More Than Just Friends

"I freaking hate this," Tyler complained, his voice cracking with static and muffled by background noise.

Danny sighed. "Me too. Where are you?"

"On my way to my physics lab. I hate physics so much. At least there are some hotties to look at."

Danny snorted. "Hotties? And, it's only been, what, three weeks?"

"Eh, I guess more like decent sevens. Just eye candy, nothing I'm interested in, just something that helps me through class. And, it's already three weeks too many," Tyler grumbled. "Fuck you, bitch, watch where you're going!" Tyler growled. His tone was softer in his next breath. "Sorry, punk ass bitch on a fucking skateboard just tearing down the freaking sidewalk."

"Well, only seven weeks to go?" Danny said, trying to be optimistic. "You wanna hang out tonight?"

Tyler sighed, then the wind blew a bunch of static into his ear for a second so he missed the first part of Tyler's response. "...dumbass party again on my floor. It's the third one in a row. I'm so, I can't even tell you, it's so..." The wind blew Tyler's words away again.

"Ty, I can't hear you," Danny complained, stretching back from his computer. A strange noise came from his in-room bathroom, but he'd sorta grown used to it by now. "Call me after lab or something."

"You've got Trig when I get out of class," Tyler complained. "I should've made your schedule."

Danny snorted. "Maybe next quarter. Call me later, k?"

"I dunno. I mean, after that I'm meeting up with Trish and Jenni for our Spanish study group." Tyler sighed, then the wind blew again and he again missed whatever Tyler said. "So, yeah. There's that."

"There's what? Who's Trish and Jenni?"

"Dude, I told you, Spanish study group." Tyler sounded irritated. "Our first test is next week and I skipped twice already."

"Oh. I guess you're busy then." Danny sighed. "Yeah, okay. Well, maybe tomorrow, I guess."

"No, fuck that," Tyler complained. "We can meet up today, we didn't get to hang out at all yesterday." More wind, and then some loud music or something as maybe a car passed by? "Like I said," Tyler's voice was lost to the background for a moment. "...if I didn't already agree to it I'd totally ditch."

"Tyler, I can't hear you, I keep catching like, every other word you say," he said. "Sorry."

"Nevermind." He imagined he could hear Tyler's eyes rolling. "I'll make it work, let's meet for dinner, like six, is that okay? Chipotle? I can meet up with Trish and Jenni after dinner."

Danny frowned, a little jealous that he was still gonna hang out with his Spanish study buddies, and then mad at himself for being jealous, but jealous just the same. "Yeah, I guess, but dude, that's so far away. I wish you were closer."

"I can come up there, like BW3's or something?"

"I don't want you to lose your parking spot. There's nowhere for your parking pass to park around here, and if you get another ticket you're gonna lose your parking pass."

"So come over," Tyler insisted. "You can stay the night, I can see if Trish and Jenni wanna just come to the common room for our study sesh."

Why did he keep bringing them up? It was making it hard to not be pissy about the female Spanish students. "What about your roomie?"

Tyler sniffed. "Bobert 'Merica Bobberson the third can rot in hell for all I care."

Danny snorted, then sobered. "He can't be that bad."

"Oh, he is. A true fucking 'Merican, always talking about his fucking guns and how hard he'd fuck any girl who walks by our building, as if I needed to know it. I can't stand the tard. He's got one of those stupid mudflap chick stickers up in our window, and when I complained about it the RA told me that living with someone else was all about compromise. Compromise my ass, fucking flag-waving hick is a giant ball of smegma."

"He's not usually there, right? Around dinner? I could come over with food," Danny offered. "I can take the bus."

"Shit, Danny, I gotta go or I'm gonna be late. Later." Tyler hung up without waiting for him to say bye.

Danny sent a quick text, 'Come to my dorm, spend the night?'

He knew the answer already, and Tyler confirmed it. 'Your RA isn't gonna let me in.' He sighed, knowing it was true. His RA was really strict about visitors to dorm singles.

He tried to go back to his American History homework but he didn't really care anymore. He missed Tyler something fierce. It was a harder transition than he'd anticipated. In high school he saw Tyler every day, several times a day. They hung out almost every night, had lunch together, drove around. Now, though, their schedules didn't match at all and their dorms were on the opposite sides of campus.

Danny was frustrated. He thought about jerking off, but the hopes of seeing Tyler tonight had him hesitating. He'd rather come on Tyler's cock, if he was being honest. His asshole twitched in agreement. They hadn't even sucked each other off in over a week, and it was in the back seat of Tyler's car because they couldn't find anywhere else and it had been too long.

