Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Nesta released a loud sigh as she tapped on the brakes once again, knocking Feyre out of her daydream and dragging her attention away from the trees that lined the highway. She looked over at her oldest sister, who stated, «I don’t even know why you’re choosing to live in an on-campus dorm anyway.» It took all of Feyre’s self control to keep her from rolling her eyes as her sister continued, «I’m just saying, it would save you money in the long run if you just stayed with Elain and I in our apartment. You wouldn’t have needed to take out another student loan then!»
«Nesta,» Elain said from the passenger seat, placing her arm on her older sister’s shoulder. «Maybe it’s time for Feyre to branch out, and make more friends! This could be good for her!»
«Have you even spoken to your roommates yet? Do you even know who they are?» Nesta’s eyes narrowed as she swiveled her head briefly to look at Feyre, who sat in the back seat, nestled between boxes of her belongings.
Feyre waited until her sister’s eyes were back on the road before she responded. «Yeah, kind of.» It wasn’t an outright lie. She did know who her roommates were, but their conversations had been few and far between. One of her roommates, a girl named Bryce, had created a group chat over facebook messenger when their roommate assignments had initially been released, which the group of girls used to coordinate who was bringing what communal items for the dorm. Beyond that though, Feyre hadn’t really spoken to them. She’d followed them on social media, but didn’t really engage with them. She supposed that she should shoot them a message saying that she was about an hour away from campus, but upon looking at her phone, she decided against it. They were all about to arrive soon, anyway.
«What are they like?» Feyre could barely hear Elain’s whisper soft voice over the drumming of Nesta’s fingers on the steering wheel, accompanied by mumbled curse words, as her older sister waited for the cars in front of them to move.
«They seem nice.» Again, not a complete lie. Their few conversations had been fairly lighthearted and fun. In an attempt to ease her sisters’ minds, she added, «Aelin is from Erilea, and Danika and Bryce are both from Valbara, I think.»
Elain offered Feyre a small smile before turning to face the front of the car again. With that, Feyre went back to watching the trees on the side of the road. Though it had only been a few hours since she had gotten in Nesta’s car and begun the journey to university, she couldn’t help but realize how different the trees she now gazed at looked from the ones she was used to seeing on her walk to her high school. She supposed she should get used to that though. Nothing was going to be the same this year, as annoyingly cliche as that line was. Her sisters and father were constantly reminding her of the new people she would meet at university; how her classmates would hail from different states or even different countries altogether. Feyre found it hard to forget that living in a dorm would be vastly different from living at home, especially when it was a topic that Nesta brought up every weekend when her and Elain came to visit and check on Feyre and their father.
The sharp stop of the car jerked Feyre out of her thoughts once more as Nesta announced, «We’re here!»
Feyre quickly began gathering up whatever belongings she could easily carry. «Okay, I have to go check in and get my room key, and then we can come back for the rest of this.»
Nesta eyed the line of people waiting to pick up their keys, which was already appeared to be a decent length, despite the fact that it was only nine in the morning. «Elain and I don’t have all day, you know!»
«Yes,» Feyre sighed, climbing out of the car, «but I can’t exactly get into my room without my key.»
«Nesta,» Elain said, stepping out of the car as well, looking at the oldest Archeron sister over the hood of their car, «what if we started moving Feyre’s boxes over to her building while she waits in line for her key?»
Nesta opened her mouth, a complaint, Feyre was sure, lodged at the tip of her tongue, but then closed it and nodded. She exhaled heavily as she popped the trunk of her car. Feyre began to make her way over to the end of the line, shaking her head. The campus itself was quite pretty, she noted. Most of the dorm buildings had greek-style columns over the front entryways, with signs hanging above the doors that read, «Welcome Back!» Almost all of the buildings appeared to look over a grassy square where a bunch of students were milling around. Feyre watched as a group of girls squealed and ran towards each other, practically tackling each other over with the force of their hugs. Maybe I’ll make friends like that, she thought, beginning to imagine what it would be like to be so excited to see somebody. She stopped herself before she let her thoughts wander too much, though. Best not to have high hopes.
