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If you were to ask anyone on campus, where you'd be most likely to meet Thomas on a Saturday afternoon, after a while you could form a list of almost every club in town, including stories of what had happened and who he'd met there.
And that's exactly why that Saturday, Thomas was in the library. In a deep corner, somewhere between forgotten books about medieval boats and some esoteric bullshit. He wasn't hiding from anything in particular, or so he told himself.
So there he was, sitting cross legged on the library floor leaning against a bookshelf. As he didn't want to deal with people looking for him, his phone was turned off, safely in his room. What he did have, was a small notebook and pencil. So he started sketching anything that came to his mind.
His peace was left undisturbed for a long time, so when suddenly someone cleared their throat above him, Thomas almost jumped up and dropped his pencil.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said the mysterious person "I didn't mean to scare you, you're just right in front of the books I wanted to look at."
Thomas quickly gathered up his things and while standing up finally looked at the person who scared him. The guy was taller than him and was wearing a proper white shirt tucked into brown trousers. He was also very handsome, which made Thomas even more embarrassed at the situation. "Wasn't that scared yeah. Just didn't hear you at all, you move like a ghost." He laughed, trying to play it off cool "and honestly I didn't expect anyone to come to this section, that's why I chose the place, but I'll be on my way."
"You don't have to leave. I wasn't trying to kick you out, just moving a bit to the side would be enough. I'll be quick and quiet." He smiled shyly at Thomas.
"Right, yeah sure." He sat back down, this time leaning on the opposite bookshelf. He was looking at the mysterious guy and asked "Are you really interested in something here? I thought it's a lame loser section no one would look into."
Still crouching in front of the bookshelf and without looking at Thomas answered. "Yes, you already mentioned... if you really want to know, I'm looking for a specific book about beliefs in dark magic and it should be somewhere here."
"Jeez, you must be studying one of those crazy majors huh? So that's what they do on weekends."
"Says the guy hiding in, as you said, lame loser section. Not sure who's having a better day here."
He finally stood back up holding an old black book and was about to leave, when Thomas said quickly. "Wait, if anyone asks, you didn't see me here. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation yeah?"
"Well, given that I don't even know your name, you shouldn't be too worried about your reputation, whatever it is." He laughed.
"I'm Thomas, Thomas King." He expected some reaction, but the other seemed to genuinely never heard of him.
"Well, Thomas King, if anyone asks I did not see you hiding next to ancient magical beliefs. Your big reputation survives another day." He held out his hand "I'm Edwin by the way, actually I'm in this section often. If you want a real forgotten place you should try 5 bookshelves down the hall. They have old albums and historic documents there, no one looks for them besides for some big anniversaires."
"Edwin...pretty name, suits you." Said Thomas shaking the held out hand and smirking. "Thanks for the advice, but it was more of a one time thing."
"Yes yes, reputation... Well, I gotta go, have a good day" Edwin smiled and left with his preciously found book leaving Thomas alone again.
He sat there until the library was about to close and then came back to his dorm room. He finally looked at his phone, a couple of messages inviting him to different kinds of parties, few missed calls and one notification he didn't even want to look at, just ignored it and put down the phone.
***
On the other side of the university, Edwin was sitting in his own dorm room. He was sitting on one bed with his best friend Niko, on the other bed was his childhood friend Charles and his girlfriend Crystal. That's how they spent most their weekends, just chatting in the boys room.
Crystal tried to drag them out many times to a party but with two introverts in the group she didn't have much luck. Charles was often up for it but ultimately felt bad leaving their friends alone, so he compromised for an outing once a month.
"Okay guys, I have a deal for you, hear me out" Crystal started carefully "for my birthday, we all go to the neon party next Friday"
"Do I even want to know what neon party is?"asked sceptic Edwin
"Come onn, no other presents needed, just a fun party. You don't even have to stay that long" Crystal continued her plead.
"I already said I'm in" said Charles.
"Niko?" Crystal looked at the other girl.
"Neon sounds like a fun theme, if you're fine with me not staying long then I'm in." She answered
"Come ooon Edwiiin, pleeease" Crystal asked with a big hopeful smile.
Edwin looked around at his friends and he knew he couldn't not agree. "Fine, we can go." He said finally.
"Amazing, I'll text Charles all the details later and we'll meet here. Because, all due respect, I don't trust you Edwin that you won't try to get out of it." She laughed.
***
Thomas was coming back to his room on Wednesday afternoon and as every day he passed the library. He was looking through his phone and wasn't really looking at where he was going.
