𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 — 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚

☕

IT WAS TOO early. That was all Brendon could think as he sat down in the classroom where Spanish took place. While he loved the class – and was amazing at it, if he said so himself – he hated early mornings. Although, it was already nine so it wasn't too early. Still, he hated it. There were bags under his eyes because of the fact he went to sleep way too late the previous night watching a movie as he waited for Cindy to get home from patrol. Probably wasn't the smartest move, but it was the home he made.

He was surprised to find that Peter was already there since he always showed up at the last minute. Brendon found it amusing as he tried to explain it to him as if he were the professor – not that theirs cared either way. But no, he was early and Brendon couldn't but be shocked when he sat down and Peter offered him a smile.

This was the best he had ever looked this early in the morning and, fuck, Brendon couldn't handle it. Of course, his heart stopped immediately and he was sure he was going to flat line before he moved his head to stop staring. Then, his heart began again and he made a pointed effort not to look at the boy.

Which wouldn't work, he knew, because all he ever wanted to do was talk to Peter and here was his chance. And, of course, he was sort of friends with Peter and that meant they would have conversations and not just wait in silence until the class began. And that's what Peter did.

"Hey," he said, looking at Brendon who cursed himself internally before turning to look at the boy again.

He tried not to focus on any part of him because in doing so he knew his heart would stop again and he would be frozen, staring creepily at his crush – which no one wanted, especially if he still wanted to have a chance with him. Well, Brendon still didn't know if he did in the first place. That's what made it worse.

"Hi," Brendon said back, making eye contact before looking away again, "You're here early."

It was an easy comment which would sure start a conversation – something he both wanted and didn't want at the same time – and Peter took the bait, nodding before saying, "I woke up early today. Actually got some sleep last night."

Brendon found himself nodding at that. "That's good," he said, and it was. He knew that Peter didn't sleep much at night because he fell asleep just in this class many times and he couldn't imagine what the boy was like in others. "Sleep's important."

Peter made a noise of agreement and the awkward conversation paused there for a moment before he said, "You like dead." He didn't say anything at first and Peter's eyes widened, "Sorry, that's rude. I shouldn't have said that, I'm so sorry."

Brendon simply laughed at him, shaking his head before cutting off Peter's cute ramble of apologies. "It's fine, Peter, I am. Well, not really, but you know. I went to bed at, like, two or three in the morning."

The Parker boy winced but Brendon knew that he understood the feeling well. "That's never good," Peter told him and he agreed with that.

"You sitting with us at lunch today?" Brendon asked, trying to keep the conversation alive because, God, he had waited for this day to come.

"I don't know...Ned and I usually sit together," Peter said, almost afraid that it would upset or disappoint Brendon and not wanting it to happen.

However, even though he asked the question, Brendon knew the answer. Ned was his best friend, of course he was going to sit with him and not his roommate. Still, he was sad because Peter sitting there meant the possibility of another conversation. Maybe not the reality of one – they never did talk much at the table in the past – but at least he was there and they could potentially talk.

"That's cool," Brendon said, "But, if you and Ned ever do wanna sit with us, we have the room."

"I'll keep that in mind," Peter said which Brendon knew was code for that it was never going to happen. He didn't comment on it because then Peter might see him as an asshole and never talk to him again, which wasn't what he wanted at all.

So, he just let it stay at that as their professor walked in, ready to start the lesson.

They didn't talk during class and when it was over they left in silence. Peter didn't fall asleep – for once – so Brendon had no need to wake him and say something and have Peter respond with gratitude for it. So, they didn't talk and Brendon easily met up with Bren after to go to their shared Psychology class as Peter met up with Harry to fill in the gap before his next class.

Still, even though they had barely spoken and it had been incredibly awkward, there was a large smile on Brendon's face as he approached Bren. The other boy looked at him suspiciously, "Uh-oh, what the fuck happened to you?"

"I talked to Peter," Brendon said giddily, squealing quietly as Bren laughed and shook his head at him.

"You're a mess, Brendon. Like, a really big mess," Bren told him, "You're getting this way because you talked to Peter? Man..."

"Hey! You can't talk! You used to do this when you talked to Harry," Brendon defended himself, "You still do this!"

Bren paused, "Touché."

Brendon snorted at his friend, rolling his eyes with fondness. "Dork," he told him, getting a gentle nudge to the stomach from Bren's elbow. He just laughed at him.

And, walking outside of the building, Peter walked with Harry to the cafeteria trying to fight the smile on his own face. He didn't want to draw attention to having that conversation. Brendon, the Cute Boy From Class himself...

It wasn't even a good conversation and Brendon looked like he didn't want to be talking to Peter at all, but still – Brendon invited him to sit at their table. Of course, he always knew it was open, the invitation coming from Harry whenever he wanted, but it meant something more from Brendon.

It made him stop, made his heart go through leaps, and want to scream from the top of a building. God, he was a mess.

＆

"College is fine, mom," Brendon told his mother for the second time in the duration of their phone call. Not to mention the texts just from that day. Of course, he understood that his mother was worried because he was far away from Georgia and if he got into trouble they weren't anywhere close to help him out but, God, he hated the repetition. It was so annoying.

"I know, I know, and how's your roommate?" his mother asked and he bit his lip for a second.

