Caiden Lee wasn't one for mornings, or afternoons, or any time of the day. Days in general gave him a headache.

Except for nights; the twilight stars were his and he savored every single second of those dark, enchanting hours, whether alone or with others.

Caiden was never one for parties, or bar hopping, overall. But as a rule of thumb, Caiden would crash a party or two, or began his drinking expedition in order to find someone new for those rare times where he didn't find someone at school to toy around with.

Unsurprisingly, Caiden was not one to make friends easily. Thankfully, he had been inseparable with Eli and Ava since grade school, or he possibly would have been a lone wolf, or quite antisocial. It was never due to Caiden being unfriendly, or unlikable. On the contrary, likability won over more people than he'd like, and he was fairly friendly to pretty much anyone he encountered.

Needless to say, his way of making friends was what most people would see as a bit unconventional. Asking a potential friend what their favorite toy was, was typically how to initiate relationships in preschool. Apparently, Caiden Lee thought it would be appropriate as an adult, as well.

And as often as Ava and Eli have suggested of testing a new route, Caiden purely shrugged it off, saying that the right people would know how to reply.

***

Caiden could hear the white noise of shuffling in his quarters, and nowhere in his mind did he recall sleeping with anyone the night before. He specifically remembered the occurrences of the hours spent in frustrating satisfaction by some unfamiliar individual.

His mind went a mile a minute trying to recall where he must have left his remote, but no memory resurfaced.

The strangest of thoughts began circling around Caiden's mind regarding the sounds of the movement within his room. He thought someone had broken into his room.

With the loudest huff, Caiden half opened his eyes, watching as a rushed Landon was packing a small, red suitcase. It was at that moment that Caiden recollected yesterday's incidents that he was no longer in his single room. He now had a roommate by the name of Landon.

"Sorry, man, I guess I failed at being quiet," Landon spoke, his hands grabbing clothes from his closet.

"Mmm..." A groggy and tired Caiden hummed, his eyes opening fully, this time.

Caiden turned his head, scanning his night stand for his phone. Once in his hand, Caiden checked for the time, seeing it was close to seven thirty. A slight groan escaped the raven haired lad's lips, earning him a look from his roommate.

How could anyone by their own will be up at this ungodly hour?

Why would they ever choose to be up before the sun?

"Do you need the key?" Caiden's voice was almost deeper than usual in the mornings. "Since, you know you're off to cla- wait no you have luggage."

"Nah, dude. I'm off for the weekend," Landon replied, zipping his suitcase, with a towel in his right hand, which had Caiden thinking his new friend was going to shower.

Caiden could hear Landon's phone constantly going off, watching as his roommate's hands were typing away rapidly.

The dark haired lad attempted and failed several times to go back to sleep. He was overly thankful that Landon kept the room dark, without turning on the lights.

It was after the seventh try that Caiden Lee gave up on closing his eyes. He could not seem to fall back into the dream state, and trying was only infuriating him even more.

Unlocking his phone, Caiden skimmed over the texts he hadn't yet read from Ava and Eli. Most of the unread messages were asking about the new roommate and about his first night in his the new location. Others were regarding the weekend; Ava had a couple of dates, and Eli was home for the weekend for a cousin's wedding.

It's not that Caiden Lee wasn't used to weekends without his friends, he just preferred to have them around. He didn't really mind his alone time, but a few days without his wingman and best girlfriend was just unfathomable.

Stretching and letting out a yawn, Caiden could feel eyes on him, causing his eyes to wander towards a mostly naked Landon, sporting just a blue colored towel. Roaming eyes followed as Landon reached for his boxers and clothes to dress.

Caiden finally sat up, revealing his very toned chest and boxers hanging dangerously low. And though Landon was not for fooling around, he was second guessing his own life rules.

It was several minutes later, when Landon was dressed and doing his hair, that he decided to send a text to Jake, reminding him he had an hour.

Caiden was in his zone, playing tetris on his phone, close to beating his high score, when something had him look up.

"You should totally come!" Those words startled, yet perplexed the raven haired boy.

Insecurity hit Landon, unsure if Caiden hadn't heard him, or just pretended like he didn't. He had the tendency to overthink, but hearing his roommate retort with a "Huh?" relaxed his mind.

"A few friends and I are heading to our friend's lake house about two hours away," Landon was now ready, and sitting on his own bed facing Caiden's naked torso. "We do this once a month, at least, and it's pretty fun. We normally just drink and maybe have a couple of parties or just relax, you know?"

Though Caiden was silent and listening, he wasn't saying no; he was simply shocked and doubtful on how to respond. The only times he had accepted others' invitations were for some night adventures, which usually included an enclosed space big enough for two, or more.

