Everything was dark. My eyes were open, but I couldn't even see the hand in front of my face. Hot air was all over my skin, in my ears, on my neck. It stung like acid.

I felt hands grip my waist so hard, my back slamming into something solid and rough. My skin ripped open. Gravel scratching. My head is swirling. I feel my legs kick and kick outwards, hitting nothing. Suddenly the invisible thing holding me up was gone and I fell to the ground.

"Kellin... hey Kellin... the movie is over."

I felt someone gently place their hand on my shoulder. My eyes shot open as I jerked my body backwards, unable to breathe.

My vision slowly came back into focus and I was met with a very concerned looking Vic.

I suddenly remembered where I was and took slow, steady breaths in and out. I ran my fingers through my hair as my rapidly beating heart finally returned to normal.

"Oh hi. H-how long was I asleep for?" I asked, hoping Vic wouldn't question why I just completely freaked out.

Are you ok?" Vic answered quietly.

Dammit.

"Uh y-yeah of course. I'm just a little jumpy when I get woken up. No big deal." I said quickly, trying to play it off.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Vic said quickly.

"N-no I'm fine, really." I mumbled, forcing a smile.

Vic stared at me so intensely it felt like he was burning a hole in my soul. I was too afraid to meet his gaze though. I knew that if he got one look at me right now then he'd see right through me.

"So...time for the sequel?" I asked, reaching for the laptop.

I pulled the laptop towards me, clicking through the screen to find the next movie. I suddenly felt Vic's hand on my arm and I pulled it back quickly without thinking. I looked down at my arm where his hand once was and frowned. Why did I do that?

"Hey...Kellin...hey...look at me. I'm not going to hurt you." I heard Vic say but it was like he was in another room, his voice didn't sound clear.

I shook my head and clenched my fist, slowly relaxing my fingers before repeating the process. Once I felt calm again I glanced up at Vic who was looking at me with so much sadness in his eyes. Why was he looking at me like that?

"I-I know. I don't know why I'm being so weird. Ignore me. Movie time?" I rattled off quickly, forcing another smile.

"Kellin..." Vic trailed off.

"Vic..." I mimicked his tone playfully.

"I know you said you didn't want to talk about -" Vic started but I quickly interrupted him.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Vic, I really do. But.. I just can't...I can't talk about that. Can we please forget it?" I pleaded.

I could see it written all across Vic's face. He didn't want to forget it. I watched him furrow his eyebrows together, trying to figure out what to say. I held my breath and gave Vic my best puppy dog eyes, hoping he'd give in.

His eyes searched mine, his iris' shooting back and forth.

He finally let out a deep and long sigh. I felt relief wash over me.

"Fine." Vic spoke, giving in.

I could tell he wasn't happy with this at all. But I knew he would respect my wishes, for now at least.

"Thank you. Now, let's check on your leg mister." I smiled.

I put the laptop down and reached behind him so I could fluff his pillow. I placed my hand gently on his injured leg to lift it, readjusting the pillow it was resting on.

I was about to lean back from hovering over Vic's body when the door whipped open, allowing a very happy Jack and Alex to tumble in.

"Ooops! Sorry to interrupt, boys!" Jack exclaimed excitedly.

I quickly moved away from Vic, shuffling back towards the end of the bed. My cheeks were flaring up in embarrassment; they just caught me practically in Vic's lap.

"You weren't interrupting anything!" I shot back quickly, giving Jack a dirty look.

I peeked over at Vic from the corner of my eye. His face didn't give away a single thing about how he was feeling right now. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

"Alex, I thought I told you to stay out of the room for the afternoon." Vic mumbled.

"Mhm yes I know what you said, Viccy boy. However, the gang's all getting together for pizza and beer on the soccer field." Alex beamed.

I watched something flash across Vic's face. Fear? Anger? I couldn't tell.

"Who's going?" Vic asked.

"Just Jaime, Tony, and Mike." Alex answered.

"Oh and I invited Oli, Jenna, and Austin!" Jack chimed in.

"Alright, it sounds like it could be fun. Kellin? What do you think?" Vic turned and asked me.

"I like pizza. I'm in." I smiled.

Instinctively, I scooched off of Vic's bed and helped him slowly swing his legs over the side. He inched his way toward the end of the bed and put his arm around my neck. With Vic balancing his weight against me, he placed his good foot firmly on the floor.

