< Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Time was passing by so quickly and Kevin knew he only had a day or so left before everything began. They had decided to go and do more exploring on Saturday but not too far, because Kevin had wanted to stay close to their room so he could meet his roommate when he arrived. They’d just finished checking out the campus bookstore and buying tons of UCLA clothing when Brian suggested they take their bags back to Kevin’s room.

"Dude, your door is open," Joey warned. They approached the room slowly, Kevin was hoping that it was his roommate and not someone else.

"Must be Andrew," Kevin said softly. Joey moved to the side to allow Kevin to enter his room first. When he pushed the door open, there were four people standing next to the empty bed on the undecorated side of the room.

"May we help you?" The woman asked with a smile as she noticed Kevin step inside the room.

"Hi, I’m Kevin. I live here." Kevin said politely, with a smile. He watched the looks of confusion on their faces turn to that of welcome and felt at ease. There were two boys that looked around Kevin’s age and what were probably Andrew’s parents. Andrew’s father stepped forward and shook Kevin’s hand.

"Hi Kevin, I’m Drew’s father."

"Hello Mr. Lachey," Kevin smiled politely. "Mrs. Lachey?" He said, shaking Drew’s mother’s hand."

"Yes. And this is Nick, our other son." That left the one sitting on the empty bed to be Andrew (Drew). Finally the two names made sense and Kevin laughed. Everyone looked at him suspiciously.

"You must be Andrew (Drew)," Kevin said. Drew smiled.

"Yeah, my name is Andrew, but no one calls me that, just Drew. So I put it in that I go by Drew, but they put it as if it were my middle name, but with parenthesis." Drew rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Like I said, I’m Kevin. I’m your roommate, this is Joey, Chris and Brian, my best friends from back home. I hope you don’t mind, but they’re up until tomorrow. Helping me move in and stuff."

Drew shook his head as everyone introduced each other. Finally, Kevin saw that Drew hadn’t unpacked anything. "I hope this side of the room was okay," Kevin pointed to Drew’s bed.

"Oh yeah, this is great. We’d just got here when you guys came back, so we didn’t have a chance to put anything away."

Despite how spacious the room was, it wasn’t big enough for eight people to maneuver around while Drew tried to put his belongings away, so Kevin suggested that they go to the common room to hang out for a bit. "We’re just gonna get out of your way and go watch some TV."

"Cool," Drew said with a smile. "We passed it on our way in, so when they leave, I’ll just come down and get you?"

Kevin looked at Drew’s parents in surprise. "You’re not staying?"

They gave a shake of their head. "Sadly no. We drove down with the boys for the road trip really," Mr. Lachey said with a chuckle. "We’re staying in town until tomorrow, but we’ve got to fly back home tomorrow."

"We decided to drive down together, now mom and dad are going to fly back, I’m keeping my car here and Nick’s driving his car to UNLV where he goes to school."

"What about your stuff?" Chris asked Nick.

"I live in a house with friends of mine," Nick explained. "So my things are already there. I just thought I’d bring my little brother to college, make sure he got moved in okay and I’m going to head back either tonight or tomorrow."

"Cool," Kevin said. "Well, it was nice meeting you." Once again, he shook Drew’s parents hands and Nick’s as well. "We’re gonna just be in the common room."

For the next two hours, Kevin, Joey, Brian and Chris had the common room to themselves and sat around with the TV on, just talking. They talked about UCLA, about Chris going to State and Brian and Joey going back to Lincoln High. They pretty much exhausted every single topic they could think about, and just as Kevin was commenting about how hungry he was, Drew appeared in the doorway.

"They’re gone."

Drew’s eyes were suspiciously puffy and bloodshot. Kevin knew exactly how his new roommate was feeling and didn’t dare bring it up. He was certain that the next day when his best friends left him behind, he’d be just as emotional as Drew was right now.

"You okay, man?" Joey said kindly. He patted the couch beside them and Drew sat down.

"Just ...damn, it hit me all at once that they’re going, I’m here and school is starting in a few days."

"I hear that."

"We were just gonna go and get something to eat, you wanna come with?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, but ...can we just take a few minutes though." Drew didn’t want to move at all right now. Kevin and his friends all nodded.

"You have a car?" Drew asked Kevin after a few minutes had passed.

"Yeah."

"How big?"

Kevin shrugged. "We can all fit, if that’s what you mean. It’s an SUV, tons of room."

