The Roommate

Chapter 9

For scomiche_shipper

"I swear I'm going to die. Midterms are killing me." I came to sit next to Scott on the couch. He gave me a small smile.

"I bet you are doing fine." His hand came to rub against my thigh as I curled against his side.

"It doesn't feel like I am. I feel so stupid." My eyes were blindly resting on the tv.

"You're not stupid." I wrapped my arms around his so I could hug him closer. "You just need to relax."

"That's what you always tell me."

"And it's because you do. The only time you're relaxed is when we're together and you banned that until your midterms are over." I laughed at him saying that. He seemed annoyed. "Still, you didn't ban what else I know can help you relax." He pulled a bottle of wine up from the ground.

"Scott...." He placed the bottle in my hands.

"It's always your decision." I read the label. It was a cheap wine so it wasn't going to taste exactly good. But I didn't have anything to do tomorrow. I don't have my next midterm for two days.

"What the hell. Why not?" I gave it back to him to open it. "How many of these do you have?"

"How drunk do you want to get?" My only response was to smile. Then next thing I know, I was tipsy. I was curled up against Scott's side again.

"How old are you, Scott?"

"I'm twenty-two." I poked his cheek.

"You're not a cradle robber. Your brother is weird." He shrugged.

"Don't you know? You have a sister right?" I moved away from him. I knew he saw pictures of us in my room.

"She didn't live long enough to tease me that much."

"Oh, Mitch. I'm sorry." He sat up. I felt myself start to sober up at the serious topic. I grabbed the bottle instead of the glass and took a swig.

"It's okay. Most people don't guess it."

"What about your parents?" I shook my head.

"They died when I was nineteen." He mumbled another 'I'm sorry' before he hummed.

"There is so much stuff we don't know about each other." I sat up on my knees to talk to him.

"So, let's start with the simple things. What's your favorite color?"

"Blue." I brushed his hair out of his eyes to look at the blue orbs. "And you?"

"I like purple or pink. I can't decide." I thought for awhile. What did I want to ask Scott? He was calmly waiting for me. I moved a little closer to him. "Have you ever been in love?" His eyes moved away from me to the ground.

"Yes."

"What happened?" He was scratching the back of his head.

"I fell in love with him from afar. All I heard was stories and saw pictures of him. I'd bump into him at parties. But he was dating someone. And when they broke up, he didn't want to be with anyone." He sighed deeply. "It doesn't matter anyways. He deserves someone better than me." I nudged him lightly.

"What are you talking about?" He looked up at me. "You're an amazing guy, Scott. A man that made you fall in love with him from when you hear stories would be lucky to have you. Why don't you think you're worth it?"

"Because he's a special guy. The type you can't just expect to get with."

"Well, you just 'got' with me."

"I was lucky. Because you are an amazing guy, Mitch. And if I were to call you mine, I would be the envy of everyone else who wishes to be with you." He got a light blush pulsing against his cheeks. My hands came to frame his face. I leaned over to kiss him. The compliments got to me. Everything he did got to me.

"I need another drink." I pulled away quickly. This was ridiculous. I couldn't like Scott. But the way he talked about that guy. I wanted to be the boy he was after. There was no way that I would actually go for him but it would be nice for someone to care about me like that. I decided to drown the silence with alcohol. It allowed my body to loosen up. I was no longer tensed. And my mind was no longer stuck on Scott. "I've never heard you sing. All I hear is you making noise."

"I bet that noise could even make you sing." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I don't sing."

"I bet you do." We were now just drinking straight out of the bottle. I shook my head. He grabbed my hand, bringing me into his room. It was messy but somehow organized. He sat me on the bench he had in front of his keyboard. "Choose one." He handed me music sheets. I went through them.

"I'm not going to sing a stupid song. You don't have anything I even kn-" I accidentally stopped when I saw a title I knew. It was too late to cover it up. "I used to love this song." Scott leaned over my shoulder.

"Really? Paramore?" I shoved him back.

"Shut up." He snatched the sheet music from me. He was playing the beginning but my lips stayed together. He repeated it.

"Come on, Mitch." He played the beginning again. I sighed.

"Can't count the years on one hand that we've been together." I was hesitant. He smiled at me though and continued. "I need the other one to hold you. Make you feel, make you feel better. It's not a walk in the park to love each other. But when our fingers interlock, can't deny, can't deny you're worth it. 'Cause after all this time I'm still into you.

"I should be over all the butterflies
But I'm into you. And baby even on our worst nights, I'm into you." Scott was singing softly along with me. Since it was piano, I couldn't sing like I would sing into my hairbrush as the radio played in the background. "Let 'em wonder how we got this far. 'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all. Yeah, after all this time I'm still into you." He stopped.

"Not bad." He teased me. "Why don't you become a music major? Or just dump college to sing?"

"I don't like being in front of people. Groups of people scare me. I'd rather just draw or paint." Scott played with two keys.

"Either way. People are going to see your talent." He leaned over to kiss me. My arms went around his neck and I tried to press myself closer to him. "What do you think you're doing? You banned sex until the end of the week."

"I release the ban. Just touch me or something."

"How about just something?" I let out a tiny squeal when he lifted me up. He stood up with me in his arms, tripping so we landed on the bed. I laughed underneath him. He pressed his lips against mine. He didn't press towards sex. The only thing he did was kiss me with his hand under my shirt so his thumb could trace my hipbone.

"Scott?"

"Yeah?" He was looking at me. I felt like he was looking through my eyes. Like he was trying to pick out my thoughts. I still didn't know what to think about him.

"Nothing."