"Well, I'm gonna head to the cafe to get some coffee since we're out, but if you wanna join, we'll head out in like forty minutes, or so," Landon sounded excited to exit the learning institution for the weekend.

Caiden was contemplating his life and whether a shower, coffee, and human interaction were worth being up this early.

He could hear his mind fighting itself, anxiously awaiting his final decision. He wanted to believe he knew what his closing answer would be, mentally jotting down the pros and cons to abandoning his bed.

Yes, he had established already that sleep had left him for the day and there was no returning to that happiness, but he still had a pillow of comfort and somewhere to rest.

There wasn't much time that passed before Caiden reached the conclusion that meeting new people wouldn't utterly destroy his life.

Getting up and holding his dark green towel, Caiden headed towards the showers. He could feel a sudden void removing the toy from inside him.

Fog surrounded the bathroom with the steam from the hot water. Caiden's thoughts roamed to the sudden shocks of vibration from the day before when someone else messed with his remote.

Arriving back in his room, Caiden was greeted with a cup of hot coffee from Landon, almost as if he knew Caiden was going to accept the invitation.

"Pack what you need till Sunday night..." Landon dragged the last word on waiting for his new friend to tell him his name.

"Caiden," Caiden finished Landon's sentence, before thanking him for the coffee and taking a sip.

He placed his cup on his nightstand, while grabbing a plain white t and jeans for the day, and some clothes for the rest of his trip.

Of course, he made absolute sure to put his little toy back in, just for the feel of something there.

"I'm Landon, by the way," He said with a smile.

"I know," Caiden nodded, "I was told by Owen."

"Weird that he didn't tell me your name," Landon replied.

Once the boys were ready with their packed bags in hand, they made their way out the door. Landon could feel himself slowly crushing on his roommate, but his long time love for Kai wasn't just going to die away.

Something, or someone had Caiden catch himself from tripping, while walking beside Landon. He couldn't help but take a look at the golden skinned, curly haired boy standing a few feet away from him.

The boy's striped shirt fit him nicely and he definitely had eyes that were telling every story unknown. It was his nose ring and tattoos that intrigued Caiden. He wanted to know more, but was dumbfounded on how to begin a conversation.

Caiden could feel Jake's eyes on him and absentmindedly brushed his hair back several times out of nervousness.

Breathless is what he was.

He was seldom speechless and always, or almost always had the last word.

A yelp escaped Caiden's lips, throwing him into a loop, making him dart his eyes everywhere, trying to find the perpetrator, but no luck.

Caiden could hear Landon shout the name Jake more times than he count, when they arrived at the parking lot. As no one responded to the name, Caiden was confused who he had been calling for.

It was when a girl with long, dark braids got in the tattooed boy's face that Caiden realized Jake was his name.

Jake.

He could feel it roll off his tongue, the way he worded it to himself. The name seemed to fit him and Caiden loved the sound of it.

He knew there was something being said between his roommate and the friends in the parking lot, but his eyes began studying how the curls on Jake's head fit the personality in his voice. And how his smile was captivating without standing out too much.

It was the sound of the engine that awoke Caiden Lee from his various thoughts about Jake. He could see the girl with the long hair drive off with a few people in the car. He only then came to the realization he didn't have a chance to introduce himself or learn the others' names.

Maybe he should have been more mentally present, but that would have required him to put aside the impressions about the boy with the beautiful, story filled eyes.

Caiden could feel himself slowly drinking up every inch of Jake's anxious figure, standing there with what looked like a heavy backpack.

Seeing his roommate walk towards Jake and the SUV, Caiden followed with his eyes roaming towards the boy in the striped t and immediately to the sky. Caiden couldn't hide the smile growing on his lips, and that alone was a fear expanding from within his core.

Caiden's mind and heart were at war; a standstill of conflict. He could sense parts of his heart and mind mentally cursing at him for not staying in bed, while the other halves were undeniably team lake house.

A simple brush against Jake's hand had Caiden in goosebumps, as he walked beside him and towards the backseat.

"Keys, please?" Landon opened his hand, reaching out to Jake.

Jake nodded, handing the car keys to his friend, getting in his passenger seat.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Landon was stoked for the adventure, and couldn't wait for it to start.

A silent, but observant Caiden got in the back seat, trying to focus on the music playing in his earphones, but the sound of Jake's laugh had him in another world.

Something about the way Jake titled his head back whenever Caiden or Landon said something funny had Caiden in absolute wonder of how adorable he could be.

This would certainly be a weekend to remember.

Fuck. Fuck.