“We can sit in the living room while he showers.” I walked them over. The place had the basic stuff that came with the apartment and the extra stuff Mathew’s parents bought while here. So it was still pretty empty. I put on some music to have in the background. 

“Who are they? Your family?” Kayla pointed at the family pictures in the middle coffee table.

“Yeah, that's Mathew and his parents. My family at my graduation and the other one is Matthew and me at graduation.”

She sat up more to see. “You guys look the same, I guess it has been just what? Three mouths?” They shared glances. 

“It’s a nice play, I’ve never been in these apartments before.” Eric told me.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” 

“No I’m good.” Eric replied. 

“Are you Latino?” Kayla asked while still looking at the pictures. 

“Yeah I’m Mexican.” 

“Oh all three of us are.” Eric commented. 

“You are too?” I ask Kayla. 

“I’m haft but yeah, but I can’t speak Spanish. I can only understand it.”  Kayla said. “Can you?” 

“Yeah, but I get you. I have a cousin like that too.” 

“So where are your parents from? Or family I guess?” Eric asked 

“Their from-“ 

“Alexis!! Can you bring me a towel?!” Mathew screamed.  

I got up and handed them the remote to change the song if they wanted to. I came back to sit with them while Mathew got dressed. 

“He should be ready soon. So is it just your friends tonight?” 

“Yeah like ten of us.” Eric told me. 

“Oh okay.” 

“Don’t worry we won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.” He teased me. 

“No, I'm not nervous, just curious.” I chuckle. 

“Curious of what?” Mathew asked as he walked into the living room carrying his shoes. He put on some jeans and a tank top. It was still pretty warm at night low 70s. he walked around the table and sat next to me. 

“About whose at the party. Benny will be there too.” 

“Oh cool.” Mathew replied while he tied his shoes. 

“You didn’t dry your hair off?” I moved it around trying to dry it. 

“No I’ll jut let it air dry.” He told me and sat up. 

“We can wait for you to dry it.” Kayla reassured him.

“No it’s fine. I already made you guys wait.” He put his arm behind me and I moved my head so he could place it better. They exchanged looks happened again. They probably talked about the kiss in the car and want to ask.

“Do you need any bottles?” Mathew asked them. He moved so he could face them more and drew me closer. 

“No we should be good.” Eric replied. 

“Alright, I’m ready if you guys are.” He tapped my right knee next to him.

We all stood up. “Here’s your cup.” 

“Oh.” I grabed it and went to put in on the sink.” They walked to the kitchen. 

“You mind giving us a ride? So we don’t have to drive?” Mathew asked. 

“No it’s cool.” 

“We can just get a ride back.” Mathew told them while he stretched. I walked over to him and them by the door. “Do you have your key babe?” 

“Yeah.” I replied. Mathew held out his hand for me to grab and they stared. 

“Ready?” Mathew asked them. 

We headed to the elevator to go to their friends place. When in the elevator it was awkward with no one saying anything. Mathew tapped his leg with our hands while he looked down at me. The doors open and someone stepped in. Mathew pressed the button for them and they got off on the next floor. 

“What?” Mathew asked him because he was looking at us and our hands. 

“I didn’t know? I mean I didn’t think you were…” he started turning red. 

Mathew laughed, “it’s fine you don’t need to panic.” 

We reached the main floor and went to their car. “So how long have you been together?” Kayla asked. 

“Since this February.” It’s easier to not mention the break or all the other stuff and technically is when we officially started dating. 

“Nice, who asked who out?” 

“He asked me out.” I replied. 

“Wait, so how old are both of you? 18?” Eric asked. 

“No, we both turned 19 last summer.” 

We got to the house and Eric started introducing us. “This is my friend Mathew and his-“

“Oh the roommate, you ended up coming.” Mikey got up and handed us some cups. Our two new friends looked at us. 

“We’re not roommates, we’re dating.” Mathew took the cups with his two fingers. 

“Oh, I thought you said it was his roommate?” Mikey asked Eric. 

“I did but I was wrong.” 

