Chapter Text
The alarm sound blaring right into his ears shook him awake. Half asleep, Silas fumbled around in his room. He got most of the packing done yesterday already, so he got ready quickly. He then grabbed his things and headed down for breakfast.
Upon going downstairs, he was met with the aroma of cooked bacon and eggs. It was calmer now, without dad.
"Morning..." he grumbled, still unsatisfied with his amount of sleep.
Silas sat down, his mom putting down a plate in front of him.
"Eat up, busy day." his mother said.
After a few minutes of double checking to make sure he didn't leave any behind, he got in the car, his mother driving him.
After a long drive, Silas reached his destination. Saying goodbye to his mother, he now realized he'd be living here for a damn while.
He stepped into the building, carrying all his things. He headed to the office to get his dorm key and then headed to his assigned dorm.
He carried as much as he could to his dorm. Upon arriving, he was caught by surprise by how much space it had.
He went and picked the bed closest to the wall, in the corner, and sat down, exhaling and looking around. His roommate was probably not here yet, he thought.
It was pretty noisy around there, full of chaos of people moving in and chatting, socializing, and making friends. Silas didn't care about any of that. He preferred solitude.
Footsteps approached the door, turning the knob. The sound of boxes falling and hitting the floor filled the room.
"Ah—shit!" cursed out a voice.
Silas watched as the figure stumbled inside the room, trying to pick up everything.
Annoying.
His eyes followed the figure. It was definitely his roommate, damn it...
So there stood a tall man with brown, disheveled hair in a basic white tee layered with a red flannel.
Silas stared, trying to process the fact that he'd be living with this new human being for four years. Four, painful years.
He grinned, cheerful and awkward, "Ethan," he said while holding out a hand.
"...Silas." he shook his hand hesitantly, not breaking eye contact.
Ethan didn't want to stare at Silas for too long, but it was a challenge. His hair was so silky and mesmerizing to look at...
Silas looked away after another second, feeling awkward immediately.
"So... what are you studying?" Ethan asked enthusiastically.
"Linguistics." he replied simply.
Now, this was the part Silas asks Ethan back, but he doesn't, unfortunately.
"...Oh, cool, cool." Ethan nodded, as if he were reassuring himself about something.
***
After a bunch of unpacking and organizing, Silas slumped over onto his bed, somehow exhausted after something so simple.
"Tired already?" Ethan commented—knowing damn well it'd be awkward to, not expecting a reply.
"Maybe," Silas said.
Ethan smiled softly to himself, watching the so-called nonchalant guy lay down, drained. It was a funny sight. Ethan stared at the platinum-haired man while trying not to take longer than three Mississippi's, but two was probably the limit.
Silas rolled around to lay on his back, bottom half hanging off the bed. He spots Ethan staring—or, I mean, just looking around...
Silas didn't react, instead, he looked at Ethan expectantly, talking with his eyes.
What do you want?
The silence was deafening for a moment, but it was broken by Ethan clearing his throat and looking away, continuing with his unpacking.
***
Once everything was settled, they were officially living there.
Silas decided to just shower and head to bed. It was only around the evening, but he didn't really mind. Silas finished showering and hopped into bed, trying to read a book.
Ethan, being the normal person he is, eats dinner with his laptop open, watching something.
Unlucky for Silas, trying to focus, had to bear the torture of listening to the crunch of tortilla chips every three seconds. He'd put on his headphones, just to realize that... he'd forgotten them. Not only was the room absolutely quiet except from what Silas would call a ruckus, he had to listen to the words from whatever thing Ethan was watching on fucking YouTube...
"...You can see this in how..."
[This is me, five days into the longest train ride in America...]
"their language has spread. I think it's pretty clear that the word "Chad"..."
[Starting from Miami, Florida...]
"started out as a humorous archetype..."
"Dude... can you stop?" Silas said, putting his book down aggressively, barely containing his frustration.
Ethan knew he was mad, but at the same time, he couldn't help but want to tease him a little... who wouldn't? He looks totally easy to ragebait!
"Stop what, dude?"
"...Are you fucking—..." he trailed off before continuing again, "the loud noises."
"Ohh..." Ethan responded with sarcastic enthusiasm, "Do you not have any headphones?"
"If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation." he replied flatly, masking his annoyance.
"Hmm... So you don't have any?"
"..."
"Dang... good luck, though!"
Tch. You should be the one with headphones on...
***
The first day of class came way faster than Silas would've liked.
He had completely forgotten that today marks the official first day of the semester. Not only did he not set an alarm, but he almost missed his first class by the time he woke up, well, he probably missed it already.
He checked his schedule just to be sure - his first class was at 10 A.M., and it was...
9.59 A.M.! That was definitely a record for him. What a start....
"... Shit!" he cursed, followed by a sigh of frustration.
He quickly got out of bed, washed his face and put on whatever shirt he saw first. He tried to brush his hair, but the brush got stuck. He groaned in irritation and nearly kicked the door open and left with his phone on 29% battery.
He bolted out, trying to find the lecture hall. The author writing this was about to make him get lost, but figured it'd be too much.
He found his class and sat down next to a random person, panting heavily.