Sweetener

13 - Good Vibes and Good Times

As far as you were concerned, Refreshers Week was off to a great start. Though it was supposed to be a repeat of the first week of the academic year (aka Freshers Week), filled with nights out, drinking, and yet more nights out, you were taking a slightly different route this time.

You'd woken up from your post-Nandos nap on Friday to Liv knocking on your door telling you to get up and start getting ready after she'd gotten no reply to her text messages. You and Tom had slept a little longer than you'd intended, but you supposed that was your own fault for not setting an alarm. After speedily getting ready, you both joined the girls and Jack and a few of Liv's friends downstairs for predrinks and a few rounds of Ring of Fire. The night got a bit blurry after the dirty pint you had to down hit you in the taxi on the way to the SU, but from what you did remember you had a good night, and the rest of the weekend was spent hungover, snoozing, eating junk food, and just generally enjoying your new found freedom.

Come Monday night, you and Tom were curled up together on the sofa in your living room. There was a "special guest" at the union, which meant they were charging £25 a ticket for some DJ you had never heard of, so both of you had decided to stay in and have some drinks at home instead. Madison and Liv had gone out and gone to predrinks elsewhere, so you had the house to yourselves - which meant you could watch a movie downstairs on the TV instead of in your room on your laptop. It also meant that instead of being squished together on your bed you were lounging on the sofa (not that you minded being squished, but still). You had your back to the arm of the sofa, your legs laying across Tom's lap while he sat with his feet propped up on the coffee table, a blanket covering your both your legs.

"Can I ask you something?" he said after taking a sip of his drink, lowering his glass to rest on your blanket-covered thigh as you nodded. "What's going on in this film?"

A valid question - one you weren't sure anyone really knew the answer to.

"To be honest," you chuckled, "I don't really know? I've seen it like six times and I still don't really get it but I still enjoy it."

"Right...okay."

"Plus," you raised your glass, gesturing at the TV. "Look at baby Jake Gyllenhaal - in't he cute?"

Tom laughed at that, shrugging. "I guess?"

"It's nearly over anyway."

That was a lie, it wasn't nearly over, but you had a feeling you probably weren't going to make it through the entirety of Donnie Darko this evening. On several occasions you'd felt Tom's eyes on you, but each time you'd looked over at him out of the corner of your eye he'd been staring straight ahead at the TV, or looking down at his glass as he took a drink, or otherwise not looking at you.

After one such occasion, you set your now empty glass down on the table, licking your lips as you swallowed the last of your wine. You were feeling a little tipsy by then, the tips of your fingers and the depths of your belly starting to feel tingly. Lower parts of your body were also feeling a little something too, and while the wine probably did have something to do with it, it was also because of the boy beside you.

Your right arm rested across the back of the sofa behind his head, your fingers beginning to card through his hair. You kept your vision fixed straight ahead, eyes on the TV screen as your fingertips brushed his skin, rubbing gentle circles at the edge of his hairline behind his ear. Sat so close together, you practically on top of him, you could hear his breathing shift as he took a deep breath in. You looked over at him again as he exhaled, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed harshly. This time he met your gaze, his eyes flicking down to your lips as his tongue darted out to wet his own before tilting his head to kiss you.