Chapter Text
There were very few things Caelen Strayfe hated more than the first day of a new academic semester, and one of those things was probably the last day of the previous semester.
The university looked almost offensively unchanged after the break, its old stone buildings standing beneath a pale morning sky as if the summer had never happened at all, as if the weeks away had not existed. As if Caelen had not spent half of them telling himself that this year he would be more organized, more disciplined, more prepared, only to return with a bag full of badly folded clothes, three pens that probably didn’t work, and approximately the same amount of motivation he’d possessed before leaving.
Students were already spilling through the gates in clusters, some dragging suitcases behind them despite having lived in the city for years, others carrying coffees large enough to qualify as laboratory equipment, and everywhere he looked there were familiar faces mixed with unfamiliar ones.
People were greeting each other loudly after months apart and freshmen were wandering around with schedules open on their phones, wearing the unmistakable expression of people who had no idea where they were going but were too proud to admit it. Caelen adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder and stared up at the main building for a long moment before muttering under his breath that it was not too late to turn around, go home, and pretend he had never enrolled.
“You’re late.” Caelen didn’t even have to look toward the voice to know who it belonged to. He stopped halfway through the gate and turned just in time to see Liron Lockheart approaching with the sort of grin that immediately made Caelen suspicious, his bag hanging carelessly from one shoulder and his hair still slightly messy in the way it always was when he’d either overslept or deliberately refused to make himself look presentable. Beside him walked Elias Delborne, who looked considerably more awake despite the fact that Caelen knew for a fact he had stayed up far too late the previous night for some last minute studying.
Elias had one hand wrapped around a takeaway coffee and the other tucked into the pocket of his jacket, and there was something deeply content about the way he walked beside Liron, close enough that their shoulders brushed every few steps. Every so often, Liron leaned slightly toward Elias without even seeming to notice he was doing it, and Elias responded with the sort of easy familiarity that only came from having been together long enough that affection had become something as natural as breathing. They were dating, after all, and had been for long enough that Caelen had long since stopped pretending he wasn’t occasionally subjected to their disgustingly domestic habits.
Caelen looked between them and immediately felt a strange mixture of relief and annoyance settle in his chest. He had spent the entire break pretending he enjoyed having the apartment to himself, but seeing the two of them standing there made him realize that the place had been far too quiet without their arguments, their laughter, their music leaking through walls, and Liron’s inexplicable habit of wandering into Caelen’s room whenever he was bored.
“I’m not late,” Caelen said, walking toward them. “You’re early.” Liron glanced at the clock tower behind Caelen and then back at him with exaggerated disbelief, informing him that they had agreed to meet twenty minutes before the orientation lecture and that Caelen had somehow managed to arrive three minutes after the agreed time, which was apparently a personal attack on everyone involved.
“Three minutes,” Caelen reminded him, “is barely an inconvenience. You have done far worse before.” Liron stared at him as though he had just confessed to a serious crime and Elias quietly took a sip of his coffee before pointing out that the two of them had been arguing about punctuality even though neither of them were on time. Liron turned toward Elias with an incredulous expression "Whose side are you on?!"
“Yours,” Elias replied easily, before adding "Caelen just simply had a point." Caelen raised an eyebrow. “You just said I had a point. How are you on his side?” “I said you had a point about the argument,” Elias clarified, smiling. “Not about being late." Liron immediately looked smug.
Caelen groaned "Dating that guy has clearly affected your judgment, Eli." Elias laughed, while Liron slipped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders and announced that Caelen was simply jealous because he didn’t have anyone to defend him. “I have you two, don't I?” Caelen replied with an eye roll. “That sounds more like a punishment.” Elias said. With a sigh Caelen joked. “It is." and Liron laughed so loudly that several students nearby looked over.
That was how the first morning began, with Caelen trying not to smile as Liron complained about being disrespected and Elias looked increasingly resigned to the fact that he had voluntarily chosen to live with both of them. It felt strangely familiar. That, Caelen thought, was probably the best part.
They had met before university, back when their biggest concerns had been exams, applications, and whether they were actually going to survive the transition into adulthood without doing anything catastrophically stupid, and somehow, despite the fact that university had taken them all in completely different directions, the three of them had ended up becoming inseparable.
The apartment had been their idea during their first semester, mostly because living together seemed cheaper and easier than finding separate places, but somewhere along the way it had become something more permanent. It wasn’t particularly large, and the kitchen had a cabinet door that refused to stay shut, and the heating had a tendency to make strange noises in the middle of the night, but it was theirs.
