"He's unbearable," Dan finished. He crossed his arms, leaning back in the cushioned seat of the roomy counselor's office. "He's honestly unbearable. I'd rather be roommates with a jungle cat. Or a shark." He tucked his hands beneath his armpits to make their persistent shaking less visible to the student advisor across from him.

"Uh huh," Mrs. Bell muttered, not taking her eyes off of the crossword puzzle balanced in her lap and adjusting her thick rimmed glasses. Dan frowned.

"So?"

"So, what?" She had the courtesy to glance up at him, but her attention quickly returned to the newspaper. Dan struggled not to audibly sigh. He didn't want to be that rude.

"Can you make him move rooms? Or let me move rooms?"

Finally she let the newspaper tilt away in her hands, looking up at him with a coy smile on her face that made Dan bite down on the inside of his cheek.

"Dan," she began. Her voice and the expression she wore was nothing short of patronizing, as if Dan were a grumpy, insubordinate child. "You've visited my office three times thus far. It's only the second week. I'm glad that you trust me enough to come to me with your dilemma, but I've told you that unless you have a serious complaint, I can't do anything for you."

"It is serious," Dan mumbled, dropping his hand to his thigh to pick at a loose thread attached to his black jeans. The advisor raised her thin, artificially filled in eyebrows.

"Has he physically hurt you?" She asked, pursing her lips in a way that betrayed that she already knew his answer, and it was very nearly a rhetorical question in her eyes. "Has he... taunted you? Called you names? Kept you from your studies? Anything like that?"

Dan hesitated before shaking his head sheepishly. He shifted uncomfortably, his hands twitching in his lap. He rubbed his wrist gently with his thumb. "I m-mean, no..." The woman nodded.

"I'm not saying it isn't important to me for you to be comfortable here," she said, using her understanding-therapist voice on him and leaning forward in her seat. "I'm just saying that my suggestion is to wait it out a bit. You haven't given it enough time. Get to know him a little. It's your first time having a real roommate, it's natural that you aren't used to it yet."

Dan opened his mouth to argue, but he saw her gaze flicker in the direction of her crossword puzzle, so he shut it again. She didn't understand. His roommate was... Phil, he was... weird. There was something seriously off about him that Dan couldn't put his finger on for the life of him. Not to mention that he was infuriating to be around. It seemed like whenever Dan asked him an actual question or addressed him, Phil's answer was snarky, as if Dan didn't even deserve serious consideration.

Maybe he was just paranoid. But he didn't think so.

"Okay, I guess so," He mumbled, standing up reluctantly and brushing nonexistent dust off of his jeans. "I'll try."

No, I won't.

She smiled gratefully, and tiredly, at him. "Thank you. I know it'll get easier for you soon."

I doubt it.

Dan smiled back half-heartedly, shoving his hands in his back pockets. There wasn't any point in harassing her, no matter how suspicious and antsy his roommate made him. As soon as her eyes dropped to her lap again he turned to the door, subtly sliding his sweatshirt sleeve over his hand before turning the metal doorknob.

Dan felt like he had a fine excuse for being a little nervous; a few excuses, actually. His body buzzed with energy as he hopped down the steps two at a time to head across campus, back to his dreaded dorm room. He kept his head down for the most part, playing with his fingers and taking deep, slow breaths.

The events of the meeting were finally hitting him, and the real punch in the gut was that he hadn't gotten what he'd wanted. Again. She'd talked to him like he was a child.

Calm down. Breathe.

It felt like caffeine was running through his bloodstream, pumping through him as thick as syrup and making his heart beat quicker and his skin tingle uncontrollably.

He should definitely lay down.

When he finally got to the room, he had to stop for a second to catch his breath. He leaned against the wall and let his head fall back, touching the smooth concrete surface.

Dan crossed his arms, using the technique he'd practiced before moving out that let him have a little more control. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He imagined himself sucking in the energy, squishing it into a tight ball of electricity in the center of his chest. He pretended he was storing it away, packing it back with every heavy breath he took. It already wasn't easy for him, but it was worse when he was riled up.

When he finally felt collected he opened his eyes again, running his fingers through his chestnut curls. He pulled his sleeve over his hand again.

Phil Lester was sitting at his desk, one of his feet propped up on a cardboard box that, after a double-take, Dan was positive belonged to him. He was typing furiously into his phone, his navy blue oxygen tank sitting next to him on the flat surface. Dan closed the door a bit too hard on his way in, going straight for his bed and laying down on his back. He rubbed at his face irritatedly.

"Did you manage?" His roommate asked finally, not bothering to look up from his phone.

"Manage what?" Dan grumbled.

He could hear him smirking, which was another thing to add to the list of incredibly maddening things about him. "To get rid of me."

Dan rolled over so he could press his face into his cool pillow, muffling his voice. "You don't know that's what I was doing."

He heard his wheeled chair spin so Phil was facing him, even though he couldn't see it happening. "Well, was it?"

Dan growled. He knew Phil hated being his roommate just as much as Dan did, but the way he showed it was far different. Far worse, in Dan's very prominent opinion. They'd managed to torture each other, and themselves, about the whole situation for the past few weeks until even thinking about it made Dan frown. Dan turned his head to look at him, his cheek smushed against the pillow. Phil looked him over for a second, eyes narrowed, before scoffing and turning back to his phone.

"Your nervous twitching hints that I'm right."

Dan bit his lip, his heart skipping a beat. Was it that obvious? He had thought he was gaining control on his constant little ticks, but clearly he had more work to do to properly hide them.

"Are we making fun of disabilities now?"

That got his attention, and Phil raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. "Yes, sure. I mean, we certainly have equal leverage, don't we?" He offered him a snide smile. "You have ADHD or something, and my lungs don't work properly."

Dan couldn't keep his gaze from flickering toward his oxygen tank. He got up, shaking his head. This conversation wasn't going anywhere, and Dan wasn't in the mood to be ticked off and embarrassed for the rest of the night.

"Whatever. I'm getting some air."

"Ha!"

Dan's face flushed bright red when he realized what he'd said. He grabbed his leather gloves from his own desk before leaving, tugging them on quickly. He had to get out of here.

That boy was off. It nagged at Dan's subconscious, demanded his attention at all times. Something was seriously off about Phil Lester, and he was going to find out what it was.

But Dan was a hypocrite.

God knew he had his own secrets.

-

wow roo wrote in uppercase for once it's a miracle