It was brushed over and we got drinks and sat down. Once we were drunk we started teasing him about it and making fun of him. 

“How would I know? I just assumed they were roommates.” He tried explaining himself. 

“I did tell you I wasn’t single.” Mathew messed with him. 

“I know but I just assumed you had a girlfriend because… well you look straight.” 

“What does that look like?” Kayla teased him. 

“Umm, well he’s a football player, he’s ripped, i don’t know I just never would have assumed.” 

“I’ll make sure to wear a ‘I have a boyfriend’ shirt form now on.” Mathew joked. 

“I guess it adds up now that I’m thinking about it.” He smiled. 

“Why?” I asked. 

“I swore he called you babe when we met but I wasn’t sure. You guys were also sharing your food.” 

“How is that a sign?” Kayla asked. 

“Not like friends it was different. They like shared plate and drink. It’s not like how we all do you know what I mean. I guess him coming here to go to a random college also should have been a no brainer but I just thought you were really close. I guess the apartment should have gave it away because it’s on the singles floor. 

“Yeah I guess.” Kayla added. 

“I mean it would be easier if he wasn’t so against pda. Mathew moved his arm from behind me on my chair to my chain rubbing it. 

“You don’t like it?” Kayla asked. 

“No, well I don’t care. I just don’t like the attention it brings. I didn’t care back home once I got used to it but like we don’t know anyone here and still new to the area to know stuff about what happens so I told him to chill out.” I explained to them. 

“I mean it’s no secret either. I’m not going to hide it. I told the recruiter when I accepted the ride here. My couch I assume knows.” Mathew told them. 

“It is kinda crazy how it could be a big thing even now. Like it’s been years since gay marriage was legalized.” Kayla commented. 

“I didn’t care that you were gay. Just to make sure that you know it wasn’t anything homophobic I just assumed you would have a girl.” Eric explained himself. 

“No I know what you mean. Should we take another shot?” Mathew tried breaking the tension that was becoming a little to serious. 

We headed back home after they offered us a ride but I had already ordered a car. We got home and Mathew dropped on the coach. I took of his shoes for him and he slept. There till he got sore and came to bed and I joined him. 

Slowly more people started finding out we were dating but nothing changed. At least he never told me anything if anyone ever did. I got a part time job working at a thrift store. That lead to seeing him less than I already did. He did get way more busy when basketball season also started. At least the first year his schedule was pretty even. We couldn’t really hang out that often other than during breaks or going to eat during our break periods. When we went to parties together no one ever said anything to his face. I think if it wasn’t for his size maybe some people would. Sometimes he would still get hit on before they knew he wasn’t single. It not like everyone would know like in highschool. The university is huge for them to know. Especially if they aren’t paying attention to the football team or even just personal life of the players. 

He never said anything about his teammates saying anything. I know it’s different here since he has no close friends and he’s a freshman. I heard on my own later that some guys on the team had tried starting things with him when it got out to other schools that he had a boyfriend. Some small hate accounts started popping up but they were so small they barely get 5 likes. I did feel like he started holding things to himself at this point but couldn’t really see what. He didn’t want me to leave his side when we went to parties because he didn’t know everyone there and something might happen he would tell me. If there was a fight he would cover me and get me out. But I knew he meant they might say something to me or fight me. But again it wasn’t till the end of the year that it really spread that we were together. Both our instagrams are private so not everyone can see our post. We also don’t post couple’s posts really. 

We went back home for like a week before he had to be back for practices and other stuff related to his sports. I came with him because I didn’t want to fly by myself or have my parents bring me all the way here. Mainly I didn’t want him driving alone. I was able to see some of our old friends one day before we left. During the summer he had classes and practice.I went home for two weeks longer than Mathew had. He only was there for like a week before he went back. When I came back we celebrated our birthdays together alone this time. Our parents had thrown us a party back home. I went full time at my job and started posting on another account about fashion. It did okay by the time we started school I had 20k on instagram. At this point it was still pretty normal we saw less of each other during school but during the summer it was way better. 

