Chapter Text
Timothée
It had taken many long and frustrating conversations with my father to finally be in the position I am in. Standing here along in my dorm room. My parents had left about ten minutes ago and I have been standing here taking in the silence. There is going to be no one following me around. No one standing outside my door. No one checking restaurants before I can go in, and I am in awe.
The guards had been following me around practically my whole life. It happens when you grow up as the child to a foreign diplomat. The government takes certain precautions to keep my family safe. No one wants to get into a war with another country because they can’t keep their ambassadors safe. I was tired of it. I had spent my life all around the globe, but we had been living in the U.S for the last eight years, and it was probably the safest country we had lived in.
Which was why when I got my acceptance letter to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill I told my parents that I was going with out the Body Guards. I was an adult now and I didn’t need them. I knew how to take care of myself. It had taken many long conversations, but I wasn’t going to be changing my mind. The guards either stayed here in D.C with them or I would be living a much more “adventurous” lifestyle. I had been the quintessential child to them. I had done everything they had ever asked of me and now it was my turn to cash in my chips. Pauline had done it when she requested to go back to school in Paris. She had to take the BG’s with her. Mainly because she was going so far away. I was just a few hours down the road from them. I had agreed to still make appearances with them. I would smile at the cameras when told to do so, but I just wanted to be a normal freshman in college.
Mom had agreed first. Seeing how much it meant to me and what I was willing to put into it. She could also understand my need to fit in. She’s American. The true college experience was something she had already been through. Her and dad met when she spent a semester aboard in France. They fell in love and then she never really went back to the U.S. until we were stationed here.
Dad was the harder sell. All he could see were the potential dangers. He was constantly briefed on the threats to our family. He always had to deal with the most negative things with work. I was being petulant with this though. I had dug in my heels with this idea and I was not letting go. So here I finally was. Standing in a room by myself. No one standing near by or just in the other room. It was the first time in nineteen years.
I fell on my bed in glee, and laughed up to my ceiling. I could barely control my excitement. I was brought out of my celebration by a knock on my door. I had heard this happening a few times over and over again out in the hall. I was a bit shocked when I opened my door. Standing there, filling up almost the entire frame was the most gorgeous specimen of male anatomy that I had ever seen.
“Hey. Welcome to Morrison. I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Armie. I’m the RA on this floor.” He said as he stuck his hand out for me to shake. It took me a second to fully comprehend what I was supposed to do. All the manners and protocols that had been drilled into me since I was young were out the window. I quickly shook my head pulling myself out of his beauty inducing trance. I reached to shake his hand in return.
“Ah…Timmy.” I supplied. I didn’t give my full name knowing that the pronunciation would give away what I was so desperate to keep under wraps. I didn’t need the whole scho
ol to know that I was a diplomats son the first day. Armie nodded in response thankfully ignoring my awkwardness.
“Well if there is anything you need, or you ever get locked out I’m at the end of the hall. Just a couple doors away.” He gestured off to his left. I leaned out of the door to see where he had mentioned. Sure enough the hallway came to a dead end about thirty feet away. His door stood opened and I was able to catch a small glimpse inside his world. Something I would love to see more of.
“Great. Glad help is so close.” Armie laughed softly before taking a step away and moving onto the last room couple rooms. I closed the door and collapsed on the other side. I am sure I sounded like a real idiot. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time talking to attractive men when the BGs were always hovering. Most guys were either too intimidated or just trying to get to know me because they thought I could get them diplomat immunity or something. (It doesn’t work that way te() ̂te de noeud) I thought not having them breathing down my shoulder would make things like this easier. Now I know that I am probably going to need more practice with this.
I took a deep breath to steady my breathing and dove head first back into packing. Mom had helped me make the bed and put most of my clothes away. I know I was going to have make a couple trips back home to switch out my wardrobe between seasons. It was still relatively still warm here in Chapel Hill but fall would be here soon and with my small closet and dresser I did not have enough room for everything I would need to cover a whole semester. I knew that trying to blend in was going to be in a lot of what I worn but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t give myself choices.
I checked the clock when my stomach growled loudly. 5:45. I had gotten lost in making sure everything was perfect. I had moved my desk around to three different positions. I had hung up pictures and posters on the walls in several different formations. I had organized my books and music a couple different times before everything was settle. I figured it was time to head out and find food. As I opened my door so did the room next to mine away from Armie’s door. A petit blond stepped out of the room catching my attention.
“Hey neighbor.” She smiled “I’m Saoirse. Looks like we share a wall.”
“Yeah, we do. I’m Timmy. It’s nice to see that I am not the only non-American around here.”
“Lucky us. Are you headed to the dinning hall to grab supper?”
“I was headed out for food, but I didn’t exactly know where to go. I was just going to walk until I found something.”
“Well follow me then Timmy. For I have already found where they serve food here and I will be your guide.” Saoirse headed towards the elevators in the center of the floor. Each of the four halls lead off from there. Most of the suites on the floors were shared between four people all sharing one bathroom. There were very few single suites available. They were considerably smaller than the shared suites, but I had my own bathroom. Dad had pulled quite a few strings to make sure that I had my own place. If I wasn’t going to be having the BGs hanging around, then I certainly was not going to be sharing my space with someone. Who knew what kind of people I could be living with? Knowing my father though, and his over protectedness, he probably had a list of names of every person who lived on my floor if not the building. It was his way of showing he loved me.
I followed Saoirse into the elevator, quickly descended the 8 floors to the lobby and out into the main lounge. There were all kinds of people hanging out here. Posters announcing clubs, events, parties, rush, anything you could imagine. We walked straight through and out the front doors. We chatted and she led me over to Chase Dining hall. It seemed as those the options were endless. We both divided to grab something and meet back in the middle seating area. It was nice to be able to have someone to eat with. I knew that I was good at meeting new people but finding that first person to make a connection with is always hardest. I had a feeling that Saoirse and I were going to be friends.
“Are you going to the activities fair tomorrow?” Saoirse asked as she pushed her plate away signaling that she was finished.
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I haven’t really thought things past today besides classes to tell you the truth.”
“Well you should come with me. We can both find things that will interest us on this campus I’m sure.”
This was wonderful. My first day on my own as a college freshman were going well. I couldn’t wait to see what else I could get into especially now that the BGs weren’t breathing down my shoulder intimidating everyone around me.