Sunsets and Constellations | B X B

• T W E N T Y •

E L I J A H

"Bye, come back soon!" Elijah waved at Jake as his uncle and little Toby sped off into the distance.
The campus was nearly empty, with almost everyone going back home for Christmas.
All of Elijah's friends had left already and Jake was the last one to leave.

Ryder's snobby parents had come in their Porsche to pick her up and she had said goodbye reluctantly. Elijah was delighted at the fact that she had initiated the hug this time.
Tirzah and her boisterous family had left first thing in the morning.
Only a handful of students and Ms.Baker, Mr.Rufus, the Librarian and Mr.Bruce had stayed back.

Elijah couldn't believe his luck when Arius had mentioned that he wasn't going back home.

Fuck yeah!

He was glad that their rift was resolved and now they were actually friends. They'd hung out a lot this past week and Elijah had loved every second of it. He had managed to push his feelings for the boy to the back of his mind and focused on being a good friend more than anything.

"You do know that it's not even that long, they'll be back before you know it." Arius chuckled from beside him as he stared off into the distance wistfully.

"Yeah, but I'll miss hanging out as a group." Elijah sighed loudly.

"Fucking sap."

"Oh shut up and let me be." Elijah said as he turned around to go back in.

"How about you tell me about that basic bitch prank that you've planned huh?" Arius asked from beside him.

And just like that, all the colour flooded back to Elijah's face as he told Arius what he intended to do to each of their rooms.
They were currently walking back to their dorms as there was nothing left to do now that everyone had left.

Elijah unbolted his door as they went inside and sat; Elijah on the giant beanbag and Arius on his bed.

"Your room is so much smaller than mine." Arius said, looking around.

"Obviously, you have Koovs and Mads rooming with you." Elijah rolled his eyes.

"Woah, did you do that?" Arius said, standing up and walking toward the desk.

"Don't, Arius they're just-" Elijah trailed off nervously.

He picked up the sheets of paper that were lying on his table, sifting through them and suddenly halting. He shook his head slightly and looked at it again, closer this time.

"What the fuck? Am I over-analysing or is that a cartoon version of me?" Arius asked voice laced with amusement.

"I mean, you've got it right down to the details of the print on my red hoodie and don't even get me started with the eyes, they're the exact shade that mine are."

"I was bored, so I was doodling." Elijah mumbled almost shyly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Careful Elijah, or I might just think that you fancy me." Arius laughed as he put down the sheets of paper and looked Elijah dead in the eyes.

How the fuck was he not freaking out that another guy had been drawing him?
That was something Elijah did not understand at all, if someone from back at his old school had seen that, they'd freak the fuck out.

And here was Arius, dare he say, almost flirting with him? The boy was a fucking enigma.
And the way he looked at Elijah dead in the eyes.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

Elijah hated it, but loved it even more when Arius looked at him like that. It was so fucking mesmerising. It would catch him completely off guard and hypnotise him down to his trembling bones. He would surrender and be captive to that bold gaze forever if it was upto him. Each time he looked into Arius's eyes, he would find it even harder to look away than the previous time. One of these days, Arius would notice that Elijah liked him, he was sure of that.