«Don’t worry; you’ll get used to it.» The girl in front of her in line smiled back at her, uncrossing her arms from over her chest, and extending a hand towards Feyre. «I’m Alis.»
«Feyre.» Alis’s hand was warm to the touch.
«Nice too meet you, Feyre.» Alis began to catch up with the line, walking backwards and facing Feyre as she asked, «You are a first year, right?»
Feyre nodded in response.
«Well, welcome to the chaos that is Maas University.» Alis flashed a little smile, her eyes darting over to the quad, where a group of boys were now playing with a frisbee. «I wouldn’t be too nervous if I were you, though. Most of the people here are harmless! What dorm are you in?»
That’s an interesting choice in adjectives. Feyre forced the thought out of her head before she pondered it too hard. «West Hall.»
«Oh, you got quite lucky then!» Alis pointed across the quad to a building with a brick facade and a semicircle overhang supported by four greek-style columns. «That’s one of the nicest dorms for first years. Most first years don’t have a kitchen in their dorms.»
Feyre opened her mouth to respond, but stopped short when she realized that Alis had turned around and was now talking to a boy who sat behind the check in table. She supposed that the line really had moved faster than she thought it would. «Next,» called another boy seated behind the table. Feyre approached the table, wringing her hands and offering a small smile to the boy on check-in duty. He was quite tan, with dark black hair and striking violet eyes, and a lopsided grin seemingly plastered on his face. This might be the most beautiful man I have ever seen, Feyre caught herself thinking.
«And what might your name be?» Even his voice is somehow flawless, she thought. The low tones of his voice were melodic, reminding her of the music she liked to listen to while painting.
She cleared her throat lightly before responding. «Archeron. Feyre Archeron.»
«Ah,» he replied, his grin still in place as he began shuffling through the manila folders that laid on the table in front of him. «A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.»
The boy beside him, who had just finished up with Alis, snorted. «Rhysand, we’re here to help people move in, not to flirt.» He glared at Rhysand before quickly returning to his own work.
«I’m hardly flirting,» Rhysand replied, extending a manila folder towards Feyre while looking at his companion.
Feyre grabbed the folder. «Do you do this for every girl, then?» She raised an eyebrow.
The corners of his mouth twitched further upwards as he turned to face her, but before he could even respond, his table mates all chorused a variation of, «yes.»
Feyre shook her head, turning on her heel, and beginning her journey back to Nesta’s car to see if there were any boxes left to be moved. «Prick,» she muttered under her breath. With a beauty like his though, she supposed that she should’ve known that he would be a flirt. Especially with that gods damned smile. The ease with which he smiled reminded her of nights spent in the hayloft of the barn with Isaac, of stolen kisses had long after curfew. How many times had he flashed her a smile like that, only to end up leaving her when a better opportunity arose. Don’t even think about Isaac, she argued with herself, it’s not as if you were super into him either.
«Took you long enough!» Nesta’s yell cut across the parking lot towards Feyre. Elain offered Feyre a small smile, although it was almost concealed by the huge box she carried.
«Here, let me take that.» Feyre shoved the manila envelope under her arm as her sister transferred the box into her hands. «Is this the last one?»
«Yes, fortunately,» Nesta huffed, locking her car and then shoving her keys into her pocket. She took off at a brisk pace towards the building that Alis had pointed out before as West Hall.
«Your other boxes and bags are stacked up by the side of the door.» Elain flashed another grin at her sister.
«Okay.» Feyre readjusted the weight of the box in her hands, her arms beginning to ache. «We should be able to get everything up in one trip if we take at least one bag and one box each.» Following a glare from Nesta, she added, «I’ll take whatever is left over after that.» She hadn’t brought much with her to college. Then again, she hadn’t had much to bring. Besides the essentials like clothes, toiletries, and school supplies, the only personal belongings she had to her name were some art supplies, and maybe a photograph or two. Everything else she had had growing up was either shared between her and her sisters, or had been deemed unnecessary by Nesta, and therefore had found no place in the car.
