The Kingswoood Complication - Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Wednesday 14 September 2022

Nicky yawned and stretched out in bed, vaguely conscious but fighting it. Moving into their first GCSE year had meant a big change for Nicky and his classmates, as it meant their classes were no longer grouped together just by dorm, but rather by which subjects the boys had opted for. It also meant the new group of Year 10s now got the occasional free period. Some boys had just one a week (such as Danny and Chris, who were very vocally unhappy about it), while most had three.

Nicky was one of the few students who had more, with his subject choices meaning he had five free periods each week, two of which were first thing on Wednesday mornings. He had taken great pleasure in staying in bed while the others all headed off to their first classes of the day. While students were ‘encouraged’ to use their free periods for study, it was not enforced, so Nicky was making the most of the lazy start to the day.

“Oh good, you’re awake!”

“FUCK!” Nicky yelped at the sudden and unexpected voice, jumping up to look around the temporary dorm they were still occupying.

“Morning,” Gray said with a grin, looking across from one of the bunks opposite.

“Jesus, how long have you been here?” Nicky asked as he flopped back down onto his bed.

“Couple of weeks now. Have you… not been paying attention?” Gray asked teasingly.

Nicky just let out a low growl. Before term started, Gray had commented on how many classes and extracurriculars the two of them shared but it hadn’t really sunk in until he started seeing him EVERYWHERE.

“Y’know, you really need to kick this stalking habit of yours. It’s a bit weird!” Gray said with a shrug.

Nicky’s head popped up as he looked round at Gray, frowning heavily. “Me? Stalking you? You’re literally IN MY ROOM!” he said bluntly.

“Look, the question of who’s in whose room may never actually be answered,” Gray said with a dismissive shrug.

“Ugh, you’re literally the most annoying person I’ve ever met,” Nicky groaned, “And I share a dorm with JOSH!”

Gray gave a gentle smile and said, “Josh is cool.” He suppressed a smirk as he looked over and continued, “But I’m guessing you didn’t invite me here to talk about Josh, so what’s up?”

“I… I didn’t… I mean… you just… UGH!” Nicky groaned, dropping face-first back into his pillow in sheer frustration.

“Wow, you’re really not a morning person,” Gray said as he got off the bunk and moved to stand next to Nicky’s. Reaching up, he poke Nicky’s side through the covers.

“Stop that!” Nicky scowled, reaching down to swat the hand away.

“So what we gonna do with our free periods?” Gray asked with a broad grin.

Nicky scowled at him and grumbled, “You’re really not going away, are you?”

The smile faded a little as Gray took a step back and asked a quietly, “Do you… actually want me to?”

Nicky sighed as he shook his head. He didn’t know whether it was just guilt for making the other boy look so sad, or the possibility that, despite the annoyingness, he was growing on him, but he actually didn’t want him to go away. “Well, I mean… as you’re here we may as well do something!” He sat up and said, “Just gimme a minute to get dressed!”

“Sure, I’ll be right outside,” Gray said happily as he headed for the door.

Nicky found himself a little confused by the sudden departure, though he smirked as he realised he was just so used to his dormmates who would have seen ‘gimme a minute to get dressed’ as an invite to watch him do it.

*****

“Y’know, I don’t think this actually counts as a warm-up,” Mark said as he stood over Chris, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry. If we get in trouble, I’m pretty sure I can handle MISTER Smith!” Chris said with a wry grin. It had been strange enough having Blane as a Teaching Assistant for the last two years, but now that he was a proper teacher (well, a PE teacher, which is close enough) it was taking some getting used to.

“Yeah, but… why d’ya need me here?” Mark asked curiously, having been dragged away from the line of boys running a warm-up lap of the Sports Complex. “I actually LIKE doing PE!”

“Yeah, well nobody’s perfect,” Chris said with a shrug. “Sit down!”

Mark dropped to the floor, sitting cross-legged to face Chris. “Sup?” he asked curiously.

“It’s… about this weekend,” Chris said cautiously.

“Ah, moving day,” Mark said with a nod. The refurbishment of the second and third floors of the Home Building was in its final couple of days, with the official opening ceremony scheduled for Friday night, with the boys gradually moving back in over the weekend. “What about it?”

“Well… we have to submit our final room arrangements tonight so they can prepare and I know we’ve talked about it a lot in the dorm, but… not quite reached a final decision yet,” Chris said cautiously.

“Isn’t this a discussion for the whole dorm then?” Mark asked, leaning out to the side as he heard voices passing.

“Yeah, and we will, it’s just… well, the way it’s looking like it’ll be… umm… well… I just wanted to… to run it by you!” Chris said, not quite sure how to explain it. Mark simply nodded silently, prompting him on. “Well, I know me and you are… well, we’re tight and everything and I know you and Danny are pretty close now and all, but… umm…”

“We’re not gonna be in the same dorm!” Mark exclaimed.

Chris went to reply, his mouth opening briefly before he closed it again and just nodded.

“I figured it’d go that way. It’s not a problem,” Mark said casually with a smile.

Chris nodded again and started, “It’s just… well…”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to explain,” Mark insisted. “I know there’s reasons and I know it’s not that you DON’T wanna share with me, so we’re cool.”

“Yeah?” Chris asked, visibly relieved at the understanding.

“Mmm-huh,” Mark hummed with a nod. “And anyway, I assumed it’d be you, Danny, Nicky and Mikey in one and the rest of us in another. I’m good with that, cos me and David get on great, I like Rob and Josh is…” He paused, blushing slightly but continued on before Chris could question it, “Josh is great. I know you still see me as the new guy you gotta look after, but I HAVE shared a dorm with them for a year now. We’ll be good!”

“I don’t still think of you as the new guy!” Chris insisted seriously, then smirked and said, “I think of you as my evil ex-boyfriend who savagely dumped me the day after my home exploded!”

“Hmmm,” Mark hummed, nodding thoughtfully. “I’m surprisingly okay with that!” he chuckled.

“Kinda of on that subject… anyone… new you’ve got your eye on?” Chris asked.

Mark recoiled slightly. Was this a general question or was he getting at something?

Chris went on, “I mean… most the freakin’ school’s got their eyes on you so you’ve got your pick of the lot, but still… outside of me, I don’t even know your type!”

“Wait, who’s got their what on who?” Mark asked in mild confusion.

“Come on. I mean… look at you!” Chris said, looking the other boy up and down.

Mark frowned a little at the comment. Being judged on his looks had always been a pet peeve but he knew Chris didn’t mean any harm so he didn’t get angry. Instead he just said evasively, “I’m… just me!”

“Mate, scale from one to ten, you’re… well, I was gonna say a crazy high number but that kinda undermines the purpose of a ten-point scale, so… you’re a ten!” Chris said sincerely. “So come on. Who you after? Whadda you think of the ‘actual’ new guy?”

