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As I arouse from my sleep, I notice how rested I feel. I don't know how long I slept for but it was much needed.

The sound of a drawer shutting makes me open my eyes.

I see Vic gathering a pile of clothes and a towel. I then notice that it's dark outside and hope to god I didn't miss dinner.

"What time is it?" I croak, sitting up and yawning.

"Just past eight." Vic says, quickly dropping his clothes on his bed.

I feel my heart immediately sink. I definitely missed dinner.

I watch Vic take a plastic bag from his nightstand.

"I ordered you some of that Chinese food I was talking about." he smiles. "I wasn't sure what you like so I just got you a bit of everything."

My heart swells as I lean forward and take the bag from his hands. He's so sweet.

"I'm sorry I slept through dinner." I apologize.

"Don't be sorry. You must have been really tired." Vic says. "I hope you're feeling rested now."

"I am." I sigh.

Vic just smiles and turns back to his clothes. He gathers them up again, picking each article up one by one, I assume to make sure he's not missing anything.

"I'm going to shower. I'll be back in about half an hour." he chirps.

I'm about to ask him if he needs help, but then I realize that he's completely capable of showering himself. He's being doing it since he got here. And how am I supposed to help? Undress him? Jesus Christ.

Then I'm left thinking about undressing Vic, as he leaves our dorm to go down to the communal showers.

It's not until I work myself up that I pull myself out of those thoughts. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to ease the emerging nausea.

I decide to distract myself with dinner, and then I get all bubbly as I think about how Vic bought me dinner.

I eat with happiness, feeling rested and grateful. Maybe college isn't so bad. Maybe I could get used to rooming with Vic.

After eating, I decide to get some studying done. Then after an hour, I decide my brain hurts too much to continue.

I pick up my books and place them on my nightstand. I lay back and open up my phone, but as I do that, I notice the time.

Vic has been gone for an hour and a half. He said he'd just be half an hour.

At first I'm worried, but remind myself that Vic is an independent person and can look after himself. He probably had something to do. Maybe he's really enjoying his shower.

Another half an hour goes by and my worry returns.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just go check on him.

I stuff my phone in my pocket, as well as my keycard before I leave our dormroom.

I check the halls for him but out of all the people I pass, not one of them is Vic.

I finally get to the communal bathroom and as soon as I open the door, I'm met with a cloud of steam.

I can hear a shower running and when my eyes adjust to the haze, I can see that only one cubicle is occupied.

"Vic?" I ask hopefully.

"K-Kellin?" Vic sniffs, his voice wobbling a little.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I coo, immediately worried.

"That asshole took my clothes and my towel." he whimpers.

My heart immediately breaks. I'm an idiot. I should have come earlier.

"I'm going to get you some clothes, okay?" I tell him.

"No, no." he chokes out. "Please don't leave me alone."

My heart shatters even more if possible.

"Okay." I smile sadly leaning again his shower cubicle door. The ankles of my jeans get wet but I really couldn't care.

"I'm going to call my sister." I decide. "Her dorm isn't too far from our building. She should be able to get here soon, get you some clothes and a towel."

Vic just sniffs again and chokes out an 'okay'.

I pull out my phone and navigate through it, searching for Sam's number as my screen fogs up.

It doesn't take me long. The only phone numbers I have are the few family I'm in contact with, therapy related numbers, Brandon, and a few numbers that random guys have given me after brief exchanges, but I've never been brave enough to call.

I press call on Sam's number and hold the phone to my ear. As always, it hardly has time to ring before she answers.

"Hey bubs, how was your date?" he chirps teasingly.

"It didn't happen. Are you busy? I need a favor?" I ask hopefully.

"Absolutely. What do you need?" she asks.

"Can you come get my keycard, then go down to my dorm and get Vic a change of clothes and a towel, then bring it here?" I ask hopefully.

I know for a fact that Sam would never say no to me, but I still feel like I'm inconveniencing her. She's always running around for me.

"Of course. On my way now. Where are you?" she asks.

"Just in the bathrooms." I answer.

"Is everything okay?" she asks concerned.

"Not really. I'll talk to you soon." I tell her, not wanting to talk about Vic in front of Vic.

"Okay, be there soon, Kells." she says then she hangs up.

I put my phone back in my pocket then let out an exhausted sigh.

"Are you sure it was Conner?" I ask Vic softly.

"Yeah, I can recognize his cheap Axe deodorant anywhere." he hisses.

I can feel my blood boiling. How can someone be such an asshole?

We're left in silence for a few minutes until there's a knock on the bathroom door.

I go answer it, knowing it's Sam. I just stick my head out and find her looking worried.

"Hey, what happened?" she frowns.

"Some asshole took Vic's clothes while he was showering." I mutter.

"That's horrible." Sam shrills. "Was this the same asshole that punched you?"

I nod.

"What's his name?" she asks.

"Sammie, I don't know if Vic wants to report this or anything." I sigh.

"I won't report it. I just want to know his name." she says.

"Conner." I give in.

"Conner." she says pondering the name. "Conner Miller?"

"Could be." I shrug, not knowing his last name.

