ship: dylan harvey/rollo fipps
word count: 1709
warnings: none
tag list: @annethecaptain
Dylan finds it incredibly endearing that Rollo always offers to walk him home from his classes. It’s completely unnecessary—all of his classes are fairly close by to his dorm room, and even if he were to get himself in danger like Rollo seems so worried about, he’d be perfectly fine. He’s more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, him and Rollo don’t even have all that many classes together. Dylan’s convinced that Rollo has his schedule memorized, which is less creepy and far sweeter than he thought it would be. But he’s definitely not complaining about getting to spend the extra time with Rollo outside of the lab. He’d be kidding himself if he said he didn’t kind of sort of have a thing for the guy. It’s something Jaxon, Maddie, and Agnes have teased him over about a million times. At least they have the sense to not say anything about it when Rollo’s around.
Today, as usual, they’re taking their sweet time in walking back to Dylan’s place. Dylan’s usually a pretty fast paced guy, but he doesn’t want to rush through what free time he’s got with Rollo. Who knows when he’ll get to see him next in something other than a lab coat (though he definitely appreciates what he looks like in a lab coat, don’t get him wrong). He’s honestly not quite sure what Rollo’s talking about this time, as he’s talking a little faster than usual, and the accent always does leave Dylan’s mind a little too fuzzy to be able to comprehend much of anything. But he looks excited as he speaks, which leaves Dylan’s chest feeling warm and an unintentional grin spreading across his face.
Before either of them knows it, they’re stopped in front of the dorm Dylan shares with Jaxon. As per usual, Dylan’s not quite ready to say goodbye, and if the look on Rollo’s face is any indication, then he’s not quite ready to say goodbye either. So they stand there in front of the front door, quietly observing each other. Dylan feels like a dumb schoolgirl with the way he holds his textbooks close to his chest and with the way he can feel even his ears turning red as Rollo looks at him. He can’t help the smug feeling in his chest when he sees a blush cross Rollo’s face as well.
“I guess I’ll see you later?” Rollo finally says after a while, smiling crookedly in the way that always leaves Dylan’s mind reeling a little.
“Yeah. I’ll see you later,” Dylan replies once he’s found his voice, grateful that it didn’t crack as he spoke. “Uh, stay safe when you’re walking home, yeah?”
“Of course,” Rollo says, his smile only widening. Dylan nearly swoons on the spot. Neither of them moves or says anything further after that for a while. Then, the most wonderful thing happens. Rollo takes a step forward and gently brushes the loose strands of hair out of Dylan’s face, hand resting on his cheek carefully. “Should get you something to tie your hair back,” he whispers, and wow, does his voice sound good like this. Dylan feels himself blush even more.
“Yeah, maybe,” Dylan says, voice barely above a whisper, almost afraid to break whatever moment they’re creating right here and right now.