Haphephobia: the fear of being touched.
Blake, a second-year Psychology student, hadn't ever heard of such a phobia, until the day he was hired as a guide for Dean, the heir of a rich family.
Even though Dean had the appearance and behaviour of a ge...
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If someone passed by that laboratory, they would be pressed to guess someone was inside. The anticipation was palpable and, apart from the faint noise from the machines, silence filled the space. Surprisingly, that was a good thing.
Before Jane had left to attend some scientific stuff abroad, which Collin had never bothered to understand, she had convinced Adam to wait until she was back to help them before trying again and Collin had supported the suggestion. Technically speaking, Adam didn't need the results to be what he had hypothesized to present his thesis, but he should be able to theorize what might have gone wrong which would be easier with two brains and a half thinking about it. Besides, Adam needed to take a break from that and, even not working on that stubborn part of the experiment, somehow there was always something that needed to be done at that lab, so he wouldn't be skipping his responsibilities.
That had been the plan that Collin and Jane had agreed to and forced Adam to go along with, so, the previous Friday, a week after Jane had left, Collin had gone home for the weekend, happy knowing that Adam would be getting some much-needed rest.
On Sunday, however, a gut feeling had him text Adam some random question about the discussion in his internship report. It had taken hours for his supervisor to finally reply and Collin just knew. Adam hadn't lied when Collin asked if he was at the lab and Collin had scolded him properly, although he could imagine Adam's amusement at the messages.
That Monday, Collin hadn't been due at the internship but after his morning classes, he had taken to the lab where, of course, he found Adam. His nagging was barely heard apart from a few indulgent nods and his supervisor even had the audacity to pat his hair when he was done. Eventually, Collin concluded his scolding would be useless so, he kept doing it, but with his lab coat on and helping.
It was clear Adam had a good feeling about this attempt but refused to let the excitement come to the surface. Even now, hours later, the sun already set, Collin could see how absorbed Adam was in what he was doing, so he kept quiet as he discarded the melted ice on the sink.
– Don't you have class tomorrow morning? – it was Adam who broke the silence minutes later, appearing by his side. – You should go home, you haven't even had dinner yet.
