THREE
snake

Once classes started, Marcus noticed two things: one, Elliott was in his psychology course. And two, Elliott was always at Marcus' dorm and never at his own. He was convinced he'd made a home underneath Andrew's bed.

There was really no point in him being there. He and Andrew never spoke, and if they did, it was short and uninteresting. So he wasn't benefitting from being at someone else's dorm. Marcus was getting used to it, but he was also becoming agitated.

No, he was not still upset about the last time they spoke. Definitely not.

             Okay, maybe he was. But could you blame him? Elliott had acted like he knew what was good for Marcus despite just meeting him. He tried telling him what to do, and Marcus hated being told what to do. It gave him a claustrophobic feeling - a pressure to his chest, a squeezing of his lungs. It didn't feel right.

Marcus couldn't stop staring at him, though. He didn't know what it was that had him unable to keep his eyes from straying over to Elliott. He was weird. And kind of annoying. So why the fuck couldn't he get rid of the urge to look at him?

                He only snapped out of it when Andrew got up, the buzzing of his phone filling the silence. "Be right back," he said, sounding exasperated. He left the dorm and shut the door behind him, voice just barely able to be made out. Now Marcus was even more uncomfortable.

                 "Lady problems," Elliott stated suddenly, causing Marcus to frown at him. No one asked you to speak. "Him and his girlfriend fight a lot. Candace is cool as fuck, though."

                 Marcus gave him a glare. "I didn't ask."

                 "Yeah, no shit," Elliott retorted. "But I told you anyway. Freedom of speech - fuck, what was your name again?"

                  "Marcus. Now stop talking to me."

Elliott was quiet for a few moments, which led to Marcus being relieved he'd actually stopped talking. But then he said, "You really need to get laid," and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, the shine of a silver ball catching Marcus' eye. He didn't know how to respond. All he could focus on was the blatant piercing and the fact that that must've hurt like hell.

"Did that hurt?" Marcus blurted, completely ignoring what he said before. Mostly because he didn't want to think about how Elliott became attractive after that. He gestured toward him - "That piercing?"

Elliott hummed, rubbing the ball against his bottom lip. "Yeah," he admitted, shrugging. "But apparently it feels good afterward."

Marcus frowned. "What?" Then soon added in realization, "Oh." He's either a masochist or fucks a lot. Either way he's ten times weirder.

Marcus went back to working on his assignment, awkwardly clicking his pen to fill the sudden silence, and tried his best to avert his focus to the work he needed to finish. But his mind was whispering, 'Hey, look at the weird guy who reminds you of a snake.' And then he was listening to his mind, looking up, only to see that Elliott was looking, too. Marcus redirected his gaze back down to his lap quickly, heart jumping in surprise. Calm down, heart. He's a freak, not Ashton.

                   Elliott had been staring at him, brows slightly furrowed, brown eyes intense as they always seemed to be. He had his head leaning against his palm, fingers twisting the faint curls atop his head, looking like he was lost in thought. About what, Marcus had no clue, but it still sent that uncomfortable shock to his chest.

                   Marcus hesitantly lifted his gaze again, finding Elliott in the same position, and he cleared his throat. "You have a staring problem," Marcus stated, pulling his blanket up to his shoulders and sinking further down, head thumping against his pillow. He bent his legs, knees blocking his view of Elliott completely, thank God.

                  "Oh," Elliott replied, tone flippant. "Do I?"

                   "Yes," Marcus muttered, silently seething. He makes me... uneasy. Something like that. He didn't know what the right word was; 'uneasy' was the best he could come up with.

                   Elliott clicked his tongue, a soft sound that sounded piercing in the quiet. "My bad," he said smoothly, and then he was shifting, causing Marcus to slide his legs over to look at what he was doing. He was getting up, bare arms stretched out, revealing a small bird tattoo on his upper arm. When he finally got to his feet, he spared Marcus a glance, and the latter hurriedly moved his knees back into place.

                   "Hey," Elliott spoke suddenly, and then he was at Marcus' bedside, fingers twisting a snowglobe under the dim lamp. His head was turned to the side, the strong set of his jawline looking sharper with the shadows that were cast across it. "You should come out with Andrew, me, and his girlfriend this weekend."

                  Marcus swallowed, watching him warily. "Why?"

                  Elliott's hand paused against the snowglobe, and he turned his head, giving Marcus a barely there smirk. "You look like you need friends."

                  Marcus scowled. "I have friends." He clicked his pen a little faster. "Just not here. The closest one is forty five minutes away." Ashton.

                  "Okay," said Elliott. "Then invite them, too. I'd like to meet the person who deals with your bratty attitude."

                   "Bratty?" Marcus snapped, looking offended. "If I'm so bratty, why the fuck are you inviting me?" Click, click, cli -

                   Elliott grabbed the pen held in Marcus' hand, forcing him to stop the incessant noise. He ripped it from his grasp, clicked it once, then pressed it down against the corner of Marcus' notes paper. As he wrote, he said, "Just text me when you make up your mind." And Marcus was too shocked to even flinch when Elliott tossed the pen onto his chest, nodding his head as a silent goodbye, before swinging the dorm's door open.

                  Andrew looked up, raised an eyebrow. "You leaving?" And then Elliott shut the door, eliminating any chance for Marcus to hear his reply. It felt like he could breathe a little easier now.

