Chapter Text
When he had first started contemplating moving to the UK for a year, needing some time to sort his future out in his head, Benji had thought about renting a small flat alone. Alas, he wasn’t that poor but he wasn’t particularly rich either, hence why he’d ended up considering sharing a flat. He’d have more money to spend on other more interesting things. Therefore, he had started looking for a place to live, scenarios of meeting people from all around the world blooming in his head. Maybe his roommate would be from Latin America, or Asia, or even Australia? Maybe they’d speak German, Spanish, or a language he didn’t even know about? There were so many possibilities.
He’d been a bit disappointed at first, when Etienne had contacted him after their homeowner had given them each other’s numbers. Etienne was also a French boy. His dreams of having a foreign person as his roommate had vanished. On the good side, Etienne was as kind in person than what he had experienced talking to him before they met for real. They had planned to meet up at the airport since their flights would arrive around the same time.
They instantly got on pretty well as they made their way together through the city, both amazed by all the possibilities this year would offer them. At least, the fact that they were both French gave Benji a sense of safety: he could speak English, but having someone to talk to without the barrier of language was nice. They agreed from the start on trying to meet new people here. They didn’t want to stay among themselves, because what was the point of being in another country if you stayed in your own comfortable bubble? They decided that they’d pay the international student’s association a visit the next day. Etienne had contacted them on Facebook a moment ago, and he thought it was a good way to start meeting people here. Benji agreed. He wasn’t a student anymore, but he’d go with his roommate.
The first night in a new bed, new country and new life was quite restless for him. He was too excited to be here and couldn’t sleep. He turned again and again and ended up getting up to open the window and stare at the asleep city for a while. It was quiet, the air was still warm at this time of the night. A car drove down the street and a dog barked a couple of times. Eventually, his eyelids started feeling heavy.
He woke up around ten the next morning and decided he could have his breakfast on the small balcony to get some sunlight, since they were lucky enough to have one. He stretched and dressed up, his hand ruffling through his hair when he was done. He headed to the kitchen and made himself some toasts with orange juice, taking it with him to the balcony. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket on his way there, stuck the toasts in his mouth to free one of his hands and grabbed it to read the message. He was expecting another text from his mom or friends, but to his dismay it was from Derek. He stopped in his tracks to read it.
From: Derek – 10:14
Hey, I know I behaved like a dick before you left and I wanted to apologise. I guess I was upset that you were leaving for real. Can you please call me when you have some time? I hope you had a nice journey.
Benji sighed through his nose and finally got out on the balcony. Calling Derek was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He sighed once more and leaned on his forearms on the railing, biting onto one toast. The morning light felt nice on his skin. Ever since he’d talked about his idea of living abroad for a little while -a specific amount of time-, Derek had been the opposite of supportive. At first, Benji had just mentioned it in a random conversation and Derek had ignored it, but as the months had passed and Benji went on increasingly talking about it, he had started to express reservations about it. It had led to many fights between the two, small ones turning into full, lasting, arguments. Derek didn’t see why Benji needed to leave the country to figure out what he wanted to do with his future, he didn’t understand why Benji would just leave him like that when they were doing good together. No matter what Benji said to try and find a compromise, Derek would always brush it off: he didn’t want to move abroad with him, he didn’t want a long-distance relationship, he didn’t want them to break up either. It had taken some time for Benji to assert himself and make a decision, because he didn’t want their relationship to end, but he’d come to the realisation that even if he loved Derek, it was his own life and if he wanted to take a year for himself, he should. Obviously, this led to many more arguments. Benji had actually considered giving him more time, he had told him that they’d figure it out together, he had tried to keep faith in what they had.
Until two days ago, he had believed that they would find a way to make it work somehow. He had driven to Derek’s flat in a mix of excitement and anticipation, counting down the hours before his flight. He knew Derek would probably be a bit cold, but he hadn’t expected them to have a fight for the umpteenth time. A bad one. They both said things they didn’t quite believe. Benji had had enough. Enough of caring about his boyfriend’s feelings more than his own, enough of having his life choices criticized all the time, enough of fighting to save the sinking ship that was their relationship at this point. So he had put an end to it.
He wasn’t exactly surprised that Derek was trying to reach him now. If Benji called him right now, Derek would probably apologise a hundred times and try to get him back. But Benji was tired of this masquerade. Maybe, just maybe, if he’d received a text from him earlier, he’d have considered it. But Derek had ignored all his texts, he had not come to tell him goodbye at the airport, he had not checked on him to know if he had arrived safely until now. And for Benji’s sake, it was a bit late. It was maybe a bit childish to give him the same treatment, but he was going to ignore his now ex for a little while. He didn’t want all of this to overcast his first moments here.
