Crunch!

You burst into your dorm room scaring Charlie half to ****. He was sitting on his bed, no book, no device, just sitting there alone.

You say in an upbeat tone. "Come on Charlie, let's get out of here."

He looks up at you surprised. "What?"

You grin. "Let's get out and stretch our legs. Take a tour of the campus. I saw a few ponds and a stream along the West end. Plus I need to get my haircut. Maybe we can swing by Biology and Kinesiology. See some of our classrooms. Come on, don't make me go alone."

It was obvious what you were doing, trying to put the morning's drama behind you. You didn't care if you were obvious. You just didn't want to be angry or confused anymore. You wanted to make things cool again with the one person you knew in the city.

Charlie smiles. "I thought you'd be mad."

You quip. "What, mad at myself being an asshole? If I did that I'd be like mad all the damn time."

He laughs. "Um, okay." He gets up and grabs his jacket.

Together you make your way out. You swing by the salon first and schedule an appointment for later in the afternoon. After that the pair of you explore the expansive campus. You take side trails and cut through buildings. You find hidden little nooks and dead ends. The older buildings were the most interesting. You get into places you probably weren't allowed to go. You check out your different departments, scope out a few classrooms you knew you'd be going to very soon, and even ride a few elevators just for the hell of it. After a while you are starting to get a sense of the layout.

You stop and talk to the various people you meet as you were want to do, Charlie happy to stand quietly with you as you introduced you both and began to converse. You don't press him to engage, allowing him to grow into the discussion if he wanted to. When others do start to talk with him you give him some time and space to respond but if you notice his anxiety rising you step in and take over.

He eventually acknowledges exactly what you were doing for him. You just smile and tell him. "No problem."

The companionship is easy and pleasant. Now that you knew of some of his sensitives and oddities and he knew of your lack of subtlety and energetic exuberance the pair of you got on extremely well. You don't talk all that much, learning more about each other bit by tiny bit. The conversation might have been a bit sparse but you enjoy each other's company regardless. He was just nice to be around.

At the ponds you stay for a long time, watching the frogs and water fowl do their thing. At one point you stand watching him as he follows a frog along the edge of the pond. You think about Sam's comments. You had to forgive her for what she'd said. She just didn't know Charlie. She didn't understand. She was just being protective and supportive of you after your nonsensical ranting. Once she met him she'd see how great he was.

The day whisks by in no time at all. The pair of you barely make it back in time for your hair appointment.

You say. "If you want to head home..."

He smiles. "I'll wait. I don't mind."

You look at him for a spell. Outside of Sam, your Mom and maybe your sister you didn't know anyone else who would just wait around for you to get a haircut. It weirded you out on some level, but Charlie was Charlie. Weird is what he did. You nod.

You head in and quickly start looking through one of the hair style books they had, you hadn't had time to really think about it. You had not expected your whole day to flash by like it had with your new friend. You smile. Yeah, he was a friend wasn't he? Not just a roomie, but a friend. You snap back to reality as the hair stylist walks up. "Jon? Your turn."

Shit, you hadn't chosen yet. You give the woman a vague description of what you wanted, fade along the sides but with some length up top, and let her work her magic. You'd seen a lot of guys in soccer with that style, you thought you'd give it a try. You sit and watch in amazement as your long locks fall to the ground. You'd worn your hair like this since...you couldn't remember when. Well, not anymore!

When she is done you sit and stare in the mirror. Oh wow, you looked so different. Good, but different. The top still had a decent amount of length, still plenty long enough to run your fingers through it. You still had maybe a half inch long hair as far down as mid way, after that though it got gradually got short. Real short...to the point of non-existence around the base. You run your hands along the side of your head...so short! It felt funny, sensitive, ticklish. Your hairdresser seemed very pleased with the results as she looked you over. You definitely didn't look 'small town' now. You thank her and pay her and you were on your way. You walk out and soon find your new friend sitting on a nearby bench. He looks up and gives you a huge bright grin.

"Nice!" He says.

