Chapter Text
“I don’t get why you hate him so much, Parker, he’s harmless.” Ray shouts over the jam band playing at whatever fuckass dive bar they’re in.
“‘Cause Garraty, he doesn’t shut up.” Collie retorts.
As if on queue, across the bar Collie’s new roommate Gary Barkovitch whoops loudly, spooking an unsuspecting group of girls standing nearby. He slaps Stebbins on the shoulder blade while wearing a shit-eating grin. Collie thinks he looks like a child trying to impress his older brother’s friends.
Ray snorts. “I mean, yeah. But maybe you’ll balance each other out, since all you do is sit around looking pissed off. Give him a chance.”
“He bleached his hair with peroxide last night, ‘made the bathroom smell like chemicals. Then you guys invite him out tonight, we’ve been here for thirty minutes and he’s already downed a Guinness and at least two shots of Jim Bean. I’m gonna be carrying him back to the apartment.”
“What? Are these muscles just for show?” Pete teases, squeezing Collie’s arm.
“And didn’t we carry you back to your place like, two weeks ago?” Ray adds.
Collie rolls his eyes and glances across the bar again. This time he locks eyes with Gary, who quickly turns away with pink-tinged cheeks.
…The fuck is his deal?
“You want another one, Coll?” Ray asks.
Collie rips his eyes away from the blond to verify that there is, in fact, an empty can in his hands. He’s off work tomorrow, and he’s a little less jumpy when his chest feels all fuzzy.
Fuck it.
“If you don’t mind. I’ll get your next one.”
“Yes sir.” Ray grabs his empty and weaves through the crowd to the bar. Even when he’s several feet away, the purple bruises on his neck are still visible. Pete probably won’t let him cover them up. They’re so cock-whipped for the other it makes Collie’s stomach sour.
The guitarist on stage announces the band’s break. Someone immediately plays a country song on the bar’s TouchTunes. Pete makes a scrunched face.
“This kind of music always feels racist to me. Like, ‘This land is my land, not yours’ shit. You know what I mean.”
Collie smirks. “Yeah Pete, I think I do.”
“Ha, touché.” Pete bumps his shoulder. “That’s probably why you and I get along so well, huh?”
“Collie!” Calls a newly familiar voice. Collie whips his head and watches the blond nuisance and Stebbins thread past groups of patrons. Barkovitch is still wearing a playful smile as he makes his way to his new roommate. “Hey man, I won a bet against… Billy?” He glances at the taller, who nods in confirmation. “He’s buying a round. What’re ya’ll shooting?”
Stebbins grins lightly, still staring at Barkovitch. It pisses Collie off for whatever reason.
Ray steps into their circle, handing Collie and his boyfriend their PBR’s. “What’d I miss?”
“Gary won a bet so Billy is buying a round of shots.” Pete places a hand on Ray’s shoulder, pushing his fingers into the other’s muscle. “We did walk here, you in?”
Ray nods, then all eyes turn to Collie.
Stebbins scoffs. “I know you walked here too, don’t be lame.”
Fuck it.
“Fine.” Collie sighs.
“How about Fireball?” Ray offers.
Everyone nods in agreement. Barkovitch claps his hands together and somehow smiles wider. “Hell yeah!”
“You got the money for this, Stebby?” Pete asks.
Barkovitch drops his smile and furrows his brows, directing his pout at his new best friend. The weird marks on his pale throat protrude like overstretched nylon against the rest of his skin. “Wait, I thought you were a settlement kid?”
Collie clenches his beer can to prevent it from crashing to the already sticky tile floor. He’s not sure which one of his asshole friends decided to tell his obnoxious new roommate that they were all Long Walk survivors, but he’ll slap their shit right when he finds out.
"Settlement kid". He’d said it so casually, like Collie and the group were just some money-hungry, sue-happy pricks and not survivors of an abusive and deadly teen wilderness camp.
“Billy’s daddy was the Major. His shit’s a little more complicated.” Pete says.
Gary’s blue eyes widen comically. “Oh, that’s…”
“Yeah.” Stebbins responds eloquently, shrugging his shoulders. “Now, let’s go get those shots.”
The two walk away in continued conversation. Gary says something that makes Stebbins throw his head back in laughter. Collie sips his beer in a momentary effort to suppress his anger. He takes a deep breath into his chest, and turns towards Pete and Ray.