“Gray? Yeah, he’s cute, but… ugh, WAY too in your face for me!” Mark chuckled. Before Chris could come up with any more suggestions, Mark climbed to his feet. “Come, let’s get back. As much as I’d love to see you take on Mister Smith and lose… cos you KNOW you would, I don’t want you taking me down with you!”

“Oh, hey, what about Harley?” Chris suggested as they started jogging, seeing the others further ahead. “He’s tiny, you’re big. You’d look hilarious together!”

Mark just shook his head as he sped up to catch up to the others, leaving Chris trailing behind.

*****

Friday 16 September 2022

“Y’know, as birthday traditions go, this is certainly one of the better ones!” David said with a grin as he watched Nicky and Rob making out.

Nicky had never been keen on celebrating his birthday, often overwhelmed by the reminder of the loss of his twin brother, but over the years at Kingswood he had developed a tradition on other peoples’ birthdays – giving them a birthday kiss. This year, they had all decided it was time to return the favour and as they hung out in their temporary dorm ahead of the Home Building Grand Re-Opening, they had formed a queue to offer Nicky their ‘gifts’.

“Hey, any time you want kisses, you know where we are!” Danny said, wrapping his arms around David from behind before craning his head round to give the smaller boy a kiss on the cheek.

“Yup, just say the word,” Chris agreed, moving in to kiss his other cheek.

David giggled as he held playfully onto the other two for a moment. “Maybe we should introduce The Lads to this tradition!” he said with a nod.

“Hey, if you’re looking for an excuse to make out with Axel, we can probably think of way better ones!” Chris joked.

“Eww, no, I’m his mentor, and besides, I’m very happy kissing James, thank you very much!” David insisted. “I just meant… to get them making out with each other. If you want ‘em to kiss and make up, a kiss is a good start!”

Rob inhaled sharply at the comment as he finished kissing Nicky and was replaced by Josh. He shook his head. “I think interfering now’d cause more harm than good!” he said with a knowing nod.

It had been an interesting couple of weeks mentoring ‘The Lads’. Their first couple of days had been outright war, before bad moods and petulance plunged them into angry silence and segregation. The Lads were still very much divided, mostly into two separate factions, with a couple of the boys who seemed to float somewhere in the middle, but they had stopped actively trying to hurt each other, which was definite progress.

“Well, I’ll be glad once we’re back over there and closer to keep an eye on them,” David said, but before anyone could respond, he saw Josh and Nicky part, which meant he was next to go. “Well, happy birthday to you!” he said with a grin as he approached Nicky.

Nicky towered over David, standing over 2 metres tall compared to David’s meagre 1.5 metres. Smiling broadly, he moved close to stare down at him and said, “If you can reach me, you can kiss me!”

“Ah, you think you’re so smart,” David said, shaking his head, “But I’m smarter! Josh!” he called the other boy back.

As David stepped back, Josh knelt on the floor on all fours.

David stepped onto Josh’s back, bringing him up to a little taller than Nicky as he said, “Who’s short now, bitch? Now come here!” As the others laughed, David pulled Nicky into a kiss.

Seeing an opportunity too good to miss, Mikey lunged forward, reached down and tickled Josh’s side. Letting out a squawk of laughter, his arms went limp and he flopped face-first onto the ground. David began to topple, but grabbed Nicky who tipped over with him, both of them landing on top of Josh who let out a grunt.

“Ha!” Mikey cackled as he stood back, laughing at the chaos he had wrought.

“You, help them,” Chris said, looking to Danny before gesturing to David and Josh. He held out a hand to Nicky, helped him up and immediately pulled him into a kiss. It only lasted a few seconds before they parted. “Happy birthday!” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, it really is,” Nicky said happily as he smiled briefly at Chris and then to the chaos of the others as they playfully squabbled.

Several minutes and the final few kisses later, the boys headed out, joining the rest of the students making their way across the grounds towards the front of the Home Building. As they walked, Rob was lecturing anyone who was close by on some of the cleaning and restoration techniques that had been used over the past couple of months to remove any evidence of the fire damage from the historic building. Some playfully mocked his nerdy interest in buildings and architecture, while some paid him absolutely rapt attention, but none could deny his obvious passion for the subject.

Once all of the students, faculty and staff had gathered, Headmaster Mr Everett moved up the front steps towards the large ribbon hanging across the entryway. Deputy Headmaster Mr Reeves remained close by as always and only needed to offer a single, “QUIET!” barked across the crowd to get them to drop into silence.

“Thank you, everyone!” Mr Everett said with a sincere smile. “I’d thank you all for coming, but we made you, so I suppose you really didn’t have a choice,” he said, pausing as a chuckle rippled across the crowd. “The accident back in June was a terrible tragedy for the school, but I find myself feeling immensely proud of the way you all handled yourselves at the time, as well as during the disruptions you have endured during the beginning of this term. I would also like to thank you all for respecting the restrictions in place as I am proud to say we had NO incidents of anyone sneaking a look upstairs to the newly refurbished floors. Yet another Kingswood miracle!

“Many of us have commented over the past months that we were immensely lucky that our losses that day were only materialistic, and no lives were lost,” the Headmaster continued. “But loss can take on many forms and in that accident, most of you lost your home. As such, it gives me great pleasure to be here today to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Home Building. While rebuilding can never fully replace what was lost in the fire, it is my sincere hope that together as you move back in over this coming weekend that you can take the first steps in building new memories together.”

The crowd burst into applause at the sentiment. Although many of the boys rolled their eyes or made whispered comments about the sappiness of it, this truly was their home and the collective prospect of returning to it was a very welcome one.

“So without further ado, Mr Reeves, if you will,” Mr Everett said, holding out his hand.

Mr Reeves offered the Headmaster a large pair of ceremonial scissors.

“It is my pleasure to announce the Home Building is now open!” Mr Everett said as he cut the ribbon, “Welcome home, boys!” The commented and ribbon-cutting triggered wild applause, this time interspersed with cheers.

The students were quickly separated out into their Year groups to be given a tour of the new facilities. Even though most of them had been inside the building since the school year started, they had been restricted to the first floor, where Years 7 to 9 resided, which had been the first area to be fully finished.

The Year 10 boys were delighted to have been assigned Mr Trent as their tour guide, while their new Floor Master, Mr Rudd, was showing round the Year 11s. They had started on the ground floor, beginning at the newly finished Dining Hall. The kitchens had been moved out of the building, now occupying a small annex off the side of the building as part of the safety measures to ensure that, in the worst case scenario of another gas explosion, it would not affect the Home Building.

“Wow, that’s different,” David said with a frown as they peered into the Dining Hall.