"Cool, can we just take one car? I’ve been driving since yesterday."

"For sure." Kevin was relieved that he and Drew had already found a comfortable friendship between them. They hadn’t spent much time together, but he could tell that his roommate was easy going and that they would have no problem in getting along. All summer he’d been trying to think about what type of person that the college would pair him up with and he hoped that he wouldn’t get some freak of nature that would make his life miserable, thankfully, his prayers had been answered.

"Good, then we can spend the night getting to know each other. You know, our likes, dislikes, pet peeves, all that fun stuff." Drew flashed Kevin a wide smile, also thankful that he’d been paired with someone normal. He’d heard horror stories and shuddered to think of what he COULD have been paired with.

They had voted and agreed to go off campus for dinner that night. After they all piled into Kevin’s SUV, they drove aimlessly, looking around, trying to learn the city as best they could. It was over an hour later that they finally decided on Chinese food. There was a giant sign advertising an all you can eat buffet, which at first Chris had been leery of, but after seeing how busy it was, he had to admit that if this many people were lined up to go, then it couldn’t be all bad.

A few hours later, they returned to campus with a few rented DVDs and bags upon bags of junk food. Kevin had brought up both a TV and a DVD player which had pleased Drew who hadn’t. They were ten minutes into the first movie when there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" Drew asked in surprise. The door wasn’t fully shut, but it wasn’t open either. Kevin shrugged, figuring it was Jordana.

"Come in!"

Just as he’d suspected, Jordana stood at the door with two friends of hers. "Hey, is Andrew parenthesis Drew here yet?"

Drew blushed and meekly raised his hand. "Hey."

"Hi. I’m Jordana, a friend of Kevin, Brian, Joey and Chris’. We met yesterday, I live just down the hall." Jordana turned to the blonde on her right and smiled. "This is my roommate Shelby, and this is Celena."


"Drew," Drew introduced himself. He stood up and shook their hands, amazed at how at ease they were in his and Kevin’s room already.

"We’re going out and we thought we’d come by to see if you wanted to join us?"

Joey and Brian’s eyes lit up causing for Kevin and Drew to laugh. "Do you guys want to go?" His best friends’ nodded enthusiastically. Kevin looked at Drew who suddenly didn’t look as tired as he had moments earlier.

"Why not," Kevin said. He would definitely have to change his clothing, as would the rest of them. Only the girls looked ready to go out.

"Shit," Chris remembered. Everyone looked at him in confusion. "We’re not old enough."

Jordana gave a laugh. "Don’t worry, it’s 18+, you’ll just get a wristband that says you can’t drink."

"We’re not old enough," Chris reiterated with a blush. "Kevin and I don’t turn eighteen until October, and Joey and Brian just turned seventeen this year." Everyone looked at Drew who shrugged.

"I turned eighteen earlier this year. Early birthday."

"Shit," Kevin sighed. He’d actually been looking forward to going out. Surprisingly, the girls were still smiling.

"Shelby’s boyfriend is the bouncer. If you’re with us, he’ll just give you wristbands anyways. No one will know you’re seventeen."

"Not that you look so young," Celena said, watching Joey closely. Their eyes met and he grinned at her.

"We’ll meet you downstairs in twenty minutes," Kevin announced. When the girls left, the five of them started to change and go through their clothes for something cool enough to wear to a bar. None could deny how excited they were to go to a real college bar.

"You sure you’re not too tired?" Brian asked Drew. As if on cue, Drew yawned.

"I’m beat, but it’s okay. If I'm tired later, I’ll just come back early."

Twenty minutes later, they headed downstairs and outside to meet the girls who were sitting comfortably on the benches outside of the dormitory. The club was just on campus, so rather than drive, the gang decided to walk over. With people moving in all weekend, there were tons of people at The Hangman that night, which only added to the excitement in the air. Just as Jordana promised, Shelby’s boyfriend got them all in, securely tying wristbands around their arms to denote that they weren’t old enough to drink.


Joey had gone off with Celena to dance, as Brian and Jordana had followed closely behind. Shelby was now sitting at the bar with a few friends of hers which left Drew, Chris and Kevin at the table together.

