Page 1 of Inevitable

CHAPTER 1

Micah

The sun beat down on my back as I pushed out of the doors of Pohl Recreation Center, eager to get back to my dorm to shower and eat.Early May in Texas was no fucking joke, and it was already in the high 90s most days, and I for one was not a fan. I was pouring sweat after my five mile run on the treadmill, but I didn’t have much longer to enjoy the benefits of the gym that was conveniently right across from my dorm before the year was over. Things would be changing soon since I wouldn’t be returning to the University of North Texas in the fall.My transfer application had been approved for the University of Texas, so I'd be heading to Austin for my junior year.

Don’t get me wrong, UNT was an awesome school and I enjoyed the two years I spent here so far, but there was one crucial thing that it was missing that I couldn’t live without anymore: Bastian Dupont.

Bash (who has never cared for his full name, but that’s neither here nor there) had been my best friend since I was thirteen years old.I still didn’t know why one of the most popular kids in our grade felt the need to randomly talk to me during our computer class, but I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.Being a skinny, nerdy kid in middle school was rough enough, but I also had the delightful addition of being stone cold gay on top of that. I don’t care what year it is, being gay is still one of the best guarantees to have a shitty ass time growing up. I was no exception to that rule.

Why? Because people suck.

However, Bash wasn’t like other people, and I guess he took pity on me that day and struck up a conversation with me about a computer game I was playing when I was supposed to be working.Oops.

It turns out the rich, cute blond boy that I had crushed on since the previous year was actually a decent guy. Go figure! Bash was a cool, charismatic kid who had the sweetest side to him that never failed to win others over.He was one of those guys you really wanted to hate with his perfect skin, tall lean frame, slightly square jaw, and bright green eyes that you could fall into. Not that I was paying attention to his eyes…they were just so hard to ignore. On top of his crazy good looks, even at such a young age, Bash was also ridiculously talented at pretty much everything he did. Yeah, he was one ofthosepeople.He got a primo spot on any sports team he tried out for, he maintained straight A’s in all his classes, and he happened to be a complete technology genius.You'd be forgiven if you hated him on principle, but he more than made up for it by being literally one of the best humans alive.No one could hate him if they tried.

Bash didn’t have a cruel bone in his body, and he went out of his way to show others kindness and respect, which is only one of the reasons I fell completely, totally, and inappropriately in love with him.

Yep. I’m such a fucking cliche.

I get it–the gay nerd falls for his straight as sin, hunky bestie.I thought that only happened in trashy romance novels, but alas! Here I am, hopelessly in love with my amazing as fuck best friend, and he will never find out if I have anything to say about it.I don’t need that level of rejection in my life. I have some self-esteem left, thank you.

Though I can’t deny that every time Bash tells me he “loves me like a brother”, a little piece of me dies.It’s one thing to know he’s straight and would never see me in a romantic way, but to hear it put so definitively that he feels nothing for me but a deep, almost familial love is something akin to taking a dive into ice cold lemon water after receiving a thousand paper cuts: really fucking painful.

Either way, I’d never trade my friendship with Bash for anything in the world.When he told me that he was deciding to attend UT Austin after our college acceptance letters came back, I was devastated.We hadn’t been apart more than a few days in the six years since we’d been friends, and I was praying that we’d get to at least experience college together. Let’s ignore the fact that I would have had a front row seat to Bash enjoying the full college experience with all the lovely hoes who would have given their left tit to sleep with him. I’m in deep denial about Bash’s love life, and I’d like to keep it that way. The day he told me he lost his virginity to this perky blond cheerleader, Chloe, during our senior year of high school, I went home and cried my way through atub of Ben and Jerry’s while watchingThe Notebook. It wasn’t my finest hour, but can you blame me? No, you can’t.Anyway, where was I? Oh right. My bestie abandoned me for a school three hours away while I elected to stay behind in our hometown of Dallas. Good times.

It’s not that I was afraid to be far from home, but it was the more…comfortable option. I wasn’t really a spontaneous, outside-my-comfort-zone type of person, so UNT made the most sense.It had a decent psychology program and was located in Denton, just twenty minutes from my parents' house so I could visit them often, which was a bonus seeing how close we were.