Thankfully enough, Etienne came to suggest that they’d go out to explore or something, which was the perfect opportunity to get his mind onto something else.
They strolled around campus for the rest of the morning, trying to make sense of where they lived and how to get there, which place looked nice, what shops were around, and all the kind of things you’d want to know when you discover a new place. There weren’t many students, but the school year was only starting the next week so most of them probably weren’t there yet. When their stomachs got too impatient, they decided to get lunch at a small fast-food restaurant, which was nice. When they were done, they headed to the associations building.
They glanced at each other and Benji pushed the door open. There were a couple of people inside the room. One guy was typing something on a computer, three people were chatting among themselves, and a girl was busy cutting a pile of papers. Another girl, a blonde one, walked toward them and greeted them in a high-pitched voice, clapping her hands together.
“Hi, welcome to the international student’s association office. I’m Lake Meriwhether, I’m the association president. How can I help you?” she introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Etienne Hamon, I contacted you a while ago and you told me I should come and pay a visit.”
The girl took a moment to think about it but quickly replied: “Oh, yeah, sure! Hope you found us easily,” she said before turning to Benji, “and you are?”
“Benjamin Campbell, but please call me Benji. I’m Etienne’s roommate for the year. Nice to meet you.”
She smiled brightly at them. “Perfect! Did you guys arrive a few days ago? I hope you had a nice trip here and you’re settling just fine.”
“We arrived yesterday, actually. We had chatted a bit beforehand but met at the airport,” Benji explained.
“Oh, you don’t know each other,” Lake exclaimed.
“Not much yet, no.”
“Nice, well you’re in to meet a lot of people here! Okay, so, maybe I could start explaining how the association works, and then I can answer any question you’d have, is that okay?”
Benji let Etienne nod. Even if it didn’t particularly interest him, he still listened to Lake’s never-ending speech about the way the university worked here, and all kind of organisational stuff. He still got to learn some tricks, and she even gave them a couple of nice places to hang out or shop.
“Oh, and by the way, we’re hosting the first get together of the year this Friday afternoon, before the classes start next week. We have a couple of games planned, music, snacks and drinks. No alcohol for this time, that’s for other parties we usually throw during the year. This is mostly to get to know more people in an easier and funnier way. It’s starting at 8, so if you want to come, you’re more than welcome! There will be plenty of other students coming from all over the world, and probably some people from here who want to tag along and meet new people.”
“Uhm,” Benji started, “I’m not a student, though. We just visited the campus a bit and Etienne said he wanted to check this out so I came with him but…”
“Oh. Oh, what are you doing here then? In the UK, I mean,” she asked.
“I’m a teaching assistant for the upcoming school year. At Carthwick Academy,” Benji told her.
“Oh! Well, we definitely can make an exception for you. You don’t look like you’re gonna retire soon, and you’re doing languages, and you’re still international, so I don’t see why we would miss an opportunity to have a sexy teacher with us!” she said excitedly.
Benji and Etienne exchanged awkward looks but smiled nonetheless.
“Okay, thank you then, I’ll think about it.”
They chatted for a couple more minutes and thanked her again for all the information she’d given them and took leave. Neither of them spoke as they crossed the corridor and it was only once they were out in the September cool air that Benji dared to open his mouth to say that she seemed a bit… passionate. Etienne chuckled and agreed with him and they chatted about their encounter with Lake and the new pieces of information they got there, deciding that they’d give this get together a try.
Later that night, Benji felt way lighter. Visiting the part of the city that would be his home for the upcoming months had been exciting. And he had loved sharing that with Etienne because they definitely enjoyed each other’s company.
After dinner, Benji sat down on one side of his bed, staring at the taupe-coloured wall opposite to the window. It was the perfect colour to hang pictures or drawings on, it would make them stand out perfectly. He couldn’t wait to start building a whole wall of memories. He grabbed his pocket printer that worked as a polaroid alternative and printed a couple of pictures he had taken with his phone during their walk. He’d have more time to take better ones later, with his camera, but he had wanted to capture his first day here.
On the wall, he stuck three pictures. One of a view they had stopped by during their walk, one of a park they had crossed, and one of his roommate and him in front of the association building. He smiled. The fact that he was actually doing this was starting to dawn on him.
- - -
“Home, sweet home,” Felix said, pushing the door open and revealing the main room linked to the kitchen. It looked very impersonal, the walls and furniture all white and grey, no decoration whatsoever. Felix cleared his throat. “We’ll work on making it feel like home, okay?” he corrected, looking at his best friend.
Victor nodded and offered him a smile, “let’s go.”