Instead of masturbating he re-adjusted his half-chub, then got his books together and shoved them in his backpack. He'd pick up a bite to eat on his way to Trig, then check the bus schedule.

The day dragged on. Tyler texted him when he was halfway to his dorm, riding a bus that was disgusting enough it could've benefited from poorer lighting. 'Bobberson son of Bobertington is gone, went drinking with his arsehole friends!'

Tyler had started using the word 'arsehole' in texts recently, but he didn't actually ever say it out loud. Danny smiled, thinking he would ask about it when he saw him, then texted him back a thumbs up emoji. He opened his Grub-hub app and ordered them burgers from Eden Burger, he had their usuals preloaded to save time.

He got a confirmation that the burgers would be delivered in twenty five minutes, putting the timing right along when he would get there. He let Tyler know then smiled at his phone, trying hard to keep himself from getting hard just from anticipation.

Tyler was waiting for him at the bus stop. "Fucking finally," he said, trotting up to him. Danny thought he was going to hug him, but he pulled back at the last second. "Took you long enough."

"Good thing your arsehole roomie is out for the night, eh?"

Tyler nodded and smiled his goofy smile, then turned and led him towards his building. "Damn straight. Heads up, it smells like a fucking Axe delivery truck overturned in there, I opened the window so I hope it's dissipated enough by the time we get back up there."

Danny shrugged, following Tyler. "Bob dressed up or something?"

Tyler sniffed, then pulled open the outer door to his dorm. He held up his ID and the inner door lock popped with an audible click. "He thinks he's gonna find him some pussy. I hope he does, just so he doesn't come back tonight. Hey, just gonna run to the RA's desk and see if our food is here yet."

He lopped behind Tyler, his mood lighter than it had been all week. He didn't realize how much he missed just being around Tyler until they went to college. He hadn't realized how much less of a person he felt like when Tyler wasn't around, incomplete. It was like he lost one of his senses, and he knew that sounded needy and pathetic, so he'd never say it out loud, but he still felt it.

He hung back as Tyler talked to his RA. Tyler turned around and held up a bag of burgers and a huge thumbs up and Danny followed him to the elevators, the smell of burgers and fry grease leading the way.

"I hate this semester," Tyler complained once the elevator doors shut. It smelled like a basement that had been wet, but dried out, then got wet again. "I wish I could afford a single like you."

Danny swallowed hard, suddenly very embarrassed. He knew what Tyler meant, but since he'd been disowned, Tyler was depending on his scholarship for everything he had. "I could try to get transferred, see if we could room together."

Tyler exhaled loudly. "Not likely. You'd probably just end up in a double somewhere else and not with me."

"There's gotta be a way," he said. "What if we joined a fraternity or something? We can rent a house or something when we're sophomores, that's not too far from now."

Tyler sidestepped around two guys in the hall throwing a football up and down the corridor. "Watch out. And, yes, it totally is. Like a million years. I can't stand not seeing you every day." He unlocked his door and pushed it open. "And, until I find a job, I can't afford to rent anything."

"I could-"

Tyler whipped around, stopping him before he could say anything else. "I know you could, but you won't. That's not why, I don't, just no."

"But Tyler, I don't mind, it's, I just wanna help."

"I said no. I'll find a job, save up money. If we're gonna rent a place, I'll pay my fair share."

Danny frowned and shut the door behind himself so he didn't have to see the anger in Tyler's eyes. "I don't get why it bothers you so much," he grumbled.

"I won't leech off you. I don't need your money, Danny," Tyler insisted, putting the burgers down. He sighed, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Let's eat."

Danny sat down on Tyler's bed, Tyler took his desk chair. Danny had only been in Tyler's dorm twice, this was the third time now. He could tell that Tyler and Bob had figured out their living situation, it was very clear where the line that divided the two territories ran. Tyler handed him his burger and he unwrapped it, glancing around Bob's side of the room.

Three different posters of bikini girls on his wall around his desk. One had a girl in a one piece swimsuit laying on a beach towel with her leg propped up and a playful smile on her glossy lips, big black sunglasses covering her eyes. The second one was a blonde woman with big, bedroom eyes and a swimsuit that barely covered her assets. Water dripped down her body as she suggestively sucked on a popsicle. The third was a girl bareback on a horse, a thong between the huge orbs of her ass as she smiled over her shoulder at the camera.

