Back to Back Pt. 01

"Okay." Was Artie's quick reply.

"Really? Just like that?" That was too easy...

"Yeah, I mean, if it doesn't work we can just unbunk them," Artie concluded simply. Diplomatic and logical. Some things never change.

"Thanks, Artie. I'll owe you one." I continued on, explaining how I wanted to rearrange our room and Artie agreed with everything.

I ordered the Uber and we headed back down to the lobby. On our way down the stairs, I heard Artie curse.

"Frick!" I heard from behind me before I feel Artie slam onto my back. I was near the bottom of the flight and grabbed onto the railing to hold myself up.

"Jesus, Artie! Are you trying to murder me?" I could barely hold Artie and myself up, I kept sliding on some liquid all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry! I slipped!" Artie said as he laughed.

"But now that I'm here, I know how you can repay me for taking the top bunk," He continued.

I knew where this was going. I grabbed Artie's legs and pull them around my flanks, jumped a little to readjust him on my back, and continued down the stairs. Halfway down I had to say something.

"Damn, dude. How much do you weigh? You're heftier than you look." I asked as I pushed him further up my back.

"I wouldn't make fun of someone when they're on your back and you're descending stairs," Artie said with vehemence in his voice.

Then I felt something cold and slimy wiggle around in my ear.

"ARTIE! Don't make me drop you!" I burst out in laughter as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

Artie slid off my back and I pulled him to my side as we walked to the front desk. Putting my arm around his shoulder I finally gave him that noogie I'd been thinking about. When we got to the front desk I inquired about bunking our beds. Our RA told us that he would put us on the list and that they would get to our room when they can. With that, we went outside to wait for our Uber.

We found a bench under the shade of a tree and sat to wait. The temperature was slightly warmer than you'd want it to be to move in but a cool breeze blew past every few moments. I looked over at Artie and watched as the breeze blew his floppy blonde hair around his forehead.

"You have a girlfriend?" I asked abruptly.

"No, why? Do you know a girl?"

"You wish. You're the only person I know here. I just mean you're handsome, so where's the girlfriend?" He rolled his eyes when I said handsome and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I haven't really been looking for a relationship." He didn't elaborate any further so I didn't press him.

After a pause Artie continued,

"How long have you and Natalie been together?"

"Coming up on two years. We started dating senior year."

"And she hasn't dumped you? Not even once?" I almost laughed but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

With that the floodgates were opened. We spent the next two hours picking out furniture for the dorm and catching up on everything with each other since I moved. We talked about everything and nothing, firing questions back and forth almost faster than we could answer them. Artie told me that he swam and ran long distances for exercise, which explained his lithe body type. I knew we were both in the business school like everyone else in our dorm, but I found out Artie and I are the same major, business management. We have a lot of the same taste in books, movies, and video games, but I think he's a more of a nerd than he's letting on. He had a Final Fantasy and a Zelda poster on his side of the room, which is pretty fucking nerdy in my opinion. We enjoyed watching the same sports and listening to similar music. When conversation slowed or stopped completely it wasn't awkward. By the time we checked out with our purchases it felt like we had picked up right where we left off.

Throughout our trip I found myself grinning ear to ear at Artie just being Artie. His shyness around unfamiliar people, his slight clumsiness, his witty retorts, and his aversion to cursing all repeatedly sent me back in time to when I was eight. I noticed he didn't talk much about his parents, and most of his stories from growing up involved his sister and not many other people. I wondered if Artie had many friends after I left but I didn't probe. My lack of meaningful relationships since I moved from New Hampshire was a bit of a sore spot for me so I knew to drop it.

When I pulled up the Uber app I had one more stop in mind. I scheduled our trip and we waited with the rug, ottoman/coffee table, pillows, and wall decorations we got. When we got in the Uber and Artie saw we were going in the opposite direction of school, he expressed his confusion.

"I think the driver is going the wrong way," Artie whispered to me.

He looked into my eyes and I could tell he was dreading the possibility of having to say something to redirect our driver. I decided to let him sweat it a little. I just smiled at him and then faced forward again. Ten or so minutes later we pulled up to Best Buy.

"Um, sir..." Artie muttered quietly.

"Thank you, sir!" I said, loudly cutting Artie off.

"Why are we here, Miles?" Artie asked with finality in his voice.

I still left him in the dark. I asked the Uber to wait for a few minutes while I ran in so he could take us back to the dorm too and he agreed. I got out of the car and very composedly ran into the store. When we were kids we had just gotten into Wii before I moved and I remember I used to have so much fun getting competitive with Artie. At IKEA he mentioned that he never was able to get the newest console. I had a sense that he might not have had many friends to game with in the first place, and I understood the feeling completely. Why bother getting a console, games, and extra controllers if there's no one to enjoy them with. For the same reason, I never bothered getting new consoles after I left New Hampshire. I figured now was as good a time as any to remedy that problem. Artie and I were together again and I was going to do everything I could to make up for lost time.

