"is this your first time?" hamburramy
“Is this your first time?”
Alex looks up from his textbook at that, his eyes meeting the person who voiced the question, and the first thought that enters his mind is tall. Very, very tall.
“My first time?” Alex echoes, blinking up at the guy a few times, sure that he recognizes him from somewhere. “You mean, is this my first time in the library?”
The guy shrugs, a grin on his face as if he hadn’t just asked the oddest question. “Yeah. I’ve never seen you here before.”
“There’s like…three floors to this library. So it’s not exactly hard to believe that you haven’t seen me yet.”
The guy’s cheeks color at that, and Alex continues to stare at him, noting with slight amusement that he’s shifting on his feet, as if he’s nervous. Cute.
“Yeah, well…” The guy trails off, and then his smile is back full force, and Alex can’t help but admire it. “I’m Bellamy, by the way.”
“Alex,” Alex says back, feeling a little lost as to what exactly is happening. Who is this guy? “Nice to meet you?” He phrases it like a question, hoping the guy will get the hint that Alex isn’t exactly following where this is going.
“You, too,” Bellamy answers, and then he’s pulling out the chair in front of Alex and sitting down. “So, do you come here often?”
“To the library?” Alex is smiling now, too. He can’t help it, especially not with the cheesy pick up line. Plus he has a thing for tall guys. And this one just happens to be endearing as well. He can play along. “I’d say I’m here pretty frequently. What about you?”
“Oh, constantly. I mean, I usually just walk around and pick some books at random to read, just to pass the time, you know? My boyfriend can spend hours here studying, and I like to keep him company.”
Alex’s smile falters. “Your boyfriend?” He could have sworn that Bellamy was flirting with him.
Bellamy hums and rests his chin in his hand. “Yeah.” His smile is even wider now, clearly not noticing the frown that is forming on Alex’s face. “He’s really - “
“Bellamy.”
Another voice interrupts him, and Alex watches as Bellamy leaps to his feet and rushes around the table. Alex turns to see him enveloping someone else in a hug, and when he pulls back, Alex finds out that person is none other than Aaron Burr.
“Alexander,” Aaron says, nodding his head at him as he slips an arm around Bellamy’s waist. “Sorry, I tried to keep him from bothering you.”
“That’s okay,” Alex says, even though he has no idea if it is, because he has no idea what’s going on.
Now he realizes why he thought he recognized Bellamy; he’s the guy that is always hanging around Aaron, always wrapped up around him even when the two of them are just walking through campus.
“Of course it’s okay,” Bellamy interjects. “I’m a treat.” He pouts slightly when Aaron snorts, but then he’s turning back to Alex. “I just wanted to meet you. Aaron talks about you all the time and - “
“What?” Alex asks, unable to keep himself from interrupting. Aaron talks about him? That can’t be right. The guy barely even looks at Alex despite sitting next to him in both classes they have together, despite Alex’s many attempts at initiating conversation.
“I’ve mentioned you,” Aaron explains with a causal shrug, but there’s a flicker of embarrassment that passes across his face. “You are the only one who bothers to debate with me in any of my classes. I’ve got no one else to talk about.” His lips twitch a little, and Alex thinks that maybe he’s attempting to smile.
“Okay,” Alex says slowly, really thinking that he’s missing out on some sort of joke. “Well, thanks. Or whatever.”
“Can I have your number?” Bellamy asks suddenly, rocking forward on the toes of his feet, already pulling out his phone from his pocket.
Alex just stares at him for a few seconds, waiting for the punchline, but when him and Aaron continue to stare back, no hints of this being some weird practical joke in their expressions, Alex concedes and gives Bellamy his cell number.
“Great. I’ll text you later.”
“See you around, Alexander,” Aaron says to him, and then he’s taking Bellamy’s hand and leading him away, their heads bent towards each other, words being spoken in hushed tones that Alex can’t make out.
He watches their retreating figures until their out of sight, and then he turns his attention back to his textbook, deciding that he’ll worry about all of this later.
