Knocking once, I enter when I don't hear anyone call out. "I have arrived." I sing, looking at the empty couch in confusion. My ears perk up and I listen to the sound of the shower running in the shared bathroom.

Walking over, I stand beside the door with my back to the wall, arms folded across my chest. "No party for me tonight, so I thought maybe we could go over some physics? Make some flash cards?" I say hopefully, knowing how much Xander likes his flashcards.

The shower water cuts off and I purse my lips, tapping my feet impatiently. When the door opens, I spin to face him but he seems to be in a hurry because I end up against his wet chest after blocking his way. My hands end up on his skin to steady myself and his arm wraps around my waist, but I know before I look up that it's not Xander.

"Think you got the wrong guy, Buttercup." He smirks, not making any move to remove his arm and I realize that if he were to let go, I'd fall back due to my angle. Getting my feet back underneath me, I remove my hands as if I'm surrendering and his hand slides away slowly, his warm hand dragging across the tiny sliver of skin on my back between my shirt and shorts.

I paste a smile on my face. "I thought you'd be out. At a party. Charlie's staying in, so..."

"Thought we had plans."

"I'm not going to a party tonight though...?"

"I said to text me where you end up. That wasn't exclusive to a frat house." He chuckles, brushing past me and walking to his room. I watch his muscular back and the droplets of water running down over the freckles and tattoos covering the expanse of it.

Remembering how fast he changes, I use my arm to vault over the back of the couch and settle on it, pulling out my phone and making myself busy. A message pops up from Xander, saying that he'll be in the library if I wanted to join him. I roll my eyes. "What was that for? I just got here." Farris looks at me amusedly, obviously watching my expression.

"Just got Xander's text." I wave my phone and his smile drops the slightest amount before he replaces it with a smirk.

"Here to see your bestie?" He asks, picking up my legs to put them over his lap as he sits down so that my feet touch the cushion on the other side of him. Absentmindedly, he runs his fingers over the skin of my thighs as he leans forward to grab the tv remote.

"Was going to see if he wanted to study, but I'm already ahead, so I could stay, seeing as you've already made yourself comfy with me as your blanket." I lean back over the armrest and watch him while he looks through movies and shows. My eyes go to his nose where a little silver hoop hugs his skin, the piercing often drawing my gaze. I gulp as he traces circles on my leg, inching higher and higher towards the frayed hem of jean shorts, before moving back down to my knees; I try letting out a breath as quietly as I can.

"Horror movie, Criminal Minds marathon, Comedy..." He asks, facing me and I scrunch my nose, thinking.

"Criminal Minds?" I ask, and he smiles, pressing play on the last episode we watched. I try to focus on the tv but my mind flickers between that and Farris's fingers, the cold metal of his rings occasionally brushing against me.

When the first episode ends, my neck starts to hurt from having to turn it to the side and look up at the tv. Apparently Farris notices. "Sit up." He says and I do. Slowly, he sets my legs on the ground and directs me to slide onto the seat where he was, then he crawls onto the couch and my eyes widen when looms over me, strong arms holding him up.

Before my heart gets a chance to work itself up too much, he bends his arms and folds his body enough so that he can lay with his head in my lap the way I like to do, but with him facing the tv. Farris picks up my hand and places it on top of his head, silently asking me to run my fingers through his hair. Despite my nervousness, I giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" He pouts, turning to look up at me and I smile down at him, trying hard not to think about how unflattering this angle must be for me.

"You're like a big teddy bear. One day, I'm going to post a video and your reputation will be..." I mime an explosion, and he fake glares at me with those aqua blue eyes of his.

"You would never. You love that you're the only one who gets to see me like this." He says, already back to facing the tv and my smile drops from my face, not that he can see. Once more, he picks my hand up and I lace it through his thick red curls, my heart beating fast for an entirely different reason.

Farris is right. I do love that I'm the only one that gets to see him like this, but all I can think is that he knows. 

He knows. 

I've always known that Farris has a big ego, but he wouldn't keep me around simply to feed it, would he?