"So, do you have a girlfriend back home?" Chris asked Drew curiously. He could tell that Drew and Kevin would be perfect roommates for each other and was pleased that Kevin would have someone to look out for him while they were back in Middletown. Chris could also sense the connection between Kevin and Jordana, which surprisingly wasn’t sexual. At first he’d thought that Nick would have something to be worried about, but the second that Jordana and Brian’s eyes had locked, he knew that it was Rachael that should be worried, not that he would say something to either of them, it wasn’t his position, but as protective as Chris was for Brian, Joey and Kevin, he was just as protective of Nick. Nick was one of his best friends now, and Chris’ protective streak expanded to include him.

Drew shook his head and frowned. "Nah. I mean, there was a girl I was seeing last year, but it wasn’t serious."

Kevin nodded and felt his stomach clench a few times. He knew he should tell Drew about him, about his relationship with Nick but he couldn’t. He had just met the other teen and the last thing Kevin wanted was to alienate either of them, especially this early in the year. As cool as Drew seemed, he didn’t know how he would react to having a bisexual roommate, and Kevin didn’t want to make either of their lives miserable by telling him and potentially having him react badly.

As soon as that thought left his mind, Kevin immediately felt guilty about it. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way, that nothing should stand in the way of his relationship with Nick, a relationship they’d both fought so hard for. Shame filled him and Kevin silently prayed to Nick to forgive him for feeling embarrassed. Kevin was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized that Drew had been speaking to him.

"Pardon?"

"I asked if you’ve got a girl back home. If there’s someone special you had to leave behind."

Kevin’s cheeks flushed a dark scarlet and he knew that this was the deciding moment. Chris’ eyes were heavy on him and he couldn’t bear to look his best friend in the eye for fear of the reaction he knew he was going to get.

"Actually," Kevin said softly. He looked at Drew and took a few calming breaths. "I do have someone back home."

"Someone special?" Drew asked with a coy grin.

Kevin nodded. "Someone very special," he answered.

Drew took a sip of the coke the waitress had brought him. "Who is she? Must be hard to have to leave her behind."

Each time Drew said ‘she’ or ‘her’ the knife slid deeper into Kevin’s heart. He knew eventually he would tell Drew the truth, but not right away. He needed to find out what Drew’s opinions on homosexuality were. It was a very touchy topic, and Kevin didn’t want to bring it up assuming that Drew would be okay with it, only to find out that he was violently homophobic. Kevin looked at Chris and silently begged him for understanding.

"Just someone from high school. And yeah, it sucks me being here alone. We both hate it, but we couldn’t get around it."

Drew nodded in understanding, not at all noticing Kevin’s avoidance of giving a name or even assigning a gender pronoun.

"You’ll have to bring her up some weekend, maybe she’s got some cute friends."

"Actually," Chris stepped in briskly. "SHE does have some pretty cute friends. Joey’s dating one, Mandy. And I’m dating one Just..."

Kevin’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he began to cough violently. Chris barely flinched but Drew stopped listening to Chris and started clapping Kevin on the back.

"Dude, you okay?"

Chris’ eyes narrowed and he growled at Kevin. "He’ll live, unfortunately." They held a silent conversation and Kevin felt his stomach churning sickly. He had a lot of explaining to do and knowing that look on Chris’ face, his best friend was not going to let him off easily on this one.

At nearly one in the morning, Joey and Brian returned to the table, sweaty and looking blissful. Looking at the late time, and the fact that Drew was nearly passing out at the table, the group agreed that it was time to go back to their dorms. Drew walked up ahead with the girls, while the four friends kept a safe distance away so they could talk.

"When we get back," Chris gritted out, "we need to talk."

It was Brian who answered, much to everyone’s surprise. "There’s nothing to talk about. It was one kiss, and I stopped it immediately. I know I should have told her..." He stopped when he noticed the confused expressions on his friends' faces. His cheeks instantly turned red and he realized that Chris hadn’t been talking to him. "You didn’t mean me, did you?"

Chris shook his head but crossed his arms over his chest. "You kissed her?"

"She kissed me," Brian argued.


Joey raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, like you and Celena weren’t ..."

Joey shook his head. "When she asked me to dance, I told her I had a girlfriend back home. One that I’m not ready to ditch for a girl who goes to college, hundreds of miles away from me. One that I want to be with. One that..."

"You fucking hypocrite," Kevin said, relieved that the heat was taken off of him. Chris’ glare told him that he hadn’t gotten off quite so easily.

"What?" Brian said, surprised at the outburst.

"You’ve been accusing Nick and Justin all year of cheating on Chris and I, and the first chance you get, you’re cheating on Rachael."

