way nonetheless. He blames the weird heat beneath his skin. “Just... sit wherever.”

He closes the door quietly and slips back into his seat at his desk, chair turned so he can watch as Jake stands in the middle of his room, turning in a slow circle to take everything in. It’s strange to see him there. He looks nothing like Kyle or Jasper. Tall and broad and more at home in a gym than in their strange little nerd den of a dorm. Still, Kyle realizes it’s the first time he’s ever had someone over. The first time he’s ever invited anyone over. And his chest does that annoying little squeeze again.

He frowns, ducking down to pull his economics textbook out of his backpack, setting it down on his desk loudly enough to get Jake’s attention. “Should we get started?” He asks, mindlessly flipping through the book to avoid looking up at Jake.

“Oh, right, yeah.” Jake drops his own backpack to the floor and collapses into one of the beanbag chairs. He makes himself comfortable before pulling out his own textbook and a notebook that looks like it’s never been used. “Would you believe this is the first time I’ve ever actually opened this book?”

Kyle exhales a short, sharp laugh, even as he deadpans, “With how often you bring your book to class? No, I never would’ve guessed.”

There’s a long silence, and as it drags on, Kyle starts to feel the wriggling of doubt in his gut, anxiety squirming beneath his skin. That was... could that have been considered rude? Shit. It’s been a long time since he’s been forced to be social with people, and he and Jasper live in a shared state of sarcasm and dry humor.

He glances up and catches Jake’s gaze. His eyes are wide, lips parted slightly in his shock. And as Kyle watches, those lips slowly curve up into a wide, toothy smile. One that is definitely not good for Kyle’s heart. “Oh my god— was that a joke?”

Kyle frowns, bristling slightly. “Am I not allowed to joke?”

“No, no! You definitely are. I just... wasn’t expecting it, I guess? You’re always so... serious.”

Kyle looks down again, digging out his own notebook from class to keep his hands and his eyes busy as he mutters, “You’re making assumptions about me again.”

“My bad.”

Kyle can hear the smile in his voice, but he refuses to look up. He’s learning very quickly that Jake’s smiles aren’t good for his health. The guy is too damn pretty for Kyle’s own good. And he’s going to be stuck with him, in his dorm, alone, for at least an hour— oh god, why did he agree to this?

“So, uh... what chapter are we on exactly?” There’s a sheepishness to his voice, along with the edges of embarrassment trying to hide behind humor.

Kyle finds himself smiling, even as he keeps his eyes cast down. “Five.”

“Right, I knew that.”

Never having tutored in his life, Kyle has been under the impression that it would be easy. Figure out what Jake’s been having trouble on, force him to study and do his homework, and that’s it. Turns out that’s a lot harder when Jake has never read or studied for this class at all, and Kyle quickly comes to the realization that a foundation has to be built before any real studying can happen.

The first twenty minutes are spent with Kyle asking questions, trying to figure out how much of the material Jake knows and where he needs to learn the most. Turns out the answers are not much and pretty much everything, in that order. With a sigh, rubbing his fingers on his temple, Kyle tells Jake to start by reading chapter five. Actually reading it. Not just skimming it. At least then they can move forward through the stuff they’re learning now in class.

“Just let me know if you have any questions while you’re reading,” he says as he turns back to his computer, fingers already settling over the keyboard and eyes scanning the strips of code he’d been working on earlier.

It takes Jake two minutes before he asks his first question, and then what feels like thirty seconds after that for the second. They come at such a rapid speed, and Kyle quickly realizes that not having a foundation is a problem. Whenever the book refers to something they learned earlier in the semester, Jake gets confused. But it’s more than that. The mere wording of sentences, even those explaining simple concepts, get confusing and muddled in Jake’s understanding.

Kyle finally sighs, pushing back from his desk, climbing to his feet. He shuffles across the room and collapses into the beanbag next to Jake, his own book open on his lap, resigning himself to the fact that he’s going to have to go through it with Jake and help him decipher the text.

He regrets moving to the beanbag almost immediately when Jake’s cologne fills his nose and his calf brushes against Kyle’s foot. Curling up in his beanbag, he focuses on the text, talking through it aloud and answering questions, keeping eye contact to a minimum.

* * *

Jake sighs loudly, the exhale trailing off into a groan as he stretches on the beanbag, arms over his head as his back arches and his head falls back. “Jesus Christ, my brain hurts.”

Kyle purses his lips, brows pinching. “We’re only half way through the chapter.”

