Drew Quinn

Even if he didn’t plan on sticking to Drew 24/7, the cramped, sweaty bodies packed inside such a tight house gave the blonde no choice. Not like he minded - especially Andrew’s arm circled his waist, stealthily sneaking its way into his back pocket. So, drink in hands, they made their rounds, making sure they were seen by all the right people. They were always together anyway, but this time it was important to be seen physical. Practically entwined. The alcohol loosened Spencer’s limbs, urging him to lean back on his friend more and gaze up at him with darker, fluttering eyes.

He was already tipsy when Andrew leaned down and whispered in his ear. Spencer swallowed thickly, any apprehension he had left drowned out with the alcohol, before nodding slightly. Nothing screams look at us, we’re fucking like a public makeout. Wasn’t that how most of these parties ended anyway? A pot of STDs? The alcohol kept him buzzing, sparking on extra confidence and unwarranted cockiness. Discarding their drinks on a coffee table already piled with red cups, Spencer tugged on Andrew’s arm through the sweaty movement of bodies around them, finding free surface area in the form of a spot at the end of a couch in the living room. He pushed Drew onto the sofa before climbing onto his lap - a move he never would have managed if the alcohol wasn’t clouding his judgement. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he murmured, corner of his lip tugging upward sheepishly Holding the other’s male’s face, Spencer’s lips were eager to latch onto Drew’s again, swooning into the open-mouthed kiss.

Andrew had seen Spencer tipsy before, but he’d never in his life met this confident, sort of sexually aggressive version of him in his life - he supposed he’d never had cause to, before. Either way, Spencer was incredibly hot like this. He was incredibly hot all of the time, but this was just... different. It put all kinds of ideas in his head. If only would be interested in exploring them, but he wouldn’t be, not when he was sober, anyway. 

If Spencer didn’t want the ground to swallow him up before, embarrassed by his feeble kissing at first and then the animalistic way he leaped at the other male, he certainly did now. Was there something Drew wasn’t telling him, or was he just reading too much into this? Anxious clogs of his mind rotate him into a frenzy of doubt and worry. That this was a bad idea, he was stupid to suggest it in the first place - was there really a moment Spencer thought they could pretend to be a couple without it getting awkward? Whatever the answer was, kissing ruined it, and now Spencer couldn’t stop questioning what he wanted, why he kept thinking of Andrew’s lips on his, or finding the underlying meaning behind Andrew’s words. He was just as unsettled, that’s for sure, but Spencer couldn’t pinpoint why. The party crashed over them, pulling them out of a curtain of soft touches and kisses back to reality, for better or for worse.

It was just the kissing, Spencer assured himself. As soon as they got off each other and he stopped worrying about the blood threatening to pool at his groin things would go back to normal. Maybe when they got past the physicality of it all, maintaining the facade wouldn’t be so bad. You had me fooled. Spencer read his friend like a picture book, certain there was more to what he meant than those simple words. But then Andrew commented on how he looked and the blush on Spencer’s cheeks deepened to a dark red. Hand self consciously flying to his hair, as tousled as he was expecting, the blonde gulped and licked his bottom lip, now swollen from their kisses. “I - I don’t look that bad,” he spattered nervously. Spencer shuffled back onto the pillows, giving his friend room to climb off the bed. He patted his own disheveled curls down too - a force of habit - and was glad that Andrew brought up booze so they wouldn’t have to talk about future hickeys - but then he saw it. Mouth suddenly running dry, Spencer didn’t realise he was staring like an idiot until a few seconds later, scrambling to tear his eyes away and search for his keys. Was that because of him?!? “Sorry about that…” he muttered hesitantly, back turned away from Andrew.

“No, you don’t look bad, you look good” Andrew promised with ease. He had no problem giving the guy a compliment and never had. Granted, his motivation was usually more to do with trying to make his friend blush, but he was already doing that when he’d thought he was being insulted. He simply wanted Spencer to know that he hadn’t meant it that way. “I only meant that you look like you’ve been kissing someone. It’s a really good look on you. I’m probably the one who looks terrible” he bolstered Spencer.

“Sorry?” Drew asked, completely baffled. The guy wasn’t doing anything wrong as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t shy and Spencer could look all he wanted. There was no shame in the fact that he’d liked the kissing on a physical level - Spencer was gorgeous, and Drew had eyes and a working dick, that wasn’t a secret. “Why are you sorry? Don’t be. You ready to go?”