Nesta reached the pile of Feyre’s belongings first, and immediately handed off the lightest bag and the smallest box to Elain, before taking the second lightest bag and box for herself. That left Feyre with her backpack, filled with notebooks and sketchbooks, the box she was already holding, and two tiny boxes. Sighing, Feyre placed the box in her hands on the ground, and placed the two tinier boxes on top of it. After hoisting the backpack onto her shoulders, she slowly picked up the boxes, wrapping her fingers around the bottom of the big box as she shot a prayer to whoever was listening that she didn’t drop anything.
«What’s your room number?» Nesta asked, tapping her own student ID against the scanner and hitting the button for the handicapped door with her elbow. The moment the doors opened, she darted in, beelining for the elevators before Feyre could even respond. Feyre had to admit that Nesta’s speed was impressive, as was the way she darted through the groups of people hugging and crying in the lobby.
Nesta had already hit the call button for the elevator before Feyre could respond. «308.» The elevator doors opened with a loud ding, and the sisters all rushed inside, Nesta pushing the buttons for the third floor and to close the doors in rapid succession. Feyre hadn’t thought it possible for someone to ferociously press an elevator button, but Nesta was damn close to proving her wrong. They rode the elevator in silence for 3 floors, and Nesta was the first one out the doors when they opened again, once again walking with a purpose towards Feyre’s room.
Once Feyre and Elain had caught up with their sister, Nesta immediately asked, «Where’s your key?»
«Right here.» Feyre shrugged her left shoulder, keeping her upper arm firmly tucked against her body as it rubbed over the manila envelope.
«Give me that.» She felt the envelope being pulled out from under her arm, and despite the fact that she couldn’t see her oldest sister’s face over the boxes, she was sure that she had rolled her eyes. Feyre heard the door opening, and walked towards the sound of her sister’s footsteps. Another sound tickled at Feyre’s ears. It was the popping of cooking oil, as if someone was making eggs.
«Is my roommate behind that tower of boxes?» A laugh cut across the room, followed by the sound of footsteps. «Here, let me help you with those.» Immediately, the weight was lifted out of Feyre’s hands, and calloused fingers brushed over hers. Now able to see in front of her, Feyre took in her surroundings. The dorm itself was quite spacious. A short hallway opened up into a shared space with a small kitchen and a plastic white table with four blue plastic chairs around it. Just past that, a light wood loveseat with blue cushions and a pair of cushioned light wood chairs to match made a semi circle around a coffee table made of the same wood. In front of the windows at the very end of the room stood a tv on top of a pale wooden shelf.
The girl in front of Feyre turned around, handling the boxes like she had been doing it her whole life. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and she wore a pair of light wash mom jeans with a black t-shirt and a pair of brown Birkenstock sandals. She walked towards a door on the left hand side of the room, halfway between the kitchen and living room. Beyond the doorway laid a narrow bedroom with two beds, two desks, and two wardrobes. Under each bed was a dresser with three drawers, made from darker wood than the furniture outside. The wardrobe was made of the same wood as the dresser, whereas the bed frame and the desk matched the lighter wood of the furniture in the common are, leading Feyre to scrunch her eyebrows. The sides of the wardrobes were clearly scratched and worn, with little divets criss-crossing every surface. She wondered why the university hadn’t bothered to replace the old furniture, especially when everything else appeared to be in new condition.
Feyre’s roommate placed the boxes on a bare, dark blue mattress before extending her hand in Feyre’s direction. «I’m Aelin, by the way!»
«Feyre.» As she took her roommates hand, she really took the girl in front of her in. Her facial features were sharp and striking in and of their own right, but her most striking feature was definitely her eyes. The ring of gold around the pupil of her otherwise blue eyes entranced Feyre, and she found herself tempted to whip out her sketchbook right then and there, and capture what she saw in a quick sketch. Filing that thought away for later, she added, «Nice to meet you!»
«Right back at you!» Aelin winked, her smile fading immediately as Nesta and Elain both placed Feyre’s boxes on the bed as well. «Oh shit, my eggs!» The blonde darted past Feyre’s sisters and back to the kitchen, nearly knocking Nesta over in the process. «Sorry,» Aelin called at the same time as Nesta yelled, «Watch it!»
