Funny How Love Is (Maylor AU)

Chapter 8

A blanket of silence fell over the lecture hall before the blonde jumped down from his seat on the desk and started to pace, hands clasped behind his back. "She wants me to make fifty of those things," he blurted out, hoping to attract the professor's interest, "I don't know how on earth she expects me to do that by the end of the day."

"Well, how long have you known about them?" Brian inquired, keeping his attention on the board he was writing on but letting Roger know he was listening. The words the curly-haired man was producing meant nothing, for there was no class today. Today his students were taking their exam, and it wasn't until later. He'd arrived early to spend some time with Chrissie and—though he would deny it if he was ever asked—to see Roger...also to review one last time with John, but he wasn't coming in until ten.

The blonde chuckled under his breath, answering honestly, "She asked me about them the day I was hired." Brian couldn't help but look over at the music instructor in disbelief, seeing the embarrassed blush rising in his cheeks as he scuffed his feet across the floor tiles. He met the professor's amused gaze and smiled.

"You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?" the tall man replied incredulously, setting the chalk back down in the tray and turning towards him.

"Don't think I can just wing it?" Roger proposed, biting his lip and slowly shortening the distance between the two of them. He was careful in the way he walked towards the professor, taking slow, calculated strides and moving his hips in such a way that made one wonder where he learned to walk like that. There were a lot of people who knew the answer to that question, but Brian wasn't one of them, and if Roger had anything to do with it, he never would be.

Brian tilted his head down and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, telling him, "I mean, you could certainly try, but..." His sentence trailed off as he glanced up at Roger, the entertained expression now on his face. "What?"

"What?" the blonde mimicked the professor.

He shook his head, grinning from ear to ear as he placed his hands on his hips and remarked, "You're truly something, Roger."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Brian?" the blonde continued his game of flattery, dramatically mirroring the taller man's stance.

Brian had no control over the giggle that escaped from the back of his throat, immediately becoming embarrassed by the sound he'd made but incapable of stopping the giggle from turning into a full-on laughing fit. It wasn't that what Roger was doing was the funniest thing he'd ever seen; he just couldn't stop thinking about how the music instructor—of all people—was the first professor at the university he seemed to connect with on a non-intellectual level, even more than he did with Chrissie, and although it had only been a week since they first met, there was no denying that they enjoyed each other's company. After all, neither of them had kicked the other out of their classroom yet.

Roger only smirked in response to Brian's break in character, his cheeks growing a faint shade of red as he said, "Fine. You caught me red-handed, Professor." He put his hands up in surrender, smiling. "I've got absolutely no fucking clue what I'm doing here, but that needs to stay between you and me, alright? No one can find out."

"What'll happen if they do?"

The blonde eliminated what little space separated the two of them by leaning in, parting his lips to whisper his answer when Brian's eyes flickered away from Roger's and widened, a look of fear washing over his hazel irises. "John," the professor muttered, gently pushing Roger aside and walking towards the student standing in the middle of the doorway, "You're early."

"Yeah, I...I was up all night studying and...and there were just so many questions I had that I didn't think I'd be able to get through them all with you b-before the test," he stammered as he entered the room, raising a curious eyebrow as his eyes that had tired bags under them and were glossed over in exhaustion locked on Roger. The blonde slipped his hands into his pockets and turned away from the two, trying to act like he wasn't there.

"Oh, John," Brian murmured pitifully, looking back at Roger too. He wanted to finish their conversation, but he knew his responsibilities and priorities lied elsewhere. Biting his lip, he returned his attention to his student and said, "Why don't you go out in the hallway for a minute? I'll call you in when I'm ready."

"A-Alright," John stuttered before hesitantly making his way out of the classroom, catching as many quick glances as he could at the blonde while Brian followed in tow and closed the door behind him. Once the door softly clicked shut, the professor spun around to face the instructor.

"I'm sorry about that," he apologized.

"Don't be," Roger brushed him off with a seemingly unbothered wave of the hand, the unexpected arrival of Brian's student noticeably having killed the moment they were sharing, "I should probably get started on those posters anyways. Catch you later?"

Brian nodded his head in forced agreement, watching silently as the young blonde grinned and walked past him, bumping shoulders with the professor's eager student who tried to reenter the room as soon as the door was opened. John mumbled a quick apology that went unheard as the music instructor rushed off to his own classroom, his cheeks burning up and his heart beating faster and faster with each hurried step he took.

He was in trouble, and he knew deep down it was only going to get worse.