I bought everything I needed swiftly, so much so I was sweating a little by the time I got back to the car and Best Buy is always cold as shit. When I got back in the car Artie immediately began studying the bags trying to figure out what was inside. I asked the worker to quadruple bag everything so I could surprise him once we set the room up and he got nowhere. He eyed me suspiciously but said nothing, opting instead to turn to face the window for the rest of the car ride. I laughed heartily on the inside at how he was practically pouting.

Back at the dorm, we came back to bunked beds against the back wall of the room and I got right to setting everything up. We moved the desks to be facing the walls, parallel to each other in front of the bed. We put the rug and the ottoman in the space between the desk chairs and put both dressers next to each other against the wall next to the door, parallel to the bed. I put the TV on top of the dressers, hung the prints and posters we got at IKEA and threw the pillows on my bed against the back wall. With that, we had a mostly completed space. With just those few minor changes our room went from a plain dorm to a comfortable space to spend time in.

Over the years of constantly moving I've found having my space decorated in a way I chose and enjoyed really helped me feel at home in times when I felt like I had none. When everything was said and done I was extremely grateful that Artie allowed me control over our room and I was ready to show him what I got for us.

Artie

Meeting Natalie was a whirlwind. I was still reeling from seeing Miles again and per usual I clammed up as soon as I met someone I didn't know. One second we were hugging and the next second Miles' entire side of the room was set up. A second after that she was on her way out the door. When Miles walked Natalie to her car I was left alone in the room feeling battered. I felt a ball of nervous excitement in the pit of my stomach and I did my best to remind myself we have been estranged for a decade now and we aren't the same people or friends we used to be. There was something about Miles though that felt like getting home after a long road trip. I felt like I could finally just be.

When he got back to the room I couldn't help myself, I had to get at least one takedown on him. I thought we were having a good time until Miles started, I think, crying. Still not sure what that was. I was so confused by his tears but just like he would have all those years ago his focus immediately shifted to the next thing and the problem was quickly dismissed. If he handled stress the same way he used to, then I'd have to wait for him to let it out on his own time. When we were kids I couldn't get anything out of him if he didn't want me to. And I remember trying, a lot. The guy's brain was like a bank vault.

Another thing that hadn't changed about Miles was his efficiency which could sometimes come off as impulsiveness. As a kid, Miles would move from one task to the next with little room for discussion and I used to think it was because he was scatter-brained. What it really was though was his ability to quickly come up with a plan of action and adhere to it fully. Transforming our room into a real living space is something that probably would have taken me weeks of stewing over, and he accomplished it in one day. I was thoroughly impressed and exhausted. By ten p.m. I was ready to get in bed and not wake up until Monday for class. I barely even did anything, Miles did all the heavy lifting today, emotionally and physically.

"Artie, come over here," Miles said from next to the TV, just as I was climbing the ladder to the top bunk.

He was unwrapping the Best Buy bag that I had completely forgotten about, and I quickly abandoned my bed.

"I'm so tired. This better be good." I mumbled groggily. I'm a bit of a goblin when I need sleep.

"Just get your ass over here for a sec and look what I got." He said fake-testily.

I sidled up to him and peered around his shoulder. I was stunned. And overwhelmingly excited.

"You're fricking... Did you..." I couldn't even finish a sentence.

"My parents felt guilty for not taking me to school so they sent me some money for stuff for the dorm. Shit at IKEA was cheap, so here we are." Miles explained, smiling at me the whole time. My eyes went from the Switch to Miles' face. Back and forth, back and forth.

"Here, open the games and the controllers and I'll set up the console." Mile's once again took decisive action while I reeled.

"I'll split the cost with you." I said as I finally found some words.

"Don't worry about it, dude. For real. You can repay me by watching me crush your cheeks in Mariokart."

"First of all. Thank you. Second of all, I'm going to decimate you and your entire bloodline 'in Mariokart'." I retorted with air quotations.

Miles and I used to spend hours playing the same game on Wii, I couldn't recall who was better but my skills at it are something I would have defended to the bitter end. We set everything up and put the controllers on to charge while the game and console updated.

"Miles... Thank you so much for getting this. I'd never go get one for myself."

"I figured." He stated simply.

I looked over at him he shrugged and grinned. Again I was hit with an unfamiliar feeling in my stomach. It felt almost like nostalgia, but the past was standing right in front of me. It felt like all the times I buried how sad I was when Miles left were just erased and in their wake, I was left with hopefulness.

"I'll buy the games from now on then." He rolled his eyes and that was the end of that.

I knew I was not going to have the energy to get ready for bed after we played so I decided to shower. I went to the closet and I took off my shirt and socks. I dropped my shorts and briefs as I grabbed my towel. I turned around, wrapped the towel around my waist, and I saw Miles looking in my direction. I grabbed my shower caddy and called him out.

"See something you like, buttface?" I wasn't embarrassed by my body, I knew I kept in decent enough shape. I was though slightly worried there was toilet paper on my ass or something.

"Fuck off. You said you don't lift at all? No squats?" Once I heard that I was just thankful it wasn't about something unhygienic.