They both entered the flat, looking at their surroundings. The tiny kitchen seemed pretty recent, the sofa looked comfortable, and there was a rather decent tv. Victor was glad the pictures and descriptions hadn’t been a lie. He pushed his luggage further into the room and followed Felix down the small corridor and to the bathroom. It looked really simple, but clean. Then they opened the last two doors to reveal the bedrooms. Again, they were small rooms, and there were only single beds but they didn’t mind. Felix claimed the one on the right, next to the bathroom, when he noticed a pigeon nest on the window ledge. Victor was more than happy to agree on this arrangement and took the one on the left, behind the living room. He went to the window and smiled. No pigeon nest, but a nice view on other small buildings and, if he stretched his neck a bit, he could catch a sight of the mountains beyond. He quite liked that. He quickly sent a text to Pilar and Adrian, telling them the flat was a nice place and went back to the entry to grab his things and carry them to his room. He decided he could just start unpacking now. It took a little while to sort his clothes into the wardrobe. He then put his laptop and headphones down on the small desk and took out of his bag a stack of pictures of him and his siblings that he’d stick to the wall later.
He let himself fall on the bed and sighed. It still hadn’t entirely sunk in that he was so far from home, in a place he knew nothing about, new town, new people, new life. He was scared, but he was also too tired to endure life back home anymore. This was his chance to get control over his life choices. He was so grateful that he was able to do this with his best friend.
He got up again after a while, stretching his limbs for a minute.
“Hey, Felix, we should probably go grocery shopping, for the essentials at least,” he called from across the corridor, walking to his friend’s room.
“Yeah, just a sec,” Felix replied, and Victor found him sitting on the floor, looking intently at the pigeons. “Can you believe this? There are two eggs! I can’t decide on the male’s name though. I think Petunia suits her,” he said, pointing at one of them who cooed in return.
Victor really wanted to laugh, Felix was one of a kind, and he definitely loved him for that, so he decided to help come up with a name. After a long list of names, starting with the letter P as his friend had demanded, they settled on Petunia and Pedro.
“So… Grocery shopping?” Victor tried again, his voice getting higher at the end of the sentence.
“Yeah! Let me grab my bag,” Felix replied, jumping on his feet.
In a matter of minutes, they were out, trying to make sense of their new environment and looking for shops. They bought the essentials for the bathroom and food, trying to make sense of whether it was cheap or expensive because the difference between currencies was confusing. Since they weren’t too weighed down, they decided to make a short detour to the campus. It wasn’t too far and they strolled between the buildings, trying to locate where their classes would be taking place. At some point, Victor stopped in front of a big sign with many posters glued on them. One of them read: “international students, come join us this Friday to meet your pals”.
“Hey, this could be nice,” he told Felix who stopped in turn, a couple of meters further away from him already.
His friend walked back on his way again and read the poster, nodding.
“If you’re going, I’m going,” he said.
“Like I was gonna go without you,” Victor chuckled.
“Aw,” Felix said, swinging his arm around Victor’s shoulder, pulling him against his side, “you’re so lucky I’m a devoted friend who’d do anything for you.”
They both laughed it off and Victor found the event on Facebook on their way back to their flat. There were already around forty people interested in the get-together. He hoped it would be a nice place to meet new people and feel less alone in here.
- - -
The place was quite crowded, even if the room was rather big. Benji didn’t really know where they should go and what they should do, but a girl quickly put an end to his thoughts. Benji recognised her from the other day when they’d been to the association office, she had been cutting paper back then.
“Hi,” she said, “I’m Mia, it’s nice that you came.”
He and Etienne both greeted her and she started telling them that they should make themselves comfortable before the main part of the event would start. They chatted for a minute until she left to welcome more people. Benji thanked her and made his way to the table, Etienne on his heels, to grab a drink and some snacks.
Two other people from the association came to check on them before the blonde girl who’d welcomed them the other day hit a spoon on a glass, perched on a chair. When she got everyone’s attention, she began to speak.