The old Dining Hall had been laid out with seven long rows of tables, one of which tended to be ‘claimed’ by one of the Year groups and then remain ‘theirs’ for the whole school year. Now the rows were gone, replaced instead with tables of varying sizes, some able to seat ten, others as few as four. As they looked around it, Mr Trent explained it as a way of encouraging more integration and a less regimental approach to mealtimes.

Next came a new addition to the building, the Library. Several years before, the schools library had been removed and replaced with a digital one (with the physical books archived and stored for posterity). While the digital library was popular and accessible, many felt there was something missing in not having a physical space for it. What they had now was still a digital library, as no physical books had been added, but now there was a large room filled with bookshelves, laid out and labelled like a physical library. The shelves themselves bore various screens dedicated to each subject or type of literature, allowing the students to ‘browse’ more easily. Checking out a chosen book was as simple as tapping their school tablet on the shelf’s reader to check out their chosen selection.

David, Chris and Rob along with a few of the other Year 10s had taken great pleasure in going round the library checking out the colossal collection, while the rest had just gathered in the seating area that students could now use for quiet reading (and had already been earmarked as the new meeting point for weekly book club meetings).

While the boys were briefly shown the new Medical Bay and Dr Arkwright’s office, they had all seen it already as part of accompanying The Lads to their pre-term check-ups. The final big surprise on the ground floor was the new cinema! While movie nights had already happened in the various Common Rooms in the old building, having an actual cinema was another step towards inter-Year integration. Though it didn’t quite have a full cinema-sized screen, it was still a massive upgrade from the normal TVs in the Common Rooms.

“We actually have our own cinema!” Josh said excitedly as they finally started up the stairs.

“I wonder if they show porn!” Mikey sniggered.

“No, Mikey,” Mr Trent sighed, though he was half a flight of stairs ahead.

“Damn, I forgot how well he hears,” Mikey muttered.

“I know you’ve all seen the first floor already, so we’ll continue straight on to the second,” Mr Trent explained as he walked along towards the next flight of stairs.

“Still so weird,” Danny said, shaking his head as he looked behind them towards the door to dorm 1.01.

The dorm had been their first home at the school. Since then, three other groups of boys had lived in there, including their own mentees now. While much of the building had changed thanks to The Explosion and subsequent works, the first floor had simply been returned to its old state, so dorm 1.01 somehow managed to look exactly as it had the day they moved into it.

“I know right,” Nicky nodded. “If two of the bunks were pushed together for you and Chris, you could actually think it was still ours!”

“Maybe add in some of Josh’s mess, too!” Rob said with a snigger, “Then it’d feel like ours!”

“It’s not mess. I just have a very… unique style of storage!” Josh defended himself.

The conversation had triggered similar nostalgic conversations amongst the rest of the Year 10 boys and they were up at the top of the stairs for a few moments, still squabbling, when Mr Trent eventually called for quiet. “Eyes this way,” he said, seeing some of the boys trying to move down the hallway towards the dorms. “We’re starting with the shared areas first. If you’d like to follow me, we’ll be starting with the TV room!”

Mr Trent just about managed to keep order as he showed off the new range of facilities to the boys. The central area of the second floor was occupied with a large TV room, laundry room, new music rooms (soundproofed for both listening and practicing) and then to one side the new Year 10 bathroom and shower room, with the Year 11 version on the opposite side.

At the back of the building sat the new Floor Master’s apartment, alongside ‘The Study Zone’ and a large games room. Following the corridor round, Mr Trent had to stop the boys peering into some of the rooms they passed, guiding them instead to the Year 10 side of the floor as they headed into a room labelled, ‘Year 10 Common Room’.

“We have our own Common Room now?” one of the boys asked excitedly.

The old common rooms had been shared with other Year Groups and was multi-purpose, housing a small kitchen for drinks and snacks, a TV area, games area, video game section and a range of seating. With most of that now moved out into their own rooms in the communal centre, the Common Room now looked to be dedicated purely to socialising – a place for the Year 10 boys to spend time together and hang out.

“Where’s the kitchen? Chris needs his snacks!” Chris asked curiously, getting laughs as well as a few agreements.

“We’re getting to that!” Mr Trent said happily. He had been looking forward to the last bit he had to show the boys. The move from first to second floor brought with it the slightly jarring change from eight-person dorms to four, which often felt like ‘breaking up’ a friend group. The new layout had hopefully made that transition a little less difficult. “So if you’d like to follow me in here, please,” he said as he pushed open a door labelled L2.1.

The rabble of boys eagerly follow Mr Trent inside and found themselves in what felt like a smaller version of the Common Room they had just left. There was a central seating area with four two-seater sofas around a large coffee table, while there was a small kitchenette in one corner. Along one wall were a couple of desks set up with laptop docks, while another corner was set up with some large comfortable-looking chairs as a sort of reading nook.

“So this would be the shared area for dorms 2.01 and 2.02,” Mr Trent explained, nodding to the two doors opposite, labelled accordingly. “Each pair of dorms now comes with its own shared living area.”

“Oh my god, it’s like our own little apartment!” Chris squealed excitedly as he realised it meant that, even split into two dorms, he would still get to stay close to the others.

Mr Trent just about managed to call out who was allocated to which living area before the boys all rushed out to explore their new spaces and the dorms beyond them.

Chris, Danny, Nicky and Mikey happily hurried into dorm 2.01 as the other four headed next door to dorm 2.02.

“Well that’s gonna have to change!” Chris said as soon as he got inside. There were four beds spaced out side-by-side along one side of the dorm. “We okay to have these?” he asked Nicky and Mikey as they wandered in, gesturing to the two beds nearest the door. As he got indifferent shrugs back, he started pulling the two beds close together. “You can be that side,” Chris reasoned, pointing to the side nearest the door before looking to Danny, “That way you can nip out easier for the gym without disturbing anyone!”

“Aww, good thinking,” Danny said happily as he helped moved the beds so they formed a double together.

The opposite wall housed a wardrobe for each of the boys and another couple of desks which Mikey and Nicky casually perused as they wandered down to select their own bunks.

“Which one d’you want?” Nicky asked, suspecting he already knew the answer.

Mikey looked round at Chris and Danny who were climbing into their newly-conjoined bunk, then glanced to Nicky as he thought for a moment and said, “This one, I reckon!” as he moved to sit on the third bed from the door.

Nicky smiled and nodded. Being in between himself and Chris, just like he had liked to be when they were a throuple. “Works for me,” Nicky said as he claimed the last one. “This is all so cool!” he said happily as he casually draped an arm around Mikey to head for the door. As he looked at the double bunk to his side, he shook his head at the sight of Danny and Chris already making out together. “Come on,” he said, leaving them behind. As they stepped out, Josh and Mark appeared from next door. “All good?” he asked happily.

Mark rolled his eyes as he said, “David and Rob are just planning a new layout!”

“Oh, those two already did that for us,” Nicky said, gesturing back into his dorm. “They’re breaking it in already!”