"Is she wearing cowboy boots?" he asked after he swallowed his first bite. Tyler looked up quickly then away, rolling his eyes dramatically. He nodded to the window, but it was getting dark out so he couldn't see it right away. "Oh, the mudflap girl. That's annoying."

"Dude's a real douche," Tyler agreed, somehow already halfway done with his. Danny looked down at his own burger, then took another bite. "This's good. Thanks. What do I owe ya?"

Danny shook his head and swallowed down a half-chewed bite. "Nothing."

Tyler looked up, frowning. "What do I owe you, dude?"

Danny frowned, too. "I said nothing. I bought you a burger because I wanted to. You starving yourself or something? Did you even take a minute to breathe between bites?"

Tyler flushed, then stuffed too much of his burger into his mouth. "Fuff fu!" he said with his mouth full.

"Gross," Danny exclaimed, scooting farther from Tyler. "Where did your manners go?" Tyler snorted. A second later Danny laughed. "Fuck, Tyler, I missed you."

"I miss you, too," Tyler admitted after he swallowed his bite. "Like, so much. I've never felt so alone, since, you know, all the, um... Yeah."

They sat there eating in silence for a moment. Danny took in other tidbits about Tyler's roommate as he ate, the confederate flag sticker on his closed laptop, four different types of Axe body spray and deodorant, and a pile of dirty clothes just lying at the foot of his bed with a pair of used drawers right on top. His messy, unmade bed.

"You're roommate's a pig," he noted, taking in Tyler's side of the room. Even though they'd been moved in for almost four weeks, Tyler's side of the room was still austere, with almost no personal touches. It was tidy and organized, like a picture from a brochure. "Why haven't you decorated or anything?"

Tyler sighed, closing up his empty burger box. "I dunno. I mean, most of my stuff got burned anyway. And, I don't want that dillweed to know anything about me, you know? He's already bad enough to live with." Tyler threw it away, then went to the minifridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "You want one?"

Danny shook his head, pointing to his water bottle attached to the side of his backpack. "I'm good." He went to take another bite, but wasn't hungry anymore. "You want the rest of this?"

Tyler hesitated, then took it. "If you aren't gonna eat it, I guess. Don't want it to go to waste." He pulled the top of the burger off and pulled out the onions, then put the bun back on. Danny smiled, he knew Tyler would do it. It felt nice to see Tyler acting like his old self, even if it was just here and there.

"So, any luck on the job hunt?" Danny asked to fill the silence between them.

Tyler shook his head. "Nothing that I can fit into my schedule right now. I'm hating the kid who 'helped' me make my schedule during orientation, he musta hated me. Who the fuck wants to take English at seven in the morning!?"

"Not that kid," Danny said, raising one eyebrow.

"Obviously," Tyler agreed. His eyes landed on Danny and suddenly it felt like ten degrees hotter in the room with how they travelled over his skin. "I'm making yours, next semester. We're taking our liberal arts together if nothing else."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, sure." Tyler got up, putting the last bite of Danny's burger in his mouth before he threw himself onto his bed next to Danny. Danny scooted over a little to avoid Tyler falling directly into his lap.

"Shit, Ty!" he exclaimed, pushing Tyler's dead weight off of him. Or, trying to and failing. Tyler's weight crashed into him, smooshing him into the bed. "Tyler!"

Tyler twisted, then rolled against the wall, pulling Danny down with him. "Fucking missed you, Danny."

Danny rolled onto his side, now they were both the wrong way on the bed, their feet by the pillow. He answered Tyler by catching those thin lips with his own. He pushed his way into Tyler's mouth, shifting off of his cell phone in his pocket digging into his hip. He wriggled until he pulled it out, then tossed it on the floor just before Tyler caught his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Missed you, too. Not just this," Danny said when they broke apart to catch their breath. "I'm not human without you, like, I'm just less colorful or something."

"You sure it's not just this?" Tyler teased, brushing the back of his hand over the bulge in Danny's jeans.

Even though he'd been teasing, it still hurt something in Danny's chest. Despite doing this all summer long, the distance between them made their entire relationship seem so fragile. Like, all it would take was a few weeks of Tyler in his English class to find a new hot girl that was better than him because she was a girl. Or those girls in his Spanish study group. Or any girl at all. The emotion was too big for him to hide for a second, even though he tried.

"Fuck, dude, sorry," Tyler said, pulling back. "I didn't mean it like that."

Danny pulled back, then sat up. "I know. It's me. I just, you know. Like, the same old insecurities. When I don't see you everyday I think about how handsome you are, how funny and awesome, and how any girl would be freaking lucky to get your number, much less ride your dick. How you deserve some girl, a good one, someone you can have a future with."

