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Maddox watched Mark's slender fingers drag the paper towels through the coffee puddle. He could have sworn his heart was hammering loud enough for the entire class to hear. The memory of where those wonderful, swan-like hands had been the night before was still too fresh in his mind. Maddox's hands betrayed his nerves to his student. Trying to regain some form of composure, Maddox smiled.

"Thank you," he looked up and saw nothing but terror and rage in those wonderfully green eyes. It unnerved him a bit. Last night those eyes had been filled with nothing but concern and lust. Surely he had to be misunderstanding that look.

~*~

Mark nodded, not fully trusting his thoughts to stay behind the confines of his lips should he open his mouth. He took the soggy mass of coffee-sodden paper towels from Maddox's shaking hands. Mark tossed them in the trash and fled back to the safety of his seat. He wanted nothing more than to cradle his teacher in his arms and rake his fingers through Maddox's chocolate colored hair, kiss his forehead, and tell him it was alright. He wanted to be the man Maddox came home to. The man that would be there to let him know everything was alright. More than anything, Mark didn't want to be some faceless boy sitting in the third row of a lecture hall. He didn't want to be the student being taught by the man who he had been praying would call him the day after they had brought each other to orgasmic bliss in the bathroom of some bar.

~*~

Maddox had decided sometime ago, in his own college days, that he wasn't going to be one of those boring chemistry teachers who had taught him. The ones that were so wrapped up in their studies that they had little enthusiasm for everything from life to the periodic table. This was Maddox's passion and he was determined to make it work even if the first day wasn't a good one. He took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth, desperate to make his first lecture captivating; in spite of the sticky drops of drying coffee that were making his clothes adhere to his flesh.

"Good morning everyone! I hope you all are having a better first day then I am," He laughed a little, "Oh, come on guys, sitting in chemistry class can't be as bad as spilling hot coffee on yourself the first day at your new job is it?" Maddox relaxed a little when his attempted at humor was rewarded with a few chuckles. Maybe everything would work out after all. "It's a great day for chemistry! I am Dr. Cotedivoux, but I also respond to 'Hey you', if it is too much of a mouthful. This is Chemisrty107 or Entry Level chem for science majors; I hope you all are in the right place. Now my syllabus is on the Gwynned Wood University site..."

~*~

Mark had seated himself next to a peppy looking blond girl. He was watching Maddox scrawl his name on the white board in black marker. As his teacher began to explain how the Gwynned Wood University site worked Mark started to zone out. He was fantasizing about his teacher, mindlessly doodling Maddox's name on the first page of his chemistry notebook. Mark watched the lined paper draw the ink out of his fountain pen as he darkened the loops and started to draw tiny hearts.

"That Maddox must be a lucky man," The girl next to him whispered making Mark jump out of his skin. Honestly, he had been too busy gazing longingly at Maddox to notice no one seemed to be listening to him anymore. His eyes darted to the front of the room feeling guilty for not paying attention. He noticed most of the students were looking disinterestedly at their blank or doodle littered notebooks. A few even seemed to have their heads down in an attempt to sleep off the lesson.

The blonde looked the same way and practically glowed, "God he is so hot! I swear I might change my major for him," she said putting her pencil on her mouth nibbling on it slightly as if deep in thought. "He's so goofy though," Mark saw the dreamy far off look in the girls blue eyes. "I'm Cassie by the way." Mark looked over at her, disgusted. How dare she talk about his Maddox that way. Mark almost growled at her but Cassie didn't seem to notice "I think he's gay though." Cassie sighed heavily announcing her disappointment. She surveyed Mark's face and saw him flush and shiver. A well groomed eye brow arched for a moment wondering if her desk mate knew something she didn't.

"W-what makes you say that?" He gulped.

Cassie's face lit up "So it speaks," She whispered, making sure no one was looking. "I can just tell." She tapped a pink polished nail to her temple. "I have a good sense about people. I'm a creative writing major." She smiled looking at Mark as his eyebrows seemed to ask the question she wanted him to ask. "So what am I doing in here, right?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah I mean, god I hate chemistry. I'm Mark by the way." He smiled. Clearly Cassie didn't seem to be much of a threat. Not that that really mattered at this point. Maddox was off limits, wasn't he? After all Mark was sure there had to be some sort of policy saying students couldn't date their teachers. He doubted Maddox would risk his job for him and he sure as hell wasn't risking his future for some one night stand pretty boy.

hero in a poem. "So I take these classes to meet people and come up with lives for them. They all become characters at some point."