Mark leaned to the side and spotted Chris and Danny’s legs on the end of the bed he could see. “Of course they are,” he sniggered. “But we’re talking a FULLY new layout with those guys,” he said with a headshake as he gestured back into his new room.

“Well yeah, that makes sense,” David said with a nod as he walked out. “Why have that much natural light and then go blocking it out with a wardrobe!”

“Better feng shui too!” Rob said with a sincere nod.

“I think we’ve got feng shui for dinner tonight!” Josh said with a broad grin.

“Okay, first of all, racist!” Rob said bluntly. “And secondly, feng shui is…”

“Oh god, I don’t care!” Josh interjected before Rob could break into another lecture, though he quickly hurried back into his room to escape his best friend’s glare.

“So this is OUR space!” Mark said happily as he looked round the living area. “That’s…” he paused as he saw Chris and Danny appear in the doorway. He shot Chris a smile. Though he had really been sincere when he told Chris he was okay not sharing a dorm with him, it was still nice to know they weren’t going to be quite as separated as they feared. “That’s really cool!” he said with a smile.

The boys hung out for a while, getting settled into the new room, even though they wouldn’t be officially moving in until the next day. David excitedly shared his plans for a rearrangement of his dorm, despite the painfully obvious disinterest from everyone but Rob.

“You doing okay?” Nicky asked quietly as he sat together with Mikey on one of the sofas. “I know you were a bit… unsure about the split.” Over the past couple of weeks, his best friend had swung back and forth between good days and bad, though fortunately today was one of the better ones. He still worried the big change might trigger him though.

“Yeah,” Mikey said with a nod as he looked round at the new surroundings. “This definitely helps. We don’t feel quite so… split up with this.

“Yeah, Josh is only one wall away,” Nicky chuckled.

Mikey nodded thoughtfully.

“Just out of curiosity…” Nicky started coyly.

“Still just friends. Always will be. Back off!” Mikey said with a bemused eye roll. “Where is he anyway?” he asked, looking round at the rest of the group as he noticed the other boy’s absence.

“In there I think,” Nicky said nodding to dorm 2.02.

“I’ll be right back!” Mikey said as he stood, but delivered a withering stare as Nicky was about to say something, stifling it into just a smirk. He walked over to the door and peered inside to see Josh lying on one of the beds, curled up facing away from the door. Frowning a little, he walked over, worried the other boy was upset. “You okay?” he asked as he got close. When he didn’t get a reply, he knelt on the bed and reached out.

Josh jumped slightly and rolled onto his back, opening his eyes as he looked at Mikey. “Oh hey,” he said sleepily. “I feel asleep!” he explained as Mikey looked at him with mild concern.

“Yeah, I forget how tiring it is being THAT annoying!” Mikey sniggered.

“It’s as tiring as being an ugly fucker. D’you need a nap?” Josh replied with a wicked grin, rubbing his eyes. “Whassup? Is it dinner time?”

“No, not yet,” Mikey said with a headshake. “I just… well with the dorms… umm… cos we’re not… umm…” he rambled awkwardly, not quite managing any full sentences.

“S’okay,” Josh said as he sat up, nodding. “We’ll always have the tree to remember each other by!” he said, referring to the tree out the back of the building where they had made out a couple of times. As he got a smile and nod back from Mikey, he added, “Plus you’re literally in the next fucking room and we still spend half our freakin’ lives together, ya sappy twatbag!”

“Y’know, I’ve punched people for less than that!” Mikey said flatly.

“Yet here I am… unpunched!” Josh said with a casual shrug.

“Dickhead,” Mikey smirked.

“Takes one to know one,” Josh replied, but held out his hand as he said it.

Mikey looked at it for a moment, then reached out to hold it. They smiled at each other. What Mikey had said to Nicky was true, they were just friends and they both liked it that way, but it was still nice to share such closeness. “C’mon, let’s go annoy the others,” he giggled as he backed away.

*****

Danny sat silently watching Avery for a few moments. To say he was being petulant was an understatement as he sat there, refusing to even look back at Danny, not even willing to acknowledge his existence. This was mostly how their meetings had gone over the last couple of weeks, with Danny attempting to follow his own mentor’s advice and get to know the boy, while Avery refused to engage.

“So how’s your second full week gone?” Danny asked optimistically. “Any classes you’re really enjoying?”

Avery finally responded, with a brief disgruntled side-eye that lasted just long enough to express his disdain before looking away again.

“Is that a no?” Danny asked, shaking his head a little. He got no response. “Anything you’re hating then?” he asked instead.

Avery turned his whole head this time, then looked Danny up and down with a derisive smirk before looking away again.

Danny felt the look almost as physically as if the boy had punched him in the gut, but he managed to avoid letting it show. “Oh, so you hate me now, do you?” he asked softly. “Is there any particular reason for that?”

Avery folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, looking even further away from Danny.

Danny was torn between pleading with the boy to talk and reaching out to throttle him. Knowing neither would likely result in anything positive, he sighed softly and explained, “Avery, listen, you don’t need to talk to me, but we’re gonna be doing this for the next four years, and if that’s four years of me talking and you not, then… well that’s just gonna be fucking boring for both of us!”

“Then don’t fucking bother!” Avery finally spoke. “I don’t NEED a mentor! I don’t need YOU. I don’t need anyone so just… leave me alone… DANIEL!” He virtually spat Danny’s name, like it left a bitter taste in his mouth just saying it.

Another emotional gut punch. This time it took Danny a few moments to calm himself before he eventually replied, “I don’t know what I’ve done to upset you this much but I won’t be leaving you alone. I have things I’m supposed to teach you and I intend to do it whether you like it or not!”

“Not!” Avery snapped moodily.

“And there may come a day when you actually DO need me and you can be a moody little prick as much as you like, but I’ll still be here!” Danny said, managing to be supportive but aggressive at the same time.

“There won’t!” Avery pouted.

“And if nothing else, I need to unlock you every week for proper cleaning!” Danny said, knowing that the younger boy had appeared quite a way off from being sexually mature, meaning he would likely be in his chastity device for a while.

“Yeah, well… next time you unlock it, I’m not putting it back on!” Avery insisted with a scowl.

“I think you will,” Danny said, shaking his head at the boy’s seemingly unjustified anger towards him. “And if you don’t, you’ll be punished. And if you still don’t after that, then they’ll just expel you, but maybe that’s what you want, is it? To get out of here?”

Avery looked like he was about to reply but held back at the last moment and just re-folded his arms as he shrugged. After a few moments of awkward silence, Avery glared at Danny and said, “You just need to fuck off!”

Danny’s patience, already worn down from weeks of similar behaviour, finally broke. “Fine. If you don’t wanna talk, we won’t talk anymore. But we need to get you clean so let’s go and get it out of the way!” he said curtly.

“Fine,” Avery pouted.