Marcus' phone buzzed suddenly, and he glanced down. Perfect timing.

ash -
can we hang out this weekend!!!! i wanna see u pleathe

Perfect fucking timing.

marco polo -
yeah. I got invited out, idk if I wanna go tbh, but if you want to, I'm okay with it

ash -
omg yes i'd love to meet some of the friends you've made uwu

Not really my friends, but sure, Marcus thought. And truthfully, he'd choose taking Ashton to meet the freak and his buddies over being alone with Ashton and possibly doing something stupid. Very fucking stupid. Because with the amount of longing he's felt over the days they'd been apart, Marcus knew he'd do some dumb shit. And he didn't really want to risk it.

marco polo -
yeah, okay. I'll text them and let them know

He reluctantly punched in Elliott's number, named the contact snake, and then sent him a message. One that was read almost immediately after sending it.

Marcus -
I'll hang out with you guys. I'm bringing my friend. this is Marcus btw.

snake -
That was fast

And your reply was fast, Marcus thought bitterly. Fuck off.

Marcus -
that's because I left the decision up to my friend. he's a people person

snake -
Cute, total opposites

                   Marcus left him on read.

___

The next day, Marcus was feeling a lot more exhausted than he usually did. He slept well, finished his assignments, but he felt sluggish and like he was going to fall asleep any second. It didn't help that his psychology professor had the most boring voice to ever exist.

                 "Good morning. Happy Thursday," Professor droned, and Marcus sighed. It's not a happy day, at all. "So, what I - "

                  The man was cut off by the classroom door opening, an elongated creak piercing the air. Everyone glanced over, and Marcus rolled his eyes when he saw Elliott peek his head in. His hair was disheveled, clothes he'd worn yesterday thrown on, looking wrinkled and loose. He looked like a mess, and Marcus wanted to just laugh at him for it.

                  Professor pointed a stern finger at Elliott. "Next week that door will be locked so that if you're late, you're late. Now sit down."

                   Elliott nodded, muttering a quiet sorry as he went straight to the closest free seat. And when Marcus noticed Elliott's eyes on him, he looked to the side, spotting the empty chair next to him. He immediately deflated. Please go somewhere else. There are definitely other free seats, you snake.

                   The man plopped down beside him, releasing a soft, exasperated sigh. Marcus gripped his pen a little tighter, hunching forward, resting his head against his palm so he didn't even have a glimpse of the idiot sitting next to him. But that was all ruined when Elliott leaned forward to, elbow tapping against his.

                   Marcus frowned. "Don't talk to me," he whispered harshly. Elliott didn't reply, but he also didn't move. Marcus must've been lucky though, because Elliott didn't speak a single word for a while.

                   The professor went on, still talking about and reviewing a few things Marcus had already learned in highschool. He could hear some new notes though, and he jotted them down, but he felt himself slipping in and out of a daze. He wanted to go to sleep, even when psychology was something he found intriguing. The professor made everything sound monotone and unimportant.

                   Marcus didn't realize he'd actually fallen asleep until he felt a hand on his arm, lightly shaking, and he jerked a bit, frowning as he looked around. Most of the other students were gone, save for the few speaking to the professor or simply lingering. He blinked tiredly, turning his head, finding Elliott sitting back, watching him closely.

                  "What?" Marcus muttered, fighting back a yawn. He sat up, went to grab his things, until he noticed that his notebook was closed. His eyes widened. "Fuck, fuck. I didn't take notes. Damnit."

                   Elliott snorted. "That's rough," he stated, and Marcus sent him a heated glare. "Shouldn't have fallen asleep."

                    "Fuck you," Marcus hissed, rubbing at his head. That nap gave him a headache, and now his tongue felt like cotton. The day had barely started and it was already shitty. This fucking sucks.

                     Elliott shrugged, closing his laptop. "I would say sure, but I prefer getting to know someone first." Elliott was already halfway down the steps when what he said finally registered, and Marcus gaped at his retreating back. He hated how his neck turned hot - who the fuck says shit like that? And then he thought, wait - is he even straight?

                   Marcus shook his head, ridded the thought, and grabbed his things. He left the room and made his way down the hall, brushing past people who were waiting outside classrooms. He had an hour until his next class, so he decided to hang out in his dorm until then.

                   Once settled on his bed, he dropped his notebook down, the impact causing it to flop open. He went to close it, but stopped when he saw his notes page from today completely filled out. He furrowed his brows and read through it all. Some shit he already knew, and others he didn't, and his mind went back to Elliott.

                   He couldn't have, right? He even mocked Marcus for falling asleep, made it sound like there was nothing written down. Marcus flipped back a couple of pages and tapped his finger against the corner where Elliott had written down his number the day before. The handwriting looked very similar to the notes. It had to be him.

                   Marcus pursed his lips, wondering why Elliott had done that when Marcus treated him like shit. Was he really that nice? He didn't seem like the type to do something like that at all. It would be a waste of time, in Marcus' opinion. I say that, Marcus thought bitterly, but I'd do that for Ashton. For fuck's sake.

                   He sighed, pulling out his phone. The least he could do was thank him, even if he didn't want to contact him at all.

Marcus -
thanks for taking notes for me.

                      Elliott didn't respond for the entire hour Marcus spent before his class. And while on his way to the classroom, he opened up the text, and he felt a weird squeezing feeling in his chest.

                        Elliott left him on read.

___

A/N: Marcus got a taste of his own medicine heheheh. serves him right lmao.

next chapter is when all three of our main boys meet up! what do you think will happen/what it will be like? x