I came around to someone shining their phone flashlight directly into my face. I groaned and did my best to sit up. The process was slow-going, as were my thoughts. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and tried to figure out where I was in my foggy and still-drunk state. The fact that the frat house living room was now fully illuminated by the morning sun streaming in through the open windows wasn’t helping things. It looked like a completely foreign landscape of empty beer cans sprinkled throughout with sad pledges who were methodically gathering them all into trash bags.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” someone was saying to me. “Time to get the fuck out.”

I blinked some more and then craned my neck until I got a good look at the man who was speaking to me. He had short black hair and brown eyes, but not the pretty kind of brown. His eyes were boring and dull.

No wonder he wants me to go home, I thought. I am way out of his league.

This line of thinking made me laugh hysterically for over a minute. When I was done, boring boy sighed and asked, “Who drove you here?”

I paused everything and stared off into the distance until I could come up with the answer.

“Phony,” I said finally, pleased at my recollection.

Boring boy sighed once again and turned his head to address the few remaining party stragglers.

“Anyone got any idea where this one lives?” he called out.

Nobody answered. It wasn’t surprising. At the moment, I was having a hard time remembering where I lived myself. I was stuck in this perplexing state of knowing I needed to sober up, but also having no idea how to do such a thing. I thought for sure that I’d be tossed out and made to hitchhike back to campus, assuming I could figure out where that was, but then a familiar voice floated down from the heavens. Or maybe just from the top of the staircase.

“I’ve got him,” called Mark Olsen as he unhurriedly made his way over to me.

“Thank God,” boring boy said under his breath. “Hot fucking mess freshmen…” He stood and walked away before I could hear the rest of his unhappy murmurings. Then Mark was standing before me, offering me his hand. I stared at it without taking it. Something about him being here didn’t feel right.

“I thought you didn’t like parties,” I whispered, remembering secretly gleaned details from what felt like a different life.

Mark shrugged. “I don’t.” He did not elaborate further. I kept on staring at him.

“Come on,” he said again, stretching out his fingers even further. “I promise I won’t bite.” At that he gave me a heart-stopping half grin that no man, woman, or child could refuse.

I gave him my hand and let him get started on the momentous task of hauling my large frame to my feet. It took a while and a lot of coordination on Mark’s part, but we got there. This new position made my stomach give an uncomfortable lurch, but I somehow managed to keep myself from throwing up.

“Ready?” Mark asked, looping an arm over my shoulder. I tried to nod, but that just made the room spin even faster.

“I think so,” I said instead. Mark tightened his grip on me and started leading me outside. Even though he was much smaller than me, he seemed to have no trouble supporting the bulk of my weight. I clung to his arm and leaned my pounding head against his as we walked. I couldn’t get over how solid he felt and how strong he seemed to be. He smelled like something herbal and fresh. Mint or lavender or maybe even tea tree. Also, he was being incredibly nice to me. I told him so. Several times, or at least I tried to.

“You’re really cute,” I spat out as he all but lifted me into the passenger seat of his car. I was fixated on the way the flecks of gold in his eyes twinkled in the early morning light. Mark reached over my body and buckled me in without a response. He shut the door and disappeared from my sight. I got sad for a moment, thinking he’d left me to fend for myself, but then he got in on the driver’s side and started the car.

I wanted to stare at him some more while we were moving, but I found that I felt best if I kept my forehead pressed firmly against the window. Mark was humming softly as he drove. It wasn’t a song that I recognized, but he had a really nice voice, almost nice enough to distract me from how sick I was starting to feel.

We arrived at Coronado and Mark parked his car in the garage closest to my dorm. After he turned off the engine and stepped out, I fumbled around with my seatbelt buckle, suddenly determined to make myself useful, but after several unsuccessful attempts I finally just gave up and waited for Mark to come around and retrieve me. When he reached over to undo the stubborn buckle, I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head against him.

“I’m sleepy,” I said into his shoulder.

Mark reached up and patted my arm.

“Okay. Let’s go get you into bed then.”

I let my grip go slack enough for Mark to get free and he helped me to my feet outside of the car. I leaned against the door for a moment to get my bearings and then Mark wrapped me up once again in his firm embrace. It was still early enough in the morning that the air was slightly chilly and I savored Mark’s body heat as much as his general calming presence as we walked.

Once we made it to my residence hall, we took the elevator up to floor number five. I had to sit down and chew on my knuckles to keep from throwing up at the movement, but it was definitely more preferable than the stairs. My floor was unusually quiet this morning, with most of the residents sleeping in or out enjoying the start of their weekend. I was glad for the lack of activity seeing as Mark had to help me all the way to the end of the hall to get to my room.

“Do you have your key?” Mark asked. There wasn’t even a hint of impatience or annoyance in his tone, which for some reason made me want to cry.

“I think it was in my back pocket,” I whispered.

Mark felt around and retrieved it for me, making my face go hot. I was silently begging for his hands to wander, but the contact only lasted a couple of seconds. He opened the door and urged me inside where he left me leaning against my desk for a moment as he pulled back the covers on my bed and readied it for me. Steve was nowhere to be found.

“Sit down,” Mark said, patting the spot where he’d pulled the covers aside.

I did as he asked and watched as he bent down and started carefully unlacing my shoes. After they were off, he placed them to the side where I wouldn’t trip over them if I had to get up for any reason. Then he drew the covers over me and tucked me into bed. After that, he went to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He set both it and the tiny trash can from under my desk on top of my nightstand. Then he rummaged in my desk drawer until he found a tiny bottle of aspirin. He left that for me too.

“For when you wake up,” he said, patting my head gently.

I closed my eyes and leaned into the touch.

“Thanks, handsome,” I mumbled.

Mark’s fingers stalled on my head and then tightened before relaxing again. The little bit of hair I had was tingling in a way that would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so distracted by Mark’s bare forearm. There was a freckle there, just under the inner elbow. I placed my finger over it like it was an X on a treasure map.

Mark didn’t seem to mind the attention. He looked calm and at peace and would occasionally match one of my strokes or squeezes with one of his own. He let me cling to him for several minutes before finally pulling away and telling me he had to go to work. He sounded extremely apologetic about it.

He disengaged and, with one last warm look, headed for the door. I felt like my dreams were all floating away from me and I was helpless to stop them. I was about to plead with Mark to stay when a sudden revelation flooded my brain and nearly sent me into a blind panic.

“Mark,” I called after him, my voice the clearest it had been since I’d woken up on the frat house floor.

Mark paused in the doorway and turned around, puzzled.

“Yeah?”

I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and tried to focus on his left eyebrow so I wouldn’t have to look him directly in the eye. My heart fluttered dangerously in my chest.

“Nobody knows I’m gay,” I said sternly.

The tension in Mark’s eyebrows eased some and he gave me a reassuring smile.

“I won’t tell them,” he promised. He then closed the door behind him and was gone.

I didn’t allow myself to linger on the phrase or my worries, or even how cute Mark was. The admission had completely sapped me of all of my remaining strength. I let my head sink down into the pillow and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.