Finn's POV:

As I'm practically pinning Eric to the door, it occurs to me that I might be taking this 'joke' a little too far.

"Shit, sorry-" I try to back up a little, giving him some space, but as soon as I do, Eric grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls me toward him, my face barely an inch away from his.

"Don't be sorry," Eric says. I can feel his breath on my face. My eyes fall to his lips, painfully close to mine, but too far away for my taste. Fuck. I wanna kiss him so fucking bad right now. What would happen if I did? ...What would happen if I didn't? The tension in the room is so thick you can practically see it. You know what, fuck it. He kissed me last night; I'm going to kiss him now.

I move my face forward and connect our lips. Eric immediately leans into the kiss, like he's been waiting for it. He lets go of my shirt and leans back into the door. I press him against it and take my face away from his, making eye contact. Waiting to see what he'll do next. His eyes travel back to my lips, and then to my eyes again.

"One more," he whispers, leaning forward to kiss me again. This kiss was slower and more gentle than the first.

Eric pulls his face away, leaning back against the door and looking up into my eyes. Honestly, I'd like to kiss him again, but I don't know if I should. We don't exactly have a label, me and Eric, but I refuse to accept 'friends with benefits'. It seems like Eric was thinking the same thing, because he asks;

"Finn, what... are we?"

"What do you want us to be?"

Eric goes quiet. "...I don't really know. I mean, I do- but... I don't know!"

I gently cup his face with my hands and hold his gaze. "Eric, whatever it is, just let me know. You can call the shots. If you need more time, that's alright, too."

Eric blinks at me and then nods. "Time... would be nice. But I don't want to lose whatever we have now." He lets out a frustrated sigh. "I wish I had the time to think about how to say this."

"You do," I remind him.

Eric hesitates. He stays that way for maybe three minutes, and, during those three minutes, I remove my hands from his face and lean against the wall next to him. Finally, he speaks up.

"Ok, let's try this." He takes a deep breath, but it doesn't help to steady his shaky tone. "Finn, I think I'm in love with you, but thinking you're in love with someone and knowing you're in love with someone is different. I really wish that I could say confidently that I'm in love with you, but sadly, I can't do anything confidently, least of all make up my fucking mind." He continues to ramble, and I listen quietly. "I don't want to jump straight into a relationship yet, but I don't want to stop with the intimacy that we have right now, so I'm kind of stumped. I really really like you, and being close to you is the best part of my day, so really, I should just make up my fucking mind about being in love because I obviously am, and I shouldn't be bothering you with this stupid essay right now. But I still don't want to be a hindrance, and I feel like I would be stringing you along if I were to go out with you now, because I haven't made up my mind about being in love with you yet, and I don't want to be playing with your heartstrings so idly."

He takes a deep breath again.

"Sorry," Eric says. "I know that probably didn't make sense."

I nod thoughtfully and think about his viewpoint for a moment.

I grin at him, and say; "Well then, I suppose I should just get you to fall in love with me faster." I turn to him and tilt his head up with one finger, and I can tell his breath catches in his throat.

Eric lets out a dry laugh. "If things keep going this way," he observes, "it won't take long at all."

Now it's my turn to be surprised. I angle his face upward so he's looking me directly in the eyes, and say in a low voice, "I like where this is going."

Eric's face turns completely red, but he seems to be attempting to regain his composure. I'm wondering if he's trying to make a game of it, seeing who can flirt the longest without losing their cool.

Eric slides his hand onto my chest, then up to my shoulder, his eyes wandering shamelessly over my figure. "Why don't we keep it going then?"

He's better at this than I thought. What am I supposed to say to that? Normally, that would be an invitation to go farther, but probably not right now. This is... not the time, to say the least. I slide my hand from his chin down his neck, then down his torso to his waist. My hand lingers there, and then I suddenly yank him closer. I tilt my head down to be almost level with his, and angle my face as if I'm going in for a kiss, but stop right before our lips meet. With our faces so close, I can't really see Eric's facial expression, but I do know that his face is completely red. His face is angled toward mine as well, but neither of us make the first move. We just stand there in that position until I nudge his nose with mine and loosen the firm grip I had around his waist. Eric pulls away reluctantly with a sigh. I give him a smile that's really more of a smirk.

"Welcome home, by the way."

"Finn, that's the most enthusiastic welcome I've ever gotten. I didn't even have time to speak before you had me against the door. I don't think the words were necessary." He laughs.

"I'd still like to say them," I retort. "What if I missed you? What if I had been waiting all day for you to come home so I could welcome you back like a good whatever-I-am?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

Eric laughs. "I could tell you were. And I appreciate it very much."

Eric's POV:

Sadly, Finn and I had to cancel the "date" we had planned for this weekend. My studies have been taking over almost all of my free time, and lately, it seems like I'm just waiting for more work to pile up so I can struggle through it again and again. It's becoming a cycle, and I'm barely ever leaving my room. The only times I've left have been to go out to eat or go to a class or the library. I hardly ever see Finn, because when I get home from my classes, he's in his own classes, and when he comes back, I'm shut in my room. I've also been trying to find a job lately, and the interviews haven't been going anywhere. I haven't heard back from even one of the companies that I applied for. I've been getting so busy lately that I haven't even responded to any of Yuri's texts, and she's had to call me multiple times to make sure I was alright. She wanted to come over to help out, but I refused her help. This isn't something I should get help with. It's my problem and my work, and I shouldn't even be struggling with it. Finn doesn't seem overworked at all. I'm sure it's a problem with me, so I should be trying my best to get over it alone.

