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It had been an arduous week at Jayhawk, but it ended on a high note as Connie gotten her midterm scores and had aced all her exams. That wasn't abnormal, Connie had made it through freshman and sophomore midterms just fine, her Junior year was not an exception. That did not make it any less of a victory for the exhausted student. To celebrate, Connie and Steven were marathoning the Under the Knife Season 2 box set. Ten episodes and an impromptu drinking game later, Connie had an idea.
“Steven, I don’t want to get up. Can you go down to the kitchen and get me a glass of water?”
While Connie had water bottles in the mini fridge, Steven rightly assumed this was less about water and more about something else, probably a silly adventure.
“Sure.” Steven got up. No sooner than he did that he felt Connie climb onto his back.
“I changed my mind,” she said “you have to carry me, I’ll carry you on the way back.”
Yeah, definitely a silly adventure.
“Works for me,” he replied. Connie snuggled her head against his as he carried her out the dorm room and towards the dormitory kitchen. Steven smiled confidently carrying Connie onto the stairs landing.
“Hey, no fair, I thought you were going to use the elevator!” Connie pouted.
“Why?” Steven asked, a bit confused.
“I’m not gonna be able to carry you back up the stairs.”
Steven responded by walking down the stairs smiling mischievously.
“I’ll get you back for this...” Connie muttered as menacingly as she could while trying to suppress a giggle-fit.
Once down the stairs, Steven turned right into the communal kitchen. Before he could reach back and detach Connie, she backflipped off of her boyfriend. It was a move that surprised even Connie as she expected to end in a faceplant.
While Steven checked the freezer to see if any more of those limited edition gelato cookie cats were left, Connie grabbed a plastic cup and and bent over to fill it with cold water from the water cooler.
Finding nothing, Steven instead put a pop corn bag into the microwave, plugged in the proper time, pressed start, and then began to wait. While waiting his eyes wandered over towards his girlfriend.
Out of the corner of her eye, Connie thought she caught Steven looking at her butt.
“See something you like?” She teased as she finished filling her cup but not moving from the spot.
“Your spine.” Steven replied. The earnest fascination in his voice caught Connie off guard and lead to some confusion.
“My Spine?” Connie asked before she could giggle again.
“Yeah, it’s cute.”
Before Connie can turn to Steven and ask follow up questions, she felt Steven’s finger touch the base of her neck and trace the contour of her spine down to the tailbone. The intimacy of the moment caused her to shiver.
“Stop,” Connie blurted aloud. Steven pulled his hand back. It then dawned upon him how intimate an action that was. He was about to apologize when Connie continued: “If the RA were to walk in he’d take this all the wrong way.”
“Right,” Steven said “No flirting in the dorm kitchen, save it for the dorm room.”
Connie leaned back against the counter and drank her cold water as if she had just run a marathon and was deathly parched.
The microwave beeped.
“Alright, we ready to go?” Steven asked grabbing the popcorn bag and some napkins for the dorm room.
“Not Quite,” Connie’s words emanated from directly behind Steven. He was too startled to notice Connie lift him off the ground.
“What?” Steven said once the second wave of surprise finally hit him.
“I told you I’d carry you back up.” Connie strained. Steven secure in her arms, Connie began the journey back to her room one floor up.
The grand gesture wasn’t lost on Steven, who in return felt happiness well up within himself. and with that happiness he began to feel weightless.
“Hey, Stop cheating,” Connie mock scolded Steven as she left the kitchen and made her way over to the stairs, “You’re making yourself lighter!”
“I can’t help it, you big strong arms make me feel lighter. I’m practically swooning.”
Connie blushed and laughed.
“Schmaltzy dork.”
By the time Connie reached the first floor landing, Steven was lighter than half of her text books. Going up the stairs was a breeze, and it was all worth it just to see the awestruck face of a freshman that passed then by.
As Connie approached her room, she went to put Steven down and grab her dorm key, but Steven beat her to it, unlocking the door with his spare.
Walking up to her bed she gently placed Steven down, then in a swift motion threw herself next to him. A little more than half an episode had passed, neither of them having bothered to pause it before they left, and frankly neither caring at this point. They were so focused on each other right now that it didn’t matter.
Steven opened the popcorn bag a bit too forcefully and it’s contents spilled across Connie’s bed. The two of them laughed and played silly games, half watched the show, and continued their flirting deep into the night, falling asleep in each other’s arms at some hour past midnight.
It was the best night either had in a long time.