Elain just shook her head with a small smile, her blonde curls falling over her ears. «She seems nice, at least!»
If looks could kill, Aelin would be dead with the way Nesta was glaring over her shoulder at her. Turning back to look at Feyre, Nesta said, «You should be able to take it from here.» Feyre just nodded as Nesta turned on her heel and marched out of the dorm room. Elain offered Feyre one last small smile and a brief hug before following the oldest Archeron sister out. As she heard the door close, Feyre turned back to look at Aelin’s side of the room. It was already fully decorated. A dark green tapestry with a silver stag head hung on the wall over her bed, which was covered by a dark green comforter and silver pillows. Her notebooks sat on her desk, and her backpack was leaning against the desk, next to a black desk chair. A windowsill at the far end of the room seemed to be doubling as a bookshelf for Aelin, who had piled her books up so high that Feyre doubted they would ever be able to open that window. Sighing, she turned back to her barren side of the room, biting her lip and eyeing her boxes.
«Were those your sisters?» Aelin’s voice was accompanied by the sounds of the garbage can being open and shut again, and a frying pan being tossed into the sink.
«Yeah,» Feyre replied as her roommate entered the room. «Were your eggs salvageable?»
She couldn’t help but smile as her blonde roommate flopped dramatically back onto her bed. «Unfortunately, no.» Aelin huffed a sigh. «A truly tragic end to my breakfast plans.»
Feyre laughed as she began to remove the tape from the heaviest of her boxes. «How early did you get here? I thought I was going to be on the early side, but it looks like you’re already completely unpacked!»
«Oh!» Aelin bolted up into a seated position, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. «I actually had to move in a few days early, for sports.»
«Oh, nice!» Feyre began to remove the boxes from her bed as she searched for her fitted sheet.
«Yeah, they make us come early so we can meet with the athletic trainers, sign some more paperwork, get set up in our team locker rooms, and the like. Also so they can lecture us again about the four ‘D’s.»
«The Four ‘D’s?» Feyre’s fingers wrapped around her dark blue fitted sheet, and she began the task of covering the mattress with it.
«No drinking, drugs, dating, or dick appointments.» Aelin recited, counting off each item on her fingers as she listed them. «So basically, we’re not allowed to have any fun. At least, not that the athletic directors know of.» Feyre heard the slap of her sandals on the floor before Aelin spoke again, this time from right behind her. «Do you want help with that?»
Feyre blushed as one corner of the fitted sheet flew out of position yet again. «Thank you.» Her voice was a near whisper as Aelin masterfully pulled the sheet taut over the mattress.
«It’s no problem, really!» Aelin’s grin was somehow both warm and wicked as she looked at Feyre. «Now where’s your top sheet?»
Feyre dug around in her box and tossed Aelin part of the sheet, and began tucking in the other side as the door to their dorm clicked open again. «Oh, honey! This is so nice,» a voice cooed from the kitchen. Aelin grinned in Feyre’s direction again before swiftly hopping off the end of Feyre’s bed and rushing towards the kitchen. Feyre finished tucking in the sheet, and then followed suit.
«Hello,» Aelin called as she darted into the common area. Feyre was right on her heels, a small smile of her own tugging at her lips. A dark haired couple stood in the kitchen with a red haired girl who appeared to be around Feyre’s age.
«Hi,» the girl called in response, narrowing her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face. «You must be Aelin?» It came out as more of a question than a statement, and Aelin nodded in response. The girls golden eyes now fixed on Feyre, narrowing a little more as she said, «And, by process of elimination, you must be Feyre.» With Feyre’s small nod, the girl laughed, «Sorry, I’ve just been following all of you on social media since the roommate assignments came out. You and Danika post a lot.» She pointed towards Aelin with her head. «But it took me some serious digging to find a picture of you!» Feyre blushed under the girls gaze. She was right though, Feyre supposed. She never really posted pictures of herself, but rather of landscapes and scenes that she wanted to paint at some point. Sometimes she’d post pictures of her artwork as well, but more often than not, she wouldn’t.