Mark tried not to laugh. He accepted the distraction. Cassie smiled and sighed in the way only a true southern woman can before she opens her mouth to tell you an unnaturally long story. "Well being in the writing department helps me prefect my talent, but it doesn't really give me much writing material, now does it?" She giggled, scrawling something down in her note book. No one else seemed to notice the exciting story time. Not that Dr. Cotedivoux was any more captivating. He almost felt sorry for his teacher. . "Yeah?" Cassie nodded. "You see that boy down there? The one with the red hair?" Mark nodded, "Yeah, what about him?"

Cassie smiled. "Well his name is Andrew Long and he is here only because he wants to win the heart of the love of his life." Cassie pointed her pink pencil at a girl with toffee colored skin and big brown eyes. "That's Mallory, the girl he is in love with. Only, she doesn't know he even exists. She looks innocent, doesn't she?"

Mark nodded. His eyebrows were knitted together trying to understand where Cassie was getting this from. He knew it was all pretend but he would never have thought of this. The girl looked doe eyed and innocent. The type of girl who would always wear a sweater, who went to church and who made cookies for whoever was having an off day.

Cassie took his nod as an invitation to continue, "She isn't though. She finds rich men and she seduces them. Eventually she convinces them to marry her. On their honeymoon they go on a cruise and then, one night she takes them to the balcony and just..." Cassie made a pushing motion.

Mark's eyes widened. "Hasn't she gotten caught yet?" It was amusing to play along with the infectious Cassie. Listening to her stories meant that he didn't have to think about his own. Mark was dreading the time when he would be alone with his thoughts. He knew who would monopolize his day dreaming for a long time to come.

Cassie smiled, at his interest in her story, "Yes and that is the problem. Poor Mallory doesn't realize Andrew has his share of secrets. One is that he is the undercover cop who is investigating the string of murders!" Her eyes widened, conveying the horror stories the murders must be.

Mark laughed a little. "That's pretty creative." Cassie smiled and looked up. Most of the class had started to collect their things. Mark looked down at Maddox. Clearly his first lecture had not gone as planned, the man looked visibly distressed. "Guess I'll see you around."

"Sure, some one has to help me keep an eye on these crazies," Cassie nodded with a grin. "Without you here to make sure I take some sort of notes I'm likely to fail." Cassie walked behind her new friend. He seemed to be in such a hurry to leave the room. Probably to get back to his boyfriend she thought. "What a lucky man, indeed." She huffed looking at Mark's slender form moving away from her.

~*~

Maddox turned around from time to time watching his Mark talk to some girl. God, she looked so much like Trissta it was terrifying. Maybe it was just because Trissta was heavy on his mind but Maddox couldn't help the tiny pain going through his heart like shattered glass. Every time he turned around that damn bitch had all of Mark's attention. God, he was even laughing!

Maddox found it getting increasingly difficult to teach. All he wanted was to dismiss class so he could talk to Mark. Then he saw Mark turn and look at him, holding his gaze for a fraction of a second. His heart stopped and he stuttered a little. Like an animal on a dissecting table for all to see Maddox smiled. In just that moment he knew Mark couldn't possibly hate him, not when he gazed at him like that.

Maddox almost lost track of his speech about Good Monarch King Henry. It felt like a childish nursery rhyme to him now, though the acronym still helped him with conversion factors to this day. He wondered if Mark thought he was a nerd and it had killed what little, if any feelings Mark had for him. He smiled; no Mark was just being polite he would see after class. Mark would come talk to him and they could work things out. Maddox's true glass-is-half-full mentality was showing through. He innocently believed the hero always got the girl in the end.

