Finn's POV:

When morning finally rolled around, I was startled to be the only one lying in Eric's bed. I sat up fast and whipped my head around the room. My eyes landed on a sticky note on the doorknob. I got up and walked over to the door, my anxieties about what could be on the note bouncing around in my head. I stopped short in front of the door and took the note off the doorknob.

"Hey, sorry. I know it's not the best time to leave, but I have class today! There's some breakfast in the fridge if you want it"

The corner of the note held Eric's signature and a little heart, hastily drawn. I smiled at the note and placed it carefully in my pocket.

I walked back over to the bed and pulled my shirt (which was still on the floor) over my head before pacing into the kitchen. I opened the fridge to find the breakfast that Eric had mentioned in the note. I took some and sat at the table, checking my messages, which, of course, consisted of barely anything as always.

The following few hours were mellow and boring. I did some chores, contemplated the complexities of life; the usual. After a while, though, shit got too boring, so I went out for a run, which was equally boring. I don't know why I thought I'd suddenly enjoy running, but whatever. By the time I made it back up to the dorm, I was exhausted and even more unenthusiastic about literally everything than before, which is great. I unlock the door and step in, closing it behind me. The moment I'm inside and the door is locked, I take off the shirt I'm wearing that's practically see-through with sweat anyway. Maybe I have a problem with keeping my shirt on. I turn away from the door toward the dining room to see Eric, sitting at the table, face red and openly gaping at me.

"Uh, hey there," Eric says, his gaze finally making it up to my eyes.

"Hey, my tits are down here," I say in a mockingly offended tone, gesturing toward my shirtless chest.

"I noticed," Eric muses, raising one eyebrow.

I sigh. "You're no fun to tease anymore. What happened to the blushing red mess?" I smile at him. "I'm kidding, of course, but I am a little curious. It seems like you've gotten a lot more... is bold the word?"

Eric shrugs. "Maybe because I'm more comfortable with you? Speaking of being more comfortable with you-"

"Oh?"

"Shut up. I'm telling you something important." He gives me an exasperated smile. "My parents want me to come back home to Sweden to visit them." He takes a deep breath. "And I want you to come with me."

"You want me to what? Sweden? When would we even-? What? Sweden?"

"I know it's a big ask." Eric says, his tone shifting to slightly guilty. "But nowadays- this is embarrassing- I kind of need you around. To keep me grounded, I guess. Especially with my parents. Ever since I moved here- moved in with you- I noticed that back "home", in Sweden; it's not home. I'm worried that if I go back to Sweden and have to stay with my parents for a week, maybe more, that I'll be... different when I come back. Like how I was when I moved in. More... closed off, I guess. Like the blushing mess from before, like you said."

I think about this for a moment. "That makes sense. I'd have to check in with a few things before I can tell you for sure, but I'm not against the idea. I want to be there to support you."

Relief washes over Eric's face. He gets up from the table and rushes over to hug me. He buries his face in my chest and I wrap my arms around him for a split-second before he tries to quickly pull away.

"Oh my god, Finn. I forgot that you were drenched in sweat. You smell terrible" He continues to try to pull away, but I tighten my grip and smirk at him.

"Nope. You're trapped."

"Finn, let me go!"

"You literally walked right into this," I protest, ignoring his efforts to escape.

"Go take a fucking shower, please," Eric whines.

I laugh and release him. He steps very far away from me. "Fine, fine. I'll go shower." I throw my hands up in the air and walk away, smiling.

I return to the dining room about fifteen minutes later to find that Eric isn't sitting at the table anymore. I walk around the dorm, checking his room, which is basically the only other room other than mine and the bathroom, since the dining room, living room, and kitchen are all technically the same room. Eric isn't in his room, either. Just for the hell of it, I check my own room, and I'm surprised to find Eric sitting on my bed with his phone in hand. He starts talking without looking up.

"Alright, I have some of the information for the Sweden thing, and-" he looks up from his phone at me. "PUT ON A GODDAMN SHIRT!"

"I'd love to, which is why I'm in here. Care to tell me what brought you here?"

Eric shrugs and tosses me a hoodie laying beside him on the bed, which I pull over my head as I walk over to my bed. "You act like you live in my room, so why can't I act like that in yours?"