They headed out of the Common Room and along to the shower room. Like most of the first floor, the repair work had restored the room back to the way it had been before The Explosion. The only difference now was the permanently ‘out of order’ cubicle in the corner that concealed an entrance to the Kingswood Underground was gone. Concealed in the tiling was the vague outline of a door, though it was now just an emergency exit from the Underground rather than a way in.

Despite his obvious reluctance as they entered the communal shower room, Avery stripped quickly, his desire to avoid being seen naked far outweighing his issues with Danny.

As Danny pulled the key out from his pocket and squatted down to start removing the device, he asked quietly, “Do you… want to be re-tested while it’s off?”

Technically, ‘testing’ locked boys was intended to allow them to establish whether they were ready for permanent removal of the device in between their formal appointments with Dr Arkwright. In reality, they were usually just used as a way to allow the younger boys to indulge in masturbation, if only once a week. So far, Avery had refused the offers, meaning he had not experienced a (dry) orgasm or touched himself since being locked 20 days ago.

“No!” Avery pouted.

“Okay,” Danny shrugged. “If you wanna go ANOTHER week without it, that’s up to you!”

Avery visibly flinched at the comment but remained silent.

“I know when I was locked even a week was freakin’ torture!” Danny explained.

“How long… were you locked?” Avery asked curiously as the device was removed and he quickly turned to start up the shower.

“Only half a term, thankfully,” Danny said with a thoughtful nod.

Avery was already soaping up his crotch as Danny stood and turned on another shower head to thoroughly clean the chastity device. “Umm… err…” Avery muttered, blushing heavily as his small cock swelled rapidly to full firmness. “I… umm… I…”

“Avery, would you like me to ‘test’ you?” Danny asked frankly, glancing at the boy’s crotch as he awkwardly stammered.

“Can I… test myself?” Avery asked shyly.

“I’m really not supposed to let you,” Danny answered honestly, omitting the fact that most mentors did usually allow it, “But… if it’s what you want then… okay, just this once!”

“Thank you!” Avery said, his hand already making his way to his dick.

Danny didn’t make a show of watching, but did keep shooting occasional glances to the younger boy who had now turned his back to him. Avery’s arm pumped away rapidly and after barely a minute he let out a shuddery moan that made Danny think he had climaxed, but a few moments later his arm was moving again. The same thing happened a few times and Danny smiled at the probability that the boy was edging to prolong his pleasure. It was impressive as Danny knew he didn’t have it in him to hold back like that even now, and certainly not when he was deprived of relief in his Year 7 chastity.

Eventually, after several more pleasured grunts, Avery’s arm dropped to his side and he turned off the shower as he reached for his towel.

“I hope that helped!” Danny said sincerely.

“Yeah, I bet ya did, ya fuckin’ perv!” Avery snapped as he dried off.

Danny let out a gentle sigh, any hope that the gesture had softened the boy’s mood instantly dashed. “Well come on then, let’s get this back on,” he said as he held out the device.

“No!” Avery snapped. “I don’t want it!”

“I don’t care if you want it. You gotta have it!” Danny insisted.

“And what if I refuse? You gonna force it on me?” Avery sneered.

Danny frowned at the boy, tired of the constant attitude. “No,” he said honestly, “But I WILL report you, which will result in immediate naked time and without this on, the whole school will get to see ALL of you!”

The petulant look instantly dropped from Avery’s face.

Danny smirked slightly. This was it. Avery’s Achilles heel. “So you’re going to put it back on,” he said firmly, “And if you give me any more attitude about it, then we stop doing this on Friday night when it’s empty in here and start doing it during morning showers, with twenty or more other boys watching you totally naked.” He paused as he saw Avery’s eyes widen. “Do you… WANT all your classmates to see you like that?” he asked, gesturing to the boy as he stood naked with his towel clutched over his small cock.

Danny was a little annoyed at himself for not thinking of it sooner. Avery had been absolutely distraught at having to be naked in front of Danny and Dr Arkwright at the appointment at the start of term, and the fear had been obvious when he sped through his shower the previous week. Realistically, Avery’s dick wasn’t that small, it was absolutely average for a boy of his age, but he had still built it up in his mind as being tiny.

“I’ll… put it on,” Avery said, his jaw quivering as he barely held back tears.

“Good,” Danny said, amazed to have finally made progress. He helped the boy get back into the device and locked it, then slipped the key back into his pocket as Avery quickly got dressed. “So unless you actually feel like talking, I’d say we’re done for today!”

“I’m never talking to you again!” Avery snarled. “I hate you!” he barked before running out of the shower room.

“Ugh, fuck my life,” Danny sighed, shaking his head at the angry departure.

*****

“This is so cool!” David exclaimed as he wandered out of dorm 3.16 with James close behind.

“Yeah,” James agreed happily. “As living arrangements go, it certainly meets all the requirements I could have set out so I’m not… dissatisfied with this!”

“Just say you like it, ya douchebag!” a voice called from around the corner before Isaac appeared.

“Heyyyy!” David complained at the insult, scowling at the older boy.

Isaac had been one of James’ dormmates for the past year back when they were down on the second floor, but now resided in dorm 3.15, next door to James’. Like the dorms David would shortly be moving into, the two-person dorms up on the third floor now had shared living areas right outside them too.

“It’s okay,” James said, casually draping an arm around David’s shoulders. “If Isaac calls you a douchebag it means he likes you. He’s basically Rob but three years older and fifty IQ points lower! I’m guessing it’s a rugby thing!”

“Ha, nice one,” Isaac laughed despite the insult to himself.

David smiled at the playful banter. James had struggled the previous year after skipping ahead to Year 11, to the point where he had considered asking to be moved back, but in the end, he had managed to work his way through it. With his GCSEs done (and results as exceptional as expected), he was now starting his A-Levels. Academically, David knew his best friend/new boyfriend would have no trouble, but the social side of things could be harder for him. Seeing James so comfortable with his older dormmates was quite a comfort.

“So, you sharing with Alex?” David asked Isaac, just making polite conversation.

“Yep, lucky him!” Alex said with a smile as he emerged from dorm 2.15, giving Isaac a dead arm for literally no reason.

“Cool,” David smiled, “And Luke’s with you?” he asked James, getting a nod in return. That made David happy too. His boyfriend was sharing a dorm with Rob’s boyfriend (well one of them anyway). Something about that felt right.

David stood back a little as James started chatting with the others about how they would use the living area with, cocking his head slightly. He didn’t know most of this group that well, but even in his limited knowledge David couldn’t help noticing the change. Alex had started as an antagonistic and unpopular bully, but through his relationship and break-up with Rob, ended up better friends with his peers. Isaac had always been an amusing colleague to Rob, the two rugby captains bonding over their shared sport. Luke had just been a roommate of Rob’s boyfriend at first. But now that had changed too and was the love of Rob’s life. Then there was James himself. He had gone from an elitist, under-challenged, socially-awkward loner back in his previous dorm with David, to a much more relaxed, and sociable boy, now dedicated to his studies rather than obsessed with them.