Now that the question was twisted back at him, it didn’t seem quite so innocent and unassuming. Truth was he knew they should stop, but knowing what was good for him and accepting it on a deeper level wasn’t as simple as moving from point A to B. Either out of horniness or budding affection, Spencer’s body craved the nectar Andrew’s lips gave him again - and he really hoped it was just the former, because sexual frustration would be so much easier to deal with than the convoluted mess that was his feelings. Even while growing up, Spencer trod a fine line whenever he approached Andrew, caught in a trap of wanting him and wanting to be him - with his confidence and new clothes and carefree spirit - and the problem was he could never pinpoint which desire it actually was.

The blood slowly rushing back to his head brought back a few seconds of clarity, but that clarity only returned his body to its antsy, overthinking, nervous state. Swallowing, he licked his lips, swollen plump after Drew’s tendency of strong kisses and slight sucking. “I -I…” Spencer managed under a breath, his voice mixing with the oxygen his lungs were still signalling, “I think we should save some for the party.” The party. The party at the frat house. That’s why they needed to do this in the first place, the blonde scorned himself mentally as a reminder. It was just practice: means to an end goal. “Besides, you said it was good. Right?”

“The party. Right. Of course” Andrew replied, swallowing back his disappointment, so that Spencer wouldn’t see the other things he was feeling written all over his face. Of course that did absolutely nothing to help lessen those emotions, mostly guilt over trying to take this somewhere it was never supposed to go, because that was tantamount to trying to take something he wasn’t actually being offered in the first place, but he was also incredibly embarrassed about it, and if he was honest,with himself, he was sad. Sure, even he hadn’t been trying to make it mean something profound, but it had temporarily made him just... feel better. He couldn’t really explain it to himself beyond a chemical reaction in his brain, and he hadn’t really even recognized feeling unhappy to begin with, but he felt what he felt, and that was all there was to it.

The stubble was just cruel, texture and smell igniting every pleasure sensor on Spencer’s lips as he kissed a trail from the other male’s jaw to his neck. He thought he could catch a breath when they weren’t eating each other’s faces off, but tangibly Andrew’s pointy stubble was giving him other ideas. Did Drew know it drove him crazy? Is that why he didn’t shave it all off this morning? It was easier to keep his eyes closed while his head was still spinning; the blonde licked the softest exposed parts of skin under his best friend’s chin, ghosting nibbles and butterfly kisses under his adam’s apple.

He gulped when Andrew’s hand found its way into his hair, instantly yielding and following the touch. He thought he was doing a pretty good job, considering the way his best friend murmured sensually - at least Spencer could do something right. But then Drew pressed him closer, completely throwing him off. Maybe being in closer contact was a bad idea, a very bad idea considering the fact that the body heat Drew radiated was just another stimulus to his already fried brain.

As if they weren’t crossing critical territory before, Spencer became evermore conscious of the stirring starting at his groin. He really didn’t need to get hard right now, after barely a few kisses. Chest heaving, his eyes flickered up to Andrew’s as he panted, “That’s good.” Then, hesitantly, “Do - do you want to stop now?”

Stop? Did he want to stop? Now? No. No he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to keep doing this for as Spencer would allow... Oh. Spencer must want to stop. That was obviously fine - Andrew never wanted his best friend to do anything he didn’t want to do, especially not for his sake - but it made Drew wonder why. Had he done something Spencer hadn’t liked? Had Spencer liked any of it? What if he’d unintentionally tricked him into giving him what he wanted? He forced his mind through the fog of lust that had descended, trying to remember whose idea this whole thing had been. It had been his, hadn’t it? Shit. He’d honestly thought Spencer had been enjoying himself, but maybe he had just been practicing pretending to want to do that. Andrew didn’t know whether Spencer was a truly amazing actor, or whether he’s just been desperately hoping and willing to believe anything. He’d felt really wanted by someone he absolutely adored for a few minutes, and perhaps his subconscious mind just couldn’t pass that up. It was stupid. He was going to ruin their entire friendship if he wasn’t careful, because they couldn’t possibly be more than friends, even if Spencer was attracted to him too, and he really didn’t think Spencer was the casual kind of guy. He’d never actually noticed him hooking up with anyone.