Aelin laughed. «So you’re Bryce, then?»
Bryce nodded. «And these are my parents.»
«Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Quinlan!» Aelin extended a hand towards Bryce’s parents.
«Oh please,» Bryce’s mom replied as she placed the box she was holding on the kitchen table and took Aelin’s hand, covering it with both of her own hands. «Call us Ember and Randall!» Ember smiled warmly at the girls, and even Randall’s lips twitched upwards a little bit.
«The room on the left is full,» Aelin said, taking some of the boxes that the Quinlans had placed on the floor as Feyre quickly grabbed the box that Ember had placed on the table. «But the double on the right is empty.»
Bryce laughed, «Not anymore, its not!»
Feyre followed the pair into the room, noting that the dorm door was opening yet again. As Bryce, Aelin, Feyre, Ember, and Randall had all made their way into Bryce’s bedroom, two more pairs of footsteps followed.
«It should be right through here,» another blonde girl said over her shoulder. She turned around and took in the crowd in the narrow sleeping space, greeting them all with a wolfish grin. «Hello, roomies!»
Aelin laughed in response as Bryce smiled and said, «You must be Danika!»
Danika nodded, dropping her bags and boxed on the bed on the right side of the room. She was immediately followed by another woman, who bore a striking resemblance to her, save for the fact that the frown lines etched into her face appeared to be a permanent structure. «And this is my mother, Sabine. Please forgive her nasty attitude, she was really hoping that my roommates would somehow be hot guys that she could drool over.» Danika looked at the girls and rolled her eyes with a laugh. Feyre picked at her cuticles and offered a small, closed lipped smile in response.
Ember Quinlan made the first move towards Sabine, extending a hand in greeting. «I’m Ember, I’m Bryce’s mom.» Sabine, however, made no attempt to recognize that anyone had even spoke to her, and instead focused only on her daughter. «Danika, I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn about this. You deserve a room to yourself, so let me talk to housing and fix this mistake they’ve made.»
Danika groaned as she set down her bags. «Because, mother, I don’t need everything handed to me on a silver platter, and my roommates, who are all standing right there, seem pretty freaking cool, and do actually want to live with them.» The blonde set her brown eyes on Bryce, smirking before rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
«You know,» Ember continued, as Randall eyed Sabine with a frown, «I was thinking that maybe we should do a group family dinner tonight, to get to know each other. Especially since our daughters are all going to be living together this year.»
Sabine again made no attempt to acknowledge anybody else presence, huffing as her daughter began unpacking boxes.
«That sounds lovely,» Aelin began, leaning against the windowsill at the far end of the room. «but I’m not even sure if my parents are still in town.» Ember raised an eyebrow in her direction, and Aelin explained, «I had to move in a few days ago, for sports. I know they said they were going to hang around for a bit in case I needed anything, but I’m not sure how long they meant.»
«I never got to ask you what sport you do.» Feyre’s voice was quiet as her eyes flitted between her roommates, Sabine, and Bryce’s parents.
«Are you kidding?» Bryce looked up from the suitcase she was unzipping down by her wardrobe. «It’s all over her instagram!»
Feyre blushed. «I guess I’ll have to start using social media more, huh.» She glanced down at her feet, at her blue vans that she had painted little white stars on.
«It’s okay,» Aelin said with a laugh, throwing an arm over Feyre’s shoulder. Despite her support, Feyre was tempted to disappear into the oversized grey Maas University hoodie that she wore. «I do triathlon.»
Randall’s eyebrows raised as he nodded. «Impressive.»
«So you actually do triathlons?» Danika’s head peeked out from behind the wardrobe doors. «You don’t just pose with your bike?»
Bryce and Aelin both laughed at this one. «If only it were that easy,» Aelin sighed.
«What about you, Feyre?» Ember’s soft eyes met Feyre’s expectantly.
«I don’t do sports,» Feyre responded, her fingers playing with the end of her hoodie’s strings.
«No, I meant are your parents still in town?»
