RED [BXB]

SEVEN

Bored out of his mind, Luke swung his feet off the edge of the bed, heaving a heavy sigh. "Hey, you asleep?"

It was twenty-three-minutes past midnight, but Luke couldn't seem to catch a wink of rest. He dropped his head in his hands, rubbing tiredly at his face to soothe the incoming headache he could feel creeping in.

When he received no reply from Mason, he pushed himself up from the mattress. From the pocket of his discarded jeans, Luke fished out a pack of cigarettes and went over to the small window, pressing one between his lips.

It was only after he inhaled the first puff of smoke that he was nearly startled to death by Mason's voice, "You know that's not allowed in here, right?"

Luke regained his composure and bit back coolly, "Thought you were asleep."

He heard movement behind him but didn't turn to look back, too occupied with the way the smoke wafted off the lit stick and into the cold air.

It wasn't long before Mason came to stand next to him, the small space forcing their arms to knock against each other. Luke shivered as the warmth of Mason's body seeped into him, a trail of goosebumps rising against his skin.

"Why are you up?" Mason wondered.

Luke finally turned to look at him, the faint glow of the street lights catching on his red hair and making it shine. Mason found he was fighting the urge to reach out and touch it.

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged nonchalantly, flicking the half-finished cigarette from the window. Mason silently prayed it wouldn't be found by any of the supervisors or student attendees, as that would be enough reason for their dorms to get searched.

All of a sudden, Luke groaned in frustration. "Everything is so boring here."

Mason chuckled, turning to him with an amused twinkle in his eyes. Luke found the laughter contagious, and couldn't help the small smile that fought its way onto his face.

"Entertain me."

Mason's laughter died down, and he raised a questioning eyebrow at Luke, who was rocking on his heels in anticipation. "How?" he asked warily.

Luke hummed contemplatively. "How 'bout, I'll answer any of your questions if you answer one of mine?"

Mason narrowed his eyes, gazing skeptically at him. He knew Luke's intentions weren't purely fueled by curiosity and innocence; there must have been something in particular the red-head wanted to find out. Against his better judgment, however, Mason shrugged in silent approval.

Luke smiled predatorily, his eyes shining with excitement, immediately causing regret to settle in the pit of Mason's stomach. "Okay, you can go first. And make it good, Cooper."

Mason bit his lip, already having a question in mind. Preoccupied with his thoughts, he missed Luke's eyes falling to the gnawed lip. "They said you got moved in here with me because of a fight. What was it about?"

Luke's grin was victorious: Mason was making this too easy. "I slept with my old roommate's sister. He didn't take it too well. Words were thrown around, and, eventually, so were fists."

Momentarily, Mason's mouth fell open in shock. He took a second to wrap the thought around his head, and he was unable to pinpoint how exactly he felt about Luke's revelation.

"Don't you have a girlfriend, though?" Mason wondered.

"We said one question," Luke reminded, eliciting an eye roll from the other boy. "My turn."

Mason rested his hands against his hips, bracing himself for the invasive inquiry he knew was coming. "Okay, shoot."

"How long have you been in love with Ethan?"