“Which one of you told him we were Long Walk kids?”
Pete and Ray stare at Collie incredulously.
“Collie, Gary was at The Long Walk.”
Collie stares back, equally as incredulous.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Ray leans in close, as if the noise level in the bar would allow anyone to ease drop. “He was Number Five. The, uh… the ‘Spoon Kid’.”
The memory slaps the backs of Collie’s eyelids before he can suppress it. It was a windy spring day in the Maine forest. He was minding his own fucking business, like he always did, gathering kindle when the shouting began. He immediately perked up and ran towards the chaotic crowd gathering in a half circle. He was one of the taller kids and easily peered over the screaming preteens.
Collie can see the resemblance now from the image burned in his brain. The blue-eyed boy pouring red from his throat. The kid didn’t even try to fight the life leaving his little body, he just laid contently while the camp counselors shouted desperately for help and pressed rags to his-... to Gary’s neck. It wasn’t until after Gary was life-flighted by helicopter that one of the kids found his suicide weapon, a spoon that made been meticulously sharpened into a shiv. Collie thought it was metal as shit and would’ve followed in his footsteps if he wasn’t such a coward.
“I thought you said you knew of him through friends.” Collie says… incredulously.
“Yeah, me and Ray met him through Harkness.” Pete furrows his brows. “You know, Richard Harkness, who we met at The Long Walk. Collie, I feel like I definitely told you about this.”
“Alright asshats!” The three turn towards the adult version of the ‘Spoon Kid’, whose mouth must be sore by now from grinning. “It’s shot o’clock.”
Gary holds out an oversized shot glass to Collie, who tries to ignore the feeling of the fingers brushing together.
After an informal cheers, the boys tip their heads back in unison. The cinnamon taste lines Collie’s mouth and nearly ruins the beer that he uses as a chaser.
He steals another glance at Gary’s throat. The scars must be about ten years old at this point and still look like an angry reminder that the fucking kid didn’t get to choose his own destiny.
The next 15 minutes go by surprisingly smoothly. Collie takes the backseat of the conversations happening around him while Stebbins, Ray and Pete engage with Gary easily. Collie learns that his roommate just turned 24, making him about two years younger than the rest of the group. His daddy was a Vietnam veteran and ran his house like a training camp. He’s terrified of horses. He hates pizza because “there’s so much cheese”.
Collie does in fact feel better now that his chest is warm from the whiskey, and his second beer is almost empty. He’s not even that annoyed when the ear-shattering band starts back up.
Pete calls him back to attention with his phone in hand. “Hey man, Art and Hank are at that new sports bar down the street. You in?”
Collie turns to Gary thoughtfully, since they did walk together. The sclera of his blue eyes are tinted pink and his sharp grin has turned into more of a dopey half-smile. Gary stares back at him like Collie is his favorite person. Collie waits a few more beats to give the kid a chance to respond.
Gary parts his lips and reaches his hand up, pressing the tip of his cold finger to Collie’s nose. “Boop.” he says in a childish voice.
Collie clears his throat, straightening his posture. The vibrations of the contact echo through his skin. “Uh, you good?”
Gary attempts to shift his weight onto his opposite foot, causing him to stumble backwards. His lanky body practically ricochets off of the tall man he smacks into, knocking the oblivious man’s beer to the floor.
“Jesus Christ, are you too fucking stupid to look where you’re going?” The tall man immediately squares his shoulders.
For Collie’s second big surprise of the night, the peroxide blond that stands at a generous 5’ 10” with little muscle mass does not cower and apologize. Afterall, he was a Long Walk kid, he’s a bit fucked in the head. Gary squares his bony shoulders and plants his shoes directly into the spilled beer. He opens his mouth to snap back, but the other man is quicker.
“What’re you going to do, faggot?”
“The fuck did you just call me?”
“Alright, Gary.” Collie steps halfway in front of the blond with his eyes locked on the man. He’s a few inches taller than Collie, but leaner. “It was an accident man, let’s not do this.”
“It’s a good thing you got your boyfriends are here, huh?”
“Yup, he’s lucky.” Pete grabs Gary’s arm and yanks him back. “And we’re leaving. Just tell the bartenders your beer got knocked over and they’ll get you another. Goodnight.”
Collie gets one last look at the jackass before tailing after his friends, who are walking in formation around Gary like the Secret Service. They get outside quickly. The adrenaline previously flooding Collie’s heart turns to rage.