Maddox firmly believed in all of this until he dismissed class. He watched open mouthed as Mark left without even so much as a parting glance or a wave. Maddox had never been the overly jealous type and he didn't really think he was jealous now, he was just surprised is all. He hadn't been expecting Mark to run into his arms and have a repeat of last night, but he didn't think Mark would have just acted like he didn't exist, either. He bit his bottom lip hard, trying to clear his head. He was willing himself to move. Maddox didn't know if it was better or worse that Mark had been flirting with a girl. If you could even call it flirting. Still clinging to some hope Maddox, reasoned that Mark had just been talking. There was no reason to think Mark would hurt him like that. The love bruise from last night was proof that it had not just been sexual sparks between them. He exhaled and inhaled slowly, trying to feel the relief that would never come.

~*~

Mark felt guilty leaving Maddox alone and rushing out the door. He had seen the confusion and the hurt but there was nothing he could do. Maddox was his teacher and not worth his dreams. Mark kicked himself the whole way back to his dorm. The man was perfect, however it was only a matter of time before he found someone to replace Mark with.

Mark dashed up the four flights of stairs and flopped down on his bed. Justin rolled over and blinked at him. Clearly he hadn't had a morning class. The small blond yawned like a true diva and stretched out his small frame. "How was class?"

Mark groaned, "God, I hate chemistry."

Justin wrinkled his nose, "Sounds yucky, anyway how was he?" Justin's face lit up. "I heard he was like, Greek sex god, drool worthy.

"Yeah, he's hot. Doesn't change the fact he is off limits," Mark said.

"So what!" Justin laughed, "We can still drool. Tell me more!"

Mark shook his head "I need a shower."

Justin giggled a little, "That hot, huh? Make sure it's really icy! God, I swear you have all the luck! First mister hottie from the bar and now you have eye candy in class. "

Mark didn't answer., Instead he took his shower stuff out of the room to the community bathroom. God, what had gotten in to him? Maddox was just some guy. That's it, nothing special. Just flesh, bone, and muscle., Perfectly sculpted, tanned, rippling, sex god muscle. Mark twisted the faucet turning on a mixture of cold and hot water, more cold than hot. He was not looking forward to stepping in but knew the chill would clear his head. Honestly, why was he coming so undone?

Sure they guy was beautiful, but that didn't mean he was a good person. Maddox could be some ass hole just trying to use him and get a quick fuck. Mark figured that settled it, people as good looking as Maddox Cotedivoux were always ass holes. It was a curse, he couldn't blame the guy. When you were that good looking people just always were willing to do what you wanted. Maddox probably had people begging to open doors for him. As good looking as he was, any gay man would be elated to have him. Certainly there was no shortage of men willing to get hot and sweaty between the bed sheets with the sexy teacher. Mark just couldn't be one of those guys, no matter how badly they both wanted it.

Mark, well Mark was damaged goods. He preferred being the top in a relationship and that required having certain things. He didn't have the money to take Maddox out, or nice clothes. Maddox was probably used to men who were mind blowing in bed, not someone like Mark who had so much emotional baggage that he was certain Maddox would take one look and run. Besides all that, Mark wasn't interested in dating anyway., He had school to worry about. Mark stepped under the cold water, feeling his flesh revolt and protest as he gave a small shuddered. At least it fixed his erection problem. He turned the water more to the warm side and gave a soft moan of pleasure.

Mark squirted some vanilla scented shampoo into the palm of his hand. He cursed himself for being so stupid. If he hadn't had such a bleeding heart then none of this would have happened. Mark could have gone to Gold, like any normal twenty-something, had a few drinks, and went home. Why did he have to want to help so much, anyway? He shouldn't care about people as much as he did. Last night Mark had just been stupid., He had seen Maddox crying and, like a love sick puppy, had run to his side. Mark ran his fingers in tiny circles through his dark tresses. The warm scent of vanilla sugar swirled up his nose, aided by the steam. It was comforting to him and Mark decided to just enjoy himself. He had the community bathroom to himself and could stay under the warm rain all he wanted.

The shower had been the perfect solution. Hell, Mark wasn't even thinking of Maddox anymore. No, he wasn't thinking of his wonderful, dark, edgy hair. What it would feel like to run his fingers through it with shampoo. He wasn't thinking of looking up into those beautiful blue eyes as he washed every inch of him. Mark surely wasn't thinking of the way his teacher's nose had a small dent in it where it had likely been broken, or his strong jaw set.