Feyre felt a blush creeping up again. «Oh, sorry! Actually, my dad didn’t come to help me move in.» Ember raised an eyebrow. «My oldest sister is a grad student here, and my other older sister is a senior. They share an apartment off campus, and picked me up early this morning.» Feyre sighed, surveying her unpacking roommates. «Speaking of which, I should probably finish unpacking myself.» She started to make her way out of Bryce and Danika’s room and towards her own room.
«I guess Randall and I will just take all of you girls out to dinner tonight, then.» Bryce opened her mouth in protest, but Ember spoke again before Bryce could. «Aelin, if your parents are still in town, they’re more than welcome to come, and Feyre, your sisters are of course welcome as well. The offer extends to you too, Sabine.»
Feyre exhaled quickly through her nose, half smiling at the thought of Nesta and Sabine sitting at the same dinner table. Sabine saved her from having to respond, however. «That won’t be necessary.» Sabine’s voice was sharp as she walked towards the bedroom door, pushing past Feyre as she did so. Her every step was accentuated by the click of her shoes against the wood floors. The echo of her steps continued until the sound of the dorm door shutting drowned them out.
«Good riddance,» Danika muttered with a snort, still pulling clothes out of her suitcase.
«Mom, can we take a rain check on dinner?» Bryce kept her hands under layers of clothes in her suitcase as she spoke. «I think it might be better for us to get to know each other without parental involvement. Plus we have a floor meeting with our RA tonight.»
Ember pursed her lips, but Randall placed a hand on her back and just looked down at her. After the two had made eye contact, Ember sighed and said, «Okay, but we’re grabbing dinner tomorrow then!»
«Looking forward to it,» Bryce replied with an easy smile.
Feyre took the opportunity to actually head back to her room and finish putting her belongings away. She hastily threw her comforter and some pillows on her bed, and then looked at her remaining belongings. There wasn’t much left; mostly just clothing, art supplies, and notebooks. She didn’t have any tapestries or photos to hang, as Aelin did, nor anything to decorate with at all, really. Maybe it was for the better, though. It certainly made unpacking easier.
After a few hours, all three girls had finished unpacking their belongings, and were standing in the common room. Feyre couldn’t help but to peek into Bryce and Danika’s room. While she couldn’t see everything, it was fairly evident that most of Bryce’s belongings were varying shades of gold, while Danika’s side of the room didn’t appear to have any color scheme whatsoever. Despite that, it was Danika who was now frowning at the living room and saying, «How are we going to make this feel more homey?»
«I could order a tapestry or two off of amazon or redbubble,» Aelin suggested, «and I have some pictures I could put in here, if you’re okay with that.»
Danika nodded and hummed in approval.
«Feyre, you’re an artist, right? Do you have any paintings or whatnot that we could hang in here?» Bryce looked at Feyre from where she leaned against the wall, her arms crossed over her loose, off-the shoulder gold t-shirt.
Rubbing her hands up and down the sides of her medium-wash jeans, Feyre replied, «Yes, I’m an artist, but I left most of my paintings at home, and new canvases aren’t exactly cheap to buy.» Her voice trailed off towards the end of her sentence, and she found herself looking at her shoes again.
«Alright then,» Danika said, looking at Aelin, «Pictures it is!»
Aelin darted back into the room she shared with Feyre, and emerged with a handful of pictures. Bryce came out of her room with only one picture, which displayed an image of Bryce as a toddler with her parents. Danika had a few pictures of herself with her grandfather, and some with a few rather attractive boys who Danika referred to as, «hometown friends!»
«Okay, Aelin,» Bryce laughed as she sorted through the photos laid out on the coffee table. «You have to explain some of these pictures to us.»
Aelin swiftly walked over to the table as Feyre ducked into their bedroom for the one picture she did remember to bring with her. She carefully grabbed the silver frame from off of her desk and placed it on the very edge of the coffee table in the living room before sitting on the loveseat next to Aelin. Bryce sat on the wooden armrest of the loveseat, peering over Aelin’s right shoulder at the pictures in question as Feyre did the same from Aelin’s other side. Danika stood behind them, bracing her hands on the back of the couch.