David let out a sigh. That much change within a group he barely knew was barely a drop in the ocean compared to the changes he had witnessed in his own friend group. All of his friends had changed and grown so much… so why did David feel like the same chubby, short, unpopular nerd he had been when he started at the school. Sure, his appearance had changed a little, now sporting hair that changed colour every half term and his extreme chubbiness had reduced to just ‘slight’ chubbiness, but at the core of it he felt like exactly the same person he had been.

He had friends who had completely changed their identity and life. Friends who had changed their entire family. Friends who had been through life-changing injuries. Yet he was still… just David.

“Hey, you okay?” James asked as he looked round at the other boy. “You looked miles away!” he observed with slight concern.

David smiled. It wasn’t forced, even though it did a good job of hiding his wandering thoughts. “Yeah, I’m good. Just… reflecting, I suppose!”

“Wanna talk about it?” James asked, standing face-to-face with David as he let a hand slip onto each of his sides.

“Nah, nothing to talk about,” David said dismissively, tilting his head up to give a quick peck on the lips. He frowned a little as he pulled away and asked, “When did you get this much taller than me?”

“I installed an upgrade over the summer,” James joked, “I’m now running on James version year twelve!”

David laughed at the playful comment and said, “Well let’s go find somewhere else to go. I wanna play with your new settings!”

“Sounds good to me,” James said before pulling David into a kiss.

“Oooooooh!” the older boys chorused from across the room.

“Ah, shut up ya twats,” James said dismissively, smirking as he did it.

“Our little James has a boyfriend, it’s so cute!” Isaac called out. As James and David left, they heard a final shout of, “Have fun!”

David chuckled, then casually reached to the side and took hold of James’ hand as they walked.

James looked down at the hand clasping his own, smiled at it, then at David.

“How d’ya fancy a game of chess?” David suggested. He got a gentle nod from James, so he added a coy, “I was thinking any time a piece gets taken, the taking player has to kiss the other!”

“Won’t that just mean we spend more time kissing than playing?” James asked with a slight frown. As he saw David grinning at him, he smiled again and said, “Oh I see. Then yes, I like this plan. I like this plan a lot! Y’know, I’m definitely getting used to this whole boyfriend thing!”

“Me too,” David said happily.

*****

“Ahhhhh feck,” Chris moaned dreamily as he lingered on the brink of orgasm. “I stand by the whole ‘size doesn’t matter’ thing, but feck me, it certainly helps!”

Nicky chuckled as he slowly slid the full length of his massive cock into Chris once again, now no longer needing to touch the other boy to keep edging him. “Glad you’re enjoying it!” he giggled. He smiled to himself as he found himself thinking about a different ex than the one he was currently fucking – his mentor, Will.

Back in Year 7, when Nicky’s self-image issues had been at their worst, he had hated his oversized penis, but Will had insisted he would eventually come to appreciate it… and he was certainly right. While he still felt a fair amount of self-consciousness being naked, it was no longer debilitating as it had once been, but the good aspects of his ample appendage had continued to show themselves. Even single he was still finding plenty of opportunities to continue improving his sexual skills.

“I’m just glad Danny’s still willing to share!” Nicky added with a grin before nibbling playfully at Chris’ neck.

“Well, he obviously didn’t want to deprive Kingswood of the pleasure of my company!” Chris sniggered, resisting the urge to reach down and finish himself off.

“Such modesty,” Nicky sniggered.

“Shut up and fuck me,” Chris said, leaning back to nuzzle against Nicky.

“Whadda you think I’m doing!” Nicky replied snarkily, but quickly buried his face in Chris’ neck to nibble at it. “I’m probably gonna cum soon,” he stated bluntly. “You know edging’s not my thing!” he said with a headshake.

“Edging’s everyone’s thing,” Chris insisted, “Patience is what you’re missing!”

Nicky cackled with laughter as he shook his head. “Blithering idiot most of the day, but get you into bed and you’re some kind of fucking philosopher!” he laughed.

“Heyyyy!” Chris whined. “Blithering idiot’s a bit much. I’m just a regular idiot!” he said before leaning back to kiss Nicky.

They laid together, making out as Nicky started thrusting harder and faster until he was grunting into Chris’ mouth and filling his butt. He continued a while after he finished cumming, until his cock was squelching slightly as the cum coated his massive cock.

“Sure you don’t want me to finish you off?” Nicky asked hopefully.

“Nah,” Chris said, shaking his head. “Edging’s good for now, but feel free to keep playing with it!”

“Gladly,” Nicky said as Chris shuffled round to lie on his back, nestling in at his side. With one arm under Chris’ neck, he let his other hand roam the smaller boy’s body, occasionally sliding down to give a teasing stroke of his dick. They enjoyed the content silence for a few moments before Nicky asked softly, “How’s everything going with Danny?”

The serene smile on Chris’ face sudden broke into a massive grin.

“Oh, that good!” Nicky exclaimed happily.

“Better!” Chris said dreamily. “I just…” he paused, choking up just a little.

“What?” Nicky asked nervously.

“Oh, no,” Chris said, shaking his head. He gestured vaguely to his face and said, “That was a good reaction, not a bad one. I just… ugh!” He rolled to the side and buried his face in Nicky’s chest, feeling the short hair sprouting on it tickling his nose. He took a deep breath and rolled back as he looked to the taller boy and said, “I wanted this for so long… even when I didn’t realise how much I wanted it, and now I have it… feck, it’s… it’s even better than I ever imagined!”

“That’s so sweet,” Nicky said happily. He had known how Chris felt about his best friend, even when they were together back in Year 8. He felt like it was something he should have been mad, or annoyed, or worried about, but he never did, it was simply a fact of who Chris was. Seeing the attraction now fully realised was quite wonderful. “I actually heard someone say something about you two the other day!” he stated with a smile.

“It’s Danny. People say stuff about him all the time,” Chris chuckled.

Nicky frowned slightly. People ‘saying things’ about Danny had become a bit of a point of concern for him as he found himself worrying his friend was being bullied. So far this term nothing really seemed to have come of it and he was gradually convincing himself he was making up a problem where there wasn’t one. Putting that thought aside, he smiled again and said, “This was a good thing I heard, though. I don’t even know how it came up, but some of the guys were talking about boys, cos… well, it’s all we fucking talk about half the time, but someone said the best advice is to ‘find yourself a guy who looks at you the way Chris looks at Danny!’ And it’s true! You two are… relationship goals!”

“Who said that?” Chris asked with a chuckle.

“It was Gray,” Nicky said with a smile. “I reckon it says a lot if even the new guy says that!”

