Plotting a Course

Chapter 5: Settling In

Wednesday after class I stopped by the health center to pick up my test results. I called Rob on my way home and luckily he was able to talk.

"I'm clean Robbie." I proudly declared.

"Do what now?" Rob laughed at my admission, not sure what I meant.

"My professor suggested we get tested for STDs. Well I did and I'm clean." I explained.

"Congratulations babe, I guess that means I'm clean too." I could hear his grin through the phone.

"Yup." I proclaimed as I headed back to the dorm.

"Glad to hear it Bobby. I'm heading to class, but I'll talk to you tonight. I love you. Bye Babe." Rob ended the call as I sat at my desk and worked on some assignments.

My eyes were drawn to the door when I heard someone walk into the suite. I turned in my chair as Billy entered the room. His face was stoic and I couldn't decipher the emotions hidden there.

"Well..." I prodded with raised eyebrows as I awaited the news.

"Well I'm not going to be kicking field goals." He shrugged but there was a hint of a spark in his eyes.

"Damn, I'm sorry Billy." I answered as a smile started to creep across his face.

"But I am going to be kicking off, Bobby." He tossed his bag on the ground and I stood up and gave him a five.

"Hot damn! Congrats Billy, that's awesome." I praised his accomplishment on making the football team, as a walk-on freshman none-the-less.

"Yeah, the senior they got for field goals barely beat me out, I hit the left upright on the final kick and he split 'em." Billy excitedly told his tale of kicker tryouts.

"Still, freaking awesome." I said as I sat back down in my chair.

"Thanks for helping me practice Bobby."

"No problem man." I answered. "We should celebrate; go out to eat off campus or something." I suggested. I stood up and went to see if any of our suitemates were around, two were and agreed to go grab some food and celebrate Billy being the new kickoff specialist on the football team.

**

There had been so much going on in my mind this first week of school that I had forgotten about the awkwardness I felt around Rob's lookalike, the water polo player. That was until I walked into class Thursday and he flashed a smile at me as I walked in. It looked like everyone wanted to maintain their seats from Tuesday, so I was forced to reclaim a seat beside him.

"Today we're going to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment." The professor started passing around papers as she spoke. Once we've finished the assessment I'll give you information on your results and it will help you understand more about yourself. I took my paper and wrote my name at the top, I saw green eyes shift over to my paper before they darted back to their own. The test asked a series of tedious questions on your preferences and how you acted in social situations. Eventually I finished the assessment and the professor collected them.

"Have a good weekend. We'll discuss the results next class." She said as I reached for my backpack. It didn't budge when I tried to lift it and I noticed that one of the straps was under lookalike's foot. I don't think it was by accident either.

"Excuse me." I said as I tugged on my backpack.

"Oh sorry." The guys said smiling at me before he lifted his foot. "Robert right?" He asked, he must have read my name off of the Assessment.

"Bobby." I quipped as I put my backpack on and headed towards the door. He quickly gathered up his stuff and followed me out of the building.

"Hold up Bobby." He called and I slowed down, but didn't stop for him.

"I saw you swimming the other day right?" He questioned and I nodded my head but continued walking.

"You're good." He started. "I was just wondering if you wanted to try out for water polo? We need a guy with your speed."

"Oh." I said as I stopped and looked at him. He just wanted to talk about water polo. I let myself relax as I faced him. "I've never played water polo before, it looks kinda rough."

"Oh it's not too bad." He flashed me a smile before he looked at his watch. "I gotta go Bobby, think about it." He started to walk off but stopped. "I'm Matt by-the-way." With that he turned his head and headed away from me, back towards the quad.

**

Tuesday in Career and Life Planning class, the professor talked about the eight personality types that were present in our results. She told us to break into groups of two to present our personal results for class on Thursday. The class immediately started forming groups and before I had a chance to process what was happening I heard Matt speaking.

"Wanna team up Bobby?" I glanced around the room and surveyed my options, not seeing any other option I accepted my fate.

"Yeah sure Matt." I answered as I started packing up my bag to head to the next class. Matt followed me out of the room making plans to get together to work on the presentation.

"I have water polo practice tomorrow night, would it be okay if we got together tonight?"

"Yeah I guess that's okay, I just have one more class today." I answered as he shadowed me towards my next class.