“What the hell was that, Gary? That guy could’ve beat the shit out of you.” Collie snarls.
Gary Barkovitch simply shrugs his shoulders.
“Let up on him Collie, we’re all gonna chill now. Right, Gary?” Stebbins mediates like he has any fucking place to tell Collie to “chill”. “Maybe it’s time we all went home.”
Ray nods in agreement. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. Collie, can you get Barky home without ripping his head off?”
Collie closes his eyes and scrubs his hand down his face. The frigid air feels like a balm against his skin. “Okay, yeah.”
The group says their goodbyes. Pete tells Gary to be good, Ray gives Collie a grounding slap on the back, and Stebbins gives Gary an overly friendly hug. The other three wave and watch as Gary and Collie traverse down the barely-salted Maine sidewalk.
“I like those guys a lot. That was really fun.” Gary says with a smile.
“...Do you have short-term memory issues?” Collie asks through gritted teeth.
The blond lets out a hitch-pitched breathy giggle. “I mean, probably, I used to punch myself in the head really hard. I also huffed computer duster a few times-”
“This explains a lot of things.” Collie interjects.
Gary smirks at him. “That guy called ya’ll my boyfriends.” He taunts.
“That guy called you a faggot.”
Gary laughs his stupid bubbly laugh while stumbling into Collie and nearly sending him off the sidewalk. He corrects his gravity just in time to watch the other catch his foot and fall into a snow bank.
The fucker just laughs harder. His skinny arms flail around his shaking frame as he makes no honest effort to get up. His ass is sticking up, for some reason it catches Collie’s attention as it wiggles helplessly; he’s got a small undershelf those gym-rat girls have.
“Christ, Barkovitch, get up.”
“I’m trying man. This shit’s cold!”
Like an exhausted mother, Collie grips Gary’s wrist and hauls him to his feet. He only gets a moment to notice how light Gary truly is before his weight gets smacked into his chest.
“Woah, holy shit you’re strong.”
Collie ignores him and begins wiping the snow away from his swaying front. Gary’s not even dressed for the weather in the first place, and they’ve got a few more blocks to go before Collie can pass out in bed and pretend this night wasn’t fucking annoying. He brushes the clumps away from the pale column of his scarred throat, ignoring the contrast between skin and scar tissue, and methodically works his way down, finishing with quick swipes over Barkovitch’s wet jeans. He speaks to fill the new found silence.
“Next time you fall, I’m leaving you in the snow.”
Gary’s still silent. Collie thinks it’s the longest he’s been quiet since he met the kid. He stands back and looks at his boy-ish face. Gary’s staring at him with wide blue eyes and slightly parted pale lips.
He’s got girly lips too.
“...You good?”
“Oh, yeah.” The blond smirks again, winding his arm back sending his knuckles into Collie’s chest in what was probably meant to be a punch. “You got nice hands, big too.”
Without a moment to process what the fuck Barkovitch just said, he turns and staggers forward with the gait of an unsteady toddler. His blond hair is mussed-up and whipping around in the wind.
And much like an unsuspecting child, Gary marches forward into the oncoming intersection without the right of way and a car driving directly towards him.
“Hey!” Collie shouts, bolting into the road in front of the other, waving his hands at the oncoming headlights. The car screeches to a stop and the horn blares.
“Drunk piece of shit!” a husky voice shouts from Gary Barkovitch’s almost cause of death.
Collie Parker has already had a shitty night, obviously that wilderness camp did dog shit for his anger management issues, and life has only gotten more frustrating in his young adulthood. His feet march towards the driver’s side of the stopped car like a trained response. He probably looks incredibly angry, considering the terrified expression of the middle-aged driver.
“You wanna chew concrete, motherfucker?” He growls.
“H-hey man, I don’t want any trouble.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Collie turns swiftly towards his roommate who has turned into an awestruck statue. Gary goes easily when Collie grips his wrist and pulls him forward.
“Holy shit, that was like- you’re like, fucking nuts man! That guy was so scared. You’re a bada-”
With both sets of feet confirmed to be planted on the sidewalk, Collie whips his head so furiously he almost whacks his nose into Gary’s. “I need you to shut the fuck up until we get back to the apartment.”