Chris and Joey nodded which only further flustered Brian. "She ...kissed me. And I should have told her earlier when we were playing basketball that I had a girlfriend, but I liked how she was looking at me... I ..."

"Fucking hypocrite."

"Look who’s talking," Chris accused, clearly unimpressed. "And for the record, if you want to be ashamed of yourself for who you are, that’s one thing, but don’t you ever be ashamed of who I am." Chris stopped and poked Kevin in the chest. "If you’ve never had a problem with me being poor, you sure as hell better not be embarrassed by my being with Justin."

"What the fuck?" Joey nearly screamed. His loud yell caught the attention of the girls and Drew up ahead and they paused.

"Everything okay back there?" Jordana asked.

"Yeah," Kevin called back weakly. "We’re fine." When they continued to walk, he turned to Chris and smacked his arm. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That choking fit when I was about to tell Drew about Justin?" Kevin’s blush said everything he needed to say. "And the fact that you let Drew think that your ‘someone back home’ is a girl. That you didn’t acknowledge Nick at all. You’re such a fucking asshole, and you know, I thought Nick was paranoid, but maybe he was right."

Kevin felt sick, his head was spinning and the looks of disbelief that Joey and Brian were giving him only worsened the feelings. He knew it was wrong, he knew it at the time and right now, he knew it, but there was nothing he could do. "You don’t understand.." Kevin pleaded.

"I can’t believe you," Joey said in wonder. "I thought you were done with all that shit."

"I just .. I don’t want to come right out and say it. I need to break it to him, I need to make sure he’s not going to freak out, or beat the shit out of me."

Chris paused and something flickered in his eyes. He hadn’t thought of that and for a moment, saw the genuine fear on Kevin’s face. Finally, he spoke, this time with less heat in his voice. "I guess, but you still should have said something. If he has a problem, they’ll move you to another room. They wouldn’t keep you there, if there was any threat to you. Nick will be crushed if he finds out that you’re embarrassed by him."

Kevin sighed and rubbed his face. They were almost at the building, but he was nowhere near done with this conversation. "Please don't tell him. I’ll tell Drew about Nick, but just not yet. I want to just wait.."

"If you wait too long," Joey pointed out, "it will only make it worse. Nick will be upset that you were embarrassed by him and Drew will be mad that you lied. Because you are lying by letting him think that your other half back home is a girl."

"You really turned down Celena for Mandy?" Brian asked softly. Joey turned to his best friend and shrugged.

"Mandy’s home. Celena’s exciting and a college girl, but she’s not who I want right now. Mandy loves me, she treats me awesome and I don’t want to throw that away for a weekend of fun. Come tomorrow night, I’ll be back in Middletown and I don’t want to do something I’ll regret, just because I know Mandy might not find out about it."

"But ..." Brian looked at Jordana who was watching him, disappointed.

Kevin pulled Brian in for a hug. "If you’re disappointed, then that’s something you need to deal with Rachael about."

"It was just a kiss. A half a kiss."

"The kiss isn’t the issue," Kevin pointed out. His conversation with Nick ran in his head and he smiled.

"It’s not?"

"It’s what you’re thinking right now, that’s the issue. The second that you feel that your relationship with Rachael is standing in the way of something, that you’re resenting it, that’s the issue. You might have not gone further physically, but you’re beyond kissing right now in your head, and that’s what you need to worry about."

Brian looked at Jordana and felt his stomach clench. She was so beautiful, so smart, everything he’d ever thought he’d wanted in a girl. He loved Rachael, but it had been so long since he’d felt this way about someone, and that had to count for something. Right? He was so torn up about everything that he could barely even think beyond where she stood, a few hundred feet away.

"If she came over here and said that Shelby was staying at Celena’s tonight, that she wanted you to go back with her to her room..." Kevin hadn’t even finished the sentence and Brian’s lips were curled in a smile, his eyes dancing. Kevin shrugged. "There you have it." Kevin preferred to focus on Brian’s dilemma so as to avoid thinking about his own, or the glare that was coming from Chris.

"You’re going to have to tell him," Joey interrupted. His eyes were focused on Kevin who blushed.

"I will."

"Before Nick phones and tells him himself, or before he finds out that you’re ashamed of him."

"I’m not ashamed of him," Kevin protested weakly.

Joey simply shrugged and walked to catch up to the girls and Drew.

"Whatever gets you through the night."

End Chapter 10


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