«So this one,» Aelin explained, «is from this one summer when I was like maybe five years old, and my parents had decided to hold this huge party where we invited all of their friends, coworkers, and of course, extended family. That’s my cousin Aedion.» She pointed to a blonde boy on the left of the picture, and then to a woman behind him. «That’s his mom. Next to her is my uncle Galan, and then my mom, and my dad. That’s my Uncle Orlon, all the way on the right, and then that’s me in the front.» Aelin smiled at the picture, holding it out in front of her.
«Why do you look so angry?» Danika’s grin was evident in her voice.
«One of my parent’s coworkers had brought their son, who was around my age, and when we were playing together, he spilled tea on my dress.»
Danika snorted and Feyre couldn’t help but smile. Another picture from the pile caught her eye, and she pulled it out. In the middle of the picture stood a red-haired man with a full beard, wrapping his arms around two teenagers. On his right was a blonde girl with a shit-eating grin on her face, holding up a medal with her right hand. On the other side of him was a boy with dirty blonde hair and a soft smile, a medal dangling around his neck as well.
«Oh, that’s from high school nationals my senior year!» Aelin took the picture from Feyre’s hands, quickly placing it back down on the table before focusing on the pile in front of her again.
«Is the boy in that picture the same boy in this picture of you at prom?» Bryce handed another picture towards Aelin, ripping the girl’s attention away from the table.
«Yeah.» Aelin’s voice was softer now as she added, «I forgot that that picture was in here.»
Feyre looked over at the picture in question. Aelin was wearing a stunning sleeveless green dress that sinched at her waist before loosening out into a flowing skirt. The same boy from the previous picture stood next to her, his hand wrapped around her waist as he looked at her with a huge smile on his face. Aelin was also looking only at him in the picture, her smile almost as wide as his.
«Do all the male triathletes look like that, because if so, I think I need to sign up.» Both of Danika’s eyebrows were raised.
Aelin let out a small chuckle. «Sam was something else,» she said, gently placing the picture back down on the table. Before she could say anything else, there was a sharp knock on the door. «I’ll get it!» Aelin practically jumped over the couch as she made her way to the door. Feyre looked down at the two pictures of Sam that had been set to the side, wondering where he might be now, before shifting around to face the door as Aelin greeted the visitor. She wrapped whoever it was in a hug before either of them could say a word. As she released the visitor, she pulled the door to the side and gestured for him to enter. «Come on in!»
A tall blonde boy stepped into the dorm, his facial features almost identical to Aelin’s. He even has the same eyes, Feyre noticed. He stood with one hand in the pocket of his jeans, and the other holding a Whole Foods bag that looked to be fairly heavy, judging by how pale his fingers were in comparison to the skin on his other hand. The sleeves of his red and black flannel were rolled halfway up his forearm, revealing some scratches and scars on both arms.
Aelin closed the door and made her way over to the visitor, gently shoving him with her shoulder before introducing him. «This is my cousin, Aedion! Aedion, these are my roommates; Feyre, Danika, and Bryce.» Aelin pointed at each of them in turn, and they smiled and said hello to Aedion, who smiled back.
«Hello, ladies,» he greeted, before turning to face his cousin. «I brought the contraband you requested, dear cousin.» He held the whole foods bag out in her direction, and she quickly grabbed it from him, her smile growing as she peered inside.
She wrapped him in a one arm embrace before heading towards the fridge. «Thank you, Aedion!» She placed the bag on the floor before opening up the fridge, turning to look at everybody else as she pulled on the handle. «I hope you don’t mind there being alcohol in the fridge.»
«As long as you share.» Danika’s wolfish grin returned, and was matched by both Aelin and Aedion.
«But of course,» Aelin replied, unloading what appeared to be hard ciders and wine into the fridge.
Aedion cleared his throat. «I hope you’ll save some to share with the cousin who bought you this alcohol.»
Aelin looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at him. «I suppose.» Her smile disappeared as she added, «My roommates are off limits to your advances, though.»
Now it was Aedion’s turn to roll his eyes. «Come on, Aelin. We both got the four ‘D’s instilled in us yesterday.»
