~~~~~ADRIAN~~~~~

"No shit?!" Seamus shouted so loudly I had to quickly jerk the phone away from my ear to prevent hearing loss. I was telling him about my eventful first week of college, and he was cackling about all my mishaps. On top of running into Demian twice, I'd also managed to knock over a lit Bunsen burner and set my paperwork on fire during my first chemistry lab, and I walked into a door frame in front of one of my professors who was so concerned about the lump I formed that he personally escorted me to the nurses station, despite me telling him that I just bruise easily and I'd be fine.

"I'm so glad you can take such pleasure from my agony," I teased. Though it had been embarrassing, it was nice to laugh about it. It's not like I could go back and undo any of it anyway.

"Always, Adrian. Oh, so did I tell you that Mr. Peeves' dog shit on my porch again? I swear he does it on purpose."

Mr. Peeves was his nickname for his neighbor, Mr. Geves. He had always acted like a stick in the mud, and seemed to have it out for Seamus since his family moved into the house next door.

"One of these days I'm going to pick it up and stick it right in front of his door for him to step on when he goes to grab his newspaper barefoot."

"Honestly, I'm surprised none of your siblings have done anything about him yet."

"Speaking of, the twins miss you and have been bugging the shit out of me asking when you'll be around again. You gotta come visit soon, even if just to get them to shut up about it. For my sake."

I laugh and agree to visit as soon as I'm able to. Speaking of visiting, I should go see my Nanna before it gets too late in the evening.

~~~~~~~~DEMIAN~~~~~~~

"Did you sneak out again?" I ask as I see my brother standing outside the door to my dorm room.

"Technically no. I'm in town for a school trip, I'm just..taking a detour before I drive home," he replies, smirking at me, his arms crossed.

I let us in to the room and he immediately kicks off his shoes and plops down on my bed. I raise an eyebrow but say nothing as I change into sweat pants and a more comfortable tee. "So, what are you doing here?"

"What, can't I just visit my dear, sweet brother?" He asks, batting his eyelashes.

I roll my eyes and sit down on my roommates swivel chair.

"I just missed you, honest to God. It's so unfair that I have to hide the fact that I want to see you."

I agreed with him, and felt a pang of sadness in my heart. Cory was only 8 when I was kicked out for being gay. We'd been close before then, and he took it hard. He used to sneak out to see me when I was living at Troy's house. As soon as he got his permit at 15 he started driving to visit me at college as often as he could.

"Next year I'll graduate and be able to visit you whenever I want. Maybe I'll even get accepted here for college."

I hummed in agreement.

He talked about school for a while, how our parents were, and what the latest shenanigans he and his two best friends were up to. I enjoyed spending this time with him. Even though my parents and I no longer talk, it was nice to know I still had my brother. He and my uncle, who lives several states away, were the only family that stayed in touch with me.

"Also, I got a girlfriend," he stated cheerily.

I raised my eyebrow. "Another one?"

"A different one, yeah. She's really hot, and we've gone on a few dates since we started seeing each other last month."

I don't bother asking what happened to the last one. When it comes to dating, he and I are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I've had three boyfriends and a few one night stands, while it seems like he's rarely single and always changing up girlfriends. I wouldn't be surprised if he dated half the school by now.

"What about you, Dem, have you started seeing anybody yet?" He was leaning forward excitedly, and I was a bit concerned he'd topple onto his face if he moved any more.

"No. You know I don't have the time for-"

"Time shmime, Demi. You're getting old. You're wasting your prime on books when you could be finding that special guy. Not to mention.." He wiggled his eyebrows and made a motion with his hands that was clearly sexual in nature.

I sighed. Just because he was interested in dating around doesn't mean everyone is. "I'm not that old. I'm only 25. There's more to life than getting laid, you know."

"There's more to life than studying," he retorted and tossed a pillow at me.

We soon broke down into childish laughter until my roommate came home and Cory had to leave.

"See ya soon Demi. Nice to see ya again, Isaac. Sorry I gotta run before mum figures out that the rest of my class has been home for half an hour already." He gave us a wave and the door shut behind him.

"He's the same as ever, yeah?" Isaac asked, changing into his workout clothes.

"Yeah."

"Cool. Wanna hit the gym with me? Need a spotter."

I nod and follow him out.