Spencer swore he was already dizzy, blood rushing everywhere except his head as their kisses continued the same pace. They weren’t quite pressed together yet, himself twisted at uncomfortable angle just to reciprocate the fervor of Andrew’s lips, but Spencer still worried his best friend might hear the military heartbeat pounding in his chest, or taste the titillation oozing out of every pore in his mouth. The sucking is what really caught him. Uncensored, Spencer whined feebly as Andrew’s mouth pulled away with a quiet smack, leaving his lower lip bare and the stir in his stomach painfully unsatisfied.

He barely heard Andrew over the blood roaring over his eardrums, though it’s not like finally hearing him helped at all. Just his tone, purposefully low and seductive, urged a flush to creep over Spencer’s entire face and neck. The distressing part was that he didn’t know if all this flirting, the long glances boring into each other, was included in the game or not. He never knew, always two steps behind his best friend that made him feel nervous and excited and guilty all at the same time.

Kiss you like I mean it?? What the hell does that mean? The blonde furrowed his eyebrows, an anxious tick to ignore the sudden ache in his gut. His gaze flickered to Andrew’s mouth, then his eyes, and then back down again. Hands on either side of Andrew’s cheeks to hold him in place firmly, Spencer dared to lean forward and lick his friend’s upper lip softly. Lick it again. And then his tongue dove into Andrew’s mouth this time, trying to fill every crevice inside and suck up any air left in his lungs. It was rushed, wetter than before, and Spencer couldn’t think about what he was doing for fear that he would stop. That he was crazy. Before he could control himself, his mouth slipped away to kiss a trail down Andrew’s jaw, testing the sensation of the slight stubble underneath.

The thing about Drew was, despite his ever-present good intentions, he was about as emotionally aware as your average labradoodle - you know; sweet, loving and ever-so-slightly clueless considering the fact that he was a psych major. As far as he was concerned, he’d made it perfectly clear to Spencer what he was thinking. From where he was sitting they’d made the unspoken decision to have a little fun just for the sake of it, and they were simply joking about needing to ‘practice’.  Of course he hadn’t in fact made himself clear at all, Spencer was in on no such decision, and they weren’t just on completely different pages, but were in separate books.  Still, ignorance was bliss and he, for one, was having an absolute blast.

Any other time, Spencer would have punched himself for feeling so stupid. This wasn’t his first kiss by any means - heck, not even the first time he envisioned kissing his best friend - but Andrew’s speech still sent off a swarm of butterflies at the pit of his gut and his palms were already turning clammy.  “I’m not scared,” Spencer piped, although the quiver in his voice made his statement sound more like a question. Really, he wasn’t scared. If he controlled himself throughout a whole year of sharing a room, one kiss wouldn’t break anything.

His pulse quickened ten paces when Andrew leaned in, the cramped space between them suddenly shrinking and shrinking. Not wanting to seem weird or freaked out, Spencer shut his eyes when Andrew was only an inch away. The loss of sight made the rest of his senses all the more perceptive, and a gulp caught in his throat after the other male’s breath grazed his lips. In the dark, the rest of Spencer’s body was stock still, nerves and energy only buzzing teasingly in his mouth. His lips. On Andrew’s lips suddenly brushing against his, gentle and barely there.

It wasn’t a kiss at first. It wasn’t a kiss until he turned his head to the side hesitantly, feeling Andrew’s lips capture his own in a warm embrace. A spark of heat rushed through Spencer, one from tasting the chapstick still moist on his friend’s lips that made them indescribably soft - softer than his own. Light, tantalising pressure built up when Andrew kissed him again, and this time Spencer forced himself to reciprocate amiably, silently swooning at how easily their lips glided together.

The slow teasing did nothing to ease how Spencer felt the ground shift underneath them dizzily, or the excitement still trapped in his throat. He let Andrew take the lead, suspecting that’s what he wanted, still lost in figuring out why he felt so roused and finding the right gaps to breath. He moaned softly when Andrew’s tongue slipped into his mouth, delicately tagging his own. Stomach swooping at the sensation of swallowing the other male’s hot breath, Spencer’s hands rose up shyly to cup his friend’s cheeks, keeping their lips locked while he parted his mouth even more.