Furious with himself and all the things he truthfully was consumed with thinking about, he rinsed off and turned off the water. A perfect shower ruined by one stupid drunken act. Mark was kicking himself for being one of those all-too-willing people to help a man with a pretty face. He watched the froth swirl down the drain, thinking it might give him some answers. He snorted in disgust and wrapped his blue and green beach towel around his slender middle. The towel hung low on his hips and covered all the important things. He tossed the shampoo back into his black shower basket. There were so many different soaps, lotions and shaving creams and he hadn't been able to enjoy any of them.

Mark stepped from the shower, taking his basket with him, and retreated back to his small shared room. To Mark's relief Justin must have been in class. He was going to get dressed and just head right out the door to zoology when he noticed he had two hours to kill. Mark flicked his tongue ring against his teeth. He really should have planned this out better. Now he had all this time alone with his lusty thoughts. Something he was certain no good would come of. Mark wondered if there was really anything he could do to take up so much time and he decided to try and mentally reason himself out of his... crush on the teacher. If he could convince himself that Maddox had just been some fluke then all his problems would be solved. It was worth a shot, what the hell else was he supposed to do for two hours?

He groaned and pulled on a pair of worn Levis, not his typical choice in pants but he wasn't in the mood for all the extra fabric and chains his typical wardrobe possessed. Mark looked at the scars that spider webbed across his ribcage. It was as if his own body had been trying to escape him once upon a time. He grimaced as he pushed back the urge to add to them, remembering how ugly they made him look, how weak. He pulled on a Between the Buried and Me T-shirt satisfied his secrets were now hidden once more.

Mark laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. It was a technique that often soothed his anxiety. He had long suffered from anxiety attacks and he knew the best way to deal with something was to allow himself an hour or so to obsess and get it out of his system. Once he thought about something long enough and convinced himself he either had the solution or was off with the fact that he couldn't do anything about it, his anxiety seemed to fade. This, he thought, was exactly how he needed to treat his Maddox problem. Because his thoughts about the off-limits teacher were just that, a problem he needed to rectify sooner rather than later.

Mark flopped onto his bed thinking of Maddox. He thought of the tiny scar that marred his otherwise perfect left eyebrow. Traveling down from there Mark remembered his eyes. They were almost the color of all those awful decorations one might see at a baby shower indicating a boy. He was startled to remember the two tiny flecks of green in the left one. Mark bit his lip, knowing he had to get those eyes out of his head. He inhaled slowly and decided instead to think of Maddox's character flaws since thinking about his face was doing nothing but turning him on.

He took a deep breath and started over, his thoughts started off innocent enough. He was thinking about how much older Maddox was though, truthfully, he didn't know. He knew Maddox either looked young for his age, or else he was younger than Mark always pictured his teachers being. He was sure things couldn't work out between them in the long run. Maddox was probably some alcoholic party boy, ready to jump into bed with whoever offered. Mark started to think of how responsive and easy his teacher had been in that bar.

He felt his traitorous cock harden with heat and lust as he thought about that night. It was voicing the desire to once again have those strong hands choking it into oblivion. He remembered every inch of Maddox's shaft slipping between his fingers. Mark unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, if only to relieve some of the pressure on his groin. He wasn't doing it to give himself easier access or anything. He remembered the large defined mushroom and the wonderful slit that had christened Mark's stomach with Maddox's climax.

Mark almost startled when he felt a hand slip under his boxers and touch his own throbbing, leaking head. He relaxed, realizing it was his own. This was good, one good time thinking about Maddox and then it would be out of his system. All he needed was to climax once and realize what a complete jerk his teacher was. Hell, he hadn't even called him yet. Mark brought his hand to his mouth and used his own salvia as lubricant.

He began to apply pressure to his shaft; moving his spit-slicked hands up and down the eight inches. Mark still had some difficulty getting his hand to close around his thick girth. He slowly began to massage the underside of his shaft with his warm, wet thumb.

He fondled the small bundle of nerves. Each stroke made him moan as his leg twitched wildly. With his right hand, Mark reached for a pillow and began to bite down. Writhing in self inflicted bliss, he pretended Maddox was the cause of it.