That was something his parents didn't know. They didn't know that Cindy Moon was his roommate, not Carter Moon, whom he said he shared a dorm with. It's not that there was a mix up, it was just that if they knew the rooms were co-ed Brendon Winchester would seize to be in New York. No, he would probably be sent to Kennesaw or Georgia Southern – which were two schools he never wanted to step foot into. They were terrible.

Well, maybe their classes were alright, but their reputations weren't. Georgia Southern; the school known for partying and not giving a shit about grades and Kennesaw; another party school that was also for people who didn't care. Just going to college because their parents are forcing them. Seriously, you could just put your name down on the application and you would get in it was that easy.

So no, Brendon didn't want to go there so he didn't tell his parents about Cindy. Instead, he lied and said his roommate was Carter – Cindy's brother – and they weren't very close. When asked about Cindy, he said he thought she was cool and they were friends but his best friend was another guy named Brendon. Name twin and everything, you know?

"He's good," Brendon lied. Well, Cindy was doing fine last time he checked, but the pronoun difference was enough to label it a lie.

"That's good. You two still getting along?" his mom asked.

"Yep," Brendon told her, lying again as his stomach twisted in knots because of it. God, he hated lying – good thing he was terrible at it. Well, maybe not considering where it had gotten him in the past.

"Are you two friends? Or still just acquaintances?" she asked him, "Oh! Does he keep his side of the room clean or do we need to talk to him?"

Brendon laughed at her. It was always a major point in his childhood to clean his room, enough so that he would get punished if there was even a spot of dust. "No, he cleans his side and we're kinda-sorta friends. We're definitely friendly," he said.

She hummed on the other end of the phone, "Well, alright. That's good. Listen, honey, I'll talk to you later. Your dad just got home."

"Okay. Night, mom," he said and she said something back in the same form as him. As the call ended, he took the phone away from his ear and turned it off, going back to his episode when the door opened and Cindy collapsed onto her bed with a groan.

All Brendon did was raise an eyebrow. "Everything alright?" he asked her, although he wasn't too concerned. Cindy was known for being dramatic.

She groaned again before lifting her head up. "Math sucks. It's the bane of my existence and I want it to burn in hell."

"Understandable," Brendon said in response.

"You don't understand, Brendon. It's the worst and it makes me want to die every single fucking day I hate it so much. Calculus is nothing to this, I hate it. I hate it so much and I want it to burn," she held out the 'n' in burn for a long time and Brendon snorted at her, "Hey! It's not funny!"

"It kinda is," Brendon had to admit even it caused Cindy to glare at him. "Sorry, but it is. Really. That's why I'm glad I suck at math and didn't get put into the hard class like you."

Cindy stuck out her tongue and he laughed at her again. This time, she didn't say anything about it. "And, to top it all off, I got an interview at SI."

Brendon choked on his own spit, looking at his roommate with wide eyes. "Wait – seriously?" he questioned her in a shriek.

She nodded, "And I'm so not prepared and it's going to awfully. It's in two days, by the way, and I'm gonna have to miss class to go into the city. But whatever, it's fine."

"Oh my God, I'm so proud of you!" Brendon bounced off his bed, going to hug his friend tightly, squealing as he did.

Cindy laughed at him but entertained him with squeezing his back – though not as hard as she could do to not actually wanting to crush him, which she actually could. "It's not that big of a deal, Brennie."

"It's is the biggest deal ever, actually! I can't believe it, my best friend is going to be an intern at SI!" Brendon exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.

"You could apply too, you know. There's still time," Cindy rolled her eyes, offering it to get the attention off of her as she was beginning to blush.

Brendon rolled his own eyes at her. "We both know that I would never get it. I'm not start enough."

"Hey!" Cindy frowned at him, "Don't talk like that! You are so smart!"

"Not as smart as you. Not even in the same league. You're, like, a genius and I'm just really good at English and history. Not the same thing," Brendon pointed out.

She huffed, "Still, you're smart and you shouldn't say that you aren't."

"Fine, I won't. But still, we have to agree that I would be one of the first people rejected from an internship there," Brendon looked at her.

"Not if we got Peter involved," Cindy suggested.

"No. Peter couldn't do anything, he's probably just a low intern like you're gonna be – not that I mean that in a bad way," Brendon quickly rushed to say.

Cindy smiled at him. "I know, but still. Peter's gotta know some of the higher ups now and he could so put in a good word for you. I'm still convinced that's what he did for me."

"Cindy Moon, you have an interview at SI because you are so fucking smart and good at all this technology shit, not because Peter Parker put in a good word for you – even though he could convince someone not to shoot just with a look in his eyes. God, they're just so convincing," Brendon sighed wistfully.

The Moon girl laughed at him, throwing her head back for a moment as it racked over her body. "You're so gone for him, Brennie, God I love it."

"Hey!"

"I mean that in a good way, duh! And really, that technology shit?" Cindy questioned.

Brendon blushed, ducking his head. "Shut up..."

All it did was cause Cindy to start laughing at him again and he hit her with one of her pillows, though all it did was make her laugh harder. Soon, it became too hard to fight the smile tugging at his lips and he smiled, joining in on the laughter.

Cindy wrapped her arms around him, holding him close as he collapsed in laughter. She fell back but that did nothing to stop them even though her arm was probably going numb under his weight and it wasn't exactly comfortable for him. But still, it didn't matter as they laughed and smiled together, stress falling out of their shoulders as they relaxed together.