Chapter Text
Clouds formed overhead as the rain started to hit. The pavement soon turned dark as others started to pull out umbrellas to cover their heads. This thought felt so out of place to the blond boy running down the street, his mind only focused on the task at hand; taking shelter under the nearest bus stop hanger.
As he ran, he criticized himself for not checking the weather sooner, but the idea of an umbrella on a once sunny day was strange to him.
The rain had already drenched his clothes, his backpack water-logged and starting to get heavy. Picking up his pace, he managed to finally spot a bus stop with an overhead awning.
He slowed his pace to catch his breath as he finally hit the bus stops cover.
Without a second thought, he started to assess the water damage, checking his bag and clothes the best he could. Deeming his papers a total loss, and his clothes something he could dry later, he let out a harsh sigh. Not only was the awful map he was using now even more ineligible, but his phone was dead as well.
This day really couldn't have gotten any worse for him. First, he missed the train, and because of that, he missed his bus too. No one would give him directions, and once he was able to find his way around, he gets caught in the rain, with the only day-saving paper lost in it too. With no way around, his phone dead, clothes wet, and his map lost, he began to feel far too anxious.
He was never good with directions, even on maps that were reliable. And being in a new town without a guide was something he thought he could do, but once one thing goes wrong, they tend to all do.
As the now-soaked blond got into his own head, beating himself up over his own stupidity and sulking over the papers he would never get back. A stranger he failed to notice had stopped to wait for the rain to pass under the awning with him. When he did finally take notice of the other's presence, he almost jumped out of his skin.
The guy now standing next to him felt too tall for his own good. It wasn't an overbearing height, but certainly was not a height he was used to. Working on the courage to ask him for help, felt much harder than he wanted, but he somehow managed to do it.
“Sorry to bother you, but do you know how to get to Crawford dorm?”
The shorter was only met with silence. Panic started to set in before he noticed the person in front of him was wearing headphones. This time with a new approach, he tapped on the guy's shoulder, waiting for him to take his headphones out. This attempt seemed to work as the other took one out, answering with a slight "hm?"
“Sorry to bother you, but do you know how to get to Crawford dorm?”
The blonde's desired answer was quick.
"Yeah actually, I live by there."
The shorters mind was instantly eased by those words. Someone willing to help him for once felt like the best thing in the world.
"Thank you. I'm Chester by the way."
he reached out his hand offering a handshake, the other excepting.
"Parker" was the only thing he spoke.
With the exchange finally over, they sat in what Chester hoped wasn't a horribly awkward silence. As neither knew what to say or do next as they watched the rain continue to pour. Without knowing exactly what conversation to make, he started to count in his head.
He had almost gotten to a hundred before he was taken out of it by a tap on the shoulder. As he turned he was met with a hand pointing out towards the street. Looking out to see the street, Chester looked back confused, only to be met with the words "the rain stopped."
Chester let out a semi-hushed "Nice!" as the person now known as Parker motioned him to follow.
Chester traced the steps in his head, trying to remember how he had gotten there.
Though the campus was small, his sense of direction was probably the worst anyone had ever seen. He ended up getting lost in his own thoughts as he tried to keep up with Parker, forgetting to take notes of anything identifiable on the way.
He had almost run into the back of Parker's bag as they can to a sudden stop in front of a rather bleak-looking white brick building.
“This is the dorm, do you need help finding your room?” Parker said, Chester, believing his voice was laced with the sound of annoyance.
“I’m sorry for making you walk me all the way here” his voice thick with what could only be heard as sorrow.
“You're fine Chester. Do you need help finding your room or what?” This time the sound of annoyance truly was there. Chester was quick with a response,
“Yes actually. Sorry for asking, I just have an awful sense of direction.”
Parker let out a soft chuckle. “I gathered.”
It wasn’t long before they reached their destination. Chester stood at the front door of the room repeating the directions in his head.
Two floors up, third door on the left. Two floors up, third door on the left. Two floors up third door on the-
“You gonna go in?”
Chester hadn’t even noticed they had been standing there for far too long. Parker moved out of the way as Chester came forward to unlock the door. The room's first impressions were, bleak, to say the least. A bed with nothing on it, a desk to its left, and cinder block walls painted white.
This really was a college dorm.
Chester walked in first, immediately dropping his bag on the desk provided, and pulling out what was left of the papers in his bag.
He started laying the papers out on the desk and bed, trying to mend what he knew couldn't be. Parker stood behind him, watching the blond curiously as he picked up a paper that tore as soon as the slightest pressure was placed on it.
He chose to look at ones that were less damaged. Gently picking one up from the desk, Parker asked what they were meant to be.
“Drawings." a depressed sigh echoed throughout the room
"I tend to just carry loose papers rather than a sketchbook, it’s a bad habit honestly."
Parker thought he heard a soft laugh come from the other, but he tossed the idea as he continued,
"Look where it’s got me.”
Parker couldn't even describe the feeling behind Chester's voice. How could someone that somehow always seemed happy, even if this was their first time meeting, sound so sad?
Most of the papers set out were no longer whatever had been drawn on them. They now formed gray blobs and smudged lines. Parker thought they could be the faces of people but the more he looked, the less he began to draw a conclusion.
He didn't want to have to break the news to Chester that his creations seemed to be a complete loss. With the words at the edge of his tongue, he decided to hold them, as the still-soaked freshmen in front of him had more to say than he thought.
“It’s ok though, it just leaves room to make more I guess.”
The way in which Chester spoke about what he’d lost, made Parker’s heart feel as if a small crack had been made in it. Not quite broken, but if he had spoken anymore it may have. How could someone who seemed far too happy for his own good speak in such a way?
At this point, all papers had been set out, most beyond repair.
Parker's mind began to wonder what the hell they were going to do now. This was obviously Chester's first day in, he couldn't find the dorm or his room and he was drenched beyond a reasonable wait to dry.
“Chester, you didn’t bring any spare clothes, did you..?”
He laughed, turning to face Parker
“Not at all!”
Placing a hand over his face in disbelief, Parker let out a sigh and a muffled good lord, before he continued
“Let’s go back to my place so I can give you some clothes. Besides, I don’t think they fixed the dryers here anyways, part of the reason I moved.”
Chester nodded in agreement and gave a thumbs-up before following Parker back out the door.