Bash was upset, but like always he supported me 100% and promised to come back home and visit as often as he could.For the most part, he actually kept that promise. Without fail, Bash would make the three hour drive at least once a month if he could swing it, and he never missed a holiday break.When he was home, we’d spend almost every waking minute together and then some.Bash and I were no strangers to sleepovers, and we got to the point where it wasn’t even weird for me to crash in his bed when I stayed over, or when he was at my place.Stow your judgment please! No funny business happened…I’m a gentleman after all! But you’re fucking crazy if you think I would have ever passed up the chance to sleep with Bastian. Innocently, of course…

Now after two years of separation and missing him like a physical ache in my chest almost every day, I was finally getting my ass to Austin to finish up my college years with my ride or die. I thought back to the conversation we had a few months ago during one of my visits that finally sealed the deal and convinced me to take the plunge.

Stumbling through the door to Bash’s dorm laughing our asses off over something stupid I said, Bash turned to me and grabbed my shoulders firmly. “Seriously M&M, why won’t you just transfer already and come to UT with me? Aren’t you sick of trying to steal moments together every couple of months? I don’t know about you, but I miss the hell out of my best man…” Bash implored. I looked at his face closely, scanning over every inch of his beautiful features and the moss green eyes that could penetrate me down to my core with a single look. God, he was gorgeous…why couldn’t I have had an ugly friend?

“BB, you know I miss you. All the fucking time. But I love UNT and I’ve made some friends there…it’d be a lot to try to transfer and move cities right in the middle of my college career,” I reasoned with him. If I was being honest with myself though, he had been wearing me down on the idea for months and each time he left me behind to return to Austin, it felt like he took another part of me with him.Soon, I’d be nothing but a Micah husk, completely void of any meaning or life without him. Without my Bash. What would happen if he got fed up with traveling back and forth between cities just to see me, his nerdy high school bestie? What if he realized what I constantly worried about each and every day…that I wasn’t worth it?

“M, come on, UNT is cool and all, but these last two years have sucked ass without you. Facetime and texts are fine for a while, but I want my best friend with me. I know it probably sounds pathetic dude, but I seriously need you close to me. You make everything better and…I’m sick of being so far away from you. What can I do to convince you it’d be worth it?”

It would have been so easy to tell him that he would be worth it…that there was nothing better that Austin, Texas could give me than the promise of having Bash all the time.Having his daily attention, his stupid jokes that left me gasping for breath, his warm cuddles on the couch while we watched a movie, and his calming presence during my worst days would be a dream.But I didn’t say that for obvious reasons.

I took a deep breath and thought ahead to what living there and going to school with him would look like.Could I do it? Could I stomach watching Bash go to parties and hook up with a slew of hot girls every weekend while I wall-flowered myself and pretended like it didn’t rip me in half to see?Would we still be this close and explore the city together, study together, and incorporate each other into our daily lives like we had talked about since high school graduation? Would it be worth it to give up everything I knew and leave my hometown to try to build a new life just on the idea that it would be near the one person who was most important in my life and my heart?

One look at Bash’s pleading gaze gave me the only answer I needed. “Alright. I’ll do it. I’ll put in for a transfer for next year,” I said confidently. Bash’s eyes lit up and I thought his smile would split his face in two.He grabbed me around my waist hard, and started twirling me around in circles while I gripped his shoulders for dear life. “Holy shit, M! That is the best fucking news you could ever give me! You will not regret it, M&M! I swear to you! This is gonna be amazing!”

I had tears in my eyes and I was smiling like an idiot, all the while praying that he was right and that I wouldn’t live to regret it.

Once I made the decision to commit to transferring, I had to admit I fell in love with the idea.UT Austin was a fun and beautiful campus, and the city had so much going on that I figured it would take me a good few months to experience everything it had to offer.Of course, the main draw was the sexy ass man himself, but I let him believe he was only a partial contributing factor.Hard to believe, but I had a little dignity left too. I was quite proud of myself for that. Come August, I was officially going to be a Longhorn!

My thoughts quickly derailed as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I couldn’t stop my smile as I looked down at the caller ID. “Hey BB, how’s it hanging?” I cheerfully asked my best friend.

“Eh, I can’t complain.I was able to take my last two finals early and I thought of the perfect way to celebrate the end of school,” Bastian said casually.

“Oh? Pray tell, what are these perfect plans of yours, Dupont? I’m on the edge of my seat,” I sarcastically remarked.

Bash chuckled low in my ear, and I swear it had a direct line to my dick. Oh yeah, it was a problem, but thank God he wasn’t there to see it.

“It’s funny you should mention that…you don’t look like you’re on the edge of your seat.”

My steps stuttered a bit as I tried to process what he said. “What do you mean I don’t look like that? Bash, are you on drugs or something? We really need to discuss healthy coping mechanisms if you’re having some kind of crisis, bestie.”

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