Devil's Fate

20/20

The apartment still smelled like pizza when Chester slumped onto the couch with his leopard print backpack. Instead of his usual stash of stuff inside that he took to Score, it was now filled with books. After accepting Forrest's offer, the Score owner hadn't wasted any time getting Chester signed up for three classes - two for the sake of his new job on the creative team, and one that was of Chester's choosing, a fun class that Forrest had thrown in, just to let Chester experience college a little more fully, even though less classes would have been fine with Chester.

He stared down at the Beginning Parenting book with a sigh. I'm not even sure why I chose this class. I guess because I thought it would be easy. But Mike and I don't have any kids. Well, other than Cheese. He glanced over at the terrier, who was curled up next to him on the couch, her stuffed piece of cheddar under her chin, clutched between her paws. Mike was still in the shower, and Chester knew her quiet, subdued mood would probably change once his boyfriend joined them in a few minutes.

Until then, he wanted to get a jump on his reading, as Forrest suggested. I suck at reading. I hope it's not hard. He flipped through the parenting book quickly. Of the three, it was the thinnest, and the print was larger. There were lots of pictures, and it only took a few glimpses of female reproductive systems and charts for household budgets before he decided he'd leave that for later.

He left it on the coffee table and plucked the marketing book out next. It was heavier, with a red and blue cover. He opened it up with a sigh. I have to do this. I promised Forrest I would. I told him I was going to do my best.

He glanced through the opening pages - reading over the table of contents quickly and ignoring the acknowledgements and preface, until he got to chapter one. He had the book sprawled on his lap, his ankle crossed over his knee, as his foot bounced up and down. He heard the shower turn off and he looked towards the hallway for a few seconds, before giving his attention back to his book. He stretched his neck, sucked on his piercing, and rubbed his fingers over the knee of his black joggers, and then over his naked chest.

It was so hard to concentrate, and he found himself staring down at the letters on the pages, as he tried to get through it. If he couldn't do this, this very first step, he was never going to make it. He was never going to pass. He picked the book up off his lap and held it a little closer to his face, hoping to decipher and understand what the words meant.

Mike was in a great mood when he stepped out of the shower. Before he was even all dried off he opened the bathroom door to let the steam out, and then ran his towel over his hair one more time before he took care of his lower half. He walked from the bathroom to the bedroom naked to grab his pajamas. It had been an exciting day, taking Chester to the campus bookstore to get their textbooks together. Walking through the rows and rows of books to find the course number on the little card next to the book was like a scavenger hunt, and he'd enjoyed showing Chester how everything was organized. They'd walked through the racks of USC clothing, too, which Mike knew was overpriced. It was fun to imagine Chester in a college shirt, though, and together they had looked at several before deciding to wait.

He pulled his selected shirt over his damp head, the old t-shirt he'd stolen away from Chester the first time he'd ever worn his boyfriend's clothes. It was worn and soft, and he didn't care that it didn't match his pajama pants. Having it on made him feel even closer to his boyfriend, and that was the reason he'd kept it in the first place. They'd already had dinner, and now they were going to sit on the couch and look through their books together, and talk about what the new semester would be like. Mike was totally geeked out.

His excitement dimmed a little when he walked into the living room to see Chester frowning at one of his textbooks. "What's wrong?" he asked, plopping down on the couch next to Cheese, who immediately climbed up on him.