Precious Virtue ✓

Chapter 20: Midnight Recollection

Precious Virtue

Chapter XX: Midnight Recollection

[Preston's POV]

I couldn't focus in class. The calculus professor was explaining something while pointing at the large projector screen that stood at the front of the lecture room, but it was all a blur to me. I didn't want to be there, learning about the applications of derivatives and integrals. All I could think about was how much I wanted to go back to my dorm and have a fucking drink.

I couldn't stop thinking about the Halloween party back at Luka's place. That was already two weeks ago and yet here I was, still thinking about it. While I was happy to have hung out with Adrien and all of our friends together under the same roof, it hurt to watch him be so affectionate with Luka.

Not to mention, Halloween brought back past memories of the two of us. Halloween was the day I finally confessed my feelings to him. It was when we kissed and had sex for the first time.

Now, he was making those memories with someone else.

I didn't hate Luka. He was a good man, and from what I saw when they were together, he treated Adrien well. It was hard to hate Luka, but not hating him somehow felt worse because I knew Luka was better for him than I was, and ever will be.

The thought weighed heavily on my chest, and it wouldn't go away. It persisted all the time. And despite Adrien reassuring me that he wanted me in his life, it was hard to believe him. He was moving on, whether he realized it or not.

I glanced over at Elijah. He sat next to me, wearing his reading glasses. He was focusing hard, his lip caught between his teeth while he wrote down everything the professor was telling us. I couldn't help but stare at him and admire the way his auburn hair was tousled messily on his head and the way his vibrant hazel eyes carried so much emotion in them, no matter what he was doing.

My eyes snapped down to his lips briefly, admiring the way he dug his teeth into his lower lip. His lips were slightly glossy from the lip balm he had on. What flavour was it? Vanilla? Mint? Raspberry? Did he even use a flavoured lip balm? A part of me wanted to lean over and find out.

"Preston?" I snapped out of my short daze and flickered my gaze back up to Elijah, who was now staring at me concernedly.

"Hmm?" I responded half-heartedly.

He raised a brow. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm okay," I replied with a nod of my head. Elijah didn't look too convinced.

"Are you sure? Because you're not even paying attention to the lecture. You're not even taking notes." Elijah gestured to my laptop screen, where I had a new document pulled up, but it was blank. I glanced at the blank document with a sigh, and then back to Elijah.

"I'd rather pay attention to you," I said without thinking. A blush noticeably worked its way onto Elijah's face. He let out a cough, quickly snapping his gaze away from me.

"Pay attention to the lecture, Preston." Elijah said lastly, "we have final exams coming up soon. You don't want to fail."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. I released a heavy sigh, turning my attention back to the lecture. I tried to focus, but still, I had trouble paying attention and often spaced out. But for Elijah, I tried to at least make myself look like that I was paying attention.

When the lecture was over, Elijah and I packed up our bags and headed out of the lecture hall. It was freezing outside, the cold wintry air hitting me in the face as we stepped outside. There was a thin layer of snow covering the ground and the roof of buildings.