Preston's POV

Dad and I arrived at the university campus bright and early at eight-thirty in the morning, where we had been shown to where the parking lot was for Elizabeth Hall, the residence building I would be moving into. We had gotten up bright and early at five am, giving us an hour to shower, get dressed, and load up all my stuff into the trunk and back seat of Dad's car. Then, when six am hit, we were on the road.

The whole trip to campus had taken us two hours, including the time we stopped to grab breakfast from a random coffee shop in the middle of a town I've never been in before. Needless to say, I was fucking tired and no amount of coffee could wake me up. But at the same time, I was excited to be moving into my residence dorm today.

It was busy. Despite it being early in the morning, there were already many first-year students and their families helping them move into residence. Though I was glad I was given the morning slot to move in, because I knew for a fact that it would only get busier later in the day, and by then, I would already be moved in. I picked up my residence keys from the resident desk, which was in a separate building considering Elizabeth hall was made up of a community of townhouse-style residence buildings, with each townhouse holding four to six students.

Now, I was helping Dad bring all of my stuff into my townhouse dorm, up the stairs to the second floor where my room was located. I helped him bring in my suitcases with my clothes, my bins of kitchen supplies, all my toiletries, etc. What was great about this residence, was that I got a full-sized kitchen with a fridge and stove to cook on, and my own bathroom that I had to share with only one other person. Oh, and a single room. Despite it being one of the most expensive out of all the buildings, I thought it was worth it.

"Fuck, you have a lot of stuff, Preston," Dad huffed, placing the last of my bins down on the floor in my dorm room. I glanced over at him and chuckled.

"Well, I am going to be living here for the next six months."

"Yeah, no kidding," He shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his face, "I'm going to miss you, ya know that?"

"Yeah..." I sighed, briefly glancing around at all my stuff on the floor, then back up at my dad, "I'll miss you too. And Kodey. But I'll be back for reading week next month—and Christmas, and the reading week after that..."

"Quit rambling and come give your old man a hug, would ya?" He said. I smiled crookedly at him, and when I walked over, Dad pulled me into his arms in a tight hug and patted my back. I hugged him back, and we stayed like that for a moment before he let go of me.

We got to unpacking. Dad helped me put on the mattress topper over my bed, before he made my bed, throwing on the sheets along with my comforter and my pillows. While he did that, I unpacked my suitcase, putting all of my clothes and shoes into the wardrobe. After I did that, I unpacked my laptop and school supplies, which I organized on my desk, and in the corner of my room, I put down my guitar.

It took me nearly two hours to unpack everything, but once I did, my room looked much more like a room, and it finally started to sink in that I was actually here, a freshman, majoring in neuroscience at the University of Leighton, the number one school I had been wanting to get into.

It was still crazy to think about, but it was an exciting fresh start that I couldn't wait to embark on.

I said goodbye to Dad. We gave me another one of his warm hugs, and this time, when he let go, he had tears in his eyes. I've rarely ever seen my dad cry, so the fact that he was tearing up now, just as he was about to leave, made it hard for me not to tear up as well.

"I love you kiddo," Dad said, clasping my shoulder, "and I'm so proud of you, you know that? I hope you have a good experience here."

"Thanks, Dad," I smiled softly at him, "and I love you too."

Dad returned the smile. He then kissed me on the forehead, and with one final wave, I watched as he walked out of my dorm room, closing the door behind him. I sighed, heart, squeezing in my chest the moment the door closed, the room instantly falling silent.

I moved and sat down on the bed, pulling out my phone, where I saw a text from Adrien from a few minutes ago that said: Are you moved in yet? How's the dorm? I smiled at the text and quickly replied.

Preston: yeah, I just finished unpacking my stuff and my dad just left. The dorm's a lot nicer than I thought it would be tbh.

Adrien: That's great! My mom and I are going to be heading out shortly, we just got all my stuff loaded in the car...and her friend's van because I have way too much stuff. Have you met your roommates yet?

Preston: how much shit did you pack for you to need to bring two cars??

Preston: And no, I haven't seen them yet.

Adrien: my art supplies take up a lot of room, okay??? Don't judge me :(

Preston: mhmm...totally not judging :) <3

Adrien: :(((((

I chuckled at Adrien's reply, and just as I was texting back, I heard the front door opening downstairs, followed by the sound of voices and other ruckus.

I stood up from the bed, tucking my phone into my pocket along with my dorm keys as I stepped out of my room, walking down the short hallway towards the stairs. When I reached the top of the stairs, I instantly saw two guys standing at the doorway with their stuff around them, the two of them talking and laughing away. I made my way down the stairs, gaining both their attention as their gazes landed over to me.

"Let me guess, Elijah and Flores, right?" I asked them, a smile falling onto my face. The only reason I knew their names was because they were listed under my resident information online.

"Yeah, I'm Flores," The blonde guy greeted me with a smile holding his hand out. He was a king, roughly an inch taller than me, with brown eyes and beige skin tone. His ears were also pierced, a stud on his left ear, and a dangly earring on the right. I shook his hand and returned the smile before I turned to the guy beside him.

"I'm Elijah," The other guy greeted, a hockey bag shrugged over his shoulder, and his dark auburn hair casually brushed away from his face. He was also a king, the same height as I was, with warm hazel eyes and warm ivory skin tone. He also had a silver nose ring on his right nostril. "You're Preston, right?"

"Yup, that's me," I smirked, then shook Elijah's hand, it's nice to meet you both."

Elijah laughed, "You too! So I guess this means we'll be roomies for the school year, eh? I have to say, I find it pretty funny that I'm rooming with a dude whose first name is the same as my last name." Elijah turned his gaze to Flores as he said that. Flores chuckled at him.

"What can I say? I am pretty hot," Elijah joked. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Elijah, hun!" A woman's voice called from outside, "come help your dad bring in the rest of your things!"

"Okay, one sec!" Elijah called back out, to who I assumed was his mom, before he placed his hockey bag onto the ground, "welp, that's my cue to leave, boys. I will be back to chat once I get all my shit in my room."

"Do you need any help?" I asked him.

"Nah, I think I'm alright. Thanks though," Elijah smiled at me. I smiled back before he waved and headed back outside.

Flores said he still had to bring in some of his stuff as well, and when I offered my help, Flores agreed. I followed him outside over to his vehicle, where both his parents were unloading his stuff. I introduced myself to them, and then, I helped them carry all of Flores' bins and other items up to the third floor of the townhouse, where his room was located.