"Valid," I say, sitting beside him on the bed. "You were saying something about Sweden?"

Eric nods. "My parents know when they want me to come, and I asked them about bringing you. Don't worry, even if they still say no, I'll still bring you, and they'll just have to deal with it since I'm a legal adult, but it's just a precaution. They were thinking sometime in the next three weeks, as soon as possible, I guess." He sighs and rolls his eyes. "They expect me to put everything on hold for this. Like I'm not already swamped with homework and classwork and, you know, having fun, maybe? Whatever." His phone dings and he picks it up to look at the message. "Holy shit."

I give him a questioning look. "What is it?"

Eric shows me his phone. "They said you can come, and they'll pay for our fucking flights."

"Holy shit," I agree. "Why would they do that for someone they don't even know?"

"They probably want you to feel indebted to them, being completely honest. They have the money for it, and maybe they just want you to know that. They might also just want to make sure you're not like, a psycho killer rooming with their son. What I'm saying is, there could be multiple reasons, but whatever that reason is, we probably won't get to hear it."

"So this is happening," I say.

"I guess so."

"I'm sort of excited, but I'm also really really nervous. I've never been out of the country before, so thank God I have a passport, but this totally came out of nowhere. I'll have to check in with Sarina before we go- oh, wait, should I tell her we're dating? Can I tell her we're dating? Do you want to keep it a secret?"

Eric thinks about it for a moment. "No, it doesn't need to be a secret. Well, not for most people. My parents cannot know, whatever you do. If they find out I'm dating my new male roommate in college, they'll snatch me home so fast I'll get whiplash. I'm out to them, but I've never actually had a boyfriend, so we might want to wait a while before we tell them that, to say the least. And, if it's not too much to ask, could you do your best to make a good first impression? I'm not saying to change who you are or anything, just... be careful. Their standards are high, to say the least."

It seems like Eric is really stressed about this.

"Eric, do you even want to visit your parents?" I catch myself. "Sorry, that was kind of rude to say-"

"It's not up to me, is it?" Eric gives me a glassy-eyed look, like he's staring at something behind me, unblinking. "It's what they want, and they raised me, so they get to call the shots here."

The way he's talking is making me a little uncomfortable.

"Eric, are you... alright? It seems like you've been brainwashed or something."

"I'm fine," he says. "I'm just speaking the truth."

"Eric, the way you're talking isn't the way that most people would describe their relationship with their parents. I'm not exactly an expert on parents, but I can tell yours could have done a better job." I place a hand on Eric's shoulder. "They did a fine job making you into the great person that you are, but they could have done a better job teaching you that what you want to do is okay. Your decision is the one that matters here, not theirs. It's not like they can drag you to Sweden themselves, so just take your time and decide what you want to do first, before you do anything."

Eric blinks at me and then sighs. "I feel like you're right, but... I'm sure you're wrong. I just don't know what to do. The way they raised me has been my whole life, but... the words coming out of your mouth just make so much more sense." He drops his head into his hands and stays like that for a moment. I rub his shoulder with my hand that was already resting on it. After a moment of silence, Eric raises his head. "I think... I think we should go."

"That's fine with me. Whatever seems right."

Eric sighs and rests one of his hands on mine. "I'm going to tell them we're going."

"Do you want me to stay while you tell them?"

Eric nods. I shift to sit behind him on the bed and place my hands on his shoulders. He's surprisingly tense. I gently massage his shoulders in silence while he texts his parents. All I can do is hope this all goes well.

Eric's POV:

I tap my fingers on my knees, waiting for my father to return my message. The message that says we're coming to Sweden. My father tells me when the available flights are, and I relay this message to Finn, who is still massaging my shoulders for some reason (not that it isn't helping). We schedule our flight for two weeks from now, which isn't enough time to mentally prepare for me, but it doesn't matter.

After what seems like an eternity, I'm finally done talking with my father. I take a large breath, then let it out forcefully.

"Everything go alright?" Finn asks, pulling my shoulders toward him so I can see his face.

I shrug. "Alright enough, I guess." No fighting or anything, just... awkwardness. "It always feels like a business meeting talking to my father."

