The Spider

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A/N: the arachnophobia and music stuff in this made more sense as a frerard oneshot but this'll still work. I think.

There's a bit of swearing and a spider in this if those count as trigger warnings.

Will you please stop playing that damn guitar?" My roommate, Leo, asks. I look up at him and shoot him a glare.
"I'm practising for my music class!"
"Yeah, but I'm trying to revise." He replies. That's unusual for him; he must have an exam coming up.

I shrug and go back to playing, so after a few seconds he huffs, grabs his stuff, and gets to his feet.
"Fine, I'm going to the library." He announces, opening the door and stepping into the corridor.
"Fine. I don't want you in here anyway." I say, continuing to play.

We've only been roommates for a few weeks, and we're already getting on each other's nerves. We sometimes work well together though, I guess. For example, we like the same kind of music, and we're both as messy as the other. Leo always wakes before me, so he's usually dressed and done in the bathroom before I drag myself to consciousness.

I feel something tickle my foot and look down, then scream. There's a surprisingly large spider just sitting on my foot, like it owns the damn place!

I shake my leg frantically and it falls off and crawls around quickly as I scream again. I run to the door and see Leo standing a few meters down the corridor, looking at me like I'm insane. "There's a spider!" I yell. He laughs. "It's not funny, Leo! It's massive! Like, the size of my hand!" He just laughs harder. "Leo! Come and catch it!" It's his job to deal with spiders. We established that the day we became roommates.

"But you don't want me in there." He says, grinning smugly. I turn and see the spider move closer to me, and scream again, glad there's no one else in the corridor to hear me.
"Leo!" I turn back to where he was standing, but he's gone. I shout an insult after him, then step out of my room, my eyes glued to the spider.

I'm knocked aside as somebody walks into me.
"Oh, sorry!" He says. "I wasn't looking where I was going." I look at the boy, who looks a year or two older than me. He has wavy blonde hair, tanned, freckles skin and a cute little smile. I would smile back and maybe even flirt with him if I wasn't so petrified.

"You've got to help me." I say breathlessly. He gives me a confused look.
"Why? Is somebody after you?"
"There's a spider in my room!" I tell him. He laughs. "Please, you've got to get rid of it. Usually my roommate does, but he's being an asshole..."
"Okay, sure. I have nothing to do, I guess. I was looking for my friend, but it wasn't urgent..." He starts to talk about his annoying friend as I sigh in relief. I point to my room and he nods and walks in.

"How much of an arachnophobe must you be to actually ask a stranger to get rid of one little- holy shit!" He yelps. I nod in mute horror as he takes a step back, his eyes wide. "That motherfucker is huge!" I'm surprised to hear swearing from somebody who looks so innocent, but I don't blame him under these circumstances.
"I know! Get it!' I hide behind him. He takes a deep breath and nods, then looks around and grabs an empty glass from the desk at the end of my bed.
"Got any paper?" He asks. I point to Leo's desk, so he grabs a sheet of revision notes.

The boy leans over and then suddenly slams the glass down on the spider, trapping it under it. It's leg gets caught under the rim so crawls up the side of the glass in an attempt to pull it's leg free, earning a quiet squeak of fear from the boy and a louder one from me.

He slides the paper under it then picks the glass up, holding it as far from him as possible. "Open the window!" He shouts. I rush to the window and push it open. He sticks his hands out the window and removes paper, then shakes the glass until the spider falls out. I slam the window shut as soon as he pulls his hands back into the room, then sigh in relief.

The boy slumps against the wall, still looking terrified.
"Thanks." I smile. He smiles back.
"So what's your name?" He asks me, moving to stand directly opposite me, only a few steps away from me.
"Nico."
"I'm Will." He replies. I nod as he looks around my room. His eyes land on my guitar, which is on my bed.
"You play?" He asks me.
"Yeah. Do you?" I inquire. Will nods.
"I prefer to sing, though."
"Oh, cool!"
"Yeah. My roommate can play guitar, so we sometimes play together. You should play with us, if you're good."
"Well, I'd like to say I'm pretty good." I say. He smiles.

"I bet you are. One of my friends is learning how to play bass too."
"Oh yeah, didn't you say you were looking for your friend?" I ask. Will nods.
"Yeah, but I'd much rather stay here with you." He says in a voice which I would describe as flirtatious. Maybe I'm just being too optimistic, though. Will leans forward, and I realise that may I'm not just being over optimistic. I close the space between us and he kisses me, hard.

He pulls away far too quickly, and I find myself speechless, which rarely happens.
"So what is your roommate like?" Will asks casually, like that didn't just happen. I grab his shirt collar and pull him into another kiss, and he laughs just before his lips collide with mine.

When we pull away again, he's smirking. "Okay, I know I'm irresistible, but seriously, let's get to know each other a little."
"Why are you asking about my roommate instead of me then?" I challenge him.
"Okay, maybe I was wondering if he would be cool with walking in on us kissing..." He blushes.

Will suddenly seems to become a lot shyer. I smile and kiss him again, pushing him against the wall as he grabs my hips. My hands tangle in his hair as I hear a gasp, followed by an outraged shout. Will pushes me off him and turns to the doorway, his eyes wide.

"Leo!" I complain.
"What the hell?" He looks between me and Will with horror. This isn't the first time he's walked in on me kissing somebody, but usually he just leaves without saying a word.
"Leo!" Will exclaims.
"You two know each other?" I ask, surprised.
"He's my friend." Leo tells me, still staring at us with shock.

"What- how... How do you know each other?" Leo asks us.
"I asked him to help me with the spider after you abandoned me." I tell him.
"You realise Will is a year older than you, right?" Leo says.
"So?"
"Hey, Leo, do us a favour and just leave." Will asks nicely.

Leo looks around, grabs the revision sheet we used to catch the spider with then dropped on the floor, then storms out, muttering about how things are gonna be really awkward and it's just his luck and if he catches us fucking he will kill himself.

Once he's gone, Will starts laughing. He has an adorable laugh.
"You're right, your roommate is an asshole." He says. I smile and agree, then turn to the door and jokingly mutter
"Cockblocker."

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