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Sue Isak if you think he shouldn’t be emptying the shells of books in the library just to pile them around his table to create a fort. It’s just that there’s this girl that had been staring at him rather creepily for the past hour and it was getting really annoying. He just wanted to get some studying done, not be stared at intensely by some girl who didn’t know he was gay. She must be one of the first years or something. But yeah, this was the reason why Isak was currently standing in front of the book shells, fitting as many books as he can onto his arms so he could take them back to his table and create some sort of wall between him and the heteronormative world that wouldn’t let him study in peace.
Isak was cursing the world under his breath. Gosh he had so much studying he had to do yet there he was.
Just then, his hand got caught in something. Well, actually, the book got caught. It wouldn’t budge even though Isak kept pulling it. It was like there was some sort of force pulling it back.
“Dude, what the fuck?”
The owner of the voice was the person who was currently ducking his head to look at Isak through the gap of books on the bottom shelf.
Eskild always told him that he shouldn’t be drinking so much coffee and staying up late to study. Isak always scolded at him and said he’d be fine. But now he finally believed him. All that caffeine and lack of sleep had finally messed up his head real good.
There was no other explanation as to why the stranger’s eyes that were now looking at Isak questioningly were the colour that they were. They were just so fucking blue like a fucking ocean or something, also they had that glistening – and yep, Isak was totally fucked.
So Isak did the only thing he could think of.
“I need that book!”
“Well, so do I,” the stranger replied and glanced down towards Isak’s arm “You already have so many books. What are you going to do with all of them anyway?”
Isak wasn’t the one to lose to a stranger and there was no way he was telling him the real reason he needed these books. So he glanced down to read the title of the book on top of the pile on his arm.
“I’m doing this thing on... film and media studies?” Isak replied unsurely.
The stranger’s eyes glistened and stood upright suddenly, hitting his head on a shelf and letting out an “Ouch” while doing so. He walked around the shelf to come and stand in front of Isak with his face lit up.
Holy shit.
He was tall. Really tall. Taller than Isak, tall.
“You are?” the stranger asked.
Isak wasn’t going to admit that he lied so he nodded.
“Awesome!” He cheered and his carefully styled literally quiff bounced with his excitement. “Do you think you could help me with something? My asshole friend Mikael just ditched me to meet up with his boyfriend and I’m really stuck on this thing.”
Which, what?
Isak was confused. He knew it was wrong to lie and agree to help on something that he had no idea was even about but he didn’t want to leave this beautiful boy that he was probably dreaming about (because it wasn’t possible for someone who looks like this to be real. Nope. No way.) yet.
That’s why he followed the boy as he walked to his table and started talking about things that were basically gibberish to Isak. So, Isak just sort of stared at the boy as he took a seat at the boy’s table who continued on explaining things excitedly.
Isak was daydreaming when he realized that the boy had asked him a question and now was waiting for an answer. He didn’t even hear the question, he didn’t know what the subject was, he didn’t know what he was doing sitting here, didn’t know what to say.
Isak looked around the room, everything was blurry and it was like the room was spinning. He took a deep breath and stood up.
“I’m just gonna... get some fresh air,” He whispered and left the library hurriedly.
Isak welcomed the chilly air hitting his face as soon as he stepped out of the door. It was raining so he stood by the side of the building to avoid getting wet. A few people around him were rushing to get to their destination. It was peaceful to watch them as the rain fell and the fresh air cleared his mind. Then the library door opened and the boy with the sparkling blue eyes stepped outside.
“Hey, you okay?”
Isak nodded. The boy didn’t say anything else, he just leaned against the wall next to Isak until he took out a joint from his pocket and lit it. After taking a hit, he extended it towards Isak. Isak accepted it, their fingers brushing as he took the join from the boy.
“You know I realized I forgot to ask your name," The boy said.
Isak chuckled at that, he had been calling him ‘the boy’ in his head for the past half an hour. It was ridiculous.
“Isak,” He replied as he handed the joint back.
“I’m Even,” Even replied smiling widely “Nice to meet you, Isak.”
“I’m not really a film student, by the way,” Isak said embarrassedly.
“No? Are you a librarian, then? Were you sorting out the books?”
Isak gaped at him “Me? Do I look like a fucking librarian?”
Even smiled again and it was doing things to Isak’s stomach.
