How You Became Mine

Part Four

Lectures bored the hell out of Monty, but he had to force himself to remain focused. At least enough to take well enough notes to study with later. He had taken a few quizzes so far which he scored better than expected on. The wonders of actually trying.

His job was also going well. He got ten dollars an hour and a free sandwich every other day, so he didn't have to worry about food. Sometimes he'd give his free sandwich to Winston. It was a way of paying Winston back for all the dinners he bought for Monty.

Football was in full swing. He was benched for most of the games due to his rookie status, but the coaches let him play shortly in some of them. He was always amazed by how many people were in the crowd cheering them on.

Winston had mostly morning lectures and one in the afternoon. He wished he had more afternoon classes, because he was not a morning person. He was lucky that he had his reliable alarm man, Monty, to keep him on track.

Monty woke up early everyday to go to football and would make sure to wake Winston up for class before he left. He had practice from 6-8am. After morning workouts with the team, he'd head over to his first three classes. Then he'd go to work for three hours before finishing the rest of his classes. He was finished by around 5pm and took a few hours to do assignments and study for tests.

Monty tended to eat dinner around 9pm, and by that time, he'd be starving to death. If he really needed to, or was feeling very productive, he would study some more after eating. But he'd rather spend the rest of the night unwinding on his phone or his laptop. However, the majority of the time, exhaustion overtook Monty and he just dropped until he woke up the next morning to start it all over again. He was tired all the time and was just counting the days until the next break.

Winston got tired just looking at Monty. He was never more thankful that he didn't play a college sport, and could afford to not have a job. Winston tried to help as much as he could by having dinner ready for Monty, so he wouldn't have to walk to get food. It also helped that Monty wasn't picky, so he'd eat anything Winston put in front of him.

He also kept true on his promise of visiting Monty while he was working. Each time he went, Winston would give Monty little handwritten notes like the ones mothers would pack in their kids lunchboxes. At first Winston was embarrassed to give them to him, but the athlete seemed to really enjoy them.

Monty and Winston studied together almost everyday. They had completely different classes, but that only meant they were focused on their own things. They had become really close, and were attached at the hip, moving around like a singular unit. Winston would sometimes bring Monty with him to study with friends, just because he didn't want Monty to be alone.

Monty followed through on his college survival guide by keeping to himself. The only friends he had were on the team. He made no effort to talk to any people in his classes, which at the moment was totally screwing him over. Maybe he should've added "find smart people to get help from" on that guide. Monty made a mental note to make a friend the next time he had civil engineering, because that class was kicking his ass to hell and back.

———

"Shit, Shit. Fuck. Ok," Monty whispered to himself as he walked into his dorm room. "What?" Winston asked with a worried expression. Just seeing his face made Monty crumble. "I fell asleep in CE and I was supposed to make a friend and I didn't take any notes and didn't have time to ask for any because by the time I woke up everyone had left," he panic explained without stopping. "Woah, woah. Calm down. It's just one class period, Monty. It's ok," Winston said softly, standing up from his sitting position. He wasn't really sure what to do to help the athlete.

Monty let a loud frustrated noise escape his mouth, putting his hands in his hair. The stress was becoming too much. "There's a fucking test, in two days for that class!" Montys frustration at himself was quickly turning into hot, red, anger. He hadn't felt this upset in a long time. Not since the last time he fought his dad and got punched. Monty wanted to punch something now.

If only he wasn't dirt poor, he wouldn't need a stupid athletic scholarship to be there. If only his coaches would give him a single break so he wouldn't have to wake up so early. Every. Fucking. Day. Then he wouldn't be tired. Then he wouldn't fall asleep in his most important class. If only he had the basic socializing skills to just talk to people, he'd have fucking help on his homework. God, why was he like this? Why did he have to do that? He was supposed to be better. He wasn't supposed to be lazy. He wasn't supposed to sleep in class like some slacker. Monty couldn't see anymore. All he could see was red. Tears stung at his eyes as he just stood there.

Fucking anxiety attack. It hadn't happened since he was a child.

Out of nowhere, Monty could feel his breathing slow down.

He opened his eyes and Winston was there, right in front of him. Brown eyes filled with concern, hands gently cupping his face. "Are you okay?" he whispered. Monty didn't respond. He just grabbed Winston's wrists so his hands wouldn't move from their position. Tears rolled down his cheeks and Winston moved to hug him. Monty wrapped himself as tightly as he could around Winston, craving the comfort. After minutes of them standing, Montys tears dried to a stop. Now he was just appreciating Winston's warmth, allowing himself a chance to calm down.

"What's going on?" the smaller one asked gently. Monty waited another minute to answer, and Winston didn't push further. "I'm supposed to be better than this," Monty whispered in shame.

Monty hated the idea of being around someone that reminded him of his past. But now he was thanking his lucky star that Winston knew him. Knew his past. Because right now, he knew that Winston understood. He understood every little thing Monty was saying in his simple explanation.

I'm supposed to be better than this.

Monty did bad things in high school, lived an unforgiving life, had a lot of bad influences surrounding him. He put little effort into anything he did. He gave up on school, gave up on family, and gave up on Winston. Monty didn't know why it took him so long to realize it, but because of his behavior, his actions... he had become his father. The revelation only added to how much he hated himself.

Then he got the scholarship. A second chance. He refused to drag himself down anymore. No more self sabotage, laziness, or arrogance. He was going to get better. He was going to do more. But he'd already screwed up.

"You're already perfect, Monty," Winston pulled him out from his dark thoughts. Winston drew back from the hug to look into Montys eyes. "You are the most hardworking person I have ever met. In my whole entire life. And this is coming from the guy who's parents are always working," he smiled. "Shut up," Monty smiled slightly, eyes still red from crying. "It's true," Winston argued, gaining momentum.

"You don't see me working my ass off every morning and making sandwiches for three hours straight everyday do you?" Monty chuckled lightly. "No. Trust fund," he teased. "See?" Winston emphasized. "Despite what you may think, you are nailing college. You are probably doing better than over half of the campus. And your grades are some of the best I've seen. Plus you're really hot," Winston added with a flirtatious smile. He knew exactly how to cheer Monty up.

"Don't test me, Williams," Monty smirked, moving his hands to grip Winston's slim waist.

His mood was mostly back to normal and it was like all his stress disappeared into thin air. The magic of Winston Williams.

"What're you gonna do, De La Cruz? Kick me out of the room?" Winston continued, making his eyes wide. "You asked for it," Monty growled playfully, pushing Winston towards the door jokingly. "No!" Winston laughed. "I'll do anything," he pretend pleaded. Monty pinned Winston against the door. "Anything?" Monty raised his eyebrows, moving his face closer to Winston's. Winston managed to keep his cool, even though his heart was going crazy. "Anything," he whispered.

"Kiss me."