«Oh, like that stopped you and Kyllian in Orynth.» Aelin glared at him as she shut the fridge.
«Says my cousin, as she shoves alcohol into her fridge.»
«Alcohol that you also expressed interest in consuming, need I remind you.»
«So are you and Aelin both on triathlon, then?» Danika asked, grinning as she flopped down on one of the chairs. She draped her legs over the armrest, letting her calves hang off the side, while crossing her arms over her stomach, just above the top of her black skinny jeans.
«Unfortunately,» Aelin sighed in response, placing both of her hands on the cousin’s shoulder as she looked at her roommates.
«Talk about double trouble,» Bryce murmured. Feyre couldn’t help but nod along.
Aedion simply laughed, shrugging his cousin’s hands off his shoulders. «I would love to stay and chat, ladies, but I don’t want to make you late to your first floor meeting.»
«Shit!» Aelin checked her watch. «We have to leave now, don’t we.»
Feyre stood up from where she was sitting as Danika propelled herself off the chair and on to her feet. Bryce followed suit, stretching her arms as she did. Aelin was the first to make it to the door, holding it open for the other four and closing it behind them once they were all out. Bryce shoved her phone into the side pocket of her leggings, and said, «We should be meeting in that common room by the elevator.»
Aedion darted out ahead of them, practically jogging to the staircase. «I believe this is where I take my leave, ladies.» He nodded in their direction. «Nice meeting you all.»
With a snort, Aelin replied, «See you, loser!»
The first thing Feyre noticed about the common room was that it was a lot more crowded than she had anticipated. The amount of people probably made sense if most of the rooms on the floor were the same size as her own, she realized, but it was definitely the first time she had seen this many people in one room. She followed her roommates as they weaved through the crowd, in search of a spot to sit in.
«Hey, bitch!» A loud voice resounded behind Feyre the moment the four girls had taken their seats, and she twisted around, wondering who would be greeting her like that.
Aelin’s laugh answered. «Hey, traitor!» Feyre’s roommate stood up from the chair to Feyre’s left and threw an arm around a redheaded girl with more freckles than stars in the sky before sitting back down again and patting the empty chair to her left. «This is Ansel,» she explained, looking to her right at her roommates, «We used to train together when we were younger, until she decided to ditch us.»
The redhead shrugged, tossing a stray curl behind her shoulder. «What can I say? I had to move on to bigger and better things.»
«And yet, we both ended up in the same place.» Aelin flashed another smile as Ansel rolled her eyes. «I didn’t know you lived on this floor, too! Who are you rooming with?»
«I’m with Mor, Fury, and Juniper.»
«Wait,» Aelin held up a hand, «One of your roommates is named ‘More Fury’?»
Ansel rolled her eyes, looking at Feyre, Bryce, and Danika as she did so. «No, you dumbass!» Her gaze returned to Aelin, «I have three roommates, and one of them is named Mor, and another is named Fury.»
«That’s a sick name.» Danika crossed her arms and looking towards the front of the room.
Ansel nodded in agreement. «So, Aelin, rumor has it that one of the frats is hosting a back to school party tonight.»
Aelin crossed her arms, a smirk growing on her face as she turned to face the front. «You know where to send the details.»
A smile grew on Ansel’s face in response, at the same time Bryce stated, «I’ve actually never been to a party before.»
«You’ve never been to a party before?» Danika’s voice was so loud that Feyre would not have been surprised if the entire room had heard her exclamation. «Oh, we have got to change that!»
«Sounds like a plan then.» Ansel had the last word as a man clapped his hands in the very front of the common room. He was quite possibly the tallest man Feyre had ever seen, and the short sleeved white t-shirt he wore did nothing to hide the fact that he was all muscle. As piercing pine green eyes surveyed the first year students in front of him, a hush fell over the room. It was as if his very being commanded attention and order, and Feyre was more than inclined to obey.
«You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,» Aelin whispered, the smile that Feyre had come to expect from her wiped from her face.
At the same time, the boy at the front of the room cleared his throat and began to speak. «Hello, my name is Rowan Whitethorn, and I’ll be your RA for this year.»