“Ohhhhh, Gray said it, did he?” Chris asked, sitting up to look at Nicky with a lop-sided grin.

“He did, and cut the smirk!” Nicky said flatly.

“Hey, I’m just saying you seem to be spending a lot of time together!” Chris said, still grinning.

“Well yeah, but just cos we live the same life!” Nicky scoffed. “Aside from Maths, where he’s in top set and I’m in bottom and when he’s at German, football or rugby, we have literally the same schedule! He’s basically me but with more effort!”

“And cuter too!” Chris said, poking Nicky in the ribs.

“Oh, shots fired!” Nicky said, shaking his head in slight disbelief.

“I’m kidding. You know how hot I think you are!” Chris said before he leaned in for another kiss. As he pulled back, he grinned again and said, “But he IS cute!”

“Meh,” Nicky shrugged dismissively. “I don’t see him that way!”

*****

“I feel like we should do something to celebrate our last night together!” Chris suggested as they all got ready for bed.

“You’ve said that pretty much every night since we got back!” Rob scoffed.

“He’s just looking for another excuse for a circle jerk!” Mikey sniggered.

“You mean ANOTHER circle jerk!” Mark said, shaking his head. It had happened a couple of times already that term.

“Or another dick measuring contest!” Nicky added.

“Or skinny-dipping!” Josh said.

“Hey,” Mark interjected, “That was my idea!”

“Yeah, you can tell it wasn’t Chris’ as it didn’t involve people cumming on him or in him!” David said with a wry grin.

“Hey, I’m not Danny!” Chris defended himself.

“How do I ALWAYS get dragged into these things?” Danny asked with a slight head shake.

“And anyway, we don’t need to DO anything, cos this isn’t our last night together!” Josh insisted.

“Oh god, someone go tell Mr Rudd Josh is planning to blow up the Home Building to keep us together!” Nicky said with a snigger, getting laughs from the rest of the dorm.

“I’m not!” Josh insisted, but then rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he added, “Well I wasn’t, but maybe I am now!”

Rob sighed disapprovingly at Nicky and said, “You know better than to give him these ideas!”

“Hey, we wouldn’t need to stress over The Lads if they got blown up!” Nicky said with a shrug.

“Fuck me!” “That’s dark!” “So wrong!” the other chorused back.

“Yeah, please don’t suggest killing my brother. That’s my job!” Rob insisted. “Anyway, what did you mean it’s not our last night? You know something we don’t?”

“Yeah, you been PUMPING Mr Rudd for information?” Chris asked, making a lewd humping gesture.

“No!” Josh scowled at Chris before looking back round at the others, “And I just meant… just cos the rooms we sleep in have a wall between them doesn’t mean we’re not together! None of us are going anywhere!”

“Yeah!” “He’s got a point!” “He’s not wrong!” “Ha. Pumping!” the others said back as some of them started getting ready for bed.

“Wow, Josh was the smart one. Today’s weird!” David joked.

“I know right!” Josh giggled as he pulled his t-shirt off.

“WOAH!” several of the boys chorused at once, recoiling.

“Why, thanks. I HAVE been working out!” Josh sniggered as he saw everyone staring at him.

“Fuck me, Josh. What did you do this time?” Rob demanded, moving to grab Josh and turn him to look at his back.

“What?” Josh demanded. He tried to look over his shoulder, but started to move round, eventually spinning in circles as he continued trying to achieve the impossible angle.

“He’s like a dog!” Nicky sniggered.

“We should remember that next time we need to keep him occupied!” Chris giggled back.

“Here,” Rob said, stopping Josh spinning as he pulled out his phone. Snapping a quick picture of Josh’s back, he held it up to him and said, “That!”

Josh looked at the picture and saw a massive bruise covering half of his back. “Huh. Weird,” he laughed. “I tried a backflip, but I landed mostly on my head!”

“No comment needed on that one!” Nicky chuckled as some of the others looked at him expectantly.

“Wait, is that from what I did?” David asked, moving over to Josh to examine his back. “Did I hurt you when I landed on you?” he asked sadly.

<<Oh, look what you’ve done now!>>

Mikey flinched.

“It didn’t hurt,” Josh said with a shrug.

<<One of the few people who can actually stand being around you and you had to go and hurt him!>>

“It was my fault,” Mikey said sadly. “I… I made you fall on him cos I tickled him!”

“Geez, it’s no big deal,” Josh said with a snigger as he moved towards his bunk, “I can’t even feel it. I just bruise easy!”

<<He doesn’t mean it. Look at his face, clearly in pain, he obviously hates you! I bet they all do now!>>

“I’m sorry,” Mikey said, looking visibly upset.

<<Wow, I was right, it’s not just him. Look at all of them. You hurt poor little Josh. I’d be surprised if they even let you move into their dorm tomorrow!>>

“Seriously, chill,” Josh sniggered. “I swear, you’re as bad as Jack when I got the black eye over the summer!”

<<Now you’re a child beater. You see, this is what happens when I let you wander around unsupervised. DON’T DO IT AGAIN!>>

“Y’know, it kinda looks like Australia if you tilt your head and squint!” David said thoughtfully, staring at Josh’s back, seemingly accepting his indifference to the injury.

“YOU kinda look like Australia if you tilt your head and squint!” Josh replied with a dopey grin.

“It’s the intellectual stimulation I’ll miss most about not sleeping near you guys,” Danny said with a giggle.

“Hey, we still get to go to the gym together, right?” David suddenly asked, looking over at Danny as he sat on his bunk.

“Of course. You don’t get out of it that easily,” Danny chuckled. “Not that you come THAT often!” he added wryly.

“Yeah, some of us actually take rest days, you lunatic!” Mark interjected.

“Pfft, sounds like loser talk to me,” Danny said dismissively, having now made his change to working out six days a week.

“Oh sure, cos Mark’s such a hideous mess from only going four times a week. I mean, look at the state of him!” David said sarcastically.

“Oh, I’m looking,” Danny said with a grin, eyeing up the handsome young man before giving him a playful wink.

Chris jumped on the bunk beside Danny and said, “Whatever’s gonna happen, can I watch?”

“Nothing’s gonna happen. Just… normal wank time, I imagine!” Mark insisted, blushing a little at the attention.

Nicky burst into laughter that clearly confused the others as they all slowly looked round at him. “Sorry, just… thinking back,” he said shaking his head. “This time last year, we were all at each other’s throats, Mark barely spoke and definitely hadn’t done stuff with us. Now, he thinks of wanking in bed with seven other boys as ‘normal’. Safe to say he’s truly one of us now!”

The boys started laughing and chattering their agreement, even Mark who shrugged and nodded.

Several minutes later, Mr Rudd wandered round for his final check before lights out and, as usual, found the boys already in bed. The plan Rob had hatched with Mr Trent back in Year 7 – be on best behaviour til they trust you and stop watching so closely – was back in full effect with their new Floor Master.