Normally if somebody was this passive Andrew would either be concerned that they weren’t really into kissing him, or he’d just get bored, himself. This was Spencer though, the best friend that Drew knew like he knew the back of his own hand. Sometimes the guy just needed some encouragement in order to let go enough to enjoy whatever wacky thing Andrew had decided would be fun that day, and he seemed to be enjoying himself - he trusted Spencer to trust him enough to say if he wasn’t. Whatsmore, Andrew could never get bored of doing anything with Spencer. That was just a fact.

Spencer worried down on his bottom lip, wanting to protest or think about the consequences of what Drew was suggesting, but his mind was running on a blank slate. Despite how ridiculous the the suggestion sounded, it took a few moments to concede that his best friend had a point. Clumsily and shyly petting each other was not the appearance he wanted to give off to the potential scrutinisers. They couldn’t waste the research money over a messy kiss - if that’s what Andrew was on about in the first place.

You…our friendship, Spencer mused internally while standing and blinking at the other male like an idiot, feeling his gut already churn in nervousness. But it wouldn’t happen, right? So many friends had…fooled around many times before and managed to stay friends, right? This wouldn’t change anything.

“Just practice,” he repeated as he clamoured on the bed hesitantly. Reading the cues, he shuffled closer until he sat up with his legs bent underneath him, practically brushing shoulders with Andrew. Spencer’s mind was anywhere and everywhere, wondering if he ate anything distasteful for dinner and why his skin suddenly pricked all over. “Just practice for the party,” the blonde asserted again, hoping his voice didn’t sound as timid as it did in his head.

As his friend inched closer, to the point where it would be easy enough to reach him, in order to do what they were planning to do, Andrew made a decision. He was going to actually do his best to give Spencer the best kiss of his life, and make him forget all about being nervous or feeling weird about making out with his buddy. By the time Drew was through with him, worrying would be the last thing on his mine. “Don't look so scared - I don't bite. But full disclosure; I’m an awesome kisser. I can’t be liable for you instantly thinking you’ve fallen in love with me. It’s just an illusion created by my tremendous smooching talent and it’ll pass, as long as you stay calm” he joked.

A bird’s nest. That was what his mother liked calling his hair, a way to pull his strings after he spent a century in the bathroom. A lion’s mane was overrated. Spencer heard her voice in his head as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror for a good fifteen minutes. Half a bottle of hair product emptied out on his head, he still failed to tame the few flyaway fair curls that refused to sink back into the rest of his hair. Spencer groaned, tossing the bottle aside and accepting the fact everyone would leave the party hot and sweaty anyway.

The party was his idea, though Drew had got them into some lax frat with his contacts, and one he hoped would payoff. For once, Spencer was forcing himself to let loose a little and stop being a tense, uptight bore. This wasn’t a first time on a night out with Andrew, but it was certainly the first in a long time, and he was afraid he’d forgotten the ridiculous college etiquette of how much predrinking or aftershave was appropriate.

His roommate’s irritated call pulled him out of his concerns. “Yeah, alright!” he cried, stepping out of the bathroom. Andrew was lying on the bed, bored out of his mind and chewing on what seemed to be some gum, Spencer didn’t know. A slight flush creeping up his neck, he smiled at his friend, “Um, thanks. You look good too.” Then he asked, the corner of his lip quirking upward in amusement “Practice what? Pretending to be a couple? I think that’s what the party’s for.”

Spencer felt a lot more settled when Andrew appeared to return to his cocky, playful self. The blonde, by habit of instinct, rolled his eyes and sighed out exasperatedly. Even though he silently admitted that most mornings Andrew didn’t need the kick of an alarm, Spencer never dared admit it out loud. He figured Andrew’s head was already big enough as it was. Instead, he raised his eyebrows defiantly and pursed his lips, uttering spiritedly “If your Circadian rhythms are so on point then it wouldn’t kill you to be on time once in a while.”

Spencer cocked his head to the side as he countered, “Neither do regular and awesome? How about -” He barely managed to get another word out before Andrew butted in with his ‘not too graphic specifics’ which were dangerously exact. Spencer immediately averted his gaze away and tried to hide behind the laptop screen, hoping his best friend wouldn’t see how his cheeks were suddenly flushing near crimson. It wasn’t that he had any moral aversion to sex, but he couldn’t help feeling out of place and virginal when talking about it with Andrew of all people. And the way his best friend spewed these fake intimate details out so easily made a nagging part of Spencer wonder whether this wasn’t the first time he’d thought of them…tangled like that….

