Alex and Felix (LGBT) ✅

Part 10

Part 10

Getting back to uni was jarring.

They'd had a month off for Christmas break and then three weeks of exam season so coming from Amsterdam to be thrown straight into lectures and tutorials was a weird feeling. He'd gotten so used to waking up when he wanted and going to sleep in the early hours of the morning that the nine am morning starts somehow felt worse than before. He was still going through the routine of coffee in the morning but, somehow, he still wasn't awake enough to function in lectures, meaning he was already behind on his notes.

"It's the first week of semester." Ellie said incredulously. "How can you possibly be playing catch up now?"

He groaned, laying his head on his arms. "It was Refreshers' week and Felix was really keen on going. I couldn't leave my best bud out there alone."

Despite how much the university had tried to bill it as the second coming, everyone knew that Refreshers' didn't hold a candle to the real thing, Freshers' week. That didn't mean they couldn't try and have a good time, though, and they'd gone out each night to celebrate. In hindsight, Alex could maybe understand why he was feeling so tired all the time.

"You should have a night off." Ellie said decisively. "You can't go out again. You're too tired."

"I feel that."

After lectures, the two of them had gone to the café to get something to eat. It was late in the day so it was quiet and they'd managed to snag a table as soon as they walked in. Even food couldn't keep Alex awake, though, and he could feel his eyelids drooping down despite all his best efforts.

Ellie nudged him. "Go back to halls. Tell Felix you're not coming out tonight and then go to sleep."

And, well, Alex had always listened to Ellie. So he packed up his things and forced himself to make the fifteen minute walk back to halls, which had never seemed longer than it did that day, and then he flopped onto his bed and just laid there for a while. He fired off a quick text to Felix to let him know, because he'd text him nonstop otherwise, and then he shucked off his jeans and jacket and wriggled under the covers.

He'd never been one of those people that could easily fall asleep but, that afternoon, he had one of the most satisfying naps in his life. Checking his phone, he saw he'd been sleeping for a solid six hours which said something about how exhausted he'd been. He felt refreshed now, though, and hungry and he let his stomach lead him to the kitchen.

He thought it'd be empty. It was startling to bump into Marcus, making hot chocolate in the dark.

"Shit!" Alex swore, one hand on his heart and the other where he'd slapped it against the light switch. "What are you doing just standing here in a dark room?"

Marcus laughed, low and throaty. "Did I scare you?"

"Of course you did! No one in the right mind just makes drinks at eleven at night with the lights off."

He was still grinning, and he shrugged. "I didn't see the point. I was only going to be here for a few minutes."

Alex knew that hot chocolate normally took him a little longer than that and he peered a little closer at the two mugs on the kitchen counter. What he saw had him reeling back. "You make it with water? That's a travesty."

"I make my porridge with water, too."

Alex shook his head slowly, letting disbelief colour his voice. "It really shows appearances can be deceiving. You seemed like such a cool guy when I met you."

"I'm cool." He said.

"Yeah," Alex drawled, "which is why you're in my flat drinking hot chocolate on a Friday night. It's Refreshers', why aren't you out?"