Mathew told me that I he didn’t like that I posted where I work but I was always smart not to post the location or show anything that someone could find me. I know there is risks by someone knowing by comparing pictures to my jobs background in the store but I mainly did it in the changing rooms when closing or when it was dead. He wanted me to make it private. Right before class started at a party some guy tried fighting Mathew but he didn’t fight back. It was descaled fast and he didn’t punch. He just trash talked him back. I was proud because he didn’t break the promise he had made. But I knew the reason he wanted to fight was because he was homophobic even though Mathew said the guy just didn’t like him. 

At this point I had also made friends at my school and they had me model for their photography club and their personal projects. I became friends with my coworker and she also went to Mathew’s school so she was the one who would tell me about things that Kayla wouldn’t want to tell me. I think the group would make her not say anything because Mathew had told them. 

I had brought it up to Mathew about me going back home maybe for a semester. He didn’t really like it but told me if I wanted to I could. He told me he would miss me a lot and that he feels better because I’m with him here. We talked about how we barely see each other and it would just be one semester. Lead to a conversation about what if I don’t want to come back? If we had a long distance relationship it would be difficult. I told him I felt like I was just stuck here. How all I did was work and go to school. How we mainly are together when he goes out to drink or parties and how it’s not really what I want to keep doing every weekend. We got into an argument and how it’s the only time he gets to relax but also wants me there because we barely see eachother. I kinda dropped it because it wasn’t worth arguing about and also I didn't know if I really wanted to do it. This was all before thanksgiving break. Even though I had Mathew I was missing my old life and friends. But they were also gone so it’s not like it would be the same if I went back home. It wasn’t really about money either because all we really paid for was extra stuff like going out and sometimes groceries. Mathew covered almost everything but sometimes I would need to pay for our food because the money would cut it for that semester. We just paid for subscription services and other random things. 

 The cracks started to show more after we came back from break. I think he could tell I didn’t want to be coming back so early when we technically still had more days off but he had to be back for basketball. He had started getting more attention this year in basketball too. He would be talked about by sports programs that cover college football. 

I ended up getting more attention and gained more followers and decided to make a YouTube channel to talk about fashion and clothes. Since I liked doing this more and was getting paid pretty well I ended up working only one day at my job. It wasn’t crazy but enough to compare to a part time job. I started going out more with my friends and letting Mathew go to parties by himself more. After this season Mathew had blown up in the college basketball space so he was getting more popular. And now getting more attention. I told him to start a separate account but he didn’t want too.

I also brought it up to him that I was going to be dropping out once this semester was done. He didn’t agree with me. We got into another argument about it. Well not really yet but it become one during the summer. By the time sophomore year was over I had blown up just how he did with 100k on instagram and 50k on YouTube. 

We moved out of the apartment at the end of the semester because it cost more than us just renting a random apartment close by. We moved out and since I only worked one day I just stopped working all together. I only stayed because I liked the job and the people I worked with. Mathew started drinking more when he would go out. To the point of sometimes getting wasted. We had fights about it and about me leaving school. He said I should have just stayed in school and did what I was doing on the side. That if it didn’t work out I would’ve had a pack up plan but over the summer I was making more money than I did working at the thift store. It also wasn’t like I was buying random expensive things. The only thing I would waste money on was clothing that was made by designers not designer brands. Even though we saw each other more over summer, it’s the most distant I’ve ever felt him. 

This got worse once the year started. Even though I had become friends with Eric and Kayla, I could tell they were more friends with Mathew than they were my friends. They never treated me bad or less than but like I said I could tell they would keep things from me about what he was doing. Kayla would sometimes tell me about what he did at parties but I could tell Eric and the others would side eye her. It’s not like I was spying on him either or that I thought he was doing things he wasn’t but I knew he was doing more than alcohol. Or that he would pass out sometimes at places other than theirs because Mariana, my friend I used to work with told me she saw him sleeping in a room once. 

I wasn’t just worried because of his grades and keeping his scholarship because I know it’s hard for athletes to be reprimanded. Especially when I know some guys commit crimes and nothing happens to them but I was worried about him.