The look on Gary’s face is something Collie has only seen before in porn, though that’s probably a crude analogy. He’s got his girly lips slightly parted again and blue eyes half shut and unfocused. It makes Collie’s gut heat up in… anger?
“Got it.” Gary’s whiskey breath is hot against his lips.
Collie immediately surges forward, his hand still wrapped around the other’s wrist as he all but drags him along.
The remainder of their walk home is, for fucks sake, silent. They make it to the apartment in just under two minutes. Gary, choosing to be a man of his word, doesn’t even speak as Collie unlocks and opens the door, allowing him to stumble in first.
“Let’s get you some water, then we’re both going to bed.” Collie shucks off his boots and jacket and makes his way to the kitchenette. He can hear Gary clumsily following suit, but he’s still too angry to acknowledge him.
“Ha! Maybe I wanna stay up a little longer and figure out how else I can piss you off.”
Well, at least Gary acknowledges that he’s the cause of Collie’s fury.
Collie huffs. He still has his back turned to focus on finding the button to turn the stove light on. It takes a moment to locate the switch. He can feel Gary standing too close behind him.
Sharp teeth sink deep into the juncture of Collie’s neck and shoulder. He gasps in surprise, a shiver running down his back. Before Collie’s brain can catch up, his body responds, spinning around to face a smirking Gary Barkovitch and shoving him hard.
Just like his collapse into the snowbank, Gary falls like a rag doll to the cold tile.
“Did you just bite me?” Collie snaps.
Gary doesn’t take a beat to pull himself up to his knees. He’s staring at Collie through his lashes like he’s got him exactly where he wants him.
The worst part is, Collie doesn’t mind him down there either. His pale skin still looks nice in the low light. It’s a shame he’s such a fucking terror, someone might actually fall for his fresh-faced beauty.
“What? You like me on my knees?” Gary smiles with his surprisingly sharp teeth on display. “Does that make you feel like a man?”
Collie feels heat pool into his groin like he’s a teenager. The pretty face peering up at him is now just inches away from his thighs, making his cock stir in interest. It’s not because he’s attracted to Gary… he’s had a few drinks and needs to blow off some steam.
He needs to get Gary away from his crotch so he can fucking think about how insane this situation is.
“Get up.”
Gary keeps eye contact while leaning in and pressing an open-mouthed kiss to his jeans. Collie should probably be grossed out. He sways back to reveal a dark ring in Collie’s jeans like it’s an art piece. “Nah, I’m fine down here.”
The ‘outrage’ burning in Collie’s core is probably- definitely- something else that he would never admit to. The mechanical hum of the refrigerator does nothing to cut the tension. Gary is clearly trying to goad him into something crazy.
But, Collie Parker isn’t a pussy.
“You’ve pissed me off enough tonight, you wanna at least make yourself useful?” Collie’s not sure why he says it, or why it comes out so naturally.
Gary chooses to be silent. It’s enough to make Collie’s heart and cock flutter. The fuck is he doing anyways? He met this guy four days ago and now he’s standing above him trying to prove that he is a dominating force.
Collie swears he is just about to walk away when Gary lets his mouth fall open and sticks out his cute pink tongue.
Fuck it.
It’s like plucking the perfect fruit from an unruly plant. The blond is charged up at the sight of Collie unzipping the fly of his jeans. He smacks Gary’s hands away when he reaches up to help, and nervously pushes his jeans and boxers down just enough to let his heavy, half hard cock spring free. He can’t help relishing in the shocked look on Gary’s boyish face. He really is quite expressive. Collie wonders what faces he would make pressed into his mattress.
The shock is short lived. Gary turns his gaze back up with a defiant pout and slouches his posture. “What do you want me to do with your dumb cock?”
Well, if he’s going to be so blunt about it. “Choke on it, brat.”
God, Collie is the fucking worst. He barely even realizes he’s running his hand along Gary’s scalp until he’s gripping him by his stupid peroxide-blond locks and tugging his sweet face into his groin.
Gary hums, letting his nose and chin press into Collie’s balls.
“If you even think of biting again,” Collie drags his slight nose up his shaft, “I’ll bite back twice as hard.”
“Mhm, promise?” His rosy tongue playfully swipes the underside of Collie’s cock. Gary breaks eye contact to admire his prize. “I guess what they say about big hands is true.”
