The Halls of Westwood [BxB]

Chapter 24

Jayce laid out across his bed, smiling to himself as he thought of his boyfriend... Again. Markos was perfect. Things were perfect... Even if Markos could be a bit absent from reality at times, he still talked and communicated with Jayce when he wanted or needed something. He was kind and compassionate... He still had the biggest ego Jayce had ever seen, but it was quickly growing on him. He couldn't see what could possibly go wrong with them.

His situation with his grumpy roommate was a whole other story. Austin had been over less often... Jayce preferred to pretend he didn't know about them. He decided that Jullian didn't seem like someone who was open and comfortable about his sexuality and didn't want to get on his bad side... He and Jullian got along fine. They rarely spoke, sometimes they'd meditate together in the mornings and they played basketball often enough. But Jayce couldn't tell you much about him... Nobody really could.

He knew Jullian was from the suburbs of California. He knew he was Jewish and that he had a best friend or possible girlfriend named Sarah. He knew Jullian was an exceptional athlete and student. And that was where it ended. He lived with the boy and knew as much about him as anyone else in Westwood. It was quickly coming to the point where everyone knew or recognized everyone else in Westwood... Jayce could point at five random boys in the halls and tell you their names, where they were from, who they hung around and why they were there. But he still knew nothing about Jullian.

He did learn one thing new today though. And that was that Jullian had a short temper. When he wasn't content or numb like he almost always was, he was moody. And when he was moody, everything pissed him off. Jayce had debated just hiding in Markos's room until he had cooled off, but Markos had kicked him out because Jayce was apparently too distracting to write around.

"Are you... Okay?" Jayce hesitantly asked as he glanced over at the brooding brunette across the room. Jayce tried to avoid conflict at all costs... He hated it unless he had a good enough cause. For example, he'd gotten in fights with adults and kids his age over his sister. But you could curse Jayce out and he'd try and relax and slow down the conversation. It all came down to reasoning with him.

"Shouldn't you be off screwing that obnoxious prick you call a boyfriend?" Jullian deadpanned instead. Jayce pressed his lips together, trying to keep the conversation relaxed. He wasn't going to fight or argue... But he also wasn't going to stand around when Markos was being disrespected.

"Markos has been nothing but good to you... Just leave him be, alright?" Jayce huffed. "That being said, you didn't have to answer me at all"

"I didn't. I was simply asking a question, same as you" Jullian's voice was cold... Hollow even. Jayce liked to relate people to colors based on first glance... It always gave him a good perception of who that person was and it never failed him. Some people were more obvious than others. For example, Beau had always been a bright a cheerful yellow. Yellow usually meant creativity, loyalty, and optimism. Markos was always a dark navy blue which usually meant mystery, superiority, and chaos. But Jullian had always been a dull gray... Cold, lifeless, and passionless.

"If I answered yours would you answer mine?"

"Unlikely" Jullian mumbled without missing a beat. Jayce bit down on his lip anxiously as he debated asking about Austin. He wasn't sure if Jullian would like the fact that he knew... But he also knew Jullian needed somebody to talk to and he didn't exactly have a lot of friends...

"Austin's been by less often... Did he finally get his grades up or...?"

"Shut up" Jullian suddenly scoffed. "He's still a fucking idiot" Apparently Jayce was right... It did have to do with Austin.

"I really don't mean to pry... But if you ever wanted to talk..." Fuck... Jayce really wasn't good at this. He had never been good in situations like this.