“Well... the glasses, the cute hair...”
Did he just call Isak’s hair cute? What the fuck? What the actual fuck? Isak was not cute. Isak was the opposite of cute. He was badass. He literally set up people to get back at the gang that hurt Jonas, all when he was a first year in high school. Isak was deadly. Not cute.
Maybe he didn’t mind being called cute. Especially if it was coming from Even. But no one had to know that.
Wait. The glasses?
Of course. That explained a lot.
“They’re reading glasses. I forgot to take them off,” He said as he slid them off from his nose and hanged it from the neck of his sweater. So that’s why the room was all blurry before and Even’s eyes-
Even’s eyes were looking at him amusedly, they looked even more gorgeous than before. Isak wanted to slap himself.
“I like them,” Even said and Isak did not blush.
“So, if you’re not a librarian, what were you doing with all those books?” Even asked.
Isak sighed
“There’s this girl who wouldn’t get the hint, she kept staring at me but I just wanted to study in peace so I thought stacking books around my table would help block her stares.”
Even was laughing and Isak would die for that sound right here, right now.
“God, that sucks,” Even said after he stopped laughing. “You can move to my table, there is a free space since Mikael left and it’s in a quiet corner so she shouldn’t be able see you. Even if she does, I’ll give her death stares and scare her off,” Even winked. With both eyes.
Was this guy even real?
There Isak was, sitting next to Even with his anatomy book and notes on the table.
“Are you kidding me? You study medicine?” Even asked in disbelief when he saw Isak’s books.
“Yeah.”
“Fuck me. You’re smart too?”
Isak choked at that.
“I’m not smart.”
“Says the guy studying medicine.”
“Shut up.”
Even laughed and they both went back to studying their own things.
The thing is, Isak was tired. Really fucking tired. He hadn’t even noticed he was falling asleep until he jerked awake at the feeling of his head falling on something. Something being Even’s shoulder.
“Sorry! I-“
“It’s okay Isak. You’re tired, you could nap for a bit. I’ll wake you up in 30 minutes, okay?”
Isak wasn’t going to say no to that he nodded and put his head down on the table. He felt fingers carding through his hair.
“Is this okay?” Even asked.
“Yeah,” Isak whispered and drifted to the most peaceful sleep ever in the middle of a fucking library.
--
“Hey, Isak,” Even’s voice woke him up. “Sorry, you looked so peaceful but it’s been half an hour and you probably want to get some studying done.”
Isak jerked awake.
Holy shit.
He had fallen asleep next to a stranger while they combed their fingers through his hair. He would never hear the end of it if one of his friends heard about it.
Even placed a cup of what looked take out coffee in front of Isak and damn, wasn’t Isak on his lucky day.
He lifted the cup to take a sip of the liquid and nope. That was not coffee.
“What’s this?” Isak asked.
Not everyone was perfect after all. The gorgeous boy turned about to be a serial killer, murdering his victims with poison that looked like coffee.
“It’s ginger tea, Isak.”
Oh. Isak smelled it and yes it smelled like the ginger tea that Noora made occasionally, not that Isak ever drank it.
“It’s good for concentration,” Even continued.
Isak had just woken up so he yes he was mean. “So is coffee.”
“Nope. Coffee isn’t even good for you. It just gives you sudden bursts of energy so you think you’re so focused but as soon as it’s out of your system, bam! You crash and you need more caffeine, it’s just this endless cycle of caffeine consumption that ends up with you messing up your sleep schedule and companies taking your money,” Even says and then grins. “But you probably know that anyway since you’re smart and study medicine.”
“You sound like my friend Jonas.”
“Are you saying they didn’t teach you this? What the hell do they teach you in medicine?”
Isak shrugs. “Learning about the biology of cells is far more important than this.”
Even laughs “Whatever, Isak. I bet you’ll start liking it on your third sip.”
He does. But he’ll never admit that to Even. Though Even notices it anyway when Isak downs the last sip of his tea and gives him a stupid grin.
“Shut up,” Isak says but he can’t stop himself from smiling either.
He actually ends up getting quite a lot of work done. Maybe ginger tea really does work after all. After 3 hours though, his stomach starts grumbling and Even seems to take notice because he stands up and announces “Come on, I know a good kebab place nearby.”