After a few more kitten licks, Collie realizes that feeding Gary his cock isn’t going to be enough of a claim on the brat. He needs to ruin him. He needs Gary to think about this while he’s at work and forget how to breathe. He needs Gary to remember how strong and sure Collie is the next time Stebbins stares at him like he’ll ever get to see Gary on his fucking knees.
Collie turns Gary’s face up with the fist he still has wrapped in his hair and uses his free hand to pry open the other’s jaw. He bends over slowly, keeping his expression neutral as he hovers his face just a few inches above the other’s. He gathers saliva from the corners of his mouth and slowly releases the trail of spit on Gary’s tongue. With his jaw still held open, Gary works the muscles in his throat to accept the spit.
Collie releases his jaw immediately, winding his hand back and slapping Gary’s cheek. The smack echoes through the cramped kitchen like a reality check that Collie just hit a guy he barely fucking knows. His cock still twitches regardless.
“I didn’t tell you to fucking swallow.” He growls.
Gary’s expression is nothing but sin. The moan that falls from his lips as he opens his mouth and awaits for Collie’s spit is enough confirmation Collie needs to continue the rough treatment. He’s quick to gather more wetness and spray into Gary’s mouth. Collie can’t even describe what he feels when he sees a few stray droplets on the blonde’s hairless chin.
“Good boy.”
Collie straightens up so quickly he sees stars. He ignores his hammering heart as he lines his cock up with Gary’s lips and pushes the tip in. His mouth is wet and warm and way more inviting than any of the girls Collie’s done this with previously.
Of course, the intent is different with Gary. This is to prove his dominance, or something.
Gary moans loudly like he’s the one getting pleasured, the vibration sends a chill up Collie’s spin.
“You like being a whore, huh?” Collie shivers as Gary swipes his tongue over his pisshole. He’s clearly got too much control over the situation. “Fine, I’ll use you like one.”
He drives Gary’s face half way down his cock, savoring the way his eyes water as he gags. Collie can feel the way his throat relaxes after a few nose breaths. Gary slowly creates a seal and sucks, his cheeks hollow beautifully.
“That’s right, take it.” Collie grits his teeth as he starts to slide Barkovitch’s head up and down his length. He feels fucking incredible and clearly well practiced, but Collie’s too focused on pleasuring himself to get jealous. Collie can’t remember a time when he was this turned on.
He’s already thinking of the other ways he wants to torment his roommate.
“Bet you think you’re pretty with your blond hair.” Collie embraces the electric jolts running up the column of his spine as he fucks and fucks Gary’s mouth along his painfully hard cock. He finally lets up his grip on the other’s skull to run both hands through the hair on the sides of his head, pressing his palms into the sides of his head and holding him still. Collie switches to thrusting his hips; he’s gotta show Gary that he knows how to use his body, afterall. “Should’ve put it in pigtails- fuck, that’d make you look real sweet.”
The blond moans again, the sound contrasts well against the graphic wet sucking noises. He’s taking it like a champ. Tears leak from his closed eyes and shine like beauty marks on his cheeks. Collie’s never cum from just a blow job, but he’s getting close already.
In the dim light, he can see Gary shifting on his knees to unzip his own fly. It brings his frustration back. This was meant to be a punishment. Collie thrusts his cock in so deep and fast Gary’s nose is pressed into his pubes.
“Don’t fucking touch yourself.” Collie holds him there to remind him who’s in charge. “You’ve pissed me off enough tonight, you don’t get to cum.”
Gary whines, furrowing his brows in an adorable scowl. Tears and saliva drip down from his jaw.
“You’re gonna finish me off, got it? Use your hands too, since you clearly know what you’re doing, slut.”
Collie’s shaky hands finally fall away. Gary releases his cock with an audible pop.
“F-fuck off.” He probably doesn’t intend to sound so pathetic.
Collie is tempted to smack him again, but he really has been good. Instead, he bends over again until their faces are nearly touching. Gary looks wrecked. Tears stain his pink cheeks and he’s panting through flared nostrils like a dog.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to leave you alone after this, pretty boy.” Collie meant to say something more rugged, he’s not sure why those words tumbled out of his chest.
There’s an immediate shift in Gary’s expression. His breath catches in his throat as he searches Collie’s face with wide, hopeful eyes, which eventually land on his lips. Just as the blond tilts his chin up to close the gap, Collie panics and straightens up. He needs to focus on the punishment, which is all this aggressive facefucking was intended to be.