"Cool, I'm in Logan Hall, on the quad, we can work there." Matt casually recommended.

"Oh, I was thinking we'd just go to the library or something." I responded.

"We can't practice our presentation in the library; my roommate has a three hour class tonight so we can work undisturbed." Matt continued pushing working in his dorm.

"Oh okay." I hesitantly agreed.

"We can grab dinner before if you want." Matt added.

"I'm meeting my roommate when he gets out of class."

"Oh okay, well here's my number." He scrawled his number on a piece of paper and handed it to me. "Just come by after you eat, I'll meet you downstairs when you get there."

"Alright." I answered as I slid the paper in my pocket.

"Cool, see ya later Bobby." Matt said as he turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

"Yeah." I shrugged before heading off to my next class.

*

I met Billy for dinner as usual. He could tell I was trying to stall and drag out dinner.

"What's up with you tonight?" Billy asked.

"Nothing, just got a group presentation that I have to work on tonight." I shrugged trying to shrug off my unease around Matt.

"Oh, nothing serious. It'll be fine." Billy encouraged. "Alright, I gotta hit the weight room Bobby. Catch ya later."

"See ya Billy." I answered as I reluctantly got up from our table. I slowly walked towards the quad not knowing what to make of Matt's eagerness to be my partner. I approached Logan Hall, which was one of the bluestone buildings and pulled out the piece of paper. I looked at it for a second before I plugged the number into my phone.

"Hello." Came the cheery voice of Matt.

"Uh, hey Matt, it's Bobby, from class." I awkwardly stammered.

"Oh cool Bobby, I'll be right down." The call ended and I slid my phone back into my pocket. The entrance door flew open and Matt held it as he waved me in. "Hey Bobby, how was your dinner?"

"It was alright." I answered as he led me down the hall into his room. His room was different than mine was, it was two rooms connected by a single bathroom. He closed the door behind me and closed the bathroom door before he sat down in his desk chair. "You can sit on the bed." He suggested as I hesitantly sat on the foot of his neatly made bed. I dropped my bag at my feet and reluctantly opened it to pull out my notebook. "How are you gonna see the computer from way down there?" He asked. "Come on slide up here." He patted his hand near his pillow, closer to the desk.

"It's okay, I can see from here." I answered as he unplugged his laptop and sat closer to me on his bed.

"I am ENTJ, what were your results?" Matt asked as he created a new PowerPoint file.

I rifled through my notebook looking for my results. "ISFP." I answered causing him to laugh.

"Well it looks like you're my exact opposite."

"Guess so." I shrugged as he typed each of our personal results on two separate slides.

"I guess we should do a slide for each category. The first slide can have the differences between Introversion/Extroversion. The second will have the differences between sensing and intuition. The third thinking/feeling and lastly judging/perception."

"Sounds good." I answered as he created templates for each of the slides. We spent an hour or so filling in the slides with various examples of each characteristic. I never really thought that I was introverted, but thinking about it made me realize I was. I would rather spend time at home with Rob than do just about anything I could think of. I smiled as I thought about Rob.

"Bobby." I was startled out of my daydream and looked over at Matt. He had put the laptop down on the other side of him and before I could process what was happening I felt his soft lips on mine. My eyes fluttered shut involuntarily as my brain stopped functioning. I tried to process what was happening. I longed for contact with Rob, but this wasn't right. When Rob kissed me my brain turned off and I was lost in the moment. This was different, my brain was stuttering, trying to understand what was happening. I felt a warm tongue slide into my mouth, gently nudging my own. I heard a moan escape Matt's lips. My eyes flew open as my brain finally rebooted.

"What the hell Matt?" I stammered as I pushed him away and stood up.

"Bobby?" He stared up at me open-mouthed, seemingly shocked that I was resisting him.

"What the hell?" I repeated again, glaring at his green eyes.

"You're gay aren't you?" He asked, still staring at me with disbelief on his face.

"Yeah, so?" I answered, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice.

"Well what's the problem?" He prodded.

"I have a boyfriend." I answered as I grabbed my notebook and started stuffing it in my bag. I felt his hand grasp me around my wrist and I quickly pulled it away. "Don't touch me."

"I'm sorry Bobby, I didn't know. Does he go here?" Matt continued as I zipped up my bag.

"No. He doesn't go here." I answered. "Are we finished?"

