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“So, basically all we need to do at this point is clean up the introduction and then we can double-check our sources,” he said simply, running a red pen under a questionable line “it shouldn’t take us too long to finish”
“Bleh, fine. Then we can hit the bar, right?” Beauregard grumbled in her typical Friday-night way from the seat across the table “Jes says Molly is working and I wanna go bug them”
“You two have the strangest way of showing affection” he smirked as she flipped him off.
“Oh shut it, you know—”
Whatever else she was going to say became a background hum as the bathroom door creaked open behind her. Fjord stepped out, and Caleb’s mouth went dry as amber eyes met his with a smile so warm it could melt ice.
“Hey Cay” he rumbled, stepping closer “did I hear something about the bar?”
The bar? Oh, shit, he had heard them talking. Caleb blinked at him for a moment, trying to get past the expanse of glistening (fucking glistening ) green skin long enough to remember how to speak common.
“I--ah, well... you see—” shoulders, broad enough when under a layer of fabric but absolutely devastating without it “you--we were...” pecs that Caleb wanted to bite they were too perfect to be real and gods the abs “We--we are going to...ah--” a fucking treasure trail of dark hair leading down into the fucking grey sweatpants that sat low on his hips and... fuck what had he been saying?
“Oh for fucks—” Beauregard sighed angrily “Can you please, oh I dunno, maybe put a shirt on so he can string a fucking sentence together?!”
Oh, so this is how he was going to die.
Caleb’s face was on fire as Fjord’s eyebrows went up in surprise, looking from Beauregard to himself and blinking when he caught whatever expression Calebs traitorous face had settled on. He wanted to look away, he needed to look away, but he was trapped. Locked into that amber gaze as Fjord searched his expression before a smile slid slowly across his face.
“Y’alright Cay?”
“ Ja-- yes I...” he cleared his throat, finally ripping his eyes away and dropping them to the paper in front of him “I am fine, yes”
His heart was pounding in his chest, his lungs felt like they were full of cotton, and he couldn’t get enough air. He could feel panic building at the edges of his mind, and he fought to calm himself, of course Fjord was gorgeous, he had known that since they met! He shouldn’t be freaking out like this, it wasn’t as though he had never seen a shirtless man before, he wasn’t some blushing virgin. He swallowed, glaring down at the paper that might as well have been written in Infernal for all the sense it made at the moment and letting the voices of Beauregard and Fjord wash over him.
He couldn’t do this.
He stood, too suddenly if the shocked silence that followed the motion was any indication, and looked at Beauregard.
“I have to go” his voice sounded strained “I-I will see you in class”
He grabbed his bag and booked it to the door, the confused sound of her voice following him out. He sped back down the hall to the stairs, dropping his back against the cement wall as soon as the door closed behind him and forcing himself to breathe. What the fuck had that been. What in all the nine hells was wrong with him? He slid down the wall, dropping onto the shitty old cement floor with his knees pulled up in front of himself. Fjord was his friend , had been his friend for almost two years. They had a mutual respect that Caleb hadn’t been able to find in years and understanding that was so easy and clear it bordered on paranormal. Why had he just... gone to pieces over something as simple as Fjord’s (admittedly fantastic) chest?
Don’t think about it. Breathe.
Stupid gods damned crush, stupid bloody gods damned feelings always coming in and making things difficult. Fucking stupid gods damned—
“Cay?”
Fuck.
He looked up and tried not to just bolt immediately at the look of genuine concern on Fjord’s face. He had apparently found a sweater in the time Caleb had been panicking in a stairwell, a dark blue one that was zipped almost all the way up. He furrowed his brow at Caleb, eyes searching his face until Caleb watched in horror as understanding dawned there. Fjord walked over slowly, his expression soft, and dropped down onto the floor next to Caleb. He put his head back, resting it against the wall with his eyes closed. They sat in silence for a moment as Caleb watched him out of the corner of his eye.