“Hello everyone. First of all, I’m very happy you all found the time to come here, I hope you’re having fun so far. I know it can be a bit awkward to meet new people, and it’s even harder if you don’t know anything about the place, hence why we’ve been organising this kind of event for three years now,” she said, her voice steady and clear. She stopped for a second to let everyone absorb what she’d just said. “It is important to us that you don’t feel alone or lost, so we’ll be putting up several events through the year. We usually have parties, trips, smaller events, and we have some planned already but if you have any particular idea, please come and tell us at the office! We also have a Facebook page so you can contact us any time. I’ll introduce our team of incredible people so you know who to talk to. We’re all wearing these magnificent yellow and burgundy t-shirts tonight so it’s easier to spot us! So, let’s start with that: I’m Lake Meriwether, I’m the head of the association, but to be honest I wouldn’t be anyone without my incredible colleagues. Over here we have Dan and Cath, they’re in charge of the practical part of making these events a thing. We have Mia, she’s in charge of the communication and artsy stuff: posters and flyers, you name it, that’s her work! Jule, Louis, May and John are multitasking. You can reach out to any of us. We also give guidance and help if you have any problems with paperwork or living abroad or if you have any problem throughout the year. Oh, and I was going to forget to tell you about another amazing asset of ours! It’s brand-new information and I hope it has a great success: we’re opening a café! We’ve been working on this project for a year and it is finally ready! We hope it’ll give you a space to meet new people, work, relax, whatever you usually do in this kind of place. It’s opening in two weeks and we’re looking for applications, so if you want to make a bit of easy money, you can come and see one of us. We’re obviously very flexible on working schedules so it’s compatible with classes and everything. Anyway, I think I’m done with the practical stuff, thank you for listening. Now if you don’t mind, I suggest that we get into the heart of the matter! We usually do that every year now and we’ve had positive feedback about it so here is how things will work for tonight. We’re going to separate all of you into groups of around ten people. You’ll be switching groups several times so you can meet more people. You’ll basically have to introduce yourselves and then have a chat together and play games and everything. If you’re still in for that, we’re going to go outside so we can breathe and hear better. Please follow the yellow and red t-shirts outside!”
- - -
The sun was dangerously starting to disappear below the horizon which probably meant it would be the last group of the night. The sky was turning into this bright shade of pink and orange, it seemed like it would catch on fire any time now. Victor sat down with the others, and looked up to see that one of the members of the circle was still standing, snapping a shot of the sunset. He sat down at last and caught Victor looking at him, giving him a soft smile. Victor’s first thought was that he might be the cutest boy he’d ever seen. He didn’t usually pay attention to people’s beauty. Well, of course he did, everyone did, right? But right now, as he was trying not to stare too much at this guy’s shiny hair and soft features, Victor thought he’d never been taken aback by someone’s charm like this before. Usually, people he would feast his eyes on would be celebrities. He’d never really thought of looking at someone he didn’t know and think “wow, this person looks gorgeous”. He had always believed that people saying that someone looked beautiful was just an average appreciation. But now, looking at this boy, he was starting to think that maybe he’d been wrong. He finally got a hold on himself and tore his eyes from this perfect face. The girl he recognised as Jule clapped her hands and started happily introducing herself. He listened to everyone’s speech, nodding as another girl said she was doing the same studies as him, until it was his turn.
“Well, hello, first of all. I’m Victor, Victor Salazar, I’m 21 and I’m from the US. I’m a medical student, planning to be a physiotherapist and I’m also a basketball player so I hope I can find a team for the year or at least people to play with,” he laughed lightly, “I came here with my best friend, Felix, who’s…” he looked around to the other groups scattered all over the grass, “over here somewhere,” he said with a general gesture. “I Can speak just a little bit of Spanish because of, well, my origins, and I hope I can have a fresh start here.”
Everyone smiled at him, nodding heads and he smiled back. He turned to his neighbour so they started introducing themselves in turn. A few people spoke before it was the boy-he’d-noticed-before’s turn. Victor swallowed as his eyes settled on him again.
“Hi, I’m Benji Campbell, 22, and as you can tell by my accent probably, I’m French. I’m actually not a student, I’m gonna be a teaching assistant for the school year, but Lake invited my roommate and said I could just come as well so… Here I am!” the boy said jokingly, shrugging and sliding a hand in his hair, and Victor thought that he was in fact the hottest boy he’d ever seen. Or, well, a mix of cute and hot and beautiful, to be honest. And god, his accent was the best thing he’d ever heard. He realised he wasn’t even paying attention to what he was saying as he heard everyone chuckle. “Yeah… so in the meantime, I just thought I might take a sort of a gap year and try to figure what it is I want to do with my life. I really hope I can meet new people and have fun.”
Just as he said the last sentence, Benji’s eyes met Victor’s. It was only a second but Victor felt petrified. Not in a bad way. He had no clue what it meant, or what it was about this guy that made him feel so weird. He just gave him what was the most awkward smile, probably.
After they were done with introductions, and like it had been the case in the other groups before, Jule set up a game of question where you had to raise your hand if the statement was true for you. It led to many sessions of laughter as everyone raised their hand to “raise your hand if you’ve ever played the floor is lava as a kid” or when some of them told funny stories about themselves. And maybe Victor paid a bit more attention to what Benji had been raising his hand to. And maybe it was nice to just look at him. And maybe he didn’t want to think about it too much. But maybe, just maybe he hoped he’d see him again.