Suddenly someone ran out of the library and stopped right next to him. He was about to shout at him something about personal space when he noticed it was Edwin. Seemed like a bad idea to be mean to the one person who witnessed him sitting alone in library on a Saturday.
"Sorry, so so sorry" Edwin looked behind himself quickly. "Can you maybe...it's stupid. Can I...umm, you know forget it...."he stumbled over his words looking behind once again.
"Hey, you okay there pretty boy?" He didn't really see what Edwin was looking for that made him so nervous. He was different than on Saturday when he seemed calm and almost cold, now he was nervously tapping his fingers on the book he was holding.
"Sorry, I'm Edwin we met on Saturday, and I just, I saw you first when I... well you saw, and...I was trying to...I don't know"
"I remember you Edwin, I don't forget handsome face that easily. Especially one that holds my secrets" Thomas smiled trying to calm Edwin down. "Did something happen? You need help?"
"No no, it's fine, just run into someone I didn't think I'd have to see ever again and just kind of panicked." Edwin finally calmed down enough to explain. "Sorry to bother you, I'll leave now."
"Hey, it's nothing. If there's one thing I can relate to it's running into people you didn't want to meet. How about I walk with you so you don't run into more problems?"
"You don't have to do that"said Edwin and added smiling for the first time since the start of the conversation. "Besides, we wouldn't want to ruin your precious reputation by associating with people that go to the library."
"You're really gonna hold it against me huh? How about we consider it a repayment for Saturday. A secret for a secret" Thomas winked.
"No offense but I know no one who'd care about your secret"
"No offense, but same here, so come on, you're not getting rid of me now. We're walkin'....where are we walkin'?"
Edwin finally decided to accept his fate and started walking with his unexpected companion. "Building B"
They got a few weird stares from other people, but Edwin just blamed it on them making an unusual pair. He was wearing a black button up shirt and a pair of brown trousers while Thomas walked beside him wearing leather pants and a very tight black t-shirt. And, if he didn't believe it earlier the amount of people he said hi or even nodded in acknowledgement at Thomas during their short walk meant he probably actually had some kind of reputation around compus.
"I still don't know what you're studying with your crazy magic books" Thomas asked as they were getting near their destination.
"It's much less exciting than you'd think. I study history, I'm just taking many additional courses focused on religions and supernatural beliefs."
"I think that's fascinating. I'll know who to call if I ever want to curse anybody" Thomas swiftly pulled his phone out of his back pocket "that's, if you give me your number"
Edwin stood there surprised and hesitated for a moment. He spent most of his days with his friends or at the library, so being asked for a number didn't exactly happen every day. And by a seemingly popular, handsome looking guy, practically a miracle.
Noticing Edwin's hesitation Thomas quickly added "I mean you don't have to, didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I can handle rejection." He laughed.
"No, I mean..." Edwin took the phone from Thomas's hand before he could regret his decision and typed in his number "Here"
***
Over the next few days Edwin texted a few times with Thomas. Usually the conversations were following the same pattern. Thomas would start by some flirty comment to which Edwin either responded with a dry comment or ignored all together. After that Thomas would ask a genuine question or send something actually interesting relating to the few facts he had managed to learn about Edwin. And that part was why Edwin still responded to him, because he knew behind the open flirting and frankness Thomas was much more similar to him than he wanted to admit.
In those conversations Edwin gathered that Thomas would party a lot, probably that related to his mysterious reputation. But he seemed to have a real interest into his studies of biology, more real than he'd ever let people see. Altogether behind his extroverted mask he was just looking for some company, and that Edwin could understand better than anyone.
On the other hand Thomas learned some scraps of information, which he was still trying to connect into one picture. Edwin didn't like talking about himself but he did mention his small group of friends, not much detail tho. He was also very focused on studying and his plans for the future. He also never started the conversations, but the fact that he was still responding was enough for Thomas to keep texting.
When Saturday came Thomas texted Edwin once again.
/Gmornin handsome any plans for today\
/Your lack of punctuation is a sore to the eyes. And as a matter of fact I do have plans.\
/Okay mr fancypants so whacha doin today\
/My friend Crystal wanted for her birthday for us to go to some "neon party". As you can imagine I got outvoted on the idea, so that's where I'll be.\
/Cool I can work with that\
/What do you mean?\
/Thomas?\
After not getting a reply on his last message he decided not to think about it too much. Thomas was very different from his current friend group, but somehow Edwin quickly grew fond of him and their short talks. It was doing him good to step, even just a bit, out of his comfort zone.
Some time closer to the afternoon Niko came to help Edwin get ready for the party. Maybe she didn't like to party a lot, but she loved a good theme. So, in her words, she was going to make sure Edwin didn't ruin the vibe with some bowtie.
