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the one where someone doesn’t know who kevin day is

kevin gets into the habit of going to the starbucks on campus to do his homework. it’s lively in a quiet way, and the background noise grounds him. he’d been so used to doing his work in his room at the nest and at PSU that betsy recommended breaking some habits that he could recall originating from the nest.

on a particularly crowded day, a cute smiley guy sits across from him at one of the community tables. kevin sinks a little in his seat behind his laptop but the guy doesn’t even spare him a glance. kevin can’t decide if he’s happy or sad about it.

he does spare a glance, however, when kevin visibly starts getting agitated with the way he scribbles out problems in his notebook. the guy glances at it, math, and ignores it.

kevin answers a call at one point, briefly, and in a huff. “no... not tonight... yes, well, i’ve got nearly one hundred problems to turn in by midnight and i’ve barely gotten six. unless you’d like to do it for me it’s not happening.”

it’s neil, duh.

it’s when kevin starts chewing on the string of his hoodie and tugging at his hair that the guy across from him speaks up.

“hey, i don’t mean to eavesdrop, but i could help you, if you want? i’m a math major.”

kevin brushes it off at first because he doesn’t need other people’s help. even very attractive guys. “no, i’m okay, thanks.”

and the stranger takes it easily and plugs his earbuds right back in. they’re both there for a few more hours, but by then it’s six o’clock, and kevin is only nearing the fortieth problem. he can’t take it anymore. he’s willing too throw away his pride.

he leans over to tap next to the guy’s papers. “um, is it too late to take you up on your offer?”

“not at all.” and he moves to sit next to kevin “i’m ahead of my work, anyway”

the math doesn’t get any easier, but he’s patient with kevin and brushes their shoulders to look at his work. that and he definitely explains things better than kevin’s professor.

and after an hour he only has twenty equations left when the starbucks is closing.

“i never got your name, by the way.” kevin almost rolls his eyes, except there‘s something so serious about it that it‘s almost a slap in the face. does he not know who he is?

“kevin. i’m kevin.” he raises a brow. kevin is almost exasperated. “kevin day?”

he nods. “dalton miller. do you play on the team?” he’s wearing a palmetto football hoodie, one that andrew got him as a joke, and kevin’s sure of it now. dalton has no clue who he is. which means there’s no pre-existing opinions or expectations. he can’t believe he‘s admitting it to himself, but he‘s just the idiot at starbucks. he can be whoever he wants, really. he can be himself.

“absolutely not, no.”

“oh, my bad.” he smiles. “hey, look, i’ve got to get back to my place, but i can give you my number in case you’ve got any questions for the rest of those?”

he probably won’t use it, because he can without a doubt tough through fifteen on his own. but dalton is nice and pretty to look at, so he takes it.

kevin texts him an hour later. sorry, i’m stuck. r u able to help?

of course! call me?

kevin hesitates. facetime, right? he’ll have to see the problem.

he also looks at neil across the room. “get out.”

“why? i was in here first.”

“i’m calling someone. andrew’s on the roof. join him.” neil rolls his eyes but by the sound of the second door he can tell neil left the suite all together.

he picks up on the first ring.

kevin doesn’t talk to dalton after that, but he sees him in starbucks again a few days later. as soon as dalton spots him he smiles and joins him in line. “how’s your math class?”

kevin grimaces. “will you be disappointed if i told you i’m dropping it next week?”

but dalton just laughs. the corner of his eyes crinkle and kevin’s chest tightens. “since i could tell how much you hated it, i’ll go with no.”

kevin’s next in line, and he freezes when dalton beats him to handing his card over. “dalton.” because kevin’s got more money than he needs, really.

“kevin?”

but he doesn’t want to be rude. “um, thanks.”

dalton grins. “look, since i can’t count on spending time with you for math, maybe i could take you out sometime instead?”

except kevin doesn’t really have a ton of free time, especially now, in the beginning of the season and classes. he tells dalton this- but offers up the spare time he does have instead.

it starts from there. dalton has an afternoon class, so they only sit for a bit, but kevin learns that he’s is 24, three years older than himself, and a third year grad student living just a few minutes off campus. that he got his bachelors and is now getting his masters in mathematics, and that he’s currently a TA and wants to become a teacher or professor upon graduation.

and dalton in return listens when kevin tells him about his classes, about how in another life he’d probably be an archaeologist or history professor. kevin doesn’t get around to telling him about exy, or anything related. he’s never had someone who didn’t know about that side of his life, it’s fun ignoring it.

the next time they meet it’s at kevin’s suite almost right after practice. “i have roommates” he warns, “i’m on the exy team”

dalton nods and laughs, “i’m not gonna lie, i’ve never been to a palmetto exy game, but that’ll have to change, yeah?” and for once kevin doesn’t want someone to come watch him. he’d never choke, god no, but he doesn’t want dalton on that side of his life. the fame, the fucked up foxes. not yet.

andrew and neil aren’t in the suite, thank god.

they watch a movie, but neither of them pays attention in favor of talking through the whole thing. kevin tells him that he’s fifty percent irish, born there, and that he wants to visit. he finds out that dalton took two semesters of french during his undergrad, and his eyes shine when kevin speaks it to him.

and they’re sitting so close, is the thing, that when dalton mumbles, “can i kiss you?” kevin barely has time to process it from the moment he nods to the moment dalton presses their lips together.

it takes him a second, but kevin places his hand on dalton’s knee and kisses him back. he tries not to smile, because it’s just so good, and it was never like this with thea before. he shakes the thought when dalton slides his hand up the back of kevin’s neck.

“really got me with that french,” he says, and kevin smiles.

part two three four five

extra content directory (aka more prompts with kevin and dalton)

all posts/updates relating to this au can be found in the “OC: dalton miller” tag!