"Brunette? Generic white boy? Play football?" she questions.

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?" I ask confused.

"No, I know his brother Jordan." she explains.

I pull my keycard out and hand it Sam.

"Just find him something comfortable. He's quite upset." I say softly.

Sam just smiles sadly as she takes my card. Then she turns back down the hall.

I close the door and go take my place back in front of Vic's cubicle.

We're silent the whole time Sam is gone.

I just listen to Vic's soft sniffs. I wonder if he's still crying. I wonder how long he was crying for before I got here. I wish I had come sooner.

Soon Sam is knocking on the door once again, and passing me through Vic's clothes along with a towel. She returns my card and leaves me with a kiss on the cheek.

I take the clothes back over to Vic and reach over the cubicle door. The shower stream shuts off and I feel Vic take the clothes from my hand.

"Thank you." he whispers softly.

"Not a problem." I tell him.

I lean against the door once again and listen to the shuffling of him getting dressed.

"You never told me you had a sister." Vic croaks out.

"Oh," I frown. Guess I didn't. "I don't think it ever came up."

"What's her name?" he asks.

"Samantha, or Sam. I call her Sammie though." I smile.

"And she goes here?" he asks.

"Yeah, she's four years older than me. This is her final year studying psychology." I explain. "She wants to be child psychologist."

"That's nice. Be sure to tell her I said thank you." he says softly.

"Will do." I chirp.

Soon enough, I hear the sound of the lock unclicking so I quickly step off the door and turn around.

Vic emerges, his face a little puffy from crying, his hands wrinkled from the water and his eyes squeezed shut due to the absence of his glasses.

And yet, there's something alarmingly beautiful about him. Maybe it's his vulnerability. Perhaps it's the muscle tee Sam picked out for him that exposes his sexy robust arms in their entirety. Or maybe it's that his lips look so moist, so swollen, so desirable.

I don't know what it is, but it makes me throw all logic out the window and clouds my head with everything and yet nothing, thicker than the steam that surrounds us.

I can't stop myself, I can't even register what I'm doing, as I take a step forward, take Vic's face in my hands and press my icy, eager lips to his warm, inviting ones.

I kiss Vic very briefly, as the part of me wanting to kiss him forever is overpowered by the part of me screaming to pull away.

My lips are left parted in horror and in shock, sickened by what I just did.

Vic seems just as shocked, as for the first time in my presence, his closed eyes flutter open, revealing yet again something irresistibly beautiful that I can't look away.

His irises are a dark brown, the kind of dark that is soft yet you'd get lost in. And they're contrasted beautifully against Vic's pupils that are a cloudy white, and slightly dilated.

And in that moment, I can't help but to wonder in bewilderment why Vic would hide something so beautiful.

Vic clears his throat softly, pulling me out of his eyes and back to reality.

"I am so sorry." I gasp, once again realising what I had just done. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay." Vic whispers ever so softly.

He closes his eyes again and turns his head away.

I've definitely made things uncomfortable between us.

Why do I do things like this? I always screw things up.

I can feel the acid pooling and bubbling in my stomach, and I want to cry.

But then Vic's hand slides into mine and he grasps onto my fingers with his own, and suddenly I'm not sick or nervous anymore.

"Let's get out of here." Vic whispers.

I just hum and lead Vic out of the bathroom and into the hallway. We begin walking hand in hand to our dorm.

My little bit of anxiety returns with each person we pass. I think about how I'm openly holding hands with a guy and I worry that people will get the wrong idea. And I worry what they might think.

My overwhelming feelings and thoughts cause me to almost let go of Vic's hand, but then I notice his gentle grip. He probably needs the comfort right now. And perhaps he even needs me to guide him, as he's probably too stressed to count steps.

Maybe people don't even view me as holding hands with a guy, but more so, holding hands with a blind guy. Maybe they assume I'm just helping him.

Those deeply selfish thoughts soothe me until Vic and I are in our dorm, safe from staring eyes.

Vic drops my hand and goes over to his drawer. He feels around for the handle and slides it open. I glance in and see at least five identical pairs of sunglasses. Vic pulls one out and puts them on his face. He let's out a long drawn out sigh before he slumps down on his bed.

"Thank you for all that." he sighs.

"Are you going to report him for what he did to you?" I ask softly.

Vic just shakes his head.

"Why?" I frown.

"What's the point? If I report this, the first thing they're going to ask me is 'did I see Conner take my clothes?'." he huffs. "I just need to replace his shoes as soon as possible so he stops hassling me."

"You're not paying seven hundred dollars to replace his shoes that you didn't ruin in the first place. He spilt his coffee on them. And it wasn't even your fault. You can't see where you're going. He can! He obviously wasn't paying attention to where he was going or else he wouldn't have gotten in your way." I exclaim.

Vic shrugs and then falls back onto his bed.

"Some things aren't worth arguing, Kellin." he murmurs.

He rolls onto his side, facing away from me, seemingly ending the conversation.

I hate how defeated he is.

Isn't college supposed to be the best years of your life? Why are neither of us having fun?

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