Liron had claimed the room closest to the kitchen because he insisted that being able to smell food before anyone else gave him an unfair strategic advantage, Elias had taken the room with the largest window because he wanted natural light for studying, and Caelen had ended up with the smallest bedroom because, according to Liron, he was “the least likely to complain about it.” Caelen had complained about it for three months.
Now they were all starting another semester, and somehow the thought of going back to their apartment that evening, knowing that the other two would be there, made the university itself feel slightly less intimidating. Liron and Elias had the additional comfort of having each other, which Caelen sometimes pretended was irritating, though in truth he was happy for them. They had become one of those couples who seemed to fit together without thinking about it, if you ignore their on and off relationship, always sharing food, stealing each other’s jackets, finishing each other’s sentences, and somehow finding a way to turn even grocery shopping into an excuse to spend more time together.
Caelen had complained about being their third wheel exactly twice before realizing that, technically, they were all roommates and best friends, which meant he was less of a third wheel and more of an unwilling permanent witness. Their schedules, however, were going to be a disaster and therefore less optimistic.
Caelen and Liron were both beginning their second semester in criminology, something that Caelen still found vaguely surreal whenever he thought about it. They had talked about their plans often enough over the summer, but the reality of it was beginning to settle in now, especially when they compared schedules and discovered that although most of their lectures lined up, their seminars were scattered throughout the week in ways that seemed specifically designed to prevent them from ever having a peaceful evening.
Elias’s schedule was even worse. Chemistry belonged to an entirely different faculty, and his classes were spread across buildings on the opposite side of campus, which meant there were entire days where Caelen and Liron would barely see him until dinner. Liron stared down at his timetable with increasing horror while Caelen leaned over his shoulder.
After a few seconds Caelen couldn’t stop himself from asking how exactly Liron had managed to get into criminology in the first place. Liron’s head snapped toward him. “What is that supposed to mean?” “It means,” Caelen explained, with a seriousness that only made his grin more obvious, “that I’m genuinely fascinated by the admissions process.”
Elias made the mistake of laughing. Liron immediately turned on him, demanding to know what was so funny, and Elias tried to explain through his laughter that he wasn’t laughing at Liron, which was technically true because he was laughing at Caelen, but that distinction did absolutely nothing to save him. Caelen pointed out that criminology involved studying crime, evidence, criminal behavior, investigations, and all sorts of serious subjects, and Liron stared at him for several seconds before saying that he was perfectly capable of understanding all of those things.
Caelen nodded thoughtfully and told him that was reassuring, because he had been under the impression that Liron had simply wandered into the wrong faculty and was too embarrassed to admit it.
Liron shoved him. Caelen shoved him back.
“Children,” Elias warned, although the smile on his face made it clear that he was enjoying himself. “Stay out of this,” Liron told him.
“I’m your boyfriend. Unfortunately, I think that means I’m involved.” Elias replied, calmly sipping his coffee.
Liron, who was indeed not on the winning side of their play fighting, looked towards the chemistry student. “Then defend me!”
Elias just smiled sweetly before blowing Liron a kiss. Caelen laughed so hard at that that Liron shoved him again.
Within seconds, the two of them were half-wrestling in the middle of the walkway while Elias stood beside them with his coffee, watching the entire spectacle with the expression of someone witnessing a natural disaster that had become so routine it no longer seemed worth reporting. Liron accused Caelen of being insufferable, Caelen accused Liron of having the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old, and Elias finally stepped between them long enough to remind them that they had not even made it through their first hour back at university and were already behaving like they had forgotten every social skill they’d ever learned.
For a moment, the weight of the new year disappeared. The three of them eventually made their way toward the faculty buildings, complaining about professors they had not even met yet and trying to work out how they were going to coordinate meals once their schedules became unbearable. They agreed that whoever arrived home first would cook, although everyone knew this arrangement would collapse within the first week.
Liron insisted that he could cook. Caelen reminded him that the last time he had cooked, he had somehow managed to burn pasta. Liron argued that the pasta had been at fault and Elias pointed out that pasta was not capable of being at fault Liron burning it. His boyfriend informed him that he wasn’t a chemist and therefore had no authority on the subject. Elias looked at Caelen and quietly said that "This will be a long year."
It probably was and, despite himself, Caelen found that he was looking forward to it.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of introductions, schedules, lecture halls, and the particular kind of exhaustion that only came from being forced to pay attention after several weeks of doing almost nothing academically productive. By late afternoon, Caelen had already accumulated enough notes to fill several pages and enough complaints to last him until dinner.