I quickly grabbed his crutches that were leaning against the wall and handed them to him. He steadied himself and stood up as straight as possible, his back hunched over a bit.

"Wow, you two have quite the system worked out." Alex grinned.

"Apparently I was supposed to elevate my leg. Now I'm too afraid to move it until Kellin says it's ok." Vic answered nonchalantly.

Alex shot Jack a mischievous look before looking back to me, and then to Vic.

"So Kellin is your personal nurse?" Jack chimed in.

Oh my god. I felt my cheeks heat up pink and tried to distract myself by grabbing my jean jacket from Vic's chair, pulling it on.

"Definitely." Vic smiled almost shyly, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah and he would look super hot in a nurse's outfit, wouldn't he?" Jack added.

I nervously punched Jack's shoulder.

"Jack! Gross. Don't answer that." I quickly muttered in Vic's direction.

I didn't dare turn to see Vic's reaction and thankfully I didn't need to. Jack put his arm around my shoulders and started dragging me out of the room.

"Come on Kellin let's go for a little walk. Boys? You'll follow, I presume?" Jack spoke, turning back to address Alex and Vic.

Alex gave Jack a nod before falling into a slower pace behind us, walking with Vic. Once Jack and I were a good distance away he dropped his arm from my shoulders and turned to face me.

"So.....tell me EVERYTHING!" He exclaimed, rubbing his hands together.

"Uh.. what do you mean?" I tried to play it off, keeping my eyes locked ahead of me.

"How has it gone with Vic so far today?" Jack asked again.

"We've just been hanging out. Talking, watching movies, I sang for him. Normal stuff. Why does it matter?" I shrugged.

"You sang for him?! That's so romantic! Okay we'll get back to that part later, but I mean, has he made a move yet?" Jack smiled.

"Made a move? What're you talking about, Jack? Vic and I are just friends." I answered dismissively.

I kept walking towards the soccer field, kicking a stray rock with my feet. The sun was casting a deep, warm, sparkly orange glow across campus as it started to set.

"That's not what it sounds like, according to Alex." Jack said.

"And what exactly did Alex say?" I mumbled, not believing a word either of them said.

"Alex told me that Vic had been acting weird all last night. Cleaning their room even on his crutches, making Mike go out and buy snacks, he changed his outfit THREE times. Three!" Jack exclaimed, holding up three fingers for emphasis.

"So what?" I rolled my eyes, trying to hide the smile forming on my lips.

"So what?! He told Alex this morning to make sure he was out of their dorm today. He wanted to be alone with you because this is a date." Jack fired back.

Jack caught up to me and stood in front of me, blocking my path. He looked me dead in the eye and put his hands on my shoulders, keeping me from walking away.

I rolled my eyes and smirked at him.

"Yes?" I said.

"Why won't you believe that Vic is into you?" Jack asked, his tone softening.

I looked past Jack's gaze and bit my lip, sighing in defeat.

"Because... he's too... perfect. And I'm just... not." I answered quietly.

"Kellin, you're one in a million. I know it's hard to believe those types of things about yourself sometimes, I've been there. But I just know in my gut that Vic likes you." Jack spoke.

"But you act so confident in yourself all the time." I said skeptically.

"I wasn't always this energetic and confident person standing in front of you today. It took me a long time to love myself. And you will love yourself one day too, I know it." Jack responded.

I suddenly realized there was a lot that I didn't know about Jack. Yes, he was open and honest in terms of his sexuality, but I didn't know much about his past or his home life. There was probably a lot I didn't know about all of my friends here at college. It's not because they didn't open up to me, because they did. It's because I never asked.

Everyone here was probably just like me. They came into college as their true selves or someone they wanted to be. They shed their past traumas at the door and tried so hard to be themselves.

I threw my arms around Jack and gave him a tight hug.

"What was that for?" Jack giggled as he put his arms around me, hugging me back.

"For being the best friend I've honestly ever had." I answered, continuing to hug him.

"I'm always going to be here for you, Kellin. You're my best friend too." Jack replied.

"Now save those hugs for Vic! They're catching up to us." Jack laughed and I broke the hug, stepping away from him smiling.

I turned around and saw Alex and Vic approaching us.

"Now Kellin, keep your hands off my man. Just kidding." Alex said jokingly.

"Aw Alex, don't be jealous! You know this booty belongs to you." Jack giggled and planted a kiss on Alex's lips.

