the roommate → brad simpson | ✓

twenty eight - "i should get you a trampoline"

"I'm ready," I say as I grab his jacket he'd left on my bed for me to wear. He gets off of his bed, he's wearing a white shirt and light blue denim jacket, accompanied with some black trousers.

He glances down at my outfit—a tight black skirt and a red crop top, as well as his black leather jacket and my own Doc Martins. He pulls the jacket over my shoulders, putting the colour down and lifting my hair from underneath it so that the curls bounced on top of the black leather.

"You look great," he coughs awkwardly, stepping away and grabbing his phone and dorm key. "Let's get going, then."

I follow him out of the dorm and we lock up before going down to the frat houses lined up outside. A couple were hosting parties but we went to the more crowded party. Brad held my hand and squeezed it gently as I let out a small sigh.

"I'll be by your side. I don't want you finding any trouble," he chuckles.

"I'm sure trouble will find me instead."

He doesn't reply as we step through the crowded doorway and find some drinks. He pulls me along with his hand, checking back every few steps to make sure I was still following before we reach the kitchen which was, thankfully, less crowded.

"What drink do you want?" He asks as I lean against the counter. He ends up popping open a can of cider for me and I take it gracefully, shooting him a thankful smile.

As usual, Brad and I end up complaining about the shitty music blasting throughout the house and he chuckles as he stands by me, his eyes flickering from my eyes to the entrance every time someone walks through.

He tenses up as he watches someone walk through and I stop mid-sentence to see who fought his eye. Walking through the door was the one and only Thomas, with Britt resting st his arms.

Brad reaches for my empty hand, interlacing our fingers and I shoot him a confused look but then remember they probably thought we were a thing and I was trying to prove I was happy without them in my life.

"Aw, you two are cute," Britt comments as they reach the drinks. Her voice sounded genuine as a smile placed on her face. Her eyes flicker down to our hands before going to the beer Thomas was holding out for her. She accepts it with a small, "thank you."

"You're practically made for each other," Thomas chuckles and Brad squeezes my hand, more so for my reassurance.

I look down at the floor, trying to focus on something other than Thomas and Britt's presence beside me. I feel Brad's thumb lightly tracing over my knuckles.

"I think we should go and dance," I decide, chugging down my remaining fifth cider of the night before dumping the can on the side. Brad puts his beer bottle down and I follow him out to the living room where people were dancing.

As soon as we've found our own spot, his hands are my waist and my arms are over his shoulders as we danced to the beat.

"Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to punch Thomas in the face?" I remark and he chuckles. "He didn't even do anything and I wanted to punch him."

"You'd be doing him a favour if you punched him in the face," he snarks and I smile, letting my head rest on his shoulder. "I'm gonna go to the toilet, okay? You can stay here if you want, or you can come upstairs with me."

"I'll stay here," I decide and lift my head off of his shoulder. He smiles down at me before leaving me on the dance floor. I looked around, only recognising one girl from my class that I'd never spoken to before.

After a few moments, I decide I'll actually go to the bathroom with Brad even though I didn't need it. I'd prefer to be with him rather than on the dance floor with people I don't know.