You chuckle. "Yeah, not bad huh?" You run your fingers along the side of your head, feeling the super short hairs against your sensitive scalp. "Feels weird though."

He stands and reaches up to feel for himself. You were not expecting this! You go to recoil...but you don't. His slender fingers brushing slowly and gently along the side and around the back of your newly shorn head, his eyes focused on the new style. His finger tips rub and stroke the tender skin. Tracing lightly around your newly exposed ear. Time...almost seems to slow down.

Without meaning to you shift yourself forward, moving into his space, moving right up close to him, almost enveloping him with your larger frame, looking down at him as he looks up at you and lightly strokes your head. You stood so close you could smell him. He slowly moves his gaze, those chestnut brown eyes, to look into your eyes...

Woah! You blink and take a sudden step back, pulling yourself away from his touch. "Uh...yeah. Feels weird dude. I'm so used to longer hair."

He is still gazing at you intently. This time it was your turn to look away, to break eye contact. "I think it looks good." He assures you in his soft voice.

"Sure, thanks. I hope Sam likes it." You say. You then repeat again for no reason. "Yeah, I sure hope Samantha like it."

"I'm sure she will." He replies solemnly.

Together you grab an early supper then head back toward the dorm. You were starting to notice more and more students arriving now. The front of your hall far more busy than what it had been even just this morning. You see two more guys with suitcases and backpacks making their way into the hall.

A few of the new arrivals were out on a lawn tossing a Frisbee around. One of them waves at you. "Hey, wanna join?" They were fellow freshman, like you they looking to make new friends in this new environment.

"Sure!" You call out. Turning to Charlie you say. "Join me?"

He is hesitant for a moment, but he finally smiles and nods. The pair of you jog forward and join the toss about. There were about eight of you tossing the disk and chatting, making introductions, posturing, the usual stuff. Very casual. Charlie is quiet but keeps the rhythm of the game going easily, no one pays him much mind.

At one point the Frisbee is tossed just a bit too far and too high. Your eyes focused skyward you run for it. You run, you leap, you reach. One of the other guys calls out. "Look out!"

CRUNCH!

You feel something, someone actually, collide with your shoulder and side. Being an athlete you keep your concentration and nab the Frisbee from out of the air and land on your feet. You hear a meaty thud as someone lands hard onto the ground beside you. The others howl with laughter and cries of "Ohhhh!"

Looking down at your feet you see little Charlie crumpled on his side. He groans and rolls in pain. The pair of you had been going for the same throw and hadn't seen each other. He definitely got the worst of it. You toss the Frisbee back to the others and hold your hand up to indicate you were done. They wave back and continue their play. You look down and smile. You'd taken more than your fair share of falls like this, you were pretty sure he wasn't too injured.

Kneeling down over him you roll him over to his back. He looks up at you, the pain fading from his expression as he gazes up you. You bend down over him and look him in the face. He seemed okay. As he gazes he goes to reach up in an attempt to touch your face.

You push his hand away. Weird enough him stroking your hair in public. "You okay?" You ask.

He gives you a cringing smile. "Yeah, sure." He just lay there looking up at you, not attempting to move. Just looking. Seeming to enjoy this moment despite the pain.

You laugh. Grabbing his hand you say. "Get up dude. You're okay."

You easily power him up off the ground, he was as light as he looked. You dust him off.

"Gonna kiss his boo boo?" One of the guys call.

You laugh and flip the guy the bird, this elicits more laughter from the others.

Charlie was holding his shoulder and limping. The right side of his body had taken the brunt of both the collision and the landing. "Oooo, that hurts. I'm...I'm just going to go in." He moans.

You follow along. "Lucky for you you are roommate is with a Sports Medicine guy huh? Treatment and rehab is right up my alley." You hold out your 'healing hands' in demonstration.

Charlie is laughing through his pain. "You literally haven't even taken one single class yet."

You just grin as you help him up the short couple of stairs to the main doors. "Don't worry. I'm a natural."