Steve returned to the dorm room only to see that Ken was not present. With a bitter smile, he took off his shoes and laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"I messed up…" He muttered in a helpless tone.
He hadn't seen Ken like this before which honestly scared him a little. While they had been friends for over 2 years, the guy had become irreplaceable in his life.
But his heart ached. Tara was someone that he truly enjoyed being around, though things had become strained as of late. She had stopped laughing at his jokes, even making excuses to cut their meetings short.
Steve wasn't dumb. It was clear that she was trying to create some distance between the two, in order to be professional.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't have let myself fall in the first place." Steve reached out his hand, clasping at air, a bitter taste in his mouth.
Knock Knock
After some time, a knock sounded at the door.
"That's odd…" Steve remarked. If it was Ken returning from eating, he would have just entered the room.
Rolling out of bed, Steve went to the front door and opened it, only to see the girl he'd just been thinking about. His eye's widened in both surprise and happiness, but he quickly remembered their circumstances.
With a listless expression, he spoke up, "Ken isn't here. He's probably in the cafeteria."
Before she could respond, he tried to close the door.
Tara placed her arm on the door and prevented him from closing it, her expression filled with something that Steve didn't recognize.
"I'm here for you, silly."
She moved into the room and threw her arms around Steve's neck and began to kiss him deeply. The shock was so much that Steve almost tripped over himself.
The door was shut with her foot as the two made out passionately for a few moments.
Coming up for breath, Steve didn't know what was going on. "You're sending me a lot of mixed signals…"
Tara giggled, finding the commentary amusing. "How's this for a signal?"
Steve felt a hand grab him, causing his whole body to tingle.
"I'm reading you loud and clear." He stated, bending down to kiss her again.
The two stumbled over the mess laying around in the room and found themselves onto Steve's bed. It was there that they exchanged feelings, coming to an understanding without words.
…
Ken walked past the room door and could hear all sorts of noises coming from within. A small smile touched his lips until he remembered that they had to be at the bus shuttle in less than 30 minutes.
"He shouldn't take long…" Ken muttered.
However, he still needed to shower. Letting out a small sigh, he knocked gently on Kate and Tara's door, only to be greeted by Kate once again.
"Oh? Back for me this time?" She asked, batting her eyelids.
"I need to use the shower… My room is currently preoccupied."
Instead of making it difficult for him, Kate let out a small chuckle and opened the door. "Be my guest."
Thankfully he was able to get to the bathroom and shower, but this left another issue. He didn't have any clean clothes with him, so he would need to get into his own dorm room.
Poised against the bathroom door, Ken listened carefully. After not hearing anything, he let out a sigh of relief and opened the door, wearing only his towel.
The first thing he saw was Steve and Tara laying on the bed, with Tara's naked leg wrapped around the former's body.
"Have you come to join us boss?" Tara asked, amusement in her tone.
Ken's expression faltered before he completely ignored her. Tara might be without shame, but he certainly was not.
"Our shuttle leaves in 20 minutes, you better hurry up and get ready." Ken said to Steve who was currently on cloud 9.
"Oh crap, the game!" Steve sat up, almost flinging Tara off the single bed in his panic. Thankfully she gripped onto him tightly, though the tanned skin of her body was suddenly exposed.
Steve jumped off the bed and flew into the bathroom, leaving both Ken and Tara alone in the room. One was wearing just a towel, while the other was covering herself with the sheets.
"You moved pretty fast." Ken stated incredulously.
Tara laughed, "The early bird gets the worm." She said with a grin.
"But the second mouse get's the cheese."
"What?"
"That's the next part of the saying…"
Tara tilted her head in thought, "Really? I didn't know there was another part…"
"Anyway, you should probably get ready too. I've got a ticket for you. You'll be sitting next to my girlfriend." Ken said, fishing the ticket out of his pants pocket in his hands.
He was going to give it to her, but realized that she would have nowhere to put it. So he just awkwardly held onto it for a moment before placing it on the desk nearby.
"I'm going to turn around now, would you mind…"
Tara got the hint and waited till he turned before getting out of bed.
"Thanks boss." She whispered.
Ken felt the warm breath of the woman on his back, causing him to shiver.
Thankfully she left shortly after, allowing Ken to breathe a sigh of relief. It had been quite an awkward moment for him, but he was glad that the two were able to talk things through.
"I guess they didn't do too much talking…" Ken muttered, turning his attention to the messed up bed.
Shaking his head, Ken quickly got ready and grabbed his things, waiting for Steve to finish in the shower. The guy was quick enough that they just had enough time to make it if they jogged.
"You ready?"
Steve didn't reply right away as he clutched his bag and stared at the floor for a few moments. He lifted his head and sent Ken a genuine smile, "Thank you man…"