Chapter Text
BAZ
The buzzing of the phone wakes Baz up. It wasn’t loud or repetitive, not really something that could be considered disturbing, but Baz was an extremely light sleeper.
He stares at the screen groggily for a few seconds, willing his eyes to adjust to the brightness of his phone. It’s not that he really cares about what woke him up, it's just that this was the first notification he’s had on his phone in weeks. And, he would do anything for a semblance of human contact.
He didn’t have any friends back home who would contact him regularly, and now that he had come out to his family and been promptly cut off, there wasn’t anyone else who could be trying to reach him.
The screen finally becomes clear enough for him to read what it says.
Pizzas By Ebb (3:28 AM):
Buy one Pizza and get one FREE! On Medium & Large only! @ Pizzasbyebb.co.uk T&Cs Apply
He groans and places his phone back on the nightstand. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He’s been at Watford University for almost four months and he actually feels so much lonelier than he did back home.
It was supposed to be his thing, somewhere he could be himself. After living in the closet, shielding himself from the world since the age of 14, he was going to come to uni and be his true self. He was going to be out and proud, join clubs, have multiple hobbies, go to parties, sleep with random men, live those teenage years that people wrote songs about, made movies about, that people said would make these 4 years the best years of his life.
But, it was hard, really really hard.
No one had told him just how lonely university could actually be. He hadn't made a single new friend since he came to this new city, and approaching people was just so daunting.
It was so easy in school. Everyone had known each other for years, and everyone had their group or cliques that they just belonged to. Baz had too! And the same thing seemed to happen at University too. Except, he just didn’t understand how. Everyone was supposed to be at the same level as him, just as new and inexperienced, but they seemed to have no issues finding people who just clicked, knowing whom to talk to, or finding a whole new group of friends.
He just wants someone, anyone really—anyone who would just talk to him. Or have a conversation beyond asking for notes, or talking about the terrible weather. He knows they have terrible weather, all his clothes have that awful damp smell and his nose is constantly blocked, and that right now is the least of all his issues. He wants to make plans with someone and have it work out, rather than seeing it on their Instagram Stories later and then hearing about how they just forgot to call him when they were out.
And he really really wishes that someone had just texted him a simple ‘hello that night ‘rather than an Ebb’s promotional text message.
He grabs his phone again and types a message. He isn’t angry about being woken up, but he is really angry right now. Angry at the world for being so scary, angry at himself for being so scared, and angry at the fact that it’s 3 in the morning and who the fuck sends a promotional message at 3 in the morning!
And he hits send.
Pizzas By Ebb (3:28 AM):
Buy one Pizza and get one FREE! On Medium & Large only! @ Pizzasbyebb.co.uk
T&Cs Apply
BAZ (3:35 AM):
I don’t want a Buy One Get One Pizza! I am friendless and lonely and I don't know what I would do with the second one!
He sets his phone back and tries to fall back asleep. He knows there’s no point. He will be sluggish in his 8:00 AM class anyway, and he really should have known that when he opted for it. But, he was ambitious and motivated and completely unaware of the shit show that was going to be his uni life and had thus made that dreadful, dreadful decision. Now, he was doomed for the entire semester to just not know what happens in Psychology 101 cause he was too busy trying to convey to his eyelids that they are supposed to stay open.
His phone buzzes again, and he checks his phone again, genuinely curious as to what it could be.
Pizzas By Ebb (3:37 AM):
Um… this is not an automated system
Also…..
You okay, mate?