Work Text:
And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for.
“I can take care of myself just fine. All right?” Todd cried.
“No,” Neil said blankly.
“What do you mean ‘no?’”
“No.”
“I’m not like you, Neil,” Todd protested. “I can’t- I can’t recite poems and meet new people, ok?”
“Why not?” Neil asked.
“Because!” Todd exclaimed.
“That’s not a reason!” Neil shouted.
Todd’s response came quietly. “Because what if they don’t like me?”
Neil’s face dropped. “Todd…” He paused. “ I like you, all right? And they will, too. But if it really does make you uncomfortable, you don’t have to come.”
Todd’s lips curled up slightly, almost into a smile, but not quite. “All right.”
Neil got up and sat down next to his roommate. “I’m sorry for pushing you.”
“It’s ok.”
Over the next few days, Todd practiced reciting poetry to Neil in the privacy of their dorm. As he spoke, Neil watched Todd’s lips move with each syllable. He watched as Todd’s body language reflected the emotions spelled out through the words in each poem he read.
“You’re a natural,” Neil remarked one afternoon.
“You think so?” Todd grinned.
Neil nodded. “Will you read me something you’ve written?”
Todd took a deep breath and started reciting:
“Late in the night, the city’s asleep
Your love is a secret I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep
Change my priorities
The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury
So prove to me I’m your American [King]
And move to me like I’m a Motown beat
And we rule the kingdom inside [our] room
‘Cause all the boys with their expensive cars
With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars
Never took me quite where you do
And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for
King of my heart, body and soul.”
Neither of them said anything for a minute. Neil was shocked by how good Todd’s poem was and how his shyness had melted away just then. Tod’s face felt hot, he was flushed with embarrassment the moment he stopped reciting.
Finally: “Boys?” Neil broke the silence.
“W-What?”
“You said ‘boys with their expensive cars.’”
“I just meant...like...um...a lot of people at this school are rich,” Todd stammered.
“So what’s the poem about?” Neil asked.
“Well I...Would you buy it if I said ‘I don’t know?’” Todd grimaced.
“No.”
“Then I think,” Todd paused, “I think you know what it’s about.”
“‘We rule the kingdom inside our room.’” Neil recited.
Todd blushed hard.
“Do you know why I spend so much time in this room with you?” Neil asked.
“Because we’re roommates?”
Neil shook his head. “Because I like you , Todd.”