Struggling for words, he swallowed while pondering whether to even acknowledge Andrew’s suggestions. “Just…just answer with half that if they ask, okay? Though I don’t think they’ll be too interested your storytelling.” Composing himself again, Spencer thought for a moment, wondering if the nascent giddiness was tangible on his face while thinking of a romantic first date. “Why not a movie? Some romantic comedy, and it could even be at the drive-in across town. We had dinner at your favourite Italian restaurant after.”

“It only works with sleep” he shrugged. “I mean I always leave for places on time, but you know I get lost. Even using Google Maps... I don’t even know how. I guess it’s a talent” Drew joked.

“I meant we have lots of sex, dummy” he chided jokingly. Obviously he’d given sex with Spencer some thought. If he thought for a second that the guy would be into it, he’d be in his pants faster than you can say ‘friends with benefits’. But alas, Spencer never seemed to look at him that way. Even now, the thought seemed to make him uncomfortable, so he kept if platonic.

Andrew’s reaction moved Spencer to consider that maybe be he was going too far. He hoped the other male knew he didn’t mean it, and that Spencer relied on sarcasm as a safety net when uncertain about how to vocalise his feelings without sounding idiotic. In this case, the feeling was pure attachment. Platonic mostly, but attachment nonetheless. Soft spoken and solitary, Spencer was prone to drifting away from forming any real connections with people. Without Andrew to live with and talk to, even if it was to butt head or tease each other, he was sure he’d have gone insane. Smiling lopsidedly, he quipped to lighten the mood, “Maybe if you stop snoozing your alarm for an hour every morning I’ll promote you to a good roommate.”

After years as each other’s best friends, Spencer felt fairly confident in his ability to decipher Andrew’s emotions most times, even if he was trying to hide them. He didn’t miss the slight drop in Drew’s voice, or the look of surprise that flickered on his face for a split second when he’d taken the sandwich gingerly.  Reproaching himself, Spencer shoulders curled forward of their own accord and he sunk a little lower in his seat. “Thanks for this,” he mumbled, hoping his sincerity still translated to Andrew despite the half chewed bite still in his mouth. “You didn’t have to.”

Spencer bit his lip, eyebrows knitted together as he pondered for a few seconds. A few obstacles stumped him here: sheer awkwardness, his lack of a sex life to begin with, and his hesitance at discussing this with Andrew - the same person he’d mentally branded as off limits for all things relating to sex. “Good works. Like…satisfactory? I’ll just say it’s satisfactory. And - passionate? Not too adventurous?”

Andrew understood what his friend was doing, and simply played along with the banter, by way of accepting the silent apology that he knew was in there somewhere. After all, it wasn’t Spencer’s fault that most subjects were fair game when it came to jokingly ragging on each other, but the  ones that weren’t probably seemed random and completely arbitrary to him. “You must be thinking of your other roommate, asshat. My circadian rhythm is like Swiss-made clockwork. I don’t use an alarm” he pointed out.

“Someone’s gotta take care of you” he shrugged. “You know you don’t have to thank me for shit. It’s just a sandwich. You’re welcome” Andrew replied, managing a small smile.

Spencer worried down on his lip to keep a straight face during Andrew’s mini rant, chest rising slightly from the laughs trapped inside and amused tears brimming the corners of his eyes. He finally grinned after a moment or two, cocking his head to the side, “So…I’ll put that down as my stubbornness then?” At the question posed to him, Spencer leaned back in his chair again, crossing his arms and knitting his eyebrows together in an exhibition of mock concentration. His mouth flapped open after a brief second but then quickly shut again in silent apprehensiveness. It took a beat for him to reply to his best friend, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I know…that one time you took my laundry down with your load to the laundry room after promising a million times before. The first time you acted like a decent roommate.”