Collie clears his throat. “Finish what you’ve started.”
Gary grumbles. Collie can tell he’s trying to make his disappointment obvious. He slowly wraps a pale hand around the base Collie’s cock and pumps with a firm grip. “Fine, Collie.”
Collie ignores the way his bones electrify when Gary says his name and groans as he wraps his lips around his cock and gives it his all. What he doesn’t cover with his mouth gets pumped in tandem by his hand. He even snakes his other hand past the elastic waistband of his boxers to knead Collie’s balls.
The glasses on the counter top shake when Collie slams his fist on the counter. It feels like Gary is trying to suck his goddamn soul out through his cock. His abs start to tense and knees begin to lock.
“Fuck, Gary, good fucking boy. Such a perfect mouth.”
Gary must feel his balls tensing. He hollows out his cheeks and moans loud.
The vibrations intensify everything. Collie’s so close his ears and ringing. The hand not pressed against the counter finds the back of Gary’s head again, he shoves the blond’s mouth deep around his cock as he cums down Gary’s throat, there’s no protest as Collie milks his load.
“Fuck pret- Gary, so good.”
The alcohol in his system does nothing to dull his orgasm, which goes on and on as Gary swallows around him.
Right, this is a punishment.
“This is what you get for acting like a brat.”
Collie slides his softening cock from Gary’s mouth and the blond immediately slumps forward. They’ve only known each other for a few days, but Collie can tell he looks more pale than usual.
“...Gary?”
The boy on the floor clamps both his hands over his mouth and gags so fiercely it racks his whole body. Collie grabs the mostly-full trash can and gets it in front of Gary’s face just in time for him to empty his guts. It smells like dark liquor and cinnamon. Collie’s a bit disappointed that Gary just wasted his cum.
He rushes to fill a glass of water from the sink and crouches down beside Gary, rubbing between his shoulder blades in an effort to comfort the person he just borderline assaulted. “Shit, Gary, are you okay? Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that-”
“Mhm, ‘think I drank to much.” Gary mumbles, spitting one final time. “I gotta lay down.”
He slowly slumps back against the cabinets and is only stopped from smacking the side of his head against the tile by Collie’s hand cradling his cheek.
“Gary, I’m not gonna let you sleep on the floor. Let’s- let me get you to your bed.”
“You gonna carry me?”
“You… don’t think you can walk?”
Gary nuzzles into the tan palm holding up his head. “Nah, I just like it when you show off your strength.”
Collie wants to be more upset that Gary is now openly hitting on him, but he did just fuck the life out of his face.
“Uh, okay, but you have to stand up first.”
Gary mumbles something while slowly pulling his cheek away from Collie’s hand. He uses the least amount of effort needed to successfully get to his wobbly feet.
Collie makes sure he’s fully tucked back into his pants, then slowly reaches forward to wrap one arm around the reformed brat’s back and the other underneath his legs. He hoists Gary up to his chest without ceremony. Gary’s a bit heavier now that his full dead weight rests against Collie’s front, but he’s not going to admit defeat.
It’s a tight squeeze to fit between the wall and end cabinet. Gary reaches up and hooks his arms around Collie’s shoulders to press impossibly closer to his skin. It’s endearing as hell.
“You’re so beautiful.” Gary murmurs.
Collie nearly trips over his own feet as he enters the dark hall. He’s never been called beautiful. It’s the last thing he imagined another man would say to him.
“Thanks, Gary.”
He nudges open the door to Gary’s bedroom, thankfully the bedside lamp is on, which helps with Collie’s accuracy as he steps toward the stacked full-sized mattresses on the floor that serve as Gary’s bed. He slowly leans down, gently placing Gary on his back.
“Mhm, thanks man.” He mumbles, turning on his side facing Collie and pulling the thin blue blanket up to his waist.
He’s still got his pants on. Collie chooses to let it be. His eyes close peacefully like he didn’t almost start a bar fight and get hit by a car tonight. Collie thinks he looks like something to guard.
He turns the lamp off and turns to leave his new roommate’s room. If he wasn’t such a coward, he’d crawl into bed next to Gary and hold him like an apology.
He has one foot in the hall when he hears a soft voice call out.
“Collie?”
The named man stops so abruptly he has to brace a hand against the doorframe.
“Yeah?”
“...Please don’t be weird about this.”
“I-, I won’t.”