Upon finishing the grading Lee and Thomas placed the tests in a neat pile on the front desk and locked the door behind them as they left the classroom.

Now, the two of them stood awkwardly in the deserted hallway.

“Are we going or what?” Thomas inquired with feigned disinterest. The way he was glaring down at the floor and fidgeting with the straps of his backpack betrayed his hidden anxiousness.

It was fascinating to see a less controlled side of him.

“Um, yeah,” Lee hurriedly agreed. “Do you wanna stop by your room and change clothes or drop off your bag?”

“I’m fine as is,” Thomas insisted. He turned and started walking briskly down the hall. Lee hurried to follow a step behind.

Was Thomas eager to get their date started, or did he just want it over with?

Lee let his eyes skim upward to take a peek at Thomas’ ‘Affection Meter’ again.

[Affection 33%]

‘That’s about the same as Arland’s,’ he noted.

What did it mean that Thomas apparently had the same level of fondness for him as his friend did? Lee let his mind wander with speculations as they made their way across campus to the dormitories.

They stopped in the lobby to grab snacks from the vending machine as planned, but as Lee went to dig out his wallet Thomas went ahead and inserted his own money. The President started punching in several codes for twenty dollars worth of food and drink.

“I was going to buy them,” Lee said with a pout. Weren’t you supposed to pay for the food when you asked someone out?

Thomas gathered up all his purchases and unceremoniously dumped them into Lee’s arms.

“There, you can carry them,” he stated as if compromising.

After riding the elevator up to Lee’s floor they encountered an issue.

“I can’t reach my keycard like this,” Lee informed, lifting the snacks up for emphasis. He was hoping Thomas would take the hint and relieve him of the burden.

Instead, the President inquired, “Which pocket?”

Lee’s brain stalled for a split second.

‘Oh, he’s gonna- okay. That’s fine. This is fine. Everything is fine,’ Lee frantically assured himself.

He lightly bumped Thomas with his hip to indicate the side pocket closest to him and murmured, “This one.”

Wordlessly, Thomas reached his hand into said pocket without hesitation. He was swift in retrieving the key, but Lee still couldn’t suppress a shudder at feeling the boy’s hand slide against his upper thigh.

Noticing the reaction, Thomas' eyes snapped up to study Lee’s progressively reddening face. Fortunately, the President decided not to comment on it, moving on to unlock the door and hold it open politely.

Lee choked out his thanks as he hurried inside, dumping the packaged food onto his bed. As Thomas closed the door behind them, Lee went to his computer with the hope of distracting himself by searching for a movie they could watch.

However, he’d forgotten to close out the ‘PARAMETERS’ window the last time he used it, so the first thing to pop up on screen was Thomas' profile information.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

In fear, Lee twisted to look back at Thomas, who had kicked off his shoes and was already walking up to stand at his side.

“What’s the problem?” The redhead asked, looking first to the monitor and then to Lee’s tense posture in puzzlement.

“Uuuhhh…?” Lee produced helpfully.

Thomas squinted at the screen and guessed, “Something wrong with the computer?”

With bated breath, Lee pointed right at the picture of the President’s face and asked, “Can you not see this, Thomas?”

Thomas followed his finger and stared dead at the monitor, only to question, “What am I supposed to be seeing? It’s just dark.”

Though taken aback by the answer, Lee quickly moved his mouse to minimize the page and implored, “How about now?”

Thomas frowned, unamused, but dutifully responded, “I see your home screen now.”

Lee pressed his face into his palm and groaned as he lamented, ‘So even if I wanted to, I can’t show anyone the game for proof. Should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.’

He shook off his disappointment and swiftly changed the subject, “Is there anything you want to watch?”

Thomas eyed him skeptically, but didn’t try to pull an explanation from him. “Actually, I think I’d like to try playing a game,” he suggested. “You like those, right?”

Lee was surprised that was his first choice. “Do you play any games?” He asked.

Thomas shook his head and said, “I don’t really have time for them.”

That sounded like an absolute travesty to Lee, whose voice emanated with seriousness as he asserted, “We’ll have to rectify that immediately.”

Lee pulled his desk from against the wall and turned it so the monitor faced the side of his bed. He then went to his closet in order to hunt down his extra controller from where it was buried by the clothes carelessly tossed inside.

Upon success, Lee returned to find that Thomas had taken it upon himself to get comfortable. He’d climbed onto Lee’s bed, arranged their snacks for easy reachability, and placed the pillows along the wall so they would have something to lean on.

Lee plugged in the controllers and crawled onto the bed beside Thomas, copying his cross-legged pose. He chose one of his favorite platformer games for them to play because it had a multiplayer story-mode.

As cheerful music began to resonate from the speakers, Lee almost forgot he was supposed to be on a date instead of just hanging out with a new friend.

Almost.

Thomas removed the distance between them, deliberately scooting so close that their thighs were pressed flush against each other.

It could not be overstated that Lee rarely, if ever, experienced physical contact with other people.

As a result, every time he was touched his body would involuntarily tremble as if it didn’t know how to process the new sensation. Even though he couldn’t help the reaction, Lee was still extremely embarrassed since he knew Thomas could feel his shaking and he didn’t want the other boy to get the wrong idea.

“So, how does this game work?” Thomas asked quietly, both hands gripping his controller while giving Lee his full attention.

Lee allowed himself to take a steadying breath before meekly demonstrating the controls. Despite the simplicity of the game, Thomas insisted on leaning closer toward Lee to ask clarifying questions on what the buttons did.

Was the President intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable?

When they finally started playing the actual game, there were barely any hiccups in their teamwork. Thomas was able to pick up on things rather quickly, and soon their characters were taking down enemies and blazing through puzzle sections in perfect sync.

Thomas appeared to take the game as seriously as he did school work. He was leaning forward and practically staring daggers at the screen, tapping buttons with speedy precision to get the timing on their combo moves just right.

During lulls in action or loading screens, Thomas proposed some really creative strategies for boss enemies they had coming up. Though Lee had beaten the game before, this was his first time going through it on the multiplayer route. It presented a new kind of challenge that he was enjoying immensely, and he was down to try anything.

Lee let himself ease into a relaxed state, immersed in the fun of playing a good game with good company. He whispered under his breath, “This is great.”

He noticed Thomas' character stutter and almost miss its timing when a jump came up, so he shot a glance at his partner.

(+7%) [Affection 40%]

Thomas’ eyes were firmly planted on the screen, but perhaps sensing he was being watched, he muttered, “...It’s enjoyable.”

Lee beamed; he hadn’t meant for his words to be overheard, but he was glad Thomas felt similarly.