"Well we could have a little fun, he'll never know." Matt's statement shocked me.

"No we can't. I would never do that." I answered as I put my bag on my shoulder. "I'll just email you my part of the presentation." I said as I headed towards his door.

"Shit Bobby. Wait! Please?" Matt's tone softened as I turned around to face him. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I didn't know you had someone. I need to get a good grade on this. Will you stay so we can finish?"

I looked at the ring on my right hand. It had only been off a couple times for me to clean and polish it. I twisted it on my finger before dropping my hand and facing Matt. "Fine, but no more funny business."

"No funny business." Matt answered as he sat in his desk chair and pulled his laptop off of the bed. "I really am sorry Bobby, I thought you liked me."

"Liked you? I've been trying to avoid you." I answered in disbelief.

"I've seen you looking at me though, and you get all nervous around me, I just thought you were cute and shy." Matt tried to explain his rationale behind kissing me.

"The only reason I might have looked at you is because you look a lot like Rob, my boyfriend. Frankly you kinda make me uncomfortable."

"Clearly." Matt said laughing. "I really am sorry Bobby, let's finish this so you can get back." Oddly enough it felt like the tension had lifted and I was a little more comfortable around Matt. I still flinched when he got too close, but my skin wasn't on pins and needles when he looked at or talked to me. It took us about an hour and a half to finish and practice presenting. We made sure our presentation was long enough before calling it a night.

"I'm really sorry Bobby." Matt said as he walked me out of his dorm. I nodded as I walked through the door. "See ya in class."

"Yeah, see ya." I said as I headed home. I needed to talk to Rob, to tell him what happened. I knew he would be upset, but I hoped he would recognize that it wasn't my fault. I pulled out my phone and decided to call him.

"Hey, it's Rob, I'll call you back." I heard his message before speaking.

"Hey Robbie, call me back when you get a chance." I ended the call and made my way back to my dorm. It was just before ten when Rob called me back.

"Hey Robbie." I answered as I headed down to the courtyard, not wanting others to overhear my conversation.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Rob's typical cheery voice instantly made me smile. There were a couple kids smoking in the courtyard so I walked around to a bench on the other side of the lounge.

"I had a weird night Rob." I knew I needed to tell him what had happened, I just wasn't sure how he would take it.

"What's wrong Bobby?" I heard the concern in his voice as I inhaled deeply, preparing myself to explain what happened.

"It wasn't my fault, so promise you won't get mad at me." I started.

"What happened?" The concern was growing in his voice.

"I have a group project for a class." I started and heard him urge me on. "Well we were working on the presentation tonight, and, well he kissed me. I pushed him away and told him I had a boyfriend. He apologized, but I just wanted you to know."

"What the hell. Who is this creep Bobby?" Anger was growing in his voice, and I wasn't sure who it was directed towards.

"Robbie, I set him straight, it won't happen again." I tried to call him down.

"Damn right it won't happen again. I don't want you alone with him ever again." Irritation replaced his anger.

"Rob, be realistic, I am working on a project with him, he's in my class."

"Bobby, I'm not mad at you. I'm glad you told me, but I want to knock out the creep who kissed you. I'm jealous that he gets to kiss you and I don't." Rob's words touched me and I relaxed into the conversation.

"You have nothing to worry about Robbie. When you kiss me I get wrapped up, lost in the moment. When he kissed me my brain was trying to warm me that something was wrong."

"You do get dazed when I kiss you, babe." Rob laughed as we switched to happier topics.

***

As the weeks drifted by I started to settle in to my routine. I still missed Rob terribly and made sure that we talked every day. It was hard with our differing schedules, but I cherished the little bit of time I had with Rob every day.

Just the thought of being able to touch Rob today had me in a great mood. I knew I wouldn't get much time with my boyfriend, but just a fleeting embrace would reaffirm our bond.

"Good luck Billy!" I said as he headed off to the stadium for warm-ups. The game wasn't for another couple of hours and I was filled with energy knowing that Rob was so close. Finally it was time to head to the game and my suitemates and I filed into the student section of the stands. I knew Rob wasn't supposed to play, but I couldn't help but scan the sidelines for a glimpse of my boyfriend.

