Chapter Text
Jeremy hated this. He hated how hard it was to make simple decisions, and he hated how the thought of human interaction made his heart beat so hard he could feel it in his throat. He hated the constant need to tug his sleeves down to his wrists, he hated how his palms sweat when the rest of him felt chilled, he hated the twist in his gut, he hated-
Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut and took a shaky breath in attempts to calm himself down. His fingernails dug into his palms in an attempt to ground himself and not have a panic attack in the middle of the line at Starbucks. All this over Starbucks! His anxiety caused him to lack the decision-making skill- which in the end, gave him more anxiety! How was that even remotely fair?
Jeremy got pulled out of his racing thoughts by the subtle weight of a hand on his shoulders. He opened his eyes and glanced up at his new friend, letting out a heavy breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in. Michael’s eyes were soft and understanding and his smile was patient and kind.
“Do you want me to order for you, Jere? I have a specialty drink that I get here that you might like.” Michael said, lightly squeezing the other boys’ shoulder and sending him a knowing wink.
Jeremy’s expression was owlish as he blinked up at his roommate. He hadn’t even known the guy for 24 hours, yet he had easily picked up on Jeremy’s anxiety and body language. Even more than that, he somehow knew what was freaking Jeremy out and had a calming solution. He felt himself nervously smile up at the tan boy. There was no other way to describe how he was feeling than utterly grateful.
“Y... yeah. That’d be great, Michael.” He felt his smile ease up into something more natural. “Thank you.” He followed up softly, putting his hand on top of the one on his shoulder in appreciation.
Michael broke into a smile so wide that the lines under his eyes creased. He had never been more thankful for the fact that he had a darker complexion and could hide his blushes easier. “Anytime. Do you still want to wait in line with me?”
Jeremy nodded after a moment’s hesitation and moved to playfully bump his shoulder against Michael’s. “I can’t leave you here alone. What would you do without me?”
Michael snickered and ducked his head to keep himself from laughing out loudly, his shoulders shaking from the attempts of holding it back. “Y’know, Jeremy, I honestly don’t know. Who even was I before I met you?” He hummed and leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling as if in actual thought.
Jeremy giggled but had no time to banter back as they had reached the front of the line. He found himself staring at the floor while Michael ordered, his voice becoming nothing but background noise as he stared intently at the tiles on the floor. Anything to avoid eye contact or conversation with this wor- “Names?”
Jeremy’s head snapped up before the vocal recognition could fully set in. His wide blue eyes met with confident hazel ones. “Christine?!”
The girl behind the counter giggled and she winked at her freckled friend before her eyes focused back over to Michael, who was clearly struggling to keep up with what just happened. “Names?” She repeated, giving him a kind smile- but her eyes showed that she was trying to read the boy in front of her. Her gaze went back and forth from Jeremy to Michael, before settling on Michael with a satisfied grin crossing her lips.
“U... Uhh...” Michael stuttered out, momentarily glancing down at Jeremy with a quirked eyebrow. “Michael and Jeremy?” He said, although it sounded more like a question due to his overall confusion. Christine nodded, a sharpie already scribbling names on the cups before he started talking. “Got it! They’ll be out in a minute, just listen for the names.” Her smile was innocent, but Jeremy picked up on the hint of mischief in it. Oh no.
After they paid for their respective drinks, Michael and Jeremy walked away from the register to sit at a small table by the window. Michael sat down and leaned forward, elbows on the table and chin laid upon his knitted fingers. Jeremy felt heat rush to his face as he leaned away from the table and avoided looking directly at Michael. The table was too small and he was incredibly close. “So is THAT the Christine you were telling me about last night?” he questioned, Jeremy nodding mutely in response.
Michael hummed, taking in the site of Jeremy. Blushing, clearly shy, and fiddling with the ends of his jacket sleeves without even noticing. “Do you still... like her?” He asked out of curiosity, tilting his head and not realizing Jeremy’s fidgets were due to Michael himself.
Jeremy immediately made eye contact, mouth slightly agape. He then snickered and violently shook his head. “No. After spending so much time with her, I love her like a sister now, or something.” He shrugged. “Plus, she’s got a girlfriend!” Jeremy smiled widely.
Michael felt his eyebrows shoot up, and he involuntarily reached to lightly trace the pride flag patch on the arm of his jacket. He was glad to know Jeremy was, at least, an ally. Upon meeting him he never thought Jeremy would be anything else, but you truly never know- and having to room with someone for at least a year seemed terrifying when you have no idea what they’re going to be like. He felt lucky to have a roommate he felt such an immediate connection with, who was clearly willing to support who he was as well.
“Michael and Jere-bear!”
Michael’s eyebrows shot up as far as they could physically go, and he watched as Jeremy’s face went slack and turned a startling shade of red. His hands shot up to cover his face alarmingly fast, and Michael swore he heard a small yelp of distraught from behind Jeremy’s sleeve covered hands. Michael was aware that Jeremy was beyond embarrassed, but good lord did he find it utterly adorable and endearing. He leaned back in his chair and let out a low and amused chuckle, gaining a peak of Jeremy’s distractingly bright blue eyes from behind his pale fingers. Upon making eye contact, Jeremy groaned, and Michael grinned entirely too wide.
“Do you want me to get our drinks for us?” He offered, still grinning and enjoying the shy site of the boy sitting in front of him.
Jeremy’s fingers closed back up to hide his line of sight, and he muttered out an extremely soft “Yes, please…”.
Michael reached forward without a moment's hesitation upon hearing the boys meekness, and he lightly grabbed onto and tugged at Jeremy’s sleeves until his hands no longer covered his dusty pink cheeks.
“Okay, but you can’t drink your “Michael’s special” drink like that. You’ll miss out on pure sweetness.” He smirked, and Jeremy blinked a couple of times before smiling sheepishly in return and jokingly rolling his eyes. He slowly retreated his arms down into his lap in compliance and muttered out a grateful thanks.
Michael took his time getting out of his chair, genuinely not wanting to abandon the site of the beautiful boy named Jeremy Heere right in front of him.
“Alright, I’ll be right back, don’t miss me too much…” Michael said, turning his back to their table to begin walking towards the counter, but not before throwing his head over his shoulder to maniacally grin at Jeremy. “... Jere-bear.”
Michael confidently strode up to grab his drinks in satisfaction as he heard a boyish squeak sound behind him.