"I don't go to the gym I'm always the smallest guy in there. Just running. My sister and I play a lot of volleyball in the yard I guess that's squats." I remembered my ass being so sore after just hitting around a volleyball with her for an hour or two.

"I gotta get a volleyball then. I can't get my glutes to grow like that."

"The net in the quad on north campus is really nice and I have a ball. We can definitely start playing." I said as I put on my sandals.

Just as I entered the bathroom I was pushed into the door frame, hard. My shoulder collided with the wall and immediately my arm went up to cradle it, dropping my caddy on the floor.

"Sup nerd." I looked up and saw a large figure move down the hallway.

I recognized neck acne, it was Liam Ward. A hockey-playing d-bag from my old high school. As I picked up my toiletries from the floor my mood couldn't be soured. I was still riding the high from seeing Miles again. I was disappointed that of all the floors of all the dorms on campus he had to be assigned to the same one as me, but I didn't let myself dwell. The faster I showered the faster I could get back to that Switch.

I finished my shower in record time and started brushing my teeth just as I saw Miles walk in. He smiled and walked right up to me, plunking his caddy down on the sink next to mine. He shoulder bumped me and made eye contact in the mirror. Toothpaste spilled out of my mouth and I flicked him the bird with my ring finger. He laughed and turned to the shower, dropping the towel from his waist and hanging it up on the hook. I had no idea what the guy was talking about. He had a pretty big butt, way bigger than mine with defined indentations on the sides, and as he moved it looked hard as a rock. He shut the curtain and turned on the shower as I finished brushing my teeth.

"Go quick, I'm trying to get some rounds in before bed," I called to Miles as I headed out the door.

"That's what she said!" Miles yelled over the shower. I heard some dude in one of the showers laugh.

"You're a virgin!" I yelled back. I didn't even know people made that joke anymore.

"Ooooooo" I heard the shower guy instigate Miles and I left quickly.

I got in my pajamas quickly and hopped onto Miles' bed. For a second I worried maybe I was overstepping but then I remembered he said we could use his bed as a couch. With that in mind, I set some pillows up so I could lean back against the wall, kicked my feet up, and waited impatiently for Miles to return.

Not even five minutes later Miles returned dripping water all over the floor. Instead of finishing drying off he just dropped his towel and started rummaging for clothes. Again I was treated to a full view of his furry ass. His huge back and shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist, making his cheeks look even bigger.

"What're you even talking about, Miles? I bet you shift tectonic plates when you run too fast, your butt is huge." I joked but seriously what the heck could my glutes have that his don't?

Miles burst out in laughter, so loudly it startled me for a second. He just kept laughing and laughing, eventually doubling over clutching his sides. Which revealed to me his butt is even hairier in the crack.

"You fucking kill me, dude." He put on some boxers and a plain white t-shirt and booted up the console.

We originally planned to just play a round or two to check out the new maps, and see if there were any that were the same as on the Wii. Two rounds turned to five, and then ten, and then I lost count. By two in the morning, my eyes were crusted open and I couldn't close them even when I tried. I could barely lift my arms and the idea of crawling up to the top bunk felt like ascending Everest. I had to tap out.

"I'm done for. I'm about to pass out." My head rolled to the side as I said it. Miles' eyes were closed. Lucky.

"Same, dude." He mumbled back, barely intelligible. He turned the Switch and the TV off with the remotes, eyes still closed. With the TV off we were left in the dark with only the lamp post in front of the dorm shining a faint yellow light into the room.

He just fell over, pulled his legs onto the bed, and flipped to face the wall. Pushed to the edge of the bed I swayed back and forth a little before falling onto the bed too. I gave myself ten seconds before I had to get up and go to my bunk. My eyes finally closed, and I used every ounce of mental energy I had left to not fall asleep.

"This feels familiar," Miles grumbled from behind me. I could feel his chest rumbling from an inch away.

"Hm?" I was losing the capability to form polysyllabic words.

"Remember Bern and Kathy's?" The daycare we went to down the street from where we lived.

Suddenly it did seem familiar. Almost like a flashback I had a flood of memories crash over me that for some reason I had kept dammed. Every day we used to put our mats next to each other to sleep, but we would wake up on the same one. Back to back.

Maybe it was because I was delirious from lack of sleep but feeling the memory of those days so vividly again made me feel such elation I almost felt high. It started with small giggles, and then grew into full-blown guffawing. I laughed until my sides hurt so bad I had to force my body to stop moving. I think I started to understand how Miles was feeling earlier.

"Miles, I'm so glad you're here," I whispered after I had calmed down.

"Me too." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I pushed against him, and he pushed me back.

******

This story has been floating around in my head for a long time. When I was brainstorming plot points I realized it's basically an amalgamation of all my favorite stories that I've read on here and embarrassingly elsewhere way back in the day. So shoutout to all the great authors on this website.

It's probably going to be a chapter or two before something really spicy happens so I guess you could consider it a slower burn, but I think it will be worth it.

Part two will be coming soon.