Page 62 of Praise You

I'm sitting in my car, staring at the university in front of me. After spending the night wrapped around Ronan, I told him this needed to be done today. Coming and talking to Dean Grey right after the fundraiser would be the most appropriate thing, so I needed to do this as soon as possible.

Giving myself a pep talk, I open my car door and step out into the sun. Closing my door, I bask in the heat for a few seconds before I start walking toward the Admin building. As much as I know this needs to happen, there's still a nervousness inside of me. Dean Grey has done so much for the start of my career; I don't want to disappoint her. But I know I need to tell her—Ronan’s worth it. He's worth the risk of being on the other side of Dean Grey's disappointment.

I casually walk through the university, passing the quad and the students surrounding the area. There are students running around, laughing and talking. I pass them all, hastily making my way to the building. The closer I get to Dean Grey's office, the more my courage builds. The complete opposite of how I was the first time I walked to her office at the beginning of the school year. I know I'm doing the right thing and now I want to get it over with so I can either head to my class or head back home and wait for Ronan.

Dean Grey is expecting me, so I walk down the hallway toward her office. Reaching the door, I pull down on my jacket and take a deep breath before raising my hand and knocking loudly.

"Come in," a voice cuts through. Turning the handle, I open the door, softly closing it behind me.

"Good morning, Dean Grey," I say, walking up to her desk and offering my hand. She shakes it softly while smiling at me.

"Good morning, my dear Oliver. It's so nice to see you again. How did you enjoy the fundraiser?" she asks, sitting back against her desk chair casually.

"I really enjoyed it. Thank you for inviting me. I hope we got a lot of investors from it."

"I've heard great things so far. It was a smashing success." She smiles at me, her expression slowly shifting. "Now, what's going on, Oliver? I know you didn't ask to meet to discuss the fundraiser. And you said it was urgent, and it worried me a little bit, to be honest."

"Heh," I chuckle, wondering how I should say it. Do I blurt it out? Do I start from the beginning? Fuck, maybe I should have rehearsed this more. Ronan enters my mind and I close my eyes, remembering that I'm doing this for him. For me. For us. "I actually wanted to come and talk to you about something important. And I would really love it if you would hear me out."

"I'm listening," she says, resting her hands on her lap.

"So, I met someone recently. And while it may not seem like a big deal, how I met this person might be. Which was why I wanted to talk to you."

I look in her eyes, wanting to see if her expression gives away anything she might be thinking. When she doesn't respond, I keep going. "As I was saying, how I met this person might be a big deal, so I wanted to come talk to you and be honest about the whole situation."

"And what's the situation?" She says, her expression not changing. My hands start sweating from my nervousness, so I quickly wipe them on my slacks trying to get rid of the perspiration.

"I want to preface this by saying nothing happened right away. And nothing happened until after the semester was over." Which isn't technically a lie. Nothing in person happened until the semester was over, and there's no way in hell I'm letting her know about the video thing.

"Is this going where I think it is?"

Not bothering to answer her question, I keep going as though she didn't speak. "I even looked at the policies of the university and there was nothing in there. But I wanted you to know." Taking a deep breath, I let it out. "I started dating someone. And he was originally in my class. But like I said, he's no longer in my class and nothing happened until after the semester was over. I mentioned that, right? I wanna make sure you know that. I’m not sure what you're going to say and I'm worried about how—"

"Oliver." Her soft voice cuts off my rambling, and I look up at her. Realizing that I've been fisting my hands in my slacks, I let them go and swipe at my pants, trying to straighten out the wrinkles. "Okay, let's talk about this. From what I'm gathering, it’s a previous student? But you're saying nothing happened while he was in your class?"

"Correct. Nothing."

"Okay, because the one thing I am concerned about is anyone thinking ill about his grades. Such as if he got good grades due to this relationship or whatever you want to call it." Her voice sounds calm, but as for me, I'm anything but. She doesn't seem angry, but that doesn't mean she won't flip in any second.

"No. Ty did all the grades. Well, the grades that didn't automatically populate online." That was something I made sure of. While I would grade the other classes, I purposely made Ty handle Ronan’s class.

"Okay, good, good. I'm going to be honest with you. There are no rules against a student/teacher relationship as long as it's consensual, of age, and not a quid pro quo type thing. And while it's not the smartest thing to do, I do thank you for coming and talking to me and letting me know. I greatly appreciate it."

"Wow," I say, taken aback. That's how I was hoping this would go, but there was always something in the back of my mind that thought the worst. "So, I'm not getting fired?"

"No, Oliver, you're not getting fired. You've been a great asset to the university and I don't want to lose you. The students love you and the faculty loves you. We really enjoy having you here at BU."

"Thank you," I choke out, needing to hear those words. "I love this place and I was nervous about this entire conversation, but thank you."

"No, thank you again for being open and honest with me. Can I ask you a quick question?" I nod my head and she carries on, "Was it the young man I saw you with on Saturday?"

"Yeah, that's him." My cheeks warm, remembering the position she caught Ronan and me in at the fundraiser.

"Good for you, Oliver. Life is too short to be hung up on some things. If you've found someone that has made you happy, then hold on to them tightly."

"I will."

Saying goodbye, I rush out of the building quickly. My mind is still worried she's going to chase after me and say she's changed her mind.

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