Tyler moved viper fast, catching Danny's mouth with his hand. "There is no girl if there isn't us. There's nothing, Danny. You think you're insecure? If you find a girl, if you were to..." He turned away, then wiped his face harshly with his other hand, still holding Danny's face with his other. "If I don't have you I'm a goner. Like, there's literally nothing left for me."

"That's not true, you're the most awesome person I know. If you wanted to, you could have tons of friends by now."

"I don't want tons of friends. I don't want fake college posers, or drunk frat parties. I don't want drunk girls hanging on me telling me whatever they think I wanna hear just so I'll flirt, maybe even sleep with them." Danny flinched as he imagined the exact scenario happening, and wondered if it did already. It probably had. Tyler's lips pursed in annoyance.

Danny sniffed, wrapping one hand around Tyler's holding his chin. He pulled it away, then looked down. "You can, if you wanted. Date girls, I mean."

Tyler shook his hand, knocking Danny's hand away, then turned away. "Seriously? You'd be okay if I was fucking some random girl?"

Danny stared at his lap. "I want you to be happy," he said. "I don't wanna, you're not gay. Not really. Not like, I dunno."

"Not like what, Danny? Like you? You're not gay, either. What we have is different. It's more than straight or gay. It's, this bond, this thing between us," Tyler said, impassioned. He pulled Danny's hand to his chest. "You are inside me, like, here. More than here. Never doubt that, never doubt me, okay?"

"Tyler," he whispered. "How do you always put into words what I'm feeling when I don't even know how to put the concepts together? I'm so worried, so... I dunno. I feel like it's, I dunno. Like I have to hide how I feel."

Tyler kissed his hand, then released it. "Don't hide anything from me, Danny. You never have to hide anything from me. I'm your rock. I will always accept you for who you are."

"Fuck," Danny exhaled. He sucked in a deep breath to allow his swirling emotions a chance to settle before he spoke. His voice was still strained, his throat tight. "I love you, Ty. Like, just fuck."

Tyler snorted, then pulled Danny back down, this time with their heads on his pillow. Tyler looked at him, really looked at him and he blushed, burying his face in Tyler's pillow. He breathed deeply before looking back at Tyler.

"It smells like you," he said, his blush growing deeper.

"I would hope I smell like me," Tyler teased.

Danny snorted, then flicked his nose. "Your pillow, doof." He looked up, met Tyler's bright eyes and knew that Tyler meant everything he'd said. "Turn your light off?"

"Why?" Tyler asked, smiling coyly. Still, he teased his arm out from under Danny's shoulder and rolled off the bed, headed over to follow his directions.

"Cause it's too bright in here for me to suck your dick properly," Danny retorted, his face red and his mouth feeling too empty.

"Are you saying I have such a small dick you can't find it in the dark?" Tyler asked as the lights went out. The gloomy evening lit the room dimly. Tyler pulled his shirt over his head before he got back to the side of the bed.

"That doesn't even make any sense, like, why I'd want the lights off."

Tyler stopped just before the bed. It was too dark for Danny to see his expression. "It makes perfect sense to me," he teased.

"Now you're just doubling down," Danny said, unable to stop himself from smiling.

"Or maybe you thought it was glow-in-the-dark? They make condoms for that, like that, I mean."

"Do you have any?" Danny asked, his eyes tracing Tyler's silhouette.

"Nope, do you?" Tyler retorted.

Danny sat up and pulled his shirt over his head as Tyler sat down. "Nope," he teased. "I guess you're gonna hafta guide me to it, if you wanna come, that is. You know, cause it's so small."

Tyler shoved his track pants down his legs then pounced on Danny before he could finish unbuckling his belt. "You taught me the track pants trick," he whispered before his lips found Danny's again.

Danny's arm snaked between their bodies until he found Tyler's package. He squeezed down hard and Tyler gasped in his mouth. "Is this for me?"

"Fuck yeah it is," Tyler agreed. "I haven't jerked off in days. I'm gonna cum at least twice tonight. Inside you." He whispered the last part in Danny's ear before nibbling his earlobe playfully.

"Me either," Danny admitted, his ass clenching. "Fuck, Tyler."

Tyler climbed on top of him, his bodyweight settling down comfortably over Danny. He caught Danny's mouth in a passionate kiss, the kind of kiss that let Danny know just how much Tyler missed him, how much he meant to him. Danny kissed him back just as hard, hoping to convey his reciprocated feelings.