Roommates

Chapter 2

"Shit." Connor muttered, once he was sure he was far enough away from the room that Jude wouldn't here. His elation at actually meeting Jude had faded the second he found himself lying on top of Jude just staring at his face. Meeting Jude had confirmed everything that he had been terrified of. He anxiously ran his hand through his hair, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. Somewhere along the line, between all their 3 AM conversations, Connor had let his guard down long enough to let Jude in through his walls, and Jude had managed to destroy every single one of them. Connor had built them to protect himself from facing his sexuality, but now he was surrounded by rubble and staring two disconcerting facts in the face: one, that he was gay, and two, that he was super gay for Jude. The more he thought about it, the more his mind raced and the quicker his breathing got. He needed to get out of his head. Get drunk, maybe smashed enough to take a girl to bed. Maybe that would shut up the voice that was now nagging him, at least for a few days.

Just then, Connor noticed a boy walk past wearing a t-shirt bearing some greek letters Connor didn't recognize. Guessing that this boy was part of a fraternity, Connor leapt to his feet, chasing after the boy.

"Do you know where I can find a party?" Connor gasped. The boy simply laughed.

"It's the first night back on campus dude. You probably won't have to walk more than five feet to find a party, bro." he replied before walking off.

"Thanks." Connor mumbled, walking out to his car to grab the rest of his things like had been intending to when he left the room.

"I'm going out tonight Jude, I'll be late." Connor told Jude when he made it back to the room. He didn't know why he felt like he needed to tell Jude, but if Jude asked he would just say it was out of courtesy so he didn't get pissed off when he stumbled into the room at 3 AM.

"Really Connor? You're going to a party?"

"But I didn't—" Connor began to protest.

"I actually know you Connor, remember?" Jude reminded him.

"Oh. Right." he muttered.

"But by that same token, I also know I can't stop you so I'll just tag along." Jude continued. This could work, Connor thought. See, his plan for dealing with the whole Jude thing had originally been to use starting college as an excuse to start distancing himself. They only talked on the internet, so it would be pretty easy to do. Just a couple of taps, and Connor could go back to happily denying his sexuality. But now Connor had to come up with a new plan to drive Jude away. He felt as if he wasn't in a place to actually deal with his feelings, so instead he just wanted to get rid of the source of them. Sober Connor could never do anything to drive Jude away, but maybe Drunk Connor might be able to. He would at least try tonight, and see what happened.

They arrived at the closest party to their dorm around 8:00, Connor walking inside and immediately heading for the "bar" such as it was. He grabbed a beer and a shot, quickly downing both in less than a minute before repeating the process.

"You trying to knock yourself out before midnight?" Jude exclaimed at seeing Connor drink so much so fast.

"I ain't no lightweight Jude." Connor replied, already starting to feel a little buzzed. "C'mon Jude, have a drink." he continued, pouring a double shot and handing it to Jude. Jude just stared at it for a few seconds, before shrugging and quickly downing the whole thing.

"Seems like you've had a drink or two before, huh Jude?" Connor said, a giggle escaping his lips.

"My friend Taylor dragged me to a couple parties in high school. I don't particularly like drinking but I guess I don't mind going to a party occasionally." he answered, as Connor poured another shot, shoving it at Jude. He took it, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of drinks. He didn't plan on going to any parties during the semester, so he might as well take this opportunity. He quickly grabbed another shot, throwing all caution to the wind on what amounted to his fourth shot in five minutes. Maybe if he got drunk enough, he'd forget about Connor and go home with some other boy. Speaking of Connor, Jude noticed that he'd already stumbled off, he guessed to find some girl to start sucking the lips off of. Jude was already starting to feel tipsy, so he grabbed a beer and walked out into the living room to join the party.

Not twenty minutes later, it was obvious to any casual observer that Jude was already smashed. He would grab any boy close to him, clumsily trying to get them to dance with him. One boy did, and before Jude could stop himself he was forcing his tongue into the other boy's mouth, the other boy happily obliging. Connor, not the lightweight that Jude appeared to be, saw this scene as he came down the stairs, and feeling the anger start rising in his chest, hurried into the kitchen. He was far too sober to follow through with what he was considering doing. So he poured himself two more double shots, drinking them both quickly before staggering out to find Jude.

Connor woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and someone in his bed. That wasn't unusual, since he normally ended up sleeping with some girl when he got as drunk as he remembered getting last night. But what was strange was the fact that he was fully clothed, and his last memory was of pulling some guy off Jude and—Connor groaned inwardly, so as to not wake up the girl in his bed—kissing Jude. So what happened after, he wondered. He slowly opened his eyes, hoping that whoever was in his bed would provide more clues as to the rest of the night. It took all of his self-control not to scream when he finally realized who it was in bed with him. Jude. FUCK. Quickly, but carefully, Connor got out of bed, which he now realized was actually Jude's. Jude didn't stir, and Connor breathed a sigh of relief. Jude wouldn't remember what happened at the party, he was already black-out drunk by the time Connor kissed him, and now that Connor had got out of bed first, he wouldn't know that they had ended up in the same bed. Connor grabbed his jacket, hurrying out the room and trying to clear his thoughts. So much for Drunk Connor driving Jude away, all Drunk Connor could do was try and get in to bed with Jude, he thought bitterly, walking away from their room as fast as he could.