JMU and W&M were old rivals and this was guaranteed to be a good game. We won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Our special teams trotted onto the field and our suite was rowdy cheering on Billy. The play-by-play commentator announced his name and we screamed encouragements. Billy must have been nervous because while his kickoff traveled down to the one yard line, it dribbled out of bounce drawing a penalty flag. Some in the crowd booed and I instantly felt bad for my roommate's first kickoff against a conference opponent. There was a W&M player down and the crowd hushed as the training staff came out onto the field. I knew Rob wasn't playing, but I couldn't help but let the thought enter my mind. Thankfully the player was helped off the field, but it didn't look like he would be returning.

The defenses played tough throughout the first quarter and the score was 0 -- 0. Midway through the second quarter we were punting when one of their defenders pushed one of the guards back towards the punter. The defender got his meaty paw on the ball and tipped it causing it to flutter. I saw the defender celebrating and was just beginning to register what I was seeing when I heard "Robert Johnson in on the play." My mouth went into action without thinking as I saw Rob's back heading for the sidelines. "Robbie!" I screamed and saw him snap his head around looking for me in the sea of students.

"What the hell?" Dave, one of my suitemates, asked. Dave knew I was gay, but not that I was dating a guy from W&M, much less the football player that just blocked the punt.

"He went to school with Billy and me." I managed to get out and he nodded.

"Well you better stop cheering on the other team." He said as I sat back down on the cold metal bench. I was trying to figure out why Rob was playing, they must have burned his red-shirt when the other guy got hurt. Now I was torn between rooting on my team and roommate, and cheering for my favorite person in the world. Rob's team scored a touchdown after the short punt and went in leading at halftime by seven.

JMU received the ball to start the third quarter. Unfortunately, our kick returner muffed the kickoff and W&M recovered on our twenty yard line. Our defense dug in and held them to a field goal so we were only down ten. Our offense couldn't get anything going and we still trailed 0 -- 10 with just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The coaches surprised their defense with a draw play to the running back. Somehow he managed to squirt through the defenders and he ran almost 80 yards for a touchdown.

Down three with time running out and no timeouts, both teams knew what was coming. Rob and Billy were both on the field and I knew how nervous Billy was attempting an onside kick for a chance to win the game. Billy pointed to each side of him before he put his foot to the ball. The ball dove into the field turf before bouncing wildly 11 yards away. Thankfully Rob wasn't the player trying to catch the ball as it slipped out of his hands and was recovered by JMU. I cheered loudly for Billy as he was getting smacked on the helmet and ass by anyone within reach. Rob and the rest of W&M's special teams headed off to the sideline.

Our quarterback finally got in rhythm and began stringing together plays as he methodically marched the team down the field. We were in field goal range with 46 seconds left on the clock. W&M came on a blitz, but the QB had a screen set up to the running back and he juked his way into the end zone for the go ahead score. The stadium erupted as we claimed the lead with only seconds remaining on the clock. Billy booted the kickoff through the end zone for a touchback and W&M was left with a wing a prayer to pull off the victory on the road. As the opposing quarterback dropped back for a pass he was sacked as time expired. I was excited for the win, but not as excited as I was to see Rob. I quickly extricated myself from the stands and made my way to wait outside the opposing team's locker-room.

The wait was insufferable as a few coaches and trainers exited the door. Finally I was greeted by Rob's smiling face. Rob's hair was still wet as he must have rushed in the shower to meet me. He followed me around the stadium and into the College of Business. We walked through the impressive lobby and around the corner to the basement level. He followed me into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

"I missed you so much." Rob moaned as he pushed me against one of the sinks. I instantly opened my mouth needing as much of Rob as I could get.

"Good game Robbie. I'm glad you got to play." I panted.

"Thanks. I have to be on the bus in fifteen minutes Bobby." Rob briefly spoke before reclaiming my mouth. I whimpered against him wishing for more time.

"Robbie." I sighed when he started nibbling on my neck and unbuttoning my pants. In one fell swoop he had my pants and underwear around my ankles exposing my straining erection. It had been over two months since we had seen each other and I was starving for his touch. He reclaimed my mouth and his strong tongue marked its' territory. He sought out every nook and cranny in my mouth, remarking any territory he thought that Matt had claimed. I moaned and pulled him tighter to me. I moved my hands down his back before pulling his sweatpants and boxers down. His generous package swung free and I quickly had it in my grasp, feeling him groan in my mouth as worked up and down his engorged eight inch cock.