Acquired Tastes

Chapter Twenty-Two

Neil opened his eyes to a blurred but very bright world, with sunlight streaming from the eastern horizon and illuminating the damp grass. It took him a second to remember where he was and how he'd gotten here, and for a brief moment, everything felt perfect, with Roman's limbs still tangled with his own. Then came the crashing wave of anxiety and horror, and Neil was sitting up before he knew he was going to. "Shit, shit, shit."

Roman sat up, rubbing his eyes, watching as Neil jumped to his feet, then came to the same realization. "Shit." In a matter of seconds, they'd gathered up their stuff, shoved it into their soggy backpacks, and begun to climb the small hill toward the path.

Neil avoided looking over at Roman; there was far too much to work through, and right now seemed like the wrong time to do it. They barely spoke as they hurried down the path toward the road. When Roman swung his backpack off his back, never slowing his pace as he dug through the small front pocket for a lighter and cigarette, Neil risked a quick look at him. Roman didn't notice, struggling to find what he was looking for. Finally, he stopped, setting his backpack down on the path. "Sorry," he said, not looking up as he finally found them, stuck a cigarette between his lips and lit it, then tossed the lighter back in and rezipped it. He looked up before Neil could make himself look away, and their eyes met for perhaps the first time since the frenzied rush had begun. For a second, nothing moved. Then Roman's face broke into that uneven little smirk. He stood back up, swung his backpack onto his back, took his cigarette out and hooked his elbow around Neil's neck, pulling him close enough to kiss him. Neil's heart sped up just as much as it had the first time, somehow still feeling nearly the same level of shock, and he reached out, fingers twisting around the bottom of Roman's shirt, pulling him closer. Roman let him, sliding his free hand into Neil's hair, and the rest of the world faded away until Neil's lungs were screaming for air and Roman leaned back just enough to create an inch between their faces.

"We should go," he said, breathlessly, but Neil pulled him forward again, lifting his hands to Roman's face.

"Let's drop out," he said, lips against Roman's.

Roman's face melted into a little smile. He kissed Neil one more time, then leaned back. "Who are you? How am I the one saying we need to go?"

Neil couldn't speak, could only smile, pulling Roman forward again, still unconvinced at any given moment that Roman would still let him do this in the next one. Roman met his lips for a few moments, then pushed him back. "Come on," he said, unable to stop grinning.

They alternated between jogging and walking as they made their way back to campus. At no point along the way was Neil's mind on what was happening; it was anywhere and everywhere else, somehow making him accidentally grin from time to time even as they left the city behind, scaled the fence, and finally made their way up the small, winding road to the campus. Even though that familiar wave of despair did wash over Neil as the campus came into view, it was mitigated by everything else he was feeling, and he found it somehow less all-consuming than usual.

They climbed the stairs to their floor. Stepping into their room almost felt like a relief until Neil remembered that they had only a short time to get over to Bingham and try to not lose any more points than they already had. He was halfway through unlacing his second boot when several pairs of footsteps approached their door. The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing several guards. Neil was on his feet in an instant, heart already racing, stomach twisting violently. Roman snatched his hoodie from his bed and pulled it on, anxious eyes never leaving the guards.

"Numbers Twelve and Twenty-one?" The front guard held up a pair of handcuffs. "For leaving campus without authorization, there's a sentence. Instead of locking you both up, you can choose who goes. You have two minutes to discuss."