Chapter Text
RNA can come from a distant relation to your kidney, starting fromthemiddleof…
Theo takes his glasses off to rub his eyes as the words he’s attempting to read out of his biology textbook start to bleed together into one big jumbled mess of black letters. He loves biology–really, he does–but the amount of reading his professor assigns daily is insane . That guy must think his students are superhumans with the ability to comprehend six hundred words per second.
Instrumental music is playing softly through his cheap dollar store headphones that barely work at this point, and what is meant to relax him is making his skin crawl like he has hives. Trying not to look like a psycho in the middle of his university's library, Theo rips off his headphones and all but slams them not as quietly as he’d hoped on the wooden table in front of him. A small bang resonates throughout the room, and Theo flinches as a few glares are thrown his way from fellow college students and the librarian alike.
“Sacré enfer (Holy hell).” He mutters underneath his breath, trying to calm his whirlwind of a mind enough to just think straight.
Theo decides to take a mental break from his homework–God knows that torture never ends–and leans back in his plastic chair with a sigh, looking out at the library and its inhabitants, who have graciously decided to stop staring at him and have gone back to their own studying. Everything in the library seems to have a slight gold hue, but Theo can’t tell if that’s actually there or if it’s because of the three hours of sleep he’s running on right now.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket where he had hid it away to keep him from getting distracted to check the time. 10:32 . The library closes in thirty eight minutes, might as well go ahead and get to his apartment before his roommate sends out a SWAT team after him because he thinks Theo’s dead in a ditch. Brett might look big and scary, but he’s really an anxious mother disguised in an abnormally tall teenager’s body.
Theo smiles softly to himself at the thought, and just as he’s starting to look down to move and grab his book bag from underneath his chair a loud noise from in front of him makes his head shoot back up in confusion.
A big textbook, smaller than his but not by much, is lying directly across from him on his table. Something is holding that textbook, and Theo has to squint slightly to see that someone is responsible for the noise. He’s basically blind without his glasses, and all he can make out is a blob of tan that looks a lot like a hand.
Some more squinting helps Theo discover that it’s a man–Theo can tell by the huge shoulders hanging on his frame–and from the way he’s just standing awkwardly in front of Theo’s table he has to be a freshman or very shy. Well, he can’t be too terribly shy considering he just slammed a book down on Theo’s table, where he was working quietly and looking exactly like someone who didn’t want to be bothered.
Sighing, Theo reaches a hand down onto the table to grab his glasses before putting them back on to handle a situation he really doesn’t want to. Seriously, what is with freshmen and– woah.
Standing in front of him is quite possibly the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. There’s really no other way to describe him. From his shaggy brown hair that falls down into his deep ocean blue eyes to the slightly embarrassed red hue on his gorgeous face. He’s very pretty. Pretty enough that Theo doesn’t register that he’s trying to speak to him.
“What?” Theo sputters out after a beat of silence, trying his best not to gawk at the boy standing in front of him like an idiot.
Pretty boy gives a giggle that sounds exactly like Theo’s next heartbreak and says, “I asked if I could sit down? All the other tables are taken.”
Definitely a freshman, Theo concludes. No upperclassmen would ask a focused college student if they could share a table. Especially not Theo, who has what Brett calls, “The bitchiest resting face I’ve ever seen, good God.”
After a few seconds Theo realizes he’s still waiting for a response. He nods dumbly, unable to do much else. Pretty boy shoots him a blinding smile with every single one of his teeth and almost knocks himself to the ground trying to sit down too fast. Once he’s seated he flashes Theo another big smile before reaching down to what Theo assumes is a bag and starts loudly rummaging around.
Theo guesses that this strange boy wants him to stay at the table with him, and Theo doesn’t want to be rude so he stays put. Brett’s gonna kill him when he walks into their apartment later than normal, but a little worrying has never hurt anyone. Trying to look like he wasn’t packing up to leave, Theo calmly resettles in his chair before pushing his glasses farther up his face from where they had fallen down. He reopens his textbook back to his previous stopping point to continue his stupid assigned reading.
Protein has a capability to– screw it. Theo’s not gonna get any reading done with a literal Greek God sitting in front of him.
Trying to be as discreet as possible, Theo glances up at the boy through his lashes while keeping his head down tilted towards his textbook.
He’s looking directly at him.
Shit, Theo thinks, already feeling his cheeks heating up. He just got caught staring at a complete stranger. Wait, no. He wasn’t staring at the pretty boy, the pretty boy was staring at him. Not trying to be secretive either. No, he’s focused completely on Theo–still is, which is mind blowing–like they’re the only two people in the room.
