Dylan

"I feel like I smashed that last piece of coursework." Kai beamed, clicking submit on his laptop.

"Speak for yourself." I grumbled, "My exams have gone terribly. I don't know why my brain just refuses to absorb this law stuff."

"Seems like you need a pick me up." Kai wiggled his eyebrows.

I didn't like the sound of that.

Leaving the library and heading back to the dorm, we quickly realised that Nate had thrown another party. The music could be heard from three hallways down. I hesitated entering the flat, remembering my interaction with that guy last time. I shuddered at the memory; I definitely didn't want to see him again.

"We don't have to go in, if you don't want to. We can head back to the library or to the café for chips?" Kai offered, seeing me hesitate.

"No, it's fine. I've got to dump off my stuff, anyway."

The door swung open and a swaying Nate appeared, his face lighting up at the sight of the two of us.

"Roommates! Come in, come in." 

"We were actually just about to head out." Kai excused us, "Dylan's just dropping off his stuff."

"No way, come in! You'll have fun." Nate whined, reeking of alcohol.

"No thanks, Nate. It's really not our thing." Kai shook his head, stepping around him.

Nate looked confused, watching us walk to my room. 

 Kai practically slammed the door behind us and looked at me in exasperation. 

"How does his liver cope with him being drunk every weekend?" 

I didn't know the answer; he was way over the NHS recommended weekly units.

"How do you feel about the arcade tonight?" Kai proposed, making my face light up.

"I feel great about that idea." I nodded, grabbing a hoodie to wear before we left.

As we walked out of my room, Kai decided to dash to the bathroom before we left. I waited in the hallway, tapping on my phone to distract myself from the loud noises coming from the kitchen.

A flash went off out of the corner of my eye, making my head snap up to look at the three people stood at the other end of the hallway. They giggled, realising they'd been caught. I was frozen in place, staring at them, dumbfounded.

"Ready to go, Dyls?" Kai appeared, shaking his damp hands.

"They just took a photo of me." I whispered, still staring at them.

"What the fuck?" Kai whispered, looking at who I was talking about.

He looked at me and saw how much it bothered me before taking action. He marched down the hallway, shouting at the three people to delete the photo. He was so loud that somebody paused the music, Nate appearing in the hallway to see what all of the commotion was.

"Woah, what's the issue? Calm it down, Kai." Nate slurred, waving his hands around as if to show Kai where his volume levels should be.

"I won't calm down, Nate! Your friends took a photo of Dylan, for fucks sake!" Kai shouted, gesturing to the group of three.

"We just wanted to show our friend we were in the flat of the guy seeing Alex Hill." The guy who took the photo spoke up, still laughing.

"Delete it." Nate spat out, turning to glare at the three of them.

Kai looked surprised that Nate had taken his side, but pleased he had reinforcements. Not to be mean to Kai, but he quite frankly was not intimidating in the slightest. Nate, on the other hand, you wouldn't want to see down a dark alley at night. 

The three reluctantly deleted the photo and Nate proceeded to chuck them out. In fact, he threw everyone out and stopped the party altogether. Kai and I told him that it wasn't necessary but he insisted that he didn't want everyone here anymore. 

"Thank you." I finally spoke up, once everyone was gone.

"No, I'm sorry I even let those assholes in. It's not cool to do what they did." Nate was sipping water now and seemed a lot more sober than before.

"We were going to go to the arcade if you wanted to come?" I decided to invite Nate, which surprised Kai.

"That would be cool, yeah." Nate agreed, "Let me grab a jacket."

"Are you sure?" Kai mouthed to me, tilting his head in confusion.

I nodded. Nate had gone out of his way to help me so inviting him along seemed right. He was a little unpredictable, but I felt like he was friendly overall. 

Nate appeared and we set off together, walking in relative silence towards the arcade in town. It wasn't a huge arcade and was usually pretty quiet on a Friday evening because it was near campus and most people went out on a Friday night.

The lights inside the arcade were dim, bar the flashing lights from the games which filled me with excitement. All you could hear were the beeping sounds from the arcade games and the tinny sound of pennies falling from the 2p machines. 

I made my way to the first game that caught my eye. It was a game where you had to stack red blocks in order to win the jackpot prize of tickets. I changed a note into some coins and started my game, Nate and Kai watching from behind.

"He'll win the jackpot every time, by the way." Kai informed Nate, "Never play against him; he'll win every time."

"I don't know." Nate's voice held a tone of cockiness, "I've never been beaten at the driving games."

"I'll play you at that next, then." I confirmed, just as I hit the jackpot and the tickets came spewing out.

"I warned you." Kai huffed.

Collecting my tickets in a spilling stack, I marched over to the driving game to beat Nate at that next. His smile quickly faded as I lapped him pretty quickly into the game. What can I say, I had spent much of my youth playing this game. 

"Should have listened to me." Kai laughed, enjoying the look of defeat on Nate's face.