At the door to the dorm, I sluggishly take my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door. I'd been in class for three hours, after a sleepless night trying to finish up homework that I was, ironically, too tired to complete. I swing the door open and slip my shoes off. I reach for my bag on my shoulder, and find nothing. Did I leave it in class? I sigh and put my face in my hands. I don't want to go all the way back to my classroom, but my laptop is in my bag, and all my homework and unanswered emails are on there. I have to go all the way back to class? I rub my temples and lean against the door, sliding down and sitting on the floor. I drop my head onto my knees. I know I'm overreacting, but I'm seriously done. I've been so stressed lately I can't even think straight. Recently, my life has been so hectic that I don't even have time to think about anything except school.

"Eric?"

I don't bother to lift my head.

"Eric, are you all right?"

I look over the top of my knees at Finn, but I don't say anything.

"What's the matter?"

Finn crosses the room and kneels down next to me.

"Eric, what happened?" He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Can I help with anything? I've barely seen you these past few days. You need a break."

I take a deep breath and finally speak.

"I've been trying to get all my classwork done in time, and I've also been trying to find a job, but I couldn't do that either." I let out a frustrated sigh. "And I left my bag in the building I had my last class in, and I really don't want to go back to get it, but my laptop is in the bag and I need that and I can't wait until my class tomorrow to go get it, because I need it today."

I totally sound like I'm whining right now, but in my defense... alright, I have no defense. I'm just whining.

"Aw, baby, that's rough," Finn sympathizes. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

I shake my head. "I have to go back soon. I have too much work to do to leave it."

Finn thinks for a moment. "Here," he starts. "How about this? Let me know which building you left your bag in, and I'll go get it for you. But only if you promise me you'll take a nap or do something fun while I'm gone."

"I can't ask you to do that," I sigh. "You're probably just as busy as I am."

"I'm really not," Finn laughs. "In fact, I've been waiting for you to come home for fifteen minutes."

That's new, but I don't doubt it. Every time I've blown past Finn to shut myself in my room, he did seem a bit dejected. I shouldn't have ignored him like that, but I'm really too busy for anything to get in the way of my studies, even if that means that I don't have time to talk to the people closest to me. Maybe Finn's been feeling a little lonely without any conversation. I'll let him get my bag, and hopefully it'll let him feel useful. He probably needs it as much as I do.

"Alright," I tell him. "Go ahead and get the bag." I tell him the building number, and he leaves, reminding me to get some rest while he retrieves the bag.

As soon as he leaves, I get the feeling that I should be doing something more important than "resting", but I think it might be beneficial to humor Finn. He seems a little off-put by the fact that we haven't had time to chat lately, so maybe I should try to finish my work a little faster today and find some time to talk with him. He deserves it, to say the least. He's willing to get a bag all the way across campus just for me, while I could have gotten it myself if I pulled myself together. I didn't do anything to deserve someone like Finn in my life, but I want to appreciate him because I know that's what he would want, really.

I stand at the door for a moment longer, and then retire to my room for the nap I've been assigned. On my way in, I think about closing the door, but instead I leave it open just a bit so Finn doesn't feel unwelcome if he decides to come in. He probably won't, so I absentmindedly pull my shirt off and throw it listlessly on the floor beside my bed before collapsing face first onto it. I don't even have time to think before I'm asleep.

I sleep for quite a while, and when I wake up, expect to be awoken by Finn coming into my room with my bag. Instead, I wake up slowly to a seemingly empty room. Well, less empty than before, with my school bag and shirt lying beside my bed. My blankets seem to be clinging to me more than before, too. Wait, blankets? First of all, I definitely did not use blankets when I fell asleep earlier. Second of all, there are no blankets. Well, that makes more sense, doesn't it? Not really, because instead of blankets, there are arms wrapped comfortably around my torso, which were not there before, just like the face of my roommate nestled into the back of my neck. My shirtless neck. I can feel my face warming up, and I'm doing my best not to panic, because Finn is right there and why is he right there because I'm trying to sleep here and that is very unprofessional of him.

Suddenly, Finn's breathing pattern changes, and why the fuck did I notice that, and I'm sure that means he's awake. I crane my neck in an attempt to see his face.

Without opening his eyes, he says, "Fancy meeting you here," he cracks one eye open. "Do you come here often?"

A few weeks ago, my first reaction to this might have been to blush or stutter, but now I just sigh and try and fail to hold back a smile.

"Do you come here often? Because the way you're acting so casually now says you're here more often than I may realize."

"Is that an invitation? Because I'll take it. Your bed seems much softer than mine, is all I'm saying."

"Getting comfy, are we?"

"I don't mind getting comfy with you." Finn tightens his arms around my waist and pulls me closer to him, which I didn't think was possible.

I sigh. "Finn, this conversation is great and fun and all, but I need to get some work done. Let me go."

He doesn't let go.

I roll my eyes. He seems much more like a clingy puppy than he did when we met. Not that it's a bad thing.

"We can cuddle after I'm done," I tell him with another sigh.

He gives me a rakish grin. "Promise?"

"Yes, yes. I promise," I say offhandedly, and then I'm released.