Thankfully the rain has stopped so they manage to walk to the kebab shop without getting wet. They get their kebab. Maybe it’s Even presence that just makes everything look, smell and taste so much better but Isak can’t deny that it’s good kebab.
“This is so good,” Isak moans between his bites. Even grins at him once again.
“The place we go to with my friend Jonas isn’t as good at this, I have to tell him about this place.”
“Your friend Jonas?” Even asks suddenly. “What’s his surname?”
“Vasquez. Why?” Isak asks confused.
Even looks at Isak disbelievingly “Are you kidding me? Oh my God! What are the chances?” and he starts laughing.
“What?”
“Your friend Jonas is dating my best friend Mikael,” Even says, still laughing.
“What?! Your friend is that Mikael?” it’s Isak’s turn to be shocked and they both sit there laughing at their luck.
“I can’t believe Mikael didn’t introduce me to you before.”
“He was probably busy being disgustingly cute with Jonas.”
Even giggles and Isak thinks that’s what heaven might sound like. “They are cute.”
“Yeah, they are.” It makes Isak happy to see his best friend be happy, so it’s not his fault that he can’t contain the cheesy smile that’s forming on his face.
--
When they finish their kebabs and go outside, it’s raining. Even gives Isak a challenging look and Isak can just feel that he is about to suggest something stupid.
“Race you to the library,” He announces and takes off running without a warning.
That fucker.
Even has long legs so he is fast, way too fast. But he is nowhere near as stubborn as Isak, so there is no way he is winning. Isak is running wildly, his legs and lungs burning from pushing too hard. Also it’s raining, quite heavily, so he is soaking wet within seconds.
He is going to kill Even.
He has nearly made it to Even’s side by now and he can only just make out the outline of the library from the heavy rain blocking his vision. He just needs one last push and he’ll beat Even.
And he does, he really does. He is just about to run past him when Even decided to turn around and Isak bumps right into him. They both lose their balance with the speed of their running. Even is falling backwards and Isak is stumbling towards him.
Expecting a fall, Isak closes his eyes but somehow the fall doesn’t come. Even manages to steady them both and now they’re standing in the middle of the street, completely soaked from head to toe, while the rain keeps on pouring.
“Sorry. I-“ Isak stars to pull away but Even grabs his arm.
“No, it was my fault. I was the one who-” Isak can’t really hear the words Even is saying. His touch on his arm is burning even though he is cold from the rain and then there’s his gaze that’s so intense, only wavering from Isak’s eyes to glance at Isak’s lips for a second or maybe Isak imagined that. He doesn’t know.
Oh, fuck it.
Isak cuts Even midsentence by pulling him in by the collar and crushing their lips. Even lets out a sound of surprise but then kisses Isak back. Raindrops are falling down their faces and are getting mixed into the kiss but Isak can still taste ginger and kebab in Even’s mouth. It might be the most ridiculous yet the most amazing kiss Isak ever had. They stay there kissing each other until they both start to shiver from the cold.
Even pulls back and looks at Isak. There are raindrops decorating his eyelashes and the streetlamps are casting this aesthetic fucking glow on his face. He is just so beautiful and Isak is so gone.
“You wanna get out of here and come to my place? Mikael should be out with Jonas anyway and I mean I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold, so...” Even says nervously. Isak can’t believe how cute he is.
“I wont get a cold. I have the best immune system.”
“Yeah, I’m sure your immune system could handle standing outside completely wet, in the middle of Norway’s fucking winter.”
“Yes it can. My immune system is the master of fighting colds.”
“Okay, nerd, whatever you say. I’m going inside though,” Even announces as he makes his way to the library building.
Isak grabs his arm and pulls him towards himself “I would love to. Go to your place, I mean.”
Even cradles Isak’s face in his hands and kisses him again.
They manage to make it to Even’s apartment before one of them catches pneumonia. After changing their clothes, Even, being the film nerd that he is, puts on some sort of pretentious movie. Not that Isak pays much attention since he busy either staring at Even or making out with him.
After midnight, Mikael comes home and finds them on the couch.
“Hey, Even,” He greets Even and then spots Isak “Hey, Isak!”
Then he does a double take, only starting to understand the situation.
“Wait, what? Since when do you guys know each other?”
Even throws a pillow at him.