Liron had somehow become acquainted with half the people in their year before the first seminar was even over, while Elias had sent several increasingly dramatic messages to their group chat complaining that his faculty was trying to kill him with chemistry.
Caelen replied that this was what he got for choosing chemistry.
Elias responded that Caelen was studying criminology, which was arguably more concerning.
Liron sent a message consisting entirely of several laughing emojis.
By the time evening arrived, the exhaustion had settled into something almost pleasant. Their apartment became the starting point for their first night back, although none of them had any intention of staying there.
A university party was being held near one of the student halls, and Liron had spent most of the afternoon insisting that they absolutely had to go because “everyone would be there,” which Caelen suspected was less an invitation and more a threat. Elias, predictably, agreed immediately. Caelen however...
“You’re coming,” Liron had declared while standing in Caelen’s doorway.
“No.” responded Caelen, who was ready to lay down, maybe play some games on his phone and call it a day.
Liron rolled his eyes, entering the room. "I am not accepting a No. You are coming!" Caelen had looked toward Elias for help, only for Elias to shrug and say that Liron had already decided they were going.
“You’re supposed to be my ally,” Caelen had complained. “I’m his boyfriend,” Elias had reminded him. “I have to choose my battles.” Liron had smiled triumphantly.
Caelen resisted for approximately ten minutes before giving in, mostly because he knew that if he stayed home alone, Liron would probably call him every fifteen minutes until he came anyway.
The party was already crowded when they arrived. Music spilled from the open doors and windows, voices rising over one another until the entire building seemed to vibrate with it. Students filled the halls and common rooms, some dancing, some sitting on the floor with drinks in their hands, others gathered around tables where card games were being played with far too much seriousness.
Caelen stayed close to Liron and Elias, partly because it was easier than navigating the crowd alone and partly because the three of them had a habit of automatically regrouping whenever they became separated.
Liron, unfortunately, became increasingly loud as the evening went on. Elias wasn’t much better.
Caelen watched the two of them argue about something completely meaningless for several minutes before finally asking why they were fighting. Liron immediately explained that Elias had insulted his taste in music. Elias corrected him and said he had merely described his taste in music as “questionable.” Caelen told them both that they were embarrassing and then accepted the drink Liron offered him.
It was sometime later, when Caelen had drifted toward one of the quieter corners of the room, that he heard the story.
A group of third-year students had gathered near one of the windows, speaking loudly enough that several people nearby had started listening. Caelen didn’t pay much attention at first. He assumed it was another stupid university rumor, the sort that changed slightly every year and somehow became more elaborate each time someone repeated it. Someone was talking about one of the older buildings on campus, the literature building in particular, and apparently there was a ghost. Caelen nearly laughed.
One of the students claimed that someone had died there several years ago. Another insisted that the death had been mysterious. A third said that students sometimes saw someone walking through the corridors late at night.
Caelen leaned against the wall and listened despite himself, mostly because the way they were telling it was strangely entertaining. One of the third-years laughed and said the ghost supposedly appeared near the windows during exams, while another claimed that people had heard footsteps in empty corridors. Someone else interrupted to say that the story had been around for years and that nobody actually knew whether the student had died there or somewhere else.
Then one of the students spoke. “Don’t laugh. I’m serious.” The others quieted slightly and Caelen looked over. The student was older, probably one of the people who had been at the university when the person in question was still alive, and unlike everyone else, they didn’t seem amused by the story. They said that they’d heard the rumors too, once upon a time, and had dismissed them until they’d seen something themselves. They wouldn’t describe exactly what they’d seen, only that it had been someone standing at the end of a corridor where nobody else had been.
Someone asked what the ghost looked like. The student hesitated. Then they said they couldn’t remember clearly. That was what made Caelen pay attention. Not because he believed the story, but because the student’s expression was so completely serious.
The others began joking again, turning the whole thing into a harmless ghost story, but Caelen stayed quiet for another moment before finally shrugging. Universities collected legends the way old buildings collected dust. Every campus had a haunted staircase, a cursed classroom, a professor who had supposedly disappeared, a student who had supposedly died under mysterious circumstances. It was practically tradition.
Liron appeared beside him a moment later, looking far too amused for someone who had just been arguing about music.
“What are you listening to?” he asked. Caelen snorted as he took another sip from his drink. “Apparently our university is haunted.” Liron stared at him before bursting out laughing.
Caelen told him it wasn’t funny, although the fact that he was smiling while saying it ruined the effect. Elias joined them a moment later, and when Caelen repeated the story, Elias looked toward the third-years and asked whether the ghost at least had good grades. Liron suggested that if the ghost was haunting the literature building, perhaps it had unfinished essays. Caelen told them both to shut up.
