Chapter Text
"This is a joke, right?", I ask as Bram holds the door open for me, "It’s here?!"
He grins this sort of mischievous grin that at first, I was wary of because it seemed so unlike him, but he does it a lot, so I guess it is Bram-like. After two months of our relationship, I still have a lot to learn. "Don’t worry, I won’t sing."
We step into the bar one after another. The bar in which Bram and I first spoke. That was roughly six months ago. Now it’s February, and the entire room is covered in pink heart-shaped confetti.
"You know, you’re not that bad", I say, grabbing his hand, "You said you sound like a dying frog but that’s not true. You don’t sound dying, just furiously tortured."
"Thanks, babe. I appreciate your kind words", he says.
Since it’s the early afternoon and the bar just opened its doors, there are only a few people gathered around the small, round coffee tables. The biggest group by far, however, is the one we’re heading toward to.
So apparently, that are the Psych people. The whole Thirty-Six Questions Experiment ran for six months — it just ended — and now it’s time for interviews.
Although Bram and I technically did not finish all of the experiment in anonymity, and Bram quit the whole thing early in the first place, he reached out to the Psychs anyway because we ended up working out after all.
"They are over there", Bram says, "Should I grab you a coffee?"
I nod at him and let go of his hand as he heads for the bar counter. I walk over to the Psychs. I have never seen them on campus before, I think — except…
"You’re kidding me!", I say, "You’re absolutely freaking kidding me. You study Psychology?"
Abby gets up from her seat and smoothes her skirt, smiling widely. "Surprise!"
"How the hell did I not know this?"
"Huh?" Bram materializes next to me and hands me a cup of coffee that weirdly smells like caramel.
"Simon’s freaking out because he didn’t know I was a Psych."
"Oh", Bram makes, "Yeah. Simon? Abby studies Psychology and she’s also super-mega-crazy smart."
"I figured", I say dryly, "But how can I meet up with you every Friday in this very bar for karaoke and not know this?"
"I mean, you never asked…", she says, "Plus, you’ve practically been glued to Bram ever since we first met."
I blush. I mean, I guess that’s true. But then something clicks. "Wait." I gesture between me and Bram. "Did you set us up or something?"
Abby raises her eyebrows. "Oh. No, honey. The couples were matched by our computer system. But, not gonna lie though, I did a little squeal when I saw you two were paired up. I mean, I knew Bram had this crush on you."
"You… you knew Bram was gay? He told you?" I throw a glance at Bram. As I said, I still have a lot to learn.
"Nope." Abby wraps an arm around Bram’s shoulders. "He didn’t tell me he was gay. I knew. Honestly, I know this dude better than myself."
"Abby’s from Savannah, too", Bram explains, "We grew up together. With our bedroom windows literally facing each other."
"So he saw me change a thousand times and never made a move on me", Abby says, "So I thought either I’m not as hot as I think I am or he’s gay. And I mean, I am hot. I don’t work out every day for nothing." She wraps one of her curls around her index finger. "So one day during senior year I just asked him if he was into boys and — well. Here we are."
"Objectively speaking", Bram says, "You sure are hot."
"Thanks." Abby presses a kiss to his cheek.
"Cute!" Another guy pops up next to Abby, and for a second I’m about to fucking lose my shit because I think it’s Nick. But it’s not. It’s just another dude wearing his hair in dreads. "So, guys, you two are one of the lucky few couples that actually worked out."
"Few?", I ask, astonished, "How many people took part in the experiment?"
"One hundred twenty-four. Sixty-two couples", he answers, "I’m Kev by the way."
One hundred twenty-four people. Sixty-two couples. Twenty-one of which ended the experiment early. The other forty-one finished it. Out of them, fourteen people are actually here. Seven couples.
"Where are the other thirty-four couples that apparently finished the experiment as well?", a girl called Gina asks. She's holding hands with her girlfriend. Seriously, there's so much diversity in this room, it feels like I'm inside a 90s Benetton ad. "The last question was Are you in love?, wasn’t it? However, it’s only us here."
"We sent emails out to everyone who successfully ended the experiment", Abby says, "But apparently, most people’s understanding of the word love is a hook-up and then never seeing each other again. You here are the last ones still standing."
"Wow", a guy called Marc says, "That’s wild."
"Anyway." Abby claps her hands together. "If there are no more questions" She pauses to look at every one of us. "I’d say let us start the interviews. Each couple will be interviewed separately. The article on the experiment will be published in the April Issue of the Campus Report. Cool?"
"Cool." Bram looks at her like a proud older brother. "Let’s do this."
***
"So", Bram closes his bedroom door behind us and turns the key, "That were quite some nosy questions."
"To be honest, in the end, it felt like Abby was just curious about gay sex." I let myself fall on Bram’s bed as if to underline the last two words.
"Huh", Bram makes, stripping off his jacket, "I actually got some insider info from her. Apparently, we are the only couple that did not have sex yet."
"Yeah, well." I sit back up. Bram, in the meantime, stepped in-between my knees. "That is your fault. You’re kind of playing hard to get, Abraham Louis Greenfeld."
"I’m not playing hard to get!"
"You made me watch every single Marvel movie before you let me put one hand under your shirt." I hook my fingers through his belt loops and pull him slightly closer.
"Hey", he pouts, "Now we know you’re able to watch about thirty movies in two weeks." A grin forms on his face. "And… it’s not like we did nothing."
I bite down on my lip thinking about it. I mean, yes, we did. And how. I pull him closer until his knees hit the mattress, causing him to bend over me.
"Cal is home", Bram mumbles.
"He’s going to be fine." I graze the nape of his neck lightly and I can feel him shivering. "I love you", I whisper against his lips. Then his mouth crashes against mine and we both fall back into the sheets.
***
I gotta say, moving slowly in a relationship is something I’m not quite used to. But then again, I’m not used to real relationships at all.
But it’s incredibly hard to keep my hands off Bram. Not only because he’s a person with a gym membership that actually uses said gym membership — I’ve been lacking in this department lately — but because he’s so smart, and so passionate, and just… so good. And he’s not even trying; he just is this person made of pure gold.
Now it’s late and we’re cuddled up in bed, watching Brooklyn 99 after our session of very heavy petting. Bram can recite pretty much every single one of Captain Holt’s lines. And it’s just hilarious to watch his face go all emotionless when he imitates him.
I press a kiss to his cheek. How did I get so lucky?
We’re watching the episode in which Holt and Jake are in a witness protection program in Florida. And the sunny, warm weather and picture-perfect family homes suddenly remind of something.
"Bram?"
He circles his thumb over the knuckles of my hand. "Huh?"
I press pause on the episode. "You never told me what you did when you were back home in Savannah."