Niko was wearing an all pink outfit, down to her boots and purse. She said hi to both of the guys and smiling reached for something in her purse, neon face paints.
"We're all gonna match" she said and noticed Edwin's unimpressed face. "Come on, just a little, it's gonna be fun"
"The things I do for you" he sighed "fine"
Excited, Niko drew on Edwin's face a couple simple multicoloured lines. Later when Crystal joined them they decided on Edwin's outfit. While they let him keep his black trousers Charles insisted on borrowing his purple t-shirt. And after some hesitation he changed. After that Niko added a few more doodles on Edwin's arms to complete the picture.
And with that, they left for the party. It wasn't far from campus and was hosted by some kind of friend of a friend of Crystal's. When they arrived Edwin was surprised just how many people were there.
"I know I agreed to the party but that's a bit much, I don't think I was well prepared for the scale of this." He said to Crystal
"To be fair it wasn't supposed to be that big, I'll ask around what changed." She responded "Try to enjoy yourselves"
Charles dragged Edwin with him to look around. The inside was almost pitch black with some colorful lights. Most people were wearing very colorful outfits and light stick bracelets.
"I'll go find some alcohol" said Charles "don't run away, I'll be back" and disappeared in the sea of people.
Niko and Edwin decided on a relatively less crowded place near the door. Niko was moving a bit to the music and mouthing the lyrics of songs Edwin never heard before.
Suddenly Edwin felt something placed gently on his head. He turned around quickly nearly dropping the mysterious item which was once again caught and fixed on his head. After the initial confusion Edwin realized he stood face to face with Thomas. He was wearing a black skirt and a rainbow top and his eyes were outlined with black eyeliner.
"Hello there Edwin" said Thomas smiling widely "your very handsome outfit deserved a cherry on top"
That's when Edwin finally registered the item on his head to be a makeshift crown made from glow sticks. "Oh, well thank you although the outfit is mostly Niko's doing" Only after he said it Edwin remembered his friend standing right next to them. When he looked at her she was equally surprised and giddily excited.
"Nice to meet you Niko, I'm Thomas" He held out a hand to her "good eye for fashion"
Before they could've moved on with the conversation Crystal and Charles came back. Immediately, without noticing the additional member in the group, Charles started talking.
"So apparently some guy they call King. By the way what a lame nickname." Edwin glanced at Thomas with a questioning look. "Anyway, word came that he'll be here today and people follow him around because he chooses the best parties or some shit. So we're making bets with Crystal if it's drugs or sex they want from him."
"Maybe just some fun" Thomas said smirking.
"Sorry who are you?" Charles now finally looked around the group confused. "Also what is on your head Edwin?"
"It's obviously a crown and I am Thomas. Thomas King" he made sure to really emphasize his last name. He turned back around to look at Edwin "see, told you I have a reputation" to which Edwin just rolled his eyes, but smiled a bit.
"All right, everyone this is Thomas, Thomas - my friends: Niko, Charles and Crystal, it's her birthday present" Edwin decided to give everyone a proper introduction.
"Happy birthday then" Thomas said.
Charles looked the most confused out of the whole group. He couldn't wrap his head around Edwin allowing some guy with party animal reputation who he'd never mentioned into their group. He looked at how close to each other they were without Edwin even noticing or commenting about it.
"Hey Edwin, can I talk to you a minute?" He finally asked "like, outside maybe"
"Umm sure" as Edwin was leaving he looked at the group and said "don't talk about anything weird... please"
After they left Charles stoped and Edwin in the eyes. "I'm asking with all the love and respect I have for you, what the fuck?"
"You're going to have to be more specific I'm afraid."
"Edwin. I leave for 5 minutes and you're chatting on with, as it turns out, some 'king' of partying, and as it seems you've talked before. You never said anything about him to me, so I'm just confused how the hell that happened."
"We just met recently and it didn't come up, I didn't know he'd be here. He wasn't mean or anything to you, why are you so weird about it?"
"Because " Charles suddenly looked more serious "He's exactly like the kind of guys who bullied you. I'm just worried for you."
"I appreciate it Charles, but I promise you there's nothing to worry about. And if anything happens I'll tell you, okey?"
"Oh if anything happens, I'll kill him."
"But nothing's gonna happen, so put down your weapon. Now, let's go back before Niko starts to try and chat him to death."
When they came back inside Thomas was no longer with the girls. They were laughing talking about something and stopped when they saw Edwin coming back.
"Your man went with some friend who came by for a drink but he said to tell you he'll come back...." Niko told Edwin, very excited and giddy.