"I'm going to blame that on the fact I've had a few drinks." Nate grumbled.

"Whatever makes you feel better." I nodded, collecting my tickets.

We played a few more games before I ran out of money and went to redeem my prize for my tickets

"If I had your talent, I'd take every girl on a date here." Nate joked.

"Too bad I'm gay." 

Nate laughed harder at that, nodding. 

"No way, is that an Alex Hill arcade game?"

We all came to a stop at the arcade game, staring at the graphics around it. It was definitely a photo of Alex, from a few years back by the looks of it, but he didn't look like the Alex I knew. His face was dark and fixed with a sinister look. The Alex I knew was always smiling a goofy kind of smile.

"It's from that film about the crop field." Kai told me, "We should watch it together. You can decide if your boyfriend is an over-hyped actor or not."

"He's not my boyfriend." I mumbled, still staring at the game.

It would be interesting to watch one of Alex's films, however.

Turning to stare instead at the prize wall, I tried to decide what to redeem. I then spotted that one of the top prizes was a four foot tall alien teddy that closely resembled the one from the video game Alex and I had been playing last week. 

I pointed to which one I wanted and the arcade worker got it down for me with a giant hook. I felt giddy holding it in my hands and I wanted to show Alex straight away. Getting Kai to take a photo of me with it, I sent it to Alex.

Me: There is a game here with your face on it. x

It had been over a week since I had last seen Alex and I was missing him a lot. He had insisted that I focus on exams but I hadn't been able to, anyway. The content just went in one ear and out the other. 

He had been texting me every morning to wish me a good morning, which was sweet, and we always called before bed to chat. It just wasn't as good as being around him in person, however. I missed how warm his hands felt and how relaxed I felt when he was around.

"Movie back at the flat, then?" Nate proposed.

"Sounds good. Let's stop and get food, though. I believe I promised Dyls chips." Kai led the way to the chippy.

Before long we were settled on the dorm sofas with the television playing one of Alex's movies. Kai said that this one was his favourite and Nate had agreed. I had never seen any of them before; I didn't watch movies, really.

It was so strange to see Alex on a screen, saying and doing the things he was doing. He was so cold and reserved, which was nothing like the real him. He was good at portraying himself that way, however, and it was undeniable that he was a good actor. 

Out of the blue, there was a scene involving Alex with his shirt off and I turned red, hiding my face in a pillow. How many people had seen him like this? With no shirt and blood smeared across his chiselled chest?

Kai wolf whistled.

Despite my embarrassment, my eyes were glued to the scene. I could barely take in the fact that this god of a man was attracted to me of all people. I certainly didn't look that way with my shirt off. Kai said I had skinny abs which, in truth, were just my ribs.

I pulled my phone out as it chimed with a text, distracting me from the Alex on screen with a text from the real one.

Alex: I'm sure Jake has a poster somewhere with my face on it if you want one for your bedroom wall. I'll even sign it. Aren't you lucky? x

 Me: Kai is making me watch one of your films. 

Alex: Well, what do you think? x

Me: Give my compliments to Michael... x

I had never really flirted before, but I was pretty sure this is how you do it.

Alex: Excuse me? What has happened to my innocent, sweet Dylan? You're going to give me an ego. x

My heart fluttered at the 'my'.

Me: I'm just saying that pragmatically you look good with your shirt off. And on. x

Alex: Pragmatically? Don't make me come over there. x

I blushed deeply at that.

"Who are you texting while looking so red? Is it him?" Kai teased, trying to peer at my phone screen.

I hid it, of course, but it chimed again.

Alex: Speaking of which, when are you free for our next date? x

Since my exams had finished now, I was free whenever, but I knew I had to visit home soon during the Uni break.

Me: Anytime this week. I have to visit home the week after. x

 Alex: Tomorrow, then? Or too short notice? x

Me: Sounds perfect. What are we going to do? x

Alex: I'd like to keep it a surprise, if that's okay with you? x

The word 'surprise' filled me with anxiety, but I knew that Alex knew me well enough to know what I would and wouldn't like. Doing new things just filled me with an anxiousness that I found hard to shake, no matter how much I trust Alex.

Alex: Nobody else will be around, I promise. Just the two of us. x

The second text came through as soon as I hesitated to reply, so I guess Alex understood that this was making me anxious. His text did soothe some of my anxieties, however.

Me: Okay. What time? x

Alex: Be ready for twelve. I'll pick you up from outside your dorms. x

"You've missed the last three murders, Dyls." Kai complained.

"Sorry, Alex asked me on a date tomorrow."

"Lucky bitch, I'm cursed with loneliness." Kai huffed.

Glancing over at him, I noticed Nate staring at Kai with a strange look on his face. Nate caught my eye before I looked away, moving my eyes down to my phone quickly. 

Me: I'll see you then. x

Alex: I look forward to it, Dylan. x