You Mean The World To Me

Golden Retriever

   On the first day Alex walks to his first class which he shares with Jean. They find that Laila and Alvarez also have that class, so they share a table together with the girls. Alex and Jean hear from them about their team now going to the gym in the mornings before school. Jean mentions to Alex they should now go at night. For their second class, Alex and Jean part ways.

After that second class, it's lunch time. Alex meets up with Jean near the cafeteria. They then immediately bump into Laila and Alvarez, who invite them to a table with Connor, Jeremy, and Scott. They first buy some food from the cafe before sitting down across from the guys, with the girls sitting next to Jean. They're enthusiastically greeted by Jeremy. Scott and Connor greet them and jump right back into a conversation they're having.

Katsu walks up, having spotted the familiar faces. Alex invites him to sit, as does Jeremy. So he gratefully sits down next to Alex. The remainder of their team is scattered about elsewhere.

Connor, Scott, Laila, and Sarah talk while Alex listens in. He learns surprisingly that Scott is a music major. He also hears for the first time about Connor's girlfriend who goes to USC.

Alex decides he'll chat with Jeremy. A question pops into mind, he asks, "Jeremy, are you a cat person?"

Jeremy smiles widely at the question for him, "Well, I love dogs. I don't hate cats. I prefer dogs so, dog person."

"Okay. Makes sense..." Alex can picture Jeremy as a dog, specifically a golden retriever.

"What about you?" Jeremy pauses eating his lunch.

"Oh I'm a cat person. Not that I don't like dogs just, I love cats."

"Gotcha." The blond chuckles.

"And you Jean?" Alex asks, he knows Jean had been listening in.

"Don't know." Jean states.

Katsu chimes in from the right of Alex, "Me neither."

"I've never thought about it." Jean says, poking food around on his plate.

"Okay. Well you should be a cat person." Alex beams at him.

"Sure." He goes along with what Alex says.

"I'll be one too, cats are cute." Katsu laughs.

Alex turns to Jeremy, "We win!"

"Oh it's a contest is it?" He raises an eyebrow, smirking.

"Yup." Alex bats his eyelashes at Jeremy.

.

When lunch time is up everyone goes their separate ways. Alex and Jean say goodbye and split up. Alex walks into his next class and immediately spots Jeremy. He goes to sit next to him, and their knees touch under the table.

"Long time no see!" Jeremy jokes, smiling.

"A whole five minutes!" Alex says dramatically.

"Way too long if you ask me," He laughs, "Well I'm glad we have a class together."

"Yeah me too." Alex says. Jeremy turns to look at the door as some guys wander into the room. They spot him and run over, they crowd the remainder of their table. Jeremy introduces Alex to them, touching his arm in the process. The guys seem fairly nice, they introduce themselves to Alex in turn. They chat loudly with Jeremy while waiting for the teacher to arrive.

Alex goes on his phone and texts Jean, 'got a class with Jeremy! you with anyone?'. Jean replies no.

.

For his final class of the day Alex sits in a corner by himself and texts Jean, 'alone now ): how about you?'

Jean texts, 'With Jeremy'.

Alex thinks it's good they each get a class with Jeremy, that they each get one-on-one time with him.

Afterward, Alex heads to his dorm. Jean and him sort through school things, there's a short amount of time before exy practice. Practice goes smoothly, then they eat dinner back at the dorm.

Once it starts to get dark out, Jean does drag Alex to the gym like promised to workout. Jean wears his usual black compression t-shirt and basketball shorts. He has his earbuds in, listening to music. After over an hour they return to their dorm.

.

One night after working out they bump into Jeremy walking on campus.

"Oh hey guys!" Jeremy joins them for their stroll back to the dorms. He chats with Alex and every now and then, their hands brush together slightly.

At the dorms before they split ways he asks, "Could I join you guys one time?"

"Of course." Alex grins.

"Cool, thanks. 'Night guys." Jeremy waves goodbye and goes into his dorm.

.

The next night Jeremy meets the two at the gym. It's empty, there's only the three of them. Jean goes to do his cardio while Jeremy tags along with Alex, wanting to follow his workout routine.

"So what do you do first?" He asks.

"Warm ups!" Alex brings him to the racks where the weights are. Jeremy copies what Alex does. While they lift weights they talk about their classes so far in their first week.

Eventually they move to the bench press. Jean comes over to join them. First Alex spots Jean, who is listening to music in his earbuds. Jeremy stands next to Alex, out of the way and continues his conversation with him.

Jeremy tries not to stare at Jean's muscles flexing and focuses on talking with Alex.

Jean finishes up and it's Alex's turn. Alex changes the weights on each side before laying down. Jean stands behind him with his arms at his sides to spot him.

When he's done he suggests Jeremy to go. So Jeremy changes the weights to how much he lifts then goes to lay down. Alex stands off to the side while Jean stays standing in the same spot. Jeremy's laying on his back and he looks up at Jean standing above his head. Jean stares down at Jeremy, his arms crossed over his chest, frowning softly. Jeremy swallows a lump in his throat. Alex says something to him so he snaps his eyes away from Jean's and focuses on lifting.

Jean and them separate again to work at different machines. They spend about 20 more minutes doing things before finishing up. They go outside and sit down on a bench. Jean breathes heavily and rips his earbuds out. He chugs a water bottle, taking big gulps while Alex and Jeremy watch from next to him. Jeremy looks away and downs his own water bottle.

After a minute of comfortable silence Jeremy says, "Thanks guys. Can I join again tomorrow?"

Alex smiles, "Sure thing. Join us anytime."

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