-
Bellamy does text him later. In fact, he texts him constantly over the next week, and Alex doesn’t want to admit it, but he has it bad.
Bellamy is funny, ridiculous, and surprisingly good at giving advice through text whenever Alex mentions that he’s busy cause he’s freaking out over one assignment or another.
And Alex is even more surprised when Bellamy adds him to a group chat that he later learns includes Aaron’s number. Then both of them are texting him daily, and Alex doesn’t understand how this happened so fast, or why it’s even happening at all.
It doesn’t help that Alex seems to see them around campus all the time now, They’re always laughing together and holding hands, or Bellamy has an arm around Aaron’s shoulders, head bent to whisper things in his ear. And Alex’s stomach always tightens at the sight, not knowing who he envies more.
Friday rolls around, and Alex is still sitting in his seat after the professor has wrapped up class, needing to finish his notes on the lecture before leaving.
Someone clears their throat, and Alex peers over to see Aaron staring at him from the seat beside him, eyebrows raised.
“Hi?” Alex says, not knowing what else to say. Aaron didn’t speak to him all class despite how much he’s texted him over the past week.
“Hi,” Aaron responds. There’s a long beat of silence. “So, are you still going out with me and Bell tonight for our date?”
Alex splutters, his face growing warm. “What?”
“Didn’t Bellamy talk to you about it?”
“No!”
Aaron swears under his breath, and then he groans, leaning back in his chair. “That bastard. Oh man, I really hate him right now.” He looks over at Alex, probably noticing his inner crisis because he gives him a small smile. “He was supposed to text you and ask if you’d be interested in going on a date.”
Alex swallows hard, feeling almost lightheaded. “With…with both of you?”
“That was the plan, yes.”
“But…but why?” Alex has a million other questions beyond that, but he sticks to the easiest one for now.
Aaron gives him a weird look at that. “Can you really not tell that Bellamy is head over heels for you? God, he talks about you constantly. I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep this whole week because he just lies in bed and sighs about you for hours.”
Alex blushes even harder at that, and Aaron smirks at him, which makes Alex bristle. “Shut up,” he mutters. “It’s not like…I’m just confused, okay? You guys haven’t exactly been clear about intentions.”
Aaron shrugs. “We’ve never really done this before. But Bellamy likes you a lot, so we figured we’d try.”
“And what about you?” Alex asks before his courage can fail him. “I mean, do…what do you think? About me?”
Aaron gives him an appraising look. “I think,” he starts slowly, “that I definitely wouldn’t mind spending more time with you outside of class.”
Coming from Aaron, that’s almost like a love declaration, so Alex smiles at him and nods. “Well, okay then. I mean, why the hell not, right?” He’s never been one to back away from anything intimidating. Besides, a night with Aaron and Bellamy seems much better than the night of crappy Netflix shows with John that he’d had planned.
Aaron rolls his eyes, but Alex can detect a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Eloquent as always, Alexander.” He stands. “Come on, I’m sure Bellamy can’t wait to hear the news.”
Sure enough, they’ve barely stepped out of the classroom when Bellamy comes bounding towards them, apparently having been waiting for them to come out.
“Is it a yes?” He asks, directing the question at Alex and beaming when he nods. “Awesome!”
“I can’t believe you stuck me with having to ask,” Aaron says to him, and Bellamy just shrugs.
“It was only fair. You never introduced me to him, made me to it myself. Payback’s a bitch.”
“You two are something else,” Alex comments, amused at their banter.
“You’ll get used to it,” Bellamy tells him, reaching out take Alex’s hand, which makes Alex start in surprise. Then Bellamy is leaning down, pressing a quick kiss to Alex’s cheek, his lips soft.
“Bellamy,” Aaron says in exasperation. “You can’t just - “
“It’s fine,” Alex interrupts, embarrassed to hear his voice crack on the words. He clears his throat and smiles up at Bellamy, and then catches Aaron’s eye. “I’ll get used to it.”