I watched them in admiration as they walked towards the middle of the soccer field, meeting up with everyone who was waiting.

I looked at Vic who shot me yet another heart melting smile. This boy was going to kill me.

I fell into step next to him as he hobbled along on his crutches, noticing him wince a bit.

"Are your arms hurting?" I asked.

"A little. But on the brightside, my biceps are going to be even more buff after this." Vic chuckled a little.

My eyes subconsciously darted to his arms. He wasn't wrong. Even just through his maroon long-sleeved shirt I could see his muscles. God he was so attractive.

"I should borrow the crutches when you're done. I have noodle arms." I said, holding up my stick thin arms and pretending to flex them.

Vic's laugh was infectious as he stopped walking and gave my bicep a small squeeze. I blushed immediately.

"Don't be so down on yourself, ya got a little something something going on there." Vic responded.

"Oh yeah...I bet once your leg is better, I can totally lift you up." I answered, completely joking.

Something danced across Vic's eyes quickly before he spoke, "I'd like that."

I gulped a bit, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear as we finally reached the group.

There were a bunch of blankets spread across the artificial grass, as well as a foldout table off to the side. The table held dozens of pizza boxes and a cooler with cans of soda and beer. Various glass bottles of different liquors sat next to the pizza boxes, music blaring from a huge portable speaker.

"Follow me, let me introduce you to the guys." Vic said, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Okay cool." I answered and followed him towards two guys standing by the table, taking a shot.

"Hey Jaime, hey Tony." Vic greeted them.

The shorter one with thick, spiked up brown hair answered first. I learned quickly that he was Jaime. I had seen him with Vic practically every day since the semester started, he also was the goalie on the soccer team.

"Vic, mi hermano! How's your leg feeling my dude? God, do we miss you at practice." Jaime spoke very fast and very loudly as he fist bumped Vic.

Vic chuckled and returned the fist bump.

"My leg is doing alright, it still throbs, which sucks. And I know, I bet the team is lost without me." Vic laughed.

"Ha. Ha. Oh whatever will we do without our fearless captain?!" Jaime said overdramatically.

"Ugh I hate when our announcer says that. It's so cheesy." Vic responded, rolling his eyes.

"Don't let Jaime's tears fool you, he's actually very excited. The announcer says that when he walks out onto the field now." Tony chimed in.

Tony was insanely tall. His arms and neck were covered in tattoos and he had his ears stretched really wide. I recognized him from the soccer team as well, and from most likely being one of Vic's best friends.

"Jaime is the assistant captain." Vic spoke quietly only to me, filling me in on their conversation.

"Hey, the ladies love a man in the spotlight. I don't know how you ever got sick of all that attention." Jaime shrugged and beamed.

"Who's your friend, Vic?" Tony gestured towards me and gave me a kind smile.

"This is Kellin." Vic said, shooting me a huge smile.

"Hi! It's really great to meet you both." I said, reaching out my hand to shake Jaime's and Tony's.

"Oh so this is the Kellin?" Jaime asked with a grin.

"The Kellin?" I asked Vic with a small playfulness in my voice.

"Uh yeah, he's the Kellin." Vic answered trying to change the subject but I found myself cutting him off and looking at Jaime.

"What do you mean by the Kellin?" I asked.

"Oh just that you're the guy Vic's been texting every second, of every day for the past week and a half. And he busted his leg because he was too distracted staring at you." Jaime rattled off, smiling the entire time.

"Alllllright Kellin! Let's go over there and you can introduce me to your other friends! Bye guys!" Vic said quickly, turning on his crutches and dragging me away from Jaime and Tony.

I giggled to myself and watched Vic's face, he was blushing so much. He was trying really hard to book it out of there as fast as he could go on his crutches. I knew he was embarrassed by what Jaime just told me, and I decided I wasn't going to bring it up, not right now at least. Maybe Jack was right after all.

Besides, we were approaching Oli and Jenna now, and I knew they were probably going to tease me for my crush on Vic.

"Hey there!" I said as Tay pulled me into a tight hug.

"Kellin oh my god hi!" Tay exclaimed.

I laughed as I pulled myself from her embrace and gestured towards Vic.

"This is Vic." I spoke, watching as Vic let go one of his crutches to shake Oli and Jenna's hands.

"Hey! I'm glad I'm finally meeting you guys. Kellin is always talking about you." Vic said kindly.

