Chapter 1

"Nick, really, I'll be fine." Marcus assured him as he hesitated at the door, and once he was gone, turned to survey the arrangements. Tony, Nick's cousin, meanwhile wondered exactly how things were going to go.

When he'd been accepted at the university he'd been amazed that his parents were OK with the idea of him moving out — they only lived about an hour from the campus, he'd expected to have to commute. When the condition was specified, though, his enthusiasm had dampened. Briana, of course, got away with it completely.

It wasn't that he didn't like Marcus, he just didn't want to baby-sit him. Marcus was... different.

Tall, lean, but muscled with it, he had dark hair that hung down over his darker eyes, giving him a slightly pale, washed out look and a rangy bearing that reminded Tony of the long-distance runners he'd known back at school. Right now, though, he looked a little more like the spaced-out losers that had hung out at the back of the shopping mall across from the school at lunch-times.

"Marcus, you OK?"

"Yes, thank you." Marcus nodded, but didn't move — his eyes didn't even focus.

"Uhhh... what are you doing?"

"Acclimatising."

"It's... you've only come a hundred miles or so, no real change in altitude... acclimatising to what?"

"Background noise, smells, light sources, drafts... I like to know where I am. This is the first night I've spent away from Nick's in four years, two months and four days." There wasn't much Tony could say to that, and he returned to the kitchen and stocking the shelves until Briana turned up about a few minutes later.

"Hey, Bri." He called out as she slipped in. "How's things at your place?"

"So-so... roomies a no-show, so it looks like I've got the place to myself. How about you?"

"Well, you know... all unpacked, but it doesn't feel like home yet."

"Yeah, I still haven't put any pictures up or anything."

"Pictures? Hey, this'll be home when I've gotten laid here, OK."

"I see you've decided to grow up and join the human race now that you're at uni..."

"Hey, we're only young once, right."

"I suppose... listen, I've already found myself a job. You looking?"

"Hell no... I don't need to cover your clothing budget, Sis, so I don't need to work." He grinned.

"How's Marcus?"

"Dunno... he got himself 'acclimatised' — his word, not mine — and I've not seen him since."

"You two going to be OK? He's had it rough, you know."

"I know... I just don't know how we're going to get along. We've met him, what... twice now? I've not seen anything dislikable, but... I've not seen much of anything, to be honest."

"He's quiet, that's all."

"It's more than that. He's just... I don't know, I can't describe it."

"Absent?" They whipped round to the door, where a tall, green eyed woman smiled in at them from inside a deep, curving chestnut-red explosion of hair. "Guess I don't need to ask if I've got the right place, is Marcus in?"

"Uh... yeah, sorry, you are... ?" Tony managed, dropping a big smile into place.

"See." Briana deadpanned, as he scooted across the room to wave her in, "You wondered if you'd get on, and already he's inviting pretty girls into the house."

"Why thank you." She curtseyed elaborately as she entered. "I'm Shawna, Shawna Lewis, I've known Marcus for, like, ever. You guys must be Tony and Briana, right?"

Briana nodded, picking up a tennis ball off the table and throwing it at Marcus' door.

"Yes?" he poked his head out, saw who was there, and a broad smile split his face. "Princess, you settled in already?" Tony's eyes went like saucers. It was like Marcus was suddenly a different guy altogether.

"Settled? I threw my clothes at the wardrobe, said 'Hi' to my roomy — she probably thinks I'm a nut - and then I was over here to see how you were doing. You need a hand with anything?"

"No, I've pretty much got it sorted."

"OK, cool."

"Did you meet Tony and Briana, or did you do your usual and sweep in like a force of nature?"

"I did actually take the time to talk. I distinctly recall someone complimenting me on my appearance."

"Understandable."

"Look, I should get back and see my Roomy, get to her know her."

"What's she like?"

"No idea" she shrugged. "Bit sort of... bookish. Hard to say, her parents were still around, you know, she'll probably lighten up."

"Her parents are still around, and you flew in, bombed your room with your fashion collection, and then swooped out again."

"Shit! It probably was a bit like that. Listen, I was going to head out tonight, see the local sites — there's a flyer on the board in the dorms that say's there's a nice quiet coffee-shop stroke club round the corner that does live music nights. You fancy checking it out."

"I don't know, Sho..."

"Come on, you said you were gonna loosen up on me once we got out here. New leaf and all that..."

"Yeah... yeah I did, didn't I."

"Yes!" She squealed, threw her arms round him and then dashed for the door. "I'll be back about six. I'll see if I can bring my roomy — you guys wanna come? Oh... talk about it, I'll catch you all later." She flew down the steps two at a time and was passing the window by the time the door swung shut.

"And then she was gone..." Marcus observed.

"Shawna, huh?" Tony and Briana turned to him with amused smiles. "Girlfriend?"

"Just friend..." he offered, quieting considerably.

"Your choice or hers?" Briana asked, giving him a calculating look. "Never mind."

"Are you guys going to come?"

"You're just friends?" Tony asked, and Marcus nodded. "Sure, I'll be there." He turned, meeting Briana's gaze, only to see her 'you're an idiot' look. "What?"