“Night lads,” Mr Rudd said casually as he headed out.

“Night sir!” they chorused back.

The teacher had been gone barely ten seconds before Chris called out, “So… wank time then?” It got a laugh from most of the boys.

“Best keep it down,” Rob said softly. “Don’t wanna wake up sleeping beauty!”

As the others paused, curious as to what he meant, they fell silent for a moment and heard gentle snoring coming from Josh’s bunk. They chuckled amongst themselves before beginning their usual pre-sleep wanks, separately but simultaneously.

“Hey,” Nicky whispered when he heard no movement from Mikey’s bunk. Reaching up under his pillow, his hand slipped under Mikey’s, the two bunks head-to-head, and gave it a gentle nudge. “Not, umm… not in the mood?” he whispered curiously.

<<Don’t talk to him! It’s a trap! He’ll find a way to bring up Josh and the beating you gave him!>>

“Mikey?” Nicky whispered, giving another nudge.

<<Just pretend to be asleep!>>

Mikey let out a gentle snore.

Nicky pulled his hand back and glanced vaguely in his best friend’s direction in the dark before he settled down to sleep, his own need to cum having been sated by his evening activity with Chris.

<<Good lad! Now, let’s look back at you day and count all the ways you’ve fucked up without us!>>

*****

When Nicky awoke, he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be the middle of the night or already morning. He felt wide awake, having jarred himself awake from an instantly forgotten dream and while being the middle of the night meant he could potentially go back to sleep, he just knew that would take a while. Reaching for his phone, he looked at it and let out a gentle sigh as he saw it was just gone 1am.

“Fuck it,” he muttered before trying to get comfortable to go back to sleep.

Several minutes, and even more positions later, he still felt wide awake. As much as he liked to sleep with personal space, sometimes cuddling up to someone could help, but Mikey had seemed… off, while Chris and Danny were already barely contained in a single bunk together with no room for another person. He sat up and looked round for a few moments. He briefly considered joining David, but figured it wasn’t really fair to risk waking anyone else anyway.

Figuring a drink might help, he crept over towards the door and slipped out quietly. He headed down the hallway and into the temporary Common Room that was being shared by the Year 10s. There was usually a low light left on for safety, but now the room was fully lit. As he wandered in, he heard a sudden, “Hey stalker!”

“FUCK!” Nicky yelped out in surprise, almost staggering off his feet as he jumped at the sudden and unexpected comment. “Jesus, Gray. What the fuck!” he gasped, looking round at the new boy who was laid out on one of the sofas.

“That was funny. Wish I was recording it. I’d set it as my message tone!” Gray sniggered.

“You’re a dick!” Nicky grumbled, then frowned a little and asked, “Wait, what you doing here?”

Gray jumped to his feet and hurried over towards Nicky as he said, “What d’you mean? You… invited me here. You said you had something important to tell me!”

“I… what?” Nicky said, absolutely bewildered.

Gray burst into laughter. “Just messin’ with ya!” he said, shoving Nicky’s shoulder playfully.

“Okay, I got the gender wrong,” Nicky growled, “You’re not a dick. You’re a cunt!”

Gray snorted with laughter again as he replied, “Ha, good one!”

“But seriously, what are you doing in here?” Nicky asked curiously.

Gray’s eyes narrowed. “Ah, the real question is, what are YOU doing in here?” he asked, flashing a cheesy grin.

“Ugh, are you like this twenty-four hours a day? It’s fucking exhausting!” Nicky complained, heading over to get a drink. As he turned back round holding a glass of water, he cocked his head curiously at the other boy who was standing there, looking uncharacteristically glum.

“Sorry, I’ll… I’ll leave you to it,” Gray said, offering a meek smile as he headed back over to the sofa he had been sat on.

Nicky watched him walk away, then slowly followed, feeling a little guilty. “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean that to sound quite so… cunty!”

“S’okay,” Gray said with a shrug.

Nicky sat down on the opposite end of the sofa as he said, “No it’s not. It’s not exhausting. It’s actually kinda fun!”

Gray let out a hearty sigh as he said, “No, you were right. It IS exhausting, which makes not being able to sleep even more annoying!”

Nicky cocked his head curiously. There felt like a lot to unpack there, but he jumped straight to the most obvious as he asked, “Why can’t you sleep? Everything… okay?”

“Every time I close my eyes I still hear the screaming!” Gray said, staring at Nicky with a haunted expression.

“You… you…” Nicky stuttered nervously for a moment before he let out a low growl and said, “You’re fucking with me again, aren’t you?”

Gray started laughing as he nodded. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he said when he managed to stop. “But it’s nothing serious. I’m just not used to sharing with seven other guys. There’s only so much snoring and farting I can sleep through!”

Nicky chuckled as he nodded. “Ugh, yeah. That does take some getting used to!” he agreed, though it had been years since that had been a concern for him. If anything, he was a little worried about the LACK of noise when he moved into the new dorm.

“How about you? Everything okay?” Gray asked, with what seemed to be genuine concern.

Nicky nodded as he replied, “Oh, yeah, I’m just on bottom duty. One of us has to be awake at all times in case someone wakes up and fancies a fuck!”

“Oh my god, you guys… really do that?” Gray asked, having heard many tales of what went on in Nicky’s dorm. As he saw the smirk on Nicky’s face, he shook his head with a reluctant grin and said, “Oh, you’re messing with ME now? No no, no, no no. That’s not how this works. I mess with you, not the other way round!”

“Well, Mr Stone. It finally looks like you’ve met your match!” Nicky said, before letting out a brief maniacal laugh, though he quickly cringed at the volume and lowered it to a much quieter maniacal laugh, which only served to make Gray laugh some more.

“Well, Mr Jones,” Gray replied with a lop-sided smile, “I was just gonna listen to a new album. I’d ask if you want to listen, but based on Stage Fright’s usual material, it’s probably not your thing!”

“To be fair, I have very little say in that stuff,” Nicky said defensively. “Chris and Mark have… surprisingly retro taste and Mikey… well… he just likes hitting things with sticks!”

“So a… typical drummer then,” Gray sniggered.

Nicky laughed and nodded, then shuffled along the sofa to sit next to Gray as he asked, “So what we listening to?”

“Have you ever heard of a Swedish band called Little Dragon?” Gray asked with a knowing smirk.

“Funnily enough, no,” Nicky replied with a bemused headshake.

“Well, you’re about to meet them!” Gray said, offering Nicky one of his ear buds.

“Jargekloff!” Nicky replied. As Gray frowned at the comment, he added, “It’s Swedish for ‘sounds good!’”

“You speak Swedish!?” Gray exclaimed in surprise, then let out a groan as he caught on and said, “Dammit. Maybe I HAVE met my match!”

Nicky simply grinned proudly.