"Funny you should say that..." Oli started teasingly but I shot him a look, prompting him to stop his sentence.

Everyone started sitting down on the blankets, munching on pizza and chatting amongst themselves.

"Here, let's sit so you don't have to hold yourself up on those crutches anymore." I suggested.

Vic nodded and I held onto his waist, guiding him down slowly until he plopped onto the comfy blanket. I joined him, grabbing slices for us both. I fished a can of Diet Coke from the cooler and glanced at him, remembering he was drinking beer at the Halloween party.

"Do you want one?" I asked, holding up a beer bottle.

Vic shook his hand, "Nah, I actually decided to quit drinking for awhile. I'll have a Dr. Pepper instead."

I nodded, smiling at him before pulling out a can of soda and handed it to him. He flicked the tab open and took a long sip.

I settled in my spot beside Vic, my knee knocking against his slightly.

As the night went on it got a little colder and Vic pulled on a tie dye Thrasher hoodie. I buttoned up my jean jacket and rubbed my hands together.

"You guys are going to love me when you see what I have!" Jaime exclaimed, jumping up from his sport, dangling a silver key from his fingers.

"Is that what I think it is?" Vic questioned with a smile on his face.

"Yup! Coach McKinnon gave me the keys to the supply shed. I brought graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate!" Jaime fist bumped the air and jogged over to a green shed off to the left of the field.

"I LOVE S'MORES!" Oli randomly cheered.

"Same dude!" Jack reached over and high fived Oli.

"S'mores are my absolute favorite." I said excitedly.

Vic giggled and nodded, "Mine too, do you like when they're a nice tan color or when they have some burnt spots?"

"When there's some burnt spots, duh! That's when the marshmallow is the gooiest." I answered proudly.

"I agree." Vic smiled.

Jaime returned carrying a small red charcoal grill, he pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit it. Warm, orange flames erupted from the grill, sending comforting heat throughout our little blanketed area. I found myself inching forward to get closer to the warmth, laying my hands over the flames.

Jaime handed us each a stick from the woods and started passing around the bags of marshmallow, boxes of graham crackers, and bars of chocolate.

"Allow me." Vic said with a smile, finding the biggest marshmallow in the bag before pushing it onto my stick.

He handed me the stick and did the same to his. We were quick to hover our marshmallows over the flames. I looked at him deeply as hues of crimson, marigold, and amber danced across his soft, yet chiseled features. His chocolate brown eyes looked right back into my cool aquamarine ones. I could've stared at him forever.

However, I started smelling something burning.

"Kellin! Your marshmallow!" Vic giggled.

My head snapped towards the fire and I saw that my marshmallow was caught in flames. I pulled the stick towards me and carefully blew out the fire, leaving a perfectly browned marshmallow.

"Ooops!" I laughed and slid the gooey mess onto a graham cracker, placing a thick slab of chocolate on top before creating a sandwich.

I watched Vic do the same to his as I sat back on my butt.

Suddenly, I felt Vic's hands hover over my hips as he slowly tugged me back towards him.

I looked at him and his eyes searched mine. It was almost as if he was asking me if it was okay for me to sit this close to him.

I gave him a shy smile and sunk back against his chest, snuggling into him, giving him his answer. He smelt of sandalwood and chocolate.

He snaked his arms around my waist and held me so close to him.

I tilted my head upwards, looking at Vic from upside down.

"Hi." I spoke softly.

"Hi." Vic repeated even quieter.

"You have marshmallow on your lips." He giggled.

"Oh god, that's embarrassing." I put my hands up, covering my face from his view.

"No no no, don't cover up your beautiful face." I heard Vic say.

I felt the heat radiating from his calloused hands as he gently placed it over mine, removing my hands from my face.

Vic bent down a little and used his thumb to wipe the marshmallow from the corner of my lips. I felt my heart stop as he stared at me, his face absolutely shining in the cast of the bonfire.

He ran his hand through my hair gently as I tilted my face back forward, snuggling myself deeper against Vic's chest. I could almost feel what I thought was his rapid heartbeat.

At that moment, I felt incredibly secure with Vic and I didn't want this night to end.

Authors Note _______________
Pleaseeeee vote if you enjoyed :) It means a lot and helps my stories out!

Hey fam! I was too excited to post this that I forgot to add an authors note lol.

How're we feeling about this chapter? Poor Kells and his flashback dreams ):

What do we think about Vic?