The subject disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and by the time Caelen left the room, he had almost completely forgotten about it.
He said goodbye to Liron and Elias sometime after midnight, ignoring Liron’s dramatic insistence that he stay longer.
“You’re really leaving?” Liron asked, half draped over Elias and clearly drunk, when Caelen announced he was going. Caelen just nodded. “But the party is still going.”
Caelen leaned closer to Elias and Liron when the beat of the music picked up again. “So are my legs, and I would like them to continue doing that.” Elias laughed and told Caelen that he should probably go before Liron managed to convince him otherwise.
Caelen was tired, and unlike his roommates, he had enough sense to recognize when the evening had stopped being fun and started becoming an exercise in enduring increasingly incoherent conversations. He walked home alone beneath the quiet streets, the university behind him gradually disappearing into the darkness, and by the time he reached the apartment he had forgotten almost everything anyone had said about ghosts. He showered, changed and dropped his bag beside his desk.
Then he fell asleep.
The next morning, Caelen woke to the sound of someone groaning from the other side of the apartment. He lay still for several seconds, staring at the ceiling. Another groan followed.
Caelen sat up.
There was another.
Then Liron’s voice, weak and miserable, called his name as though Caelen were responsible for whatever had happened to him.
Caelen opened his bedroom door and found Liron collapsed over the kitchen table with his face buried in his arms, while Elias sat beside him looking equally destroyed. There was an empty glass beside Elias and a bottle of water in his hand that he seemed to be treating as a precious medical instrument.
One of Liron’s hands was loosely gripping the sleeve of Elias’s shirt, and Elias, despite looking like death itself had personally come to collect him, had his free hand resting over Liron’s.
Caelen stared. Neither of them looked capable of surviving the walk to university. “What happened to you?”
Liron slowly lifted his head and looked at him with an expression of profound betrayal. He informed Caelen that he had made a mistake. Caelen raised an eyebrow and pointed out that the mistake had apparently been made several times, judging by the number of empty bottles left on the counter when he left the party.
Elias, with what little dignity he had left, attempted to defend himself by saying that they had simply underestimated the evening. Caelen laughed while the couple just glared at him.
Eventually Liron announced that he was not going to university, and Elias reluctantly agreed that attending chemistry lectures in his current condition would probably end with him falling asleep in the middle of an experiment, which was perhaps the worst possible outcome for a chemistry student.
Caelen told them that this was entirely their own fault and that he had warned them both that they would regret drinking so much. Liron muttered that Caelen had been invited to participate. Caelen replied that there was a difference between participating and behaving like a pair of university freshmen who had discovered alcohol for the first time. That earned him a pillow thrown directly at his head. Caelen caught it before throwing it back.
Despite their complaints, he made breakfast for them. It was nothing complicated, just enough food to settle their stomachs and give them something to eat before they spent the rest of the morning recovering. Liron sat at the table looking as though sunlight itself offended him, while Elias slowly drank water and occasionally leaned against Liron’s shoulder. Caelen watched them for a moment, shaking his head, before setting plates down in front of them and telling them that if they were going to skip university, they could at least try not to die in the apartment. Liron just gave him a tired thumbs-up.
Elias thanked him quietly before leaning his head against Liron’s shoulder, and Liron sleepily rested his cheek against Elias’s hair.
Caelen stared at them. “You two are disgusting.”
Neither of them moved. After a few seconds, Liron mumbled a "We are in love."
Caelen rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face when he turned away. “Are you two seriously going to spend the whole day like that?” he asked.
“Yes,” Liron mumbled.
“No,” Elias answered at almost exactly the same time.
Caelen looked at them, more confused than anything else. Elias sighed and admitted that they probably would. Caelen rolled his eyes before he grabbed his bag, checked his timetable and headed for the door.
He paused briefly when Liron called after him, asking whether Caelen would bring something home for dinner.
"That depended entirely on whether you two can survive until evening." Caelen replied while opening the door. “See you tonight,” Elias called after him. “Try not to destroy the apartment while I’m gone,” Caelen called back.
The apartment door closed behind him, and the familiar sounds of his roommates disappeared into the quiet hallway. Outside, the morning was cool and bright, the university waiting several streets away with its old stone walls and crowded corridors and endless lectures. Caelen adjusted his bag and started walking, already thinking about his first class and the notes he needed to finish later.
The ghost story from the night before never crossed his mind, not once. There were assignments to worry about, schedules to memorize, professors to impress, and an entire year ahead of him. Ghosts were not real. Caelen had absolutely no reason to think otherwise.