"He's not my man"
"Oh but he could be..."Niko said
"And he definitely wants to" Crystal added. "I underestimated you Edwin, who would have guessed you'd pull a handsome party guy. Good for you"
Edwin was about to say something when he heard a notification from his phone. It was a text from Thomas.
/Second door behind the bathroom\
He looked at the screen for some time forgetting he was in the middle of a conversation. Niko walked up behind him and looked at his screen over his shoulder.
"OMG you gotta go!" She screamed into Edwin's ear.
"What? Where are you goin'?" Asked Charles.
"Umm, I don't know if I should. Plus it's Crystal's birthday and..."Edwin started to say but was quickly interrupted by Crystal herself.
"No, no, don't use me as an excuse." She said. "I am all on board on you getting together with a cute guy. Honestly that's the most fun thing that could've happened today."
"I am still confused. What are we talking about?" Asked Charles
"Oh dear, we are going dancing. And Edwin here is going to talk with his guy" said Crystal to Charles already dragging him into the sea of people. "Good luck, be safe" She said to Edwin and winked.
Edwin looked at Niko and she just smiled and waved her hand gesturing for him to go. "Just tellxt me later the gossip how it went."
So Edwin had no choice but to follow the vague instruction from the text. He pushed through the people and found the bathroom. He followed further into the corridor and pushed the second door. To his surprise it lead outside, it was a backdoor apparently forgotten by the rest as it was just him and Thomas, who was sitting on a bench. When he noticed Edwin he smiled and signaled with his head for Edwin to join.
Edwin closed the door behind him and walked up to the bench. He sat down next to Thomas.
"All that party reputation and yet here you are again, hiding in a quiet place..."
"Maybe I just wanted to be alone with you" Thomas said in a flirty tone.
"We are quite similar, you know" Edwin said, to which Thomas just looked at him with a surprised look. So Edwin continued. "Lonely, I have my friends you have your parties, but at the end of the day we're just looking for some connection."
"You are fascinating, you know that?" Thomas looked at Edwin with a fond look "How about a secret for a secret, we're good with that. I'll tell you about why I was in the library the first time we met, and you can tell me why you ran out of it the second time..."
Edwin took a deep breath and nodded his head, "Fine" and looked at Thomas waiting for his story.
"Okay, you're right. I do feel lonely sometimes even with all the parties. And recently it got a bit too much with people always wanting something from me, because they heard about me and think they know me. Your friend was also partially right. Last Saturday I got about 5 messages from people straight up inviting me to have sex with them, and about the same people asking if there will be dealers at some parties. So I decided to hide, have one afternoon of peace." He made a small pause and looked at Edwin. "And I'm glad I did."
"I saw my high school bully at the library and I panicked" Edwin said all in one breath, before he could regret sharing his secret.
"Oh Edwin, I'm so sorry. Are you...are you feeling okay?"
"It's fine. I had enough time and support to get better after high school. It was just...so unexpected to see him again, and being alone, my body told me to just run before he could even notice me." Edwin sighed and smiled softly at Thomas. "Thank you for being there for me, even if you didn't know you were helping."
"Thank you for trusting me. Can I hug you Edwin?"
Thomas asked a bit shyly. Edwin nodded his head in agreement and turned on the bench to face Thomas with his body.
Thomas opened his arms and gently hugged the other. Edwin closed his eyes, buried his head in the crook of Thomas's neck and relaxed. Somehow, even just knowing his for a few days, Thomas made him feel safe and understood.
"If you ever see that bullying bitch again just call me, I'll deal with it" said Thomas when they slowly ended the hug.
"That's...sweet, but not needed" Edwin smiled. "But your knight in shining armor attitude is quite attractive"
"Ohh, is it now?" Thomas moved his head closer to Edwin. "Need me to slay some dragon, break a curse? You never know which of your magical books could've been cursed."
Edwin laughed genuinely "And you would know how to break a curse..."
"Well, there's one full proof solution" Thomas winked at got even closer.
"And what would that be?"
"A kiss, of course" he brought his hand to Edwin's cheek and held him gently.
Edwin leaned into the touch and looked into Thomas's eyes. He was waiting for permission. "Better safe than sorry, wouldn't want to be cursed" said Edwin softly and moved his head to meet Thomas in the middle.
The kiss was slow and sweet. Thomas put his hand in Edwin's hair and stroked gently. When the kiss ended they both smiled.
"And how was it, any curse lifted?"
"Not sure, maybe we should keep going in case there's any other curse on me..."
Thomas laughed and asked "well if you wanna keep me around, how about a coffee tomorrow?"
"I'd like that" Edwin smiled and kissed Thomas again.