The sandwich was a surprising, albeit a kind, gesture. His eyes still plastered on his friend in bemusement, Spencer leaned forward to take the sandwich gingerly, as if it was some sort of dangerous explosive. He passed it back and forth between his hands, folding the wrapping back with nimble fingers only to see that it really was his favourite. A tuna melt. As he took the first bite, his stomach dropped a little while reading the next question on the list. Despite being so blatantly an invitation for trouble, Spencer judged that it was better to be safe than sorry at the interview tomorrow. Gulping his bite, he warned Andrew, “Listen: what’s our sex life like? And try not be so creative this time.”

“Sure. Stubbornness just about covers it” he laughed, watching Spencer write that down and then start acting like it was just so damned difficult to think if a time in real life where he might have felt something, if he were at all that way inclined. “Bullshit. I’m an excellent roommate. I remember to do your laundry most of the time now, don’t I?” he argued seriously, genuinely not appreciating the insinuation that he wasn’t, just because he tended to be a little forgetful sometimes. In his mind, that was tantamount to calling him a bad friend, and since he really only had one real friend, he tried really hard to be good at it - like secretly buying his friend snacks because he had an early class that morning and had missed breakfast. He felt like the guy’s fucking wife half of the time and he cared enough about him to not even mind. So if Spencer was serious, yeah, his feelings were a little hurt.

He rolled his eyes when Spencer seemed suspicious of his lunch. He got it. It wasn’t exactly out of character for Drew to make sure Spencer was taken care of with little gestures like that, but he supposed it wasn’t out of character to pull the odd prank, he guessed. Not that it was April Fools, or anything. Still, he got it. Sort of. “I promise it won’t bite back, I just thought you might be hungry” he shrugged, slightly embarrassed before busying himself by tucking into his own half of the sandwich.

For anyone who didn’t know him, Andrew was a bit too much to take in. If people learnt to handle his sense of humour and outgoing, spunky nature, they found his smile very much charming and contagious. Otherwise, he was generally considered too audacious a joker for his own good, the big gestures seemingly a plea for attention. When they first met, Spencer placed him somewhere in the middle. A rambunctious trickster with a good heart. He found Andrew’s tendency to start up trouble and his quirky habits equally as annoying as endearing. They grew on him. And now, after years of friendship that arrived at a time when he was the loneliest he’d ever been, Spencer trusted him over everyone else. There was no one else he could have felt comfortable asking for help like this.  That’s why he merely rolled his eyes when the other male took a sip of his water, acknowledging him with pretend irritation but also a hint of affection.

Spencer shook his head, his blond ringlets involuntary bouncing up and down with the movement. Sure, Andrew could have tried to get ahold of the question, but the risk of their disqualification was too threatening if he’d been caught. No, they would be fine; and if this creative endeavour meant rushing his sociology presentation later in order to commit their answers to memory, then so be it. “Okay, start of the semester. That’s…” Spencer thought out loud, forehead creased as he did the math in his head. “More or less six months. Perfect.”

Typing up their responses, Spencer felt his neck flush slightly at his friend’s vulgar suggestion. Really, he should be used to Andrew’s quips by now. The blonde raised his eyebrows, flicking his gaze back to the other male, “Fine. And I think we’ve just found your quality that annoys me the most: narcissism.” He smiled playfully, edging forward subconsciously on his seat. Fingers flying back the keyboard, he said, “We still have a few questions left. What’s a habit or personality trait of mine that annoys you the most?”

Sometimes it was still crazy for Spencer to even think about how he managed to pull Andrew into this plot in the first place. A part of him felt bad, and a larger part of him felt that their scheme only had a 50% chance of turning out a success. Still, they had to try. He also couldn’t believe Andrew agreed to a generous, uneven split of the research money; sometimes he was genuinely astounded by the kindness and generosity his best friend had in his heart.

Throughout his vigorous planning, Spencer suppressed his budding fears that the pressure of maintaining a fake relationship might somehow damage their friendship. Was Andrew afraid of the same thing? He constantly maintained that it didn’t matter, all they had to do was look and act believable in public; the deeper level of their friendship would remain untouched. That couldn’t be so hard, right? They could handle a few months of the facade, right?

Heading into the student union to meet his best friend and roommate, he spotted him sitting at a table across the room. "Hello to you too" he quipped as he sat down and stole a sip of the other male's drink. He wasn't thirsty, just a pain in the ass sometimes. It was always in good fun and his heart was in the right place, even if he annoyed some people when they didn't know him well.