Chapter Text
Abe couldn’t believe it. He was standing in his college dorm, his face displayed on his dorm room door. He was on his own! Well, his mom was paying for his tuition, but other than that, he was on his own. With Oriana’s help, he’d somehow qualified for college and graduated high school in time for the new semester. Sure it meant leaving everyone behind for now, but it would only be for a few years, and he would have summer and winter break to spend at home, plus every weekend. Roman and Lucy weren’t too far behind him with their studies, so he only had to wait a little while, and then they’d be in college with him.
Theo had been the hardest person to leave behind, but Abe still would video call him regularly, and would see him on the weekends. If only he could teleport like Roman and just pop in to see his son whenever he wanted. Magic was just something that he’d never understand no matter how hard he studied.
Pia Rivales and Tennyson Yoxall had joined him at La Fiesta Tech. Arkhelios’ university was still in the development stage, so everyone who qualified for college had applied outside of Arkhelios. Abe hoped to transfer to the new school when it was ready, but for now, La Fiesta Tech had a pretty decent science program.
Even though there were countless new faces around them, Pia clearly showed an interest in dating someone from Arkhelios, and Tennyson felt the same.
Abe and Pia hadn’t spent a lot of time together before, but they were the only people aside from Tennyson from Arkhelios. Abe never thought that he’d feel homesick in his life, but sure enough, being in such a different place made him miss his familiar home.
“That’s really cute that you brought a picture of Roman,” Pia said. “You must miss him.”
“Yeah it feels weird without him or Theo here,” he admitted. “I have a ton of pictures though, and I’m going home for the weekend. How are you doing? Everything here is so different. They have a vending machine that dispenses cell phones. It’s the weirdest thing.”
“And restaurants and movie theaters,” Pia exclaimed. “Tennyson and I are going to see a movie tomorrow. In a theater!”
Life certainly was different in the dorm. Food was set out for them for each of the three meals, provided that they bought a food plan with their tuition. The breakfast was terrible, just cold, soggy pancakes that were nothing like the ones that Roman made.
Pia and Tennyson seemed to be taking to university life well. Her mom was away on a cruise with her friend, so Pia was free to do what she liked without word getting back to her over protective parent. She’d never acted up before in her life, but she was thinking maybe that could change away from the rules of Arkhelios. Maybe perfect, boring Pia wouldn’t be so perfect all the time. She thought of her poor deceased niece Kaeileen, who always told her to get a life and try breaking out of her comfort zone. For Kaeileen’s sake, she would try her best.
Abe’s dorm room was pretty modest. His mother told him that he could furnish it himself, since she was helping pay his tuition, and even with the money saved up from his job, Abe still had a very cheap bed and desk to work with. Most of his money had gone into the laptop he bought for writing papers on, and video calling home.
The local fraternity was looking for new pledges, and Abe managed to charm his way into joining. He left Pia and Tennyson in the dorm, and moved what little he had to the fraternity house. He’d only seen fraternities in TV shows and movies, and couldn’t wait to see what they were like.
The fraternity house was a welcome change from the dorms. There were fewer people, less noise, and several single sims looking for love. Abe tried to explain that he wasn’t single, but didn’t really protest when an attractive guy named Raibeart le Gaucher decided to kiss him. (I have a medieval townie name mod, hence Raibeart)
Someone other than Roman is kissing me!
The thought was unbelievable to Abe. Roman had been the only sim interested in dating him in Arkhelios, and the only person he’d ever kissed. He’d never given any thought to kissing anyone but Roman, but here he was with some guy who had barely introduced himself. If he was being honest with himself, Abe was very much enjoying this attention from a near stranger without the slightest hint of guilt. College was where you learned new things about yourself after all, and Abe was learning quickly that living in a fraternity was going to be an interesting experience.
“Hi, I’m Abe,” he said, once Raibeart released him. He smiled like he was still a teen with a silly crush.
“I’m Rai,” the guy responded, and Abe was practically swooning. “You’re new here, right?”
Abe was pretty sure he nodded.
This must be what Roman said boarding school was like. So much freedom, so many options and new people…oh damn, Roman! The curse!
Abe waited with his eyes squeezed shut for the curse to strike him down where he stood. About 20 seconds passed, and he was still alive. He opened his eyes to see a very confused Rai watching him. He’d cheated on Roman, and was somehow still alive!
“Sorry,” Abe said, now bursting with excitement. “Long story.”
Maybe the curse was a dud, and it never took. No, both he and Roman had markings on their face afterwards, and Roman said he could feel it taking effect. So it didn’t matter if he cheated on Roman, as long as he still loved him. There just had to be some kind of catch to this, but Abe was willing to take that chance. His whole life could be lived without sticking to Roman’s side, as long as he still loved Roman while he did what he wanted. Some of the suffocating anxiety he had felt ever since agreeing to Malika’s deal began to ease.
You’re a bad person. You can’t honestly be scheming ways to cheat on your boyfriend who you nearly died to be with! You’re just as bad as your grandfather!
Abe couldn’t explain just how he felt. It felt like he had just left a fish tank to discover the ocean. Arkhelios was a small cult like place, and Roman was so complicated. The guys here didn’t look like they were part demon, or integrating into his family because their own families were like storybook level evil. No one here would ask him to chance his soul on a teenage romance.
It was like a huge weight had been lifted from him, even if it made him feel guilty. He still wanted to be with Roman, but the constant pressure he felt to never critique him, or get angry with him for fear of triggering the curse was gone. Malika had been in such a rush to trap him that she had gotten sloppy with her words. What kind of love did he have to have for Roman now that he thought of it? Romantic? Sexual? Familial? He had no idea and that excited him. For the first time in a while, Abe finally felt back in control of his life.