UNIVERSITY: A College AU

Part 1, Chapter 11 - Winter Break

Its 3 am, and the moths flocking to the streetlights above look like little snowflakes in the light. The world is quiet, save for your and Bruno's footsteps. It's been a long, long night of studying, and you're both headed to his place to sleep.

The scrunchie incident had made everything almost easier. You no longer feel the awkward static in the air when you share a space with him, your friendship broke that bubble a while ago. Hugs and leans were commonplace, a gentle touch normal, and bed sharing a seemingly obvious, and definitely platonic (cough), solution to the increasingly late nights due to fast-approaching finals. You knew you would be lying to say you didn't wish for more, but you were content as is, in the slightly confusing, but pleasant, current state of things between the two of you.

Your little twin mattress wasn't big enough, so you usually ended up crashing at his place. In the odd circumstance that he ended up at your place, he insisted he sleep on the couch. You aren't sure why, but you can only assume that's where the platonic boundary ends for him, and don't question it.

You fall into your normal routine when you arrive, exhausted beyond words. He changes in the bathroom, while you change behind the divider. You have a small stash of clothes next to his bed now, mostly t-shirts and sweatpants.

You crawl into bed, facing the wall. You always sleep in the opposite directions. It's the only time where you feel your heart surface again, yelling out for something more. But each time, you put your earbuds in to play white noise, squash it down again, and fall asleep by the time he walks over. It's routine.

Just friends.

Just really, really close friends.

This time is different. You can't sleep now, your heart crying unusually loudly. You forgot your earbuds at home, a painful trick by the universe.

You can hear his humming stop, and you close your eyes, not knowing what to do other than pretend to be asleep. You don't know how the interaction would play out otherwise, so in the split second you have, you decide to fake it.

The bathroom door opens, and you hear footsteps come over to the divider and walk around. They stop, and you can't help but wonder what he's doing. Then you realize the weight of the bed next to you sinking down. He was just walking softly as to avoid waking you up. Your already crying heart swells for a minute.
The weight is different, more concentrated than usual, when he sleeps on his back. You feel his eyes on the back of your neck. Your heartbeat quickens. This lasts for a few minutes.

He taps your shoulder.

"I know you're not asleep, silly." He says softly. "Your breathing is all different. What's wrong. "

You flop over into your back, giving up the act. You don't look at him, but can see the faint glow of his eyes and his silhouette.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Oops."

"So what's wrong? You're normally out like a rock by this time, somethings gotta be up. "

"I don't know, " you lie. Your heart hurts more. A moment of silence, you're pretty sure he would be able to hear it. "I have no idea why I'm so upset." Your voice cracks.

"Do you need a hug?"

You don't know how to respond, so you shrug.

"Do you want a hug?" He repeats himself, softer.

"I... Wouldn't say no..."

He pulls you into a horizontal bear hug. It's not quite spooning, but he has you pulled into his chest. It's warm and comfy. You want to stay like that, and he does. His mouth is pressed onto your head. Just friends, you remind yourself yet again. His body language screams mixed signals.

"Are you sure you don't know?"

"Pretty sure. " You lie again and hate it. It's too late to be honest now. Eventually this feeling will go away, right? He would probably kick you out now anyways.

"Hmmm. Okay. You don't have to tell me," he says, starting to unwrap himself. "You're bad at lying, though."

And with that, he flops onto his back, and leaves you staring at the ceiling, heart pounding.

°°°°°

A month later, you all sit around your apartment, looking at your final exam grades. Steaming mugs of cocoa sit on the coffee table, and messily crafted paper snowflakes are taped onto the windows and walls. Bruno's head rests in your lap, hair loose, squinting at the report card email on his phone. Your old scrunchie is around his wrist. Candace is flopped on the bean bag, her own report card email pulled up on her laptop.

"I thought for sure I'd at least get a C on my final. I barely practiced enough." Candace remarks.

"You did fine, Candace. You practiced for hours every day for two weeks. Plenty of practice." You respond, opening your own on your phone.

"Not enough!!! I only got a B!" She exclaims, playfully tossing a paper ball at you. "I wanted an A."

Bruno laughs at your bickering, and turns his eyes up from his phone towards you. Your heart spins, and you ignore it. Just good friends, right? Just good friends. Even better friends now. The three of you had become nearly inseparable this last month.

"What'd you get?" He asks.

"A minus."

"Ayeee. Good job. You going back home for break?"

"Nahhh. I'm ok staying here, I've already got it figured out with the RA."

"That's good."

"What time are we dropping you off at the airport tonight again?" At your question, his eyes turn back to his phone.

"11:15." His voice trails off. "Our cell service is awful there. But I'll try to message when I land. It's the mountains. They get in the way."

"Makes sense. It's fine, as long as you come back," you tease.

"Of course I will."

Candace shakes her head, and gets up, taking her mug with her. Bruno sits up, stretching.

At the airport, you and Bruno wait for his plane. He has switched to sweatpants and another hoodie- a thin black one that you somehow haven't seen before. His leg bobs up and down, nervous. His hair is up again, but he's fiddling with the flyaways anxiously, twirling then around his finger. The attendant calls for the passengers to board, 10 minutes. His small messenger bag sits in his lap, little rat keychain spinning around.

Bruno seems to glance at you, before pulling a little box from his pocket and dropping it into your lap.

"Aw, Bruno, you didn't have to get me anything. I didn't get you anything... I mean I probably should have now, but..."

"No, no. It's okay. I don't want anything. Just open it." You do.

Nestled in the satin orange box is a pair of small black earrings.

"They're the same as mine! We can match. Even though I'll be, y'know, on a different continent and I'm not even sure if my cell phone will work-"

The attendant calls for the passengers to board now. Has it been 10 minutes? You fumble to put them in your ears, him holding the backs. You both stand up, and he pulls you into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, y/n."

You hug back. "Me too." He breaks the hug, and pauses. He looks at you warmly, then leans in, planting a soft kiss on your forehead.

"Be safe. And check your mailbox, I'll be sending stuff." With a goofy grin, he turns around and boards the plane.
You walk back to the car with butterflies that you thought your squashed ages ago fluttering in your stomach.

You smile to yourself, fiddling with the earrings on your drive back to campus.