“Halfway?” Kyle nods, and Jake groans again. He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“No one said getting your GPA up would be easy,” Kyle says, trying to sound gentle.

“I know, I know, just... can we take a break?”

Kyle sighs, closing his book and pulling out his phone. It’s been nearly an hour since Jake arrived. “Sure.”

“Sweet.” Jake rolls to his feet, taking a moment to stretch his hands high above his head and arch his back. Kyle finds his gaze fixed on the strip of midsection revealed as his shirt rides up, and he quickly looks away. Jake’s back pops, and he groans, causing heat to rise to Kyle’s cheeks. Jake then paces around the room, and Kyle keeps his attention fixed on his phone, determined to ignore him while he attempts to get his traitorous body under control.

“You’ve got a lot of games.”

When he glances up, he finds Jake bent over, hands on his knees, looking over the collection of games on the shelf. Kyle refuses to admit that Jake’s ass looks really good in those jeans. “Thanks,” he says, heat crawling under his skin as his voice cracks slightly. He clears his throat. “Only about half of them are mine. The rest are my roommate’s.”

“Oh,” Jake straightens, pointedly looking around the room with a slight purse to his lips. “I was kinda wondering if you had one. I mean, all the extra furniture comes with the dorm, so you could’ve just spread your stuff out.”

Kyle shakes his head. “No, I have a roommate. He’s just, uh... not here a lot on the weekends.”

“What kinda guy is he?”

Kyle’s face scrunches up in thought, lip curling a little as he struggles to find a word for it. “Um... artistic?”

Jake laughs, and while Kyle’s not so sure what’s funny about that, he finds himself smiling anyway. He doesn’t mind Jasper. He smokes a lot, lazes around their room, but he’s a nice enough guy. He talks to Kyle about Cry Thunder and has offered to be a beta tester. They’re not friends, exactly, but he’s pretty good for a roommate.

“What about a girlfriend?”

The question catches him off guard, and Kyle blinks, staring up at him. “What?”

Jake is turned back to the shelves of games, occasionally pulling one out to look at the case. “You know, a girlfriend? You got one of those?”

“Uh, no. I don’t.” His heart feels like it’s bruising his ribs, but the accelerated rate is different this time. There’s an underlying tension in the air and a squeezing of his lungs. The question isn’t pointed or barbed, not prying or searching. Just general curiosity. There’s no way Jake could know... right? Kyle hasn’t been that obvious. He scratches his cheek, eyes cast to the side. “I’ve actually... never had... a girlfriend.”

The admission is filled with tension as he bristles, prepared to defend himself if he needs to. But Jake just hums his acknowledgement, not expressing any surprise or pointed follow ups. In fact, he seems lost in his own thoughts, like he barely registered Kyle’s awkward admission at all.

“I just broke up with my girlfriend, so I suppose I don’t have one either. Or, I guess, she broke up with me.” He says it offhandedly, but there’s something deeper there. Something beneath his couldn’t-care-less facade. Something... sad. Something that has Kyle’s heart aching for him in a way he’s not used to. Jake continues to pick through the games, though Kyle is certain he’s not really looking at them. “She said I wasn’t smart, or whatever. Which is rich coming from her. We were supposed to go to a party together tonight, but I didn’t really feel like going after, you know, that happened. I don’t even know if she’s going still. Not that I really care. It was bound to happen eventually. It was fun while it lasted, I guess. At least now I can focus on my whole GPA problem without worrying about her.”

There’s a pause, and Kyle squirms in his seat, not quite sure what to say. He finally settles on, “I’m... sorry to hear that.” And hopes it comes across as genuine as it feels. There’s a hollowness surrounding Jake when he talks about it, and that’s... something Kyle can relate to.

Jake straightens, blinking in surprise as he turns. He scratches the back of his neck as he smiles. “Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t realize I was rambling. I know you don’t wanna hear about my relationship problems.”

Kyle waves it off, opening up his textbook again. “It’s fine.”

They end up getting back to work, and Jake has found a new surge of determination and focus. Whether it’s to prove himself or distract himself, Kyle isn’t sure. He walks Jake through the chapter, explaining concepts and business models while ignoring the twisting leaden knot in his gut.

He’s seen Jake around with his girlfriend before, both classically pretty and perfect together. He’s had suspicions that Jake is straight, and it’s not like he’s deluded himself into thinking anything could or would happen between them. Especially since no one knows Kyle likes men, and he’s not about to change that. But... just that confirmation that Jake is even more out of his league hurts a lot more than he thought it would.