This revelation almost sends Theo into a confused overthinking spiral, but thankfully he’s saved by the boy saying cheerfully, “I never got your name.”
“I never offered it.” Is Theo’s response, and he internally cringes at how snarky he sounds. He didn’t mean to come off like that, but he’s a little thrown at this whole situation, so sue him.
The boy shrugs, thankfully seeming unbothered. Theo’s not sure a natural disaster could take away his positivity. He seems like the kind of person to be smiling while rain’s pouring down his face. “Well, I’m asking for it now. You look like a Luke, or maybe a Dylan?”
When Theo’s response is a blank, blinking stare the boy’s face falls slightly. “Look, I’m sorry if I overstepped–”
Theo takes pity on the poor kid, he seems to be trying his best to start up a conversation with Theo, who is the world's most difficult person to converse with. “Theo.”
It takes a few seconds for what Theo said to sink in, but once it does he gets another thousand watt smile that, against his will, absolutely takes Theo’s breath away. His bright blue eyes seem to sparkle as they stare at Theo like he’s the only person in this room again. Theo tries his hardest to fight off the heated blush he can feel creeping up underneath his skin. The last thing he needs is to be blushing like a damn schoolgirl all because a pretty boy smiled at him. His mother would rise up from her grave, screaming at him in rapid-fire French, “Pourquoi ton visage ressemble-t-il à une tomate? Es-tu une petite fille? Ressaisissez-vous! (Why does your face look like a tomato? Are you a little girl? Pull yourself together!)”
“Hi, Theo,” The boy sounds a bit breathless as he speaks, and Theo’s started to get concerned that he really is crazy. “I’m Liam, Liam Dunbar. I just transferred here for lacrosse.”
A sports guy, that’s new , Theo thinks absentmindedly as he takes in Liam’s still smiling face, obviously looking at him to continue the conversation. Theo’s not good at continuing conversations, happy to sit in silence or let the other person rattle his ear off, but he hears himself asking, “Lacrosse?”
Even Theo’s short, one word answers seem to excite Liam. “Yeah, I’ve played my whole life. I transferred here because they have one of the best lacrosse programs in all of California. Lacrosse is my favorite thing in the entire world. Well, second to history of course. That’s why I’m a history major.” Before Theo can even begin to process the information that was just thrown at him Liam leans forward slightly on the desk as if to see what Theo’s reading. “Biology, huh? Are you pre-med?”
Finally Liam seems to take the hint that he’s going much too fast for Theo’s sleep deprived brain to follow. Still sporting that never-ending smile, he leans back in his seat and waits for Theo to make the next move. The action is so endearing that it almost makes Theo want to smile with him.
After a beat of surprisingly comfortable silence Theo finally answers him, “Uh, no. I’m just a bio major.”
“Do you wanna be a doctor or some other smarty pants stuff?” Liam asks, and Theo’s taken aback at the geniality in his voice. He’s leaned forward on the desk again, as if he’s trying not to miss a word Theo says. Nobody ever wants to truly know about Theo’s life, willing to sit here and just listen . It’s refreshing.
“Paramedic.” Theo answers simply, watching as Liam takes this information in with a nod, leaning back in his seat while running a hand through his long hair. The–surprisingly hot–action brings Theo back to the present, which is that he’s sitting in the university library talking to this strangely kind boy he just met about his major while he really does need to be getting home.
Clearing his throat, Theo stands up quickly. Too quickly, his body immediately informs him. The room starts spinning a little too fast to be normal, and Theo has to blink several times for the non-fiction section to stop doing cartwheels. As soon as he regains his vision he starts gathering his stuff from the old wooden table. “I, uh, need to get home. My roommate will be worrying if I don’t show up soon.”
His attitude doesn’t seem to deter Liam, if anything it does the opposite of what Theo intended. He looks down towards the ground to find his backpack and shove his laptop in his bag around all the other papers and when he looks back up to grab his textbook he finds that it’s hovering in front of his face, Liam’s hand holding it out. Theo hesitantly takes it, not sure where this kindness is coming from but not wanting to be rude. The answering smile he gets makes it worth it, though.
Theo shoves his book somewhere in his worn bag–he’ll put it where it goes when he gets to his apartment–and slings it around his shoulders to leave. Before he can take a step away from the table, however, Liam speaks again.
“Sorry if I, uh,” Pink is dusting his cheeks and he looks so adorable that Theo tries not to swoon. Taking a dive on the seemingly clean floors would probably make the grumpy librarian hate him even more than she already does. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I…uh, talk a lot.” Liam seems at a loss for words for once, looking so genuinely upset that Theo wants to pat his head like he would a sad dog. That’s sort of what Liam is, an overexcited, talkative puppy.