"What do you say we do something fun to get your mind off things?"

I narrow my eyes at Finn. "You'd better not be implying what I think you are."

"God, no." He laughs. "Let's go out somewhere. Get some coffee, maybe."

"Finn, it's ten o'clock at night," I point out, exasperated.

"And? Shit's open."

I sigh and smile fondly at him. "Let's go, then."

Finn practically jumps off the bed, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the room. I laugh and try to keep up with his quick pace. We put on our shoes and leave the dorm. Finn shows me his car, which he is very fond of, and which is probably older than I am. Better than my complete lack of a car, though.

We drive around for a bit while Finn waits for me to pick a place to get some coffee. We make small talk about the differences of life with siblings and without, and we learn that we're both jealous of each other in that regard. Sometimes I wish I had a sibling, if only to have someone else in the house to help me realize the hell that must have been my home, if I'm reading it right. Objectively speaking, I do still think I have it pretty good, with a good financial situation and parents that didn't abuse me or anything.

After a while of driving, we find a small coffee shop that's still open and park outside. Finn holds the door for me on the way in, and it reminds me of the day we met; how he held the door for me when we first left the apartment for the party. And then the rest of the memories from that night flood my head, and my face turns red. Finn notices and grins at me, only succeeding in making my face even more flushed.

After placing and receiving our orders, Finn and I leave the coffee shop with our beverages in hand. It's a warm night, and it would be kind of a waste to just get back in the car and drive back to the apartment. I grab Finn's hand.

"Let's take a walk," I say, pulling him away from the car and down the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop.

"Weren't you the one complaining about how late it was before we left?"

"I just didn't think anything would be open! Come onnnn, I don't wanna waste the good weather!"

Finn laughs and allows me to lead him by the hand. "Where are we going?"

"Hm? I don't know, somewhere." I shrug.

"You really thought this through, didn't you?" Finn muses.

"It'll be fun, I promise!"

We walk for a while with no particular destination in mind, sipping our drinks and just generally having a nice time. A while later, a fountain comes into view, and the night view is just breathtaking- and I mean that literally. When we first saw it, I let out a small gasp, and my eyes lit up.

Finn laughs. "Do you want me to take a picture of you with it?"

I nod. "Yes please." I smile and hand him my phone.

I pose for the photo, sitting on the edge of the fountain and smiling. When Finn finishes taking the photos, I wave him over to sit next to me by the fountain. When he sits down, I lean toward him to see the pictures.

"Oh my gosh, these look amazing! Is photography a hidden talent of yours or something?" I ask.

Finn shrugs. "I used to take pictures for my sister when she was more active on social media. You know, before she realized that no one looked at her social media and had a mental breakdown and took everything down and deleted her accounts."

"Sounds rough. I get it, though. Sometimes being young blows small things out of proportion and makes things a bigger deal. I was dramatic like that when I was younger."

Finn makes a face. "Sarina's had a lot of phases. Right now, she's just generally shy and reserved, which isn't so bad, but it makes me worry about her sometimes. She doesn't really have anyone to protect her nearby in case of emergencies, and she's too timid to stand up to anyone herself. Which is why I'm a little glad that she might get a boyfriend. He seems like a decent guy, and I think I'm a pretty good judge of what a 'good guy' is, don't you think?" He bumps my shoulder with his.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, sir," I snicker, then I return to the previous topic. "How old is your sister?"

"She's sixteen." Finn pauses, and then adds, "Can we... not talk about my sister the whole time on our first real date? It sounds like I have a serious sister complex right now." He winces.

I laugh. "What would you rather talk about?" I say that, but my mind starts racing. First date? I didn't really think about that. Damn. My first date with Finn. Are we about to make monumental history or something? Probably not. But we can still have fun.

"Maybe I'd rather talk about you. Actually, if I did that, you might not be able to shut me up. Your choice."

"Well, now you've got me curious. What do you have to say about me that I won't be able to stop you from saying? Do you have dirt on me or something? Now I'm really curious." I lean a little closer to him. "I'm listening."

"Not exactly dirt on you," Finn laughs. "I was actually going to start with how breathtaking you look right now."