"We'll be there, Marcus." She offered.

"What? What'd I do?" Tony carried on, but Briana just glared.

"Listen, I'm going to go shopping — we've a lot of canned stuff, but we need fresh stuff still, anything in particular you need?" Marcus asked, drawing a list from his back pocket.

"You got milk, sugar, bread, bacon and eggs?" Tony asked, getting a nod. "Then I'm fine." Marcus strolled across the room, quiet and graceful, and when the door closed Briana whipped round on Tony.

"You are such an arse."

"What?"

"'Are you just friends?'" she mimicked, puffing her chest out and hunching her shoulders. "Me muscle-bound testosterone-fuelled idiot thinking with prick and not seeing that room-mate likes HER!!!"

"He said they were friends..." Tony objected. "I went to all the effort of asking to be sure."

"So they're friends... he doesn't want to be just friends."

"How the hell do you know."

"It's all over his face, Tony."

"You just want first crack," he finally offered, after a moment's thought. "I'm not falling for that. You've already got a two-to-one advantage in options over me."

"Well, I wouldn't kick her out, but she seems a bit flighty for me..."

"Right... with that rack she can be as flighty as she likes."

"You dick!" she threw a cushion at him. "Look, they said six, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll be back about five thirty... go easy tonight, yeah?"

"I'm trying out for rugby this week — I'm off the booze."

"I didn't mean drinking — go easy with Shawna."

"Look, I'll see how things go. She looks like she's a fun time — I'm not going to go there to spite the man, but if it happens it happens."

"You've got to live with him for the rest of the year, Tony. Your record girlfriend is, what, three weeks?"

"Nearly four..." he corrected. "I know... It's different here, I want to get rid of that rep, you know. Settle down in my old age."

"Settle down? To what... three a month?"

"Maybe even two if study picks up. I was thinking of trying a shift system, just to get the Tony factor out there."

"You're a pig, you know. I'll be watching you."

"You always did like to watch." She laughed as she got up, then turned the serious look on him.

"Tony..."

"Alright, I'll go easy if she does. If she's not interested in him she's fair game though, right?" Reluctantly, she nodded. "You've got no roomy... Why can't I get that lucky? You wanna swap?"

Shawna slipped into the room slightly out of breath having taken the stairs rather than the lift, and saw Elspeth saying her farewells to her parents.

"Hi," she waved, crossing to her own bed, hoisting the suitcase open. "Sorry about that, I had to go check on a friend."

"That's OK... I'm just gonna see my parents out... back in a few."

"Sure."

"Goodbye, Shawna." Elspeth's mother said, her father just waved from the door.

"Nice to have met you, Mrs Downing." She smiled, then hesitated at the look of surprise she saw. Looking down at the case, following the gaze, she couldn't see anything, and by the time she looked back the woman was already leaving, so she just carried on unpacking.

By the time Elspeth returned, perhaps ten minutes later, she had most of the stuff out — she just hadn't put much of it away.

"Oh my GOD!" Elspeth collapsed against the inside of the door. "I thought my mother was going to have kittens when she saw those thongs in your bag!" she burst out.

"Is that what she was staring at?" Elspeth nodded. "What might she have said if she'd seen my dildo and handcuffs?"

"You have some really cool stuff there." Elspeth noted, looking at the array on the bed. "You don't... really..." She shook her head.

"No, I don't... You have a nice style too." Shawna managed, although she wasn't actually impressed.

"Bullshit — I dress like a librarian." Elspeth told her, holding out the floor-length printed skirt she wore. "My mother bought this lot — first thing tomorrow I'm going shopping."

"Shopping? Oh I think we're going to get along just fine..." Shawna announced, with a beaming smile. "Listen, I'm heading out tonight — nothing big, just a friend from home, his room-mate and his sister. You want to come?"

"Tomorrow, yes. Tonight, no — the only place I plan to go until I can get some decent clothes is to the food court, and then I'm planning on wearing a disguise."

"How tall are you? 5' 7?"

"5' 6."

"34 C?

"36 B."

"Can't help you up top, but I've a few pairs of jeans you might get into."

"Really?" she almost begged. "I can probably rustle up a blouse that'll go... a pair of sandals and I can pretend to be an art student?" They both laughed, and then Elspeth suddenly blushed. "Oh, God, you're not an art student are you?"

"Not really... I want to get into Journalism, and I'm taking some Law, Ethics, Psych and English courses to round it out. You?"

"Philosophy, History... and Art. No real idea what I want to do with them, I just like the subjects."

"Try these ones." She pulled out a pair of hipsters from her rack, throwing them across the room. Elspeth grabbed the jeans, but then disappeared into the bathroom to put them on, which was a shame: Shawna would have liked to have seen what was going on under the skirt and sweater. Maybe she'd loosen up with time.

"Well, are you going to come?" she asked, raising her voice a little to carry.

"Sure, I'll give it a go." She emerged, throwing the skirt on top of the still packed suitcase by her bed.

"Excellent." Shawna smiled, and then hauled her own blouse off, turning to choose her own outfit. "What do you think," she turned back, two tops in hand. "What?"