“I would have told you if you were making me uncomfortable.” Theo says after a second, and Liam seems to let out a nervous breath. It makes Theo just a bit confused, because why would he of all people be nervous to talk to Theo , but he elects to ignore it in favor of walking away from the table and away from the pretty boy that made Theo’s heart and head hurt in the span of five minutes. Putting distance between them helps, and by the time Theo’s walked through the library and reached the large double doors all thoughts of Liam are basically out of his mind. He considers turning back and seeing if Liam’s watching him but thinks better of it and pushes open the door to start his long walk home.
…
“Hey Theo!”
He can barely believe his fucking ears.
“Liam?” Theo asks, disbelief clear in his voice, and he’ll be damned. When he raises his head away from the dull glow of his computer screen he finds himself staring into a familiar pair of bright blue eyes. Theo was almost positive that he would never see Liam again, let alone the very next day.
Liam’s smiling again, and Theo tries not to let it affect him but damn it, he’s giving him a small smile back. Plopping down across from him–a mirror from where he was last night, Theo’s mind reminds him–Liam huffs before putting his elbows up onto the table while cupping his face with one hand and bon Dieu (good God) his arms are huge.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Liam says in response, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. Something on his face tells Theo that this isn’t the big coincidence that Liam’s making it out to be. Something in Theo is also telling him that that means something to him, but he tells that part of him to shut up. The last thing he needs is to get feelings for someone he met yesterday.
Snorting out a laugh, Theo looks back down at the bright light of his computer screen to at least try to get some of his essay written. His professor is what his mother would call a, “douleur dans le cul. (pain in the ass)” Why he’s making his class of 20-something-year olds write a ten page essay on medical terminology of all things is beyond him. Alas, he only has about three words written so far, and if Liam’s here then there's no way he’s getting another letter typed out on that word document.
Speaking of Liam, he’s talking again. Shocker. “Is that an essay? I’m sorry, man. I’ve always been shit at essays. My mom told me I have, what was the word?” He seems to be talking to himself, so Theo keeps quiet and watches him struggling in amused silence. “Ah! It was that I have the literary capacity of a toad.” Liam looks so proud of himself for remembering that Theo almost doesn’t realize he pronounced literacy wrong.
Holding back a laugh at Liam’s toad level literacy capacity, he manages to get out, “Yeah, it’s for my medical terminology class.” He’s not sure why he’s telling Liam about his horrible essay that’s currently draining his dwindling life force away. It’s not like he cares, or he shouldn’t care for that matter. Theo has to hold himself back from physically shaking that thought out of his head like a dog.
Surprisingly Liam just nods like he understands and gives Theo a sympathetic look. “I hate essays. They suck.” And the second he’s done with that sentence he’s on to the next one. How this boy’s brain functions without exploding in a cloud of smoke is beyond Theo. “Hey, one of my friends takes that class. Corey Bryant. You know him?”
Furrowing his eyebrows, Theo tries to remember someone by that name. He mainly keeps to himself in that class–everywhere, really–trying not to draw much attention to himself. Theo doesn’t consider himself a shy person per say, but he’s definitely not comfortable with a ton of eyes on him. Unlike Liam, who’s probably never met a stranger in his life. The happiness and kindness rolls off of him in waves, and Theo can see exactly how girls swoon at his feet. The muscles and very attractive face don’t hurt, though.
Now that he really thinks about it, he has a faint memory of a skinny boy who sits near the back of the class, wired headphones always around his neck and plugged into his phone. Like Theo, he doesn’t talk much–at all, if Theo’s not mistaken–but he seems like a shy person all around. The fact that Theo’s never seen him open his mouth to do anything besides yawn might be a dead giveaway, but some people are just antisocial.
“Does he wear headphones around his neck all the time?” Theo asks, and for a reason that he will not be divulging into right now–so that he can see that smile light up Liam’s face again–he wants to be right.
Liam snaps his fingers and points at Theo, raising himself out of his chair a bit because his arm doesn’t reach as far as he apparently wanted it to. Now that Theo thinks about it, Liam is kinda short. “Yes! That’s him. He probably doesn’t say much. Corey’s shy. My best friend Mason, his boyfriend, is the only person he’ll talk to. You don’t know Mason, do you?”
Theo’s slowly getting better at processing Liam’s word vomits, but not much. The first piece of information his brain supplies him with is that he was right and Liam smiling still makes his heart skip a beat. The second is that Liam’s asked him another question, but that doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Theo shakes his head as an answer, not remembering a Mason in any of his classes. He could ask Brett, but that would mean telling Brett about Liam and he’s not sure he wants to do that just yet.
