And They Were Roommates

Speedwalk (Lucas)

Lucas had no idea what he was doing at a gym. The student gym at Pitt, to be more specific.

He was never one to exercise at all, he got himself moving by walking around a lot for classes and exploring places to take pictures, and he didn't follow a diet; he just ate when he was hungry and stopped when he was full. He was always just naturally thin, probably to do with his age, and he didn't have to lift a finger to maintain it.

But Bean was different. Coming from a gymnastics background, he was into working out and would go to the gym three times a week for an hour or so, leaving Lucas all alone in the apartment to edit or do homework. Eventually, Lucas started missing the guy.

"Did you know humans also have unique tongue prints, just like thumb prints? Anyways, I'll see ya in a couple." Bean picked up his bag and headed to the door.

"Heyo, wait a minute!"

"Yes?"

Lucas tucked his hair behind his ears. "Are you going to the gym?"

"Yup." Bean spread his arms, showcasing the grey sweatpants and blue sweatshirt he was wearing with a grin.

"Can I come?"

A pause. "Uhh... Yeah. Yeah, totally."

"Cool. Give me five minutes." Lucas smiled, already standing up to go change.

And that's how he found himself at the gym actually wearing shorts in public with a smiley Bean at his side.

They walked to the treadmills first, Bean putting his bag down and taking out a water bottle. Lucas felt like he was entering secluded enemy territory.

"I usually start with a 2 mile run, but..." He looked Lucas up and down. "We can just speed walk today."

Then he pulled up his sweatshirt and Lucas had to lock his jaw so it wouldn't fall to the floor when he saw Bean's bare shoulders in his muscle shirt. His shoulders pronounced, his biceps flexed a little, and they locked eyes. Lucas hadn't even started exercising, but he felt hot all over.

"Damn, Schwarzenegger."

He saw Bean visibly gulp. "Shush. Now get on the treadmill, I'll teach you how it works."

He did as he was told, and they started their walk, side by side. They talked about everything, from the bean bag they planned to buy for their apartment, to Bean's physics professor almost dying in class because of an experiment, to Lucas's inability to take selfies even though he was a photographer.

Lucas was sweating already (this was much harder than walking to another class a couple blocks away), and he concluded he hated exercise. After they were done with that, Bean took him around the rest of the gym to the weights and death machines. Lucas passed by the other students as he followed behind Bean. Some were incredibly focused on their workouts, while others seemed more entranced by their phones.

Next to a bench with heavy looking weights stood a very fit girl wearing tight leggings and a sports bra. She looked his way and smiled, winking at him. Lucas's mouth twitched an awkward smile back, but he didn't feel like reciprocating much. Yes, she was hot, but his attention immediately snapped back to Bean, who had stopped before a ceiling high rack of weights.

Bean showed him the different dumbbells and how to use them for certain exercises. "Yeah, so when you come up with it in your hands, keep your core engaged and your back straight."

"I don't think I can make that happen."

Bean rolled his eyes and huffed a laugh. "Alright, fair enough."

Lucas still wasn't doing the squat correctly and Bean stepped behind him, setting a warm hand on his lower back. Lucas's spine immediately straightened up, and his shoulders rolled back. He felt his cheeks burn a little.

"Much better posture, now squeeze your ass at the top when you come up," Bean said behind him, his voice sounding a little lower than normal. Lucas gulped and pushed up through his heels, doing it as Bean instructed. Bean's hand left his back just as he reset, leaving what felt like an imprint on him.

Bean picked up his own weight as well. "Yeah that's it. Now do three more reps, and we'll move on to the upper body."

They continued in silence for the rest, until Lucas went to turn around and put his weight back in the rack, and he heard snickering behind him. Spinning around, he found Bean covering his mouth and trying not to laugh, his face shiny from sweat.

"What?" Lucas panted.

"Dude, look at your back."

Lucas turned himself and looked in the mirror to see his back drenched in sweat but the darkest part was shaped like a hand at the bottom of his back, Bean's hand.

His snort sent them both into a laughing fit, wheezing to try and regain their breaths. Lucas had no idea why it was so funny. Maybe because Bean thought it was funny, and he looked so cute laughing even all sweaty that he couldn't help but laugh, too.

It was so weird and yet it made complete sense to Lucas. These moments were becoming his favorites: just Bean and him being idiots about whatever. He felt they were already old friends, and the comfort of the situation almost made him forget about the tingling sensation left on his back. Almost.

Their laughter eventually died down, and Bean rubbed his stomach. "Well that was an ab workout in itself, huh?"

"Wow," Lucas shook his head, feigning disappointment. "If you ever make another bad joke like that, I'm leaving the house."

They smiled at each other, sipped some water and moved on to upper body.

Lucas stumbled back in the apartment behind Bean, his legs and chest burning.

"You didn't tell me exercising made you tired, what the fuck," he mumbled under his breath as he tried to carry himself across the small living room to the couch.

"Ah! Wait, you can't just sit on our furniture all gross. Go shower!" Bean tugged him back.

Lucas groaned, "But I'm tired! I don't wanna, let me take a nap first," he tried to reason.

"No," Bean laughed. "Now go clean yourself up before I do it myself. I want to watch something before dinner."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. Suddenly the idea of Bean doing it himself was very appealing. "Oh?"

"Just..." Bean gaped at him, obviously uncomfortable and regretting what he said. "Go!" Bean lightly pushed Lucas away and went to their room, closing the door behind him.

The smile on Lucas' face surprised him, and he pivoted to the direction of the bathroom, feeling like he wouldn't be opposed to going to the gym again soon.