“So... I’m sorry ‘bout that” Fjord broke the silence gently, his voice soft “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”
“I... you have nothing to apologize for” Caleb muttered, locking his eyes on his hands when Fjord’s opened next to him “you were in your dorm, you can wear as...as little as you want there, it’s not my business”
“Well now, that’s not quite true... I uh-I may have...”
He sighed, and Caleb looked back from out of the corner of his eyes at him. Fjord caught his eye and Caleb watched his cheeks go a shade darker as he rubbed his hand over his face.
“Okay, I may have known you were coming by, and I may have timed out my shower that way on purpose and... well, I feel like a bit of an ass for it now”
Caleb blinked, confusion welling up along with a tiny, fragile bubble of hope in his blood. He tilted his head, looking at Fjord curiously.
“Why?”
Fjord groaned, dropping his head back against the wall and Caleb tried very hard not to stare at the muscular line of his neck.
“Do I have to say it out loud Cay?”
“If you want me to understand then I would—I would prefer that, yes”
Fjord looked back at him, and Caleb watched his expression soften all over again as he reached out and ran his thumb gently across Caleb’s cheek.
“Gods Cay... you can’t look at me like that and not know darlin’, how can you not know?”
“I assure you that I... I do not”
“Liar” Fjord teased, shifting to grip his chin gently before resting their foreheads together “I waited until you were over to show up shirtless because I wanted you to notice, Caleb we’ve been flirting for over a year... or I have anyway, and I just...” he sighed “it was a dumb idea, but I thought maybe I could shock you into noticing”
“You...you’ve been flirting with me?”
“Ouch, clearly not well” Fjord's hand dropped from Caleb’s chin into his own lap “I... well, shit. I thought you knew? I thought you were... weren’t you flirting back? If not please just go ahead and push me down the stairs now, alright?”
“ Fjord ” he choked on a surprised laugh “no I—well yes, I was but I thought... I don’t know, I thought you were just...” he sighed, shutting his eyes “this group is so co-dependent, I thought you were just—”
He waved a hand absently in the air, unable to figure out exactly how to word his thoughts over the last nearly two years.
“Playing along?”
“ Ja , that”
Caleb opened his eyes again only to find Fjords amber ones staring back at him, the amusement and disbelief he was feeling mirrored there. Fjord's expression split into a matching grin as he huffed out a laugh that Caleb could feel against his skin.
“I guess Beau’s right, we’re both idiots”
“I won’t tell her if you don’t”
“Deal”
They sat that way for a moment, and Caleb watched as Fjord's expression softened into something fond, feeling his own do the same. He sighed, sliding his hand from his own lap into Fjords and tangling their fingers together there. Caleb licked his lips, blushing as Fjords eyes tracked the motion, his pupils widening.
“How... how much were you looking forward to the bar tonight?” he asked, tone low enough to send a shiver down Caleb’s spine.
“That depends”
“On?”
Caleb took a deep breath, summoning what little courage he had, and tugged lightly on the zipper of Fjord’s sweater.
“What is under this”
Fjord’s eyes went wide for a moment before he smirked, sending another shock down Calebs spine.
“It’s nothin’ you haven’t seen before”
“It is something I would very much like to see again”
Fjords hand came up to grip his jaw gently again as he squeezed the hand that was tangled in his lap.
“You know what I’d like?”
“What?”
“I’d very much like to kiss you Cay, can I?”
“ Please”
Needless to say, they did not make it to the bar that night. They did, however, send a single picture to the group chat when they finally got sick of hearing their phones buzz. It featured the two of them curled up in Caleb’s tiny dorm bed, both with their hair loose and wild, faces flushed. Fjord shirtless and laying on his back, Caleb curled up against him wearing his sweater unzipped over a bare chest... well, bare other than several fresh hickeys. The group chat continued to blow up, but by some stroke of “luck” both of their phones miraculously died and would not go back online until that Monday.