Shrugging, Liam takes a sip of his coffee that Theo didn’t know he had. Theo eyes it in interest, having been wanting one for himself for hours now but not wanting to spend the money. College library coffee is expensive as hell for some reason. It’s not like they don’t take enough of Theo’s money, no, they have to jack up the price of their mediocre coffee so Theo pays them even more.
Apparently Theo had been eyeing the coffee for too long because Liam furrows his brows a bit before looking down to see what he was looking at. Once it dawns on him that Theo was staring at his coffee like a complete weirdo his face lights up with something that looks like an idea. Oh Lord. “Do you want one? I swear the university makes the best coffee.”
He’s already up and out of his seat before Theo can shake his head no again, not wanting to have to shell out the money to buy a coffee in the first place. He tries to call out, but Liam’s too far out of earshot to hear him, heading towards the library cafe. Merde (Shit) , he really doesn’t have money for that.
Sighing, he decides to try and refocus back on his essay to pass the time. Might as well be productive while Liam’s gone to try and ignore the situation at hand.
A few minutes later his focus is interrupted by a steaming hot cup of coffee slid beside him. Liam doesn’t say anything, just pulls out his chair to sit down, a small pink cake pop in his hand.
“I got you black with a little sugar, hope you don’t mind. I forgot to ask before I ran off.” Liam says sheepishly, reaching a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck. Theo doesn’t know whether to be amazed that Liam wasn’t that off with his coffee order or to be amazed at the size of his biceps.
Theo’s brought back to the present by the delicious smell of coffee and realizes that he still has to pay for the coffee that Liam was nice enough to go get for him. Reaching in his pocket, Theo pulls out his wallet and fishes out a couple of dollars before all but throwing them across the table to Liam. The boy in question jumps a bit, too busy eating his cake pop to be paying attention to what Theo’s doing. He looks down at the money in confusion. “What’s this?”
Blinking, Theo stares at him in disbelief. Maybe this kid really is stupid. “Money. For the coffee.”
Now it's Liam’s turn to stare. He tilts his head slightly, staring at Liam in confusion. “What do you mean? I paid for it.”
Theo rolls his eyes. Yep, the guy’s stupid. “Yes, I know that. I’m paying you back.”
Liam straightens up in the chair and reaches out to grab Theo’s money. Theo nods in satisfaction before turning back to his essay, thinking Liam finally got the picture. That thinking is tossed out of the window when his money is thrown right back at him, a green picture of George Washington staring at him from where he’s laying on his keyboard. Theo stares dumbly down at the dollar. “What.”
Liam snorts. “What do you mean ‘what’? I paid for your coffee because I wanted to, not because I expected you to pay me back. Now, how far off was I on your order? You look like a black coffee kinda person but I wasn’t sure.”
It finally hits him after a few seconds. Liam bought him a coffee because he saw him looking at it for a bit, just because he wanted to. One, that’s one of the nicest things anyone outside of Brett has done for him in a while and if he thinks too hard on it he’s either gonna scream or cry. And two, this guy must be some semblance of rich since he’s throwing around money like it’s nothing. All of this together–his own large coffee, the coffee he bought Theo, and his cake pop–had to be at least fifty dollars, minimum. Theo’s not sure he has fifty dollars in his bank account right now. No, he knows he doesn’t have fifty dollars in his bank account right now.
Taking a sip of his coffee and holding back a smile, Theo answers him. “You’re pretty much right. I usually take it with milk instead of sugar, but this is great. Thanks.” He always feels awkward thanking people, but Liam seems to see that he truly means it because he smiles softly at him. “Of course Theo, I mean, people have to be buying you coffee left and right considering how gorgeous you are.”
Sainte mère de Moïse. (Holy mother of Moses)
Liam’s eyes grow comically wide, and Theo would laugh at him if he wasn’t busy having his own internal panic attack. Il m'a appelé magnifique, il m'a appelé magnifique, il m'a appelé magnifique. (He called me beautiful, he called me beautiful, he called me beautiful.)
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I– you –uh.” Liam’s stuttering response and tomato red face are so endearing Theo almost wants to reach out and still his clenched, trembling hands.
“I gotta go, bye!” Liam’s quick departcher is almost a direct parallel to Theo’s own yesterday, drawing a laugh out of Theo’s throat as he watches Liam all but sprint through and out of the library’s doors, taking a sharp left back onto campus once he’s outside. He disappears from Theo’s view in a flash and Theo’s still laughing for some reason, which leaves behind questions he doesn’t want to answer right now.
The coffee is sitting right beside his laptop, and he grabs it and brings the straw to his lips for another sip when he sees Liam’s coffee sitting half drunk across from him.
Oui, définitivement riche. (Yes, definitely rich)