Know Me (College AU)

1. Party

"Fandyyy, please." Nick whined, pulling at his roommate's arm. "Pretty pretty please?"

Fandy groaned again, throwing his head back against the couch as his body jerked with another yank of his arm. "Why do you even want me to go?" He sighed, turning to look at Nick. "You'll just ignore me once you see Patrick. I know this already."

"I won't! I won't this time." Pouted Nick. "I'm scared to walk alone. You saw the news!"

"It's still light outside!" Fandy motioned at the window sassily. "You'll probably sleep over anyway."

"Please just come."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"There might be hot girls."

"Oh, yeah, wait a minute." Fandy stood up, pretending to perk up for a second. "I never thought of that, you know..."

Fandy tried to keep his facade. "No." He said the word firmly.

Nick pouted, and Fandy felt slightly guilty. He sighed, giving in. "Ugh. Fine. Give me five minutes."

It wasn't that Fandy was anti-social, he just tended to be... awkward. He wasn't good with new people, and although he loved Nick, the younger man tended to abandon him, especially when it came to his boyfriend, Patrick.

He pulled on a red sweatshirt and jeans, ruffling his hair, then combing it down again.

They left the dorm, both with a key in their pockets. Fandy was more trustworthy, tending not to get drunk and stay over places where he didn't know, and Nick often lost keys.

The walk to the building where the party was being held was about five minutes, two pairs of shoes slapping against slightly damp spring concrete. Nick passed the time by talking about his boyfriend, Patrick, who was just a year older. They had met before the first day last year, when Patrick gave Nick and a group of other newcomers a college tour. They fell in love almost instantly, exchanging numbers and later, going on dates.

It had been about six months now.

Fandy and Nick were clearly meant to be best friends. They were both friendly, social, and occasionally loud. Even though they took different classes, they were roommates, so they spent nights together, usually doing homework in front of the TV.

Fandy wore earplugs to bed when Patrick was over, not willing to listen to those two. They would stay up insanely late, doing nothing but talking. It didn't matter to them how early classes were the next day, all they wanted was to spend time together, heart to heart, skin to skin.

Unlike Nick, Fandy didn't have someone like that. He was focused on his major, which was acting. He knew that he could find someone after college. Besides, he had never met anyone who really caught his eye, who he had really, really fallen in love with.

"This way." Nick guided him through the hall, his voice echoing against the old wooden walls. As they got closer to the party, Fandy could hear pulsing music making the floor vibrate.

Nick knocked once on dorm 246, then waited. The door swung open not a moment later, opened by a clearly drunk Patrick.

"Nicky!" He grinned, pulling in the younger for a sloppy kiss. Fandy cringed.

The music was already giving him a headache, and the smell of alcohol and sweat wasn't very appealing. Nick pulled away from Patrick, grinning up at him. "Get us a drink, baby?"

"Anything for you." They parted, and Fandy walked the rest of the way in, following Nick's lead.

People that Fandy had hardly met before danced around to the music, holding spilling drinks in their hands.

There was a quieter part of the party, where people were lounging on the couches, mostly couples making out. But deeper into the room, Fandy caught sight of a slouched over man, handsome and holding a notebook in his hand.

Nick steered right, to the bar, opposite of where Fandy wished he could go. Patrick was at his kitchen sink, which was full of cans of beer and other hard alcohols. He poured a mix of vodka and sprite in two red cups, then handed it to the two boys. Fandy took a swig immediately, tasting the combination of bitter and sweetness that made his eyebrows furrow.

"You wanna dance, baby?" Patrick asked, walking from the counter and wrapping his arms around Nick's torso.

"Yeah." Nick muttered, leaning his head into Patrick's chest. "Fandy, you can find someone to dance with, right?" Fandy shook his head aggressively, trying to deny the idea, but Nick had already walked away.

Fandy sighed, leaning back against the counter and taking another sip of his drink. The music changed from pounding fast to sultry slow, and Fandy caught sight of multiple couples, dancing, twirling, grinding, kissing, enjoying every moment they had together. In that second, Fandy wished he had someone to dance with, but a second later, he was okay again.

His future was more important than any lover.

A voice on Fandy's left side made him jump slightly. "Pretty boring party, eh?"

Fandy turned his head, meeting two dark eyes that melted into his soul like it was butter. It was the guy from the corner, the one with the notebook.

"Sure." Fandy nodded, taking another sip. He watched the man with his eyes as he moved behind the counter, pouring a shot of Scotch in his red cup.

He was handsome, Fandy couldn't deny. His lips were pink, even under the dim kitchen lights, and they were plump, kissable. His hair was clean and soft looking, and he was dressed in a blue and white button up, the bottom tucked into black jeans.

The stranger leaned on the counter beside him, taking a dainty sip of the Scotch. "What's your name? I haven't seen you around campus before."

"Fandy." He managed to say, his throat suddenly dry. "I haven't seen you either."

He made a grunt sound, barely audible amongst the slow-dance music. "I'm Zach."

"Nice to meet you, Zach." Fandy smiled, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips, before his plastic cup moved upwards for another sip.

"Fandy." Zach tried the word in his mouth. "Do you wanna dance?"