Jonas

The first of October wasn't a particularly eventful day. The only thing October had that September didn't was, aside from the same odd fluctuating weather, Halloween. With the prospect of the popular holiday came the increase of pranks on campus. Fake blood. Fake spiders. Elaborate decorations. All the works. It made Jonas even more glad that he'd chosen not to stay in the dorms.

It was on his way out of the building that Jonas bumped into someone with a familiar head of blonde hair. Two brown eyes widened at him before a hand clapped his shoulder.

"Jonas, didn't think I'd bump into you," Liam said, hand still resting on Jonas' shoulder. "I'm glad I caught you, I still need help studying for that quiz."

"Is this the same quiz or did Burns just jump out with a new one?" Jonas quipped, with Burns she had sometimes said things like that to rile you up too to see if you were paying attention. The woman came off as cold but from the stories Jonas had heard about her and the few times he'd run into her he could tell she probably meant well by it. Science and maths were the classes you didn't want to get behind in and Jonas had discovered that the pop quizzes were treated more like practice tests and she was actually one of the more lenient teachers.

"With her you never know, I lost track a long time ago. You're still gonna help me though, right?"

Jonas studied Liam's face for a moment, well aware of his hand still resting on his shoulder. Liam was just as touchy when Jill first introduced them to each other and Jonas' gay brain was doing back flips the whole damn day. Right now though it was calm and wondering why he even willingly let the man even get that close, let alone actually touch him.

"Sure, but I can't stay too long, I'm supposed to be meeting up with someone," Jonas said, shifting from underneath Liam's hold.

On the bus ride that morning Jonas and Sky spent the wait talking and sitting way too close to each other. It was just before the bus came that Jonas asked if he had plans that afternoon  and before he knew it Jonas was insisting he'd be by at the cozy little cafe he'd worked at. He couldn't just say no to Liam when he already agreed to help plus the man had promised them a discount next time they went to east garden, though Jonas didn't need it Sky was probably gonna insist to pay no matter how light weight his wallet already was.

"Alright, well I was about to head in to see if I could find my friend but since you're right here and you're still up for it then we can just hit up the library.

Since the cold had fizzled out to a nice warmth Jonas had shed his jacket, stuffing it into his bag that he'd started using more lately with the pile up of work. Shifting his bag to his right shoulder Jonas nodded his affirmation, "If that's alright with you then I'm all for it."

"Cool."

Jonas sort of hovered a little behind Liam and off to the side. He didn't know the man all that well but he was learning that he could be a bit talkative and every five seconds he kept asking Jonas why he was hanging so far back as they walked, adjusting his sleeves at his elbows again as Jonas fell behind a few steps once more.

He was starting to revert back to his old ways when around new people or people he didn't feel he knew enough. Unsure in his speech and in his movements, fiddling with his hearing aid every time Liam noticed he wasn't listening, fiddling with his clothes sort of grooming himself. He didn't get why he was doing it though, he was just fine when he ran into him at the restaurant but then again he wasn't alone and he was being just as dodgy. But his heartbeat wasn't this out control, nor had he ever been this cold.

Turning his hearing aid off completely, the sounds of his own breathing becoming too much, Jonas moved forward to stand beside Liam. He did it to trick himself a little and like usual it helped him to calm down.

The walk to the library felt like forever, especially having to walk halfway across campus to get to it. Mrs. Mendel, a sweet old lady with pure white hair and these bright green eyes greeted Jonas and Liam upon entering. She knew Jonas and was on a first name basis within the first month of him starting school.

"Oh, Jonas, are you here for more book recommendations? I managed to convince the board to order more LGBT targeted material, you should have seen the selection. I had a freshman come in earlier to check out one of the books, she was pleased to hear that you were the one behind the sudden increase in what she called gxg," Mrs. Mendel said, a bright smile claiming her features.

"Yeah, it only took the school six years," Jonas grumbled at remembering how Mrs. Mendel mentioned that to him the first time he came to the library. But Mrs. Mendel's smile was wide enough for the both of them and his annoyance didn't last long. "And besides it's not like my having said anything helped all that much."

"Jonas! You're the one who started the petition and had it not been for you reminding me every chance you got the book club would have never caught word of it."

"Whatever you say Mrs. Mendel. Sadly I'm not here for any books, I'm here to help a friend study," Jonas said gesturing towards Liam who stood off to the side looking a bit left out but certainly interest Ed in what he was overhearing.

"Oh, well now you know in case you do come here for that," Mrs. Mendel said giving a dismissive wave.

"Alright, I'll be sure to stop by tomorrow if I have time." Jonas gave Mrs. Mendel a small wave before turning only to nearly bump into Liam whose eyes widened.

"Shit, I'm sorry man," Liam said, quickly stepping out of his way.

Waving him off with an awkward smile Jonas lead Liam towards a table near the back of the library. Liam took a seat facing the front of the library while Jonas sat across from him.

"Dude, you're not much help from over there," Liam said raising a thick dark brow at him.

"Oh." Jonas blinked. He got up from his seat, face flushed as he hit his shin against the wooden chair somehow.

"See? We've been looking at a lot of different formulas lately, you're good with math right?."

"Yeah, I mean that's kind of what I'm here for." Jonas gave a weak smile. "I wouldn't have agreed otherwise."

"Okay I knew you were smart, I didn't know you were a smart ass," Liam snorted.

Growing more comfortable Jonas rolled his eyes, reaching up to turn his hearing aid back on. He forgot he even turned it off in the first place, watching out the corner of his eye as Liam reached up to push back his hair. Liam pumped his mechanical pencil and started to write a formula before looking up at Jonas and blinking.

"What is it? You not understand the problem?" Jonas leaned over, looking down at the first question on Liam's paper.

"No, it's fine, I was.... It's fine." Liam nodded, mostly to himself as he continued to study Jonas, biting his lips before shaking it off. His cheeks were flushed though Jonas didn't press. "Yeah it's fine."

"Okay." Jonas nodded, frowning a little before his frown deepened upon looking at the problem on the paper Liam had printed with practice problems. "Well, first off you're using the wrong formula. You need to use the..."