Later that evening I escape back to my room, exhausted after a day of not doing an awful lot. Both of my hands are aching, my knuckles on my left hand are raw and grazed whereas my right is throbbing from the pain of Sam's burn. It's unusual, but each pain resonates in a slightly different way, cuts sting whilst burns ache and so forth. After all this time, I have created an extensive repertoire of what injuries cause each pain, whether it be my own injury or an echo of Sam's.

I glance over at the battered piano sitting in the corner forlornly. I had wanted to play today, but as I glance at my hands I figure that that isn't going to happen. Sam knows I play, although I don't think he thinks I'm any good. I like to compose my own little tunes.

I decide to deal with the pain in my hands and play anyway, because I want to. I rest my fingers against the keys delicately, before deciding on a tune and launching into it. This particular melody is very soothing, something inspired by my fondness for late nights and rainy days.

My thoughtful mood is interrupted by an incessant knocking on my door and I pause, huffing in irritation at not being able to finish the piece. I glance in the mirror and fix my inky black hair before pulling the door open.

Sam is leant against the frame of the door, his face morphing into a smile as soon as he sees me.

"Long time no see!" He says and I snort. He doesn't move to come in, instead lingering in the doorway.

"What's up?" I ask and Sam's smile dampens slightly.

"Well...a couple friends from Spanish want to go out and I wanted to introduce you to them." He says unsurely and I try to keep my face passive. Sam loves to go out and be social, me not so much.

"Fine, but it better not be like last time." I say, agreeing reluctantly. Sam's expression lights up and he rocks on his heels slightly.

"Awesome, can I come in?" He asks as I wander to my wardrobe and I look back at him curiously.

"Course you can, you don't have to ask." I call, listening to him closing the door behind him.

I shrug off my old comfy shirt and sigh at the thought of putting on an uncomfortable button up. Sam is giving me a run down on his friends and I know I should be paying more attention but I can't help it, I don't want to meet his new friends.

I pluck out a relatively nice, but more importantly comfy, blue shirt and pull it on as I turn to face Sam. He pauses what he was saying, staring at me peculiarly and I laugh.

"That bad, huh?" I ask, watching as his face contorts uncomfortably.

I go to remove the shirt but Sam yelps.

"No! No, don't take it off. I haven't seen it before, it looks really good." He insists, giving me a once over look to make sure.

"Yeah you have, I wore it last week, you idiot." I remark, watching Sam laugh weakly at his own mistake.

"Lighten up would you? I rely on you to be charismatic so I don't have to try in social situations. If people like you, they kind of like me by default." I say, chuckling but Sam frowns.

"That's not true. If people don't like you then I don't like them." He says and I turn to face him, puzzled.

"What?"

"If my friends don't like you then they're not my friends." He says simply, as if it were the easiest thing to comprehend in the world.

"Tell me you're kidding." I say monotonously, searching his face for any sign of deceit.

"Nope." He remarks, falling back onto my bed, arms crossed behind his head.

"Shit. You could have told me that? I might have tried a bit harder to get your friends to like me if I had known." I hiss under my breath, his backward logic infuriating me slightly and now it's his turn to look confused.

"Why?"

"I don't want to be the reason you only have one friend, Sam." I retort snappily and he snorts.

"You aren't. If people don't like you then they can suck my balls." He says, seemingly proud of himself and I huff.

"Come on, I have to make a good impression." I mumble, pulling Sam up with his good hand. He whines but follows anyway, grasping my hand tightly. I grab my jacket and release his hand, trying to push my hair back in hopes that it would look better. It doesn't.

Sam slaps my hand away and fusses over my hair himself and I let him, knowing to trust his judgement. He pauses and backs away, looking over my hair before nodding to himself.

"That shirt makes your eyes look very...blue." He says simply and I smile. Sam likes my smile which is good, because he's really the only person I smile at. He says my dimples make me look less like a grumpy old man. He's not so good at the compliments.

"Thanks, you good to go?" I ask and he nods, glancing at his phone.

"So, how intoxicated are you going to be tonight, on a scale of 1 to passed out?" I ask, pushing my hands into my pockets as we walk out of the building and towards the centre of town.

Sam laughs and pretends to look thoughtful.

"Probably a 7, I don't want to be too messy." He admits and I scoff. We both know that I'll be the one getting us home tonight, seeing as I don't drink.

"So, these friends, what're they like?" I ask, curious as to who we are about to meet.

"Alice and Miles, they're both really nice, although Miles can be kind of forwards sometimes." Sam admits and I clench and unclench my fingers. I wouldn't say I'm socially inept, just not very good at social interaction. There is a difference, even if it's microscopic.

"Okay." I say slowly, eyeing two people sat on a bench outside of a pub. Sam's eyes light up in recognition and I follow behind him. The two in front of us eye me curiously, as if I am a very exotic, intriguing subject. They on the other hand, look to me, exceedingly plain.

Alice is very slight with a very harsh brunette bob and small features. Miles is only a few inches taller than Alice, with very pasty skin and the plainest hazel eyes and brown hair I've ever seen. He has a large face and does not suit the beanie he is trying to sport.

"Guys this is Eli, Eli this is Alice and Miles." Sam says, happily gesturing between us and I nod.

"Hello, Eli." Alice says, her voice is soft but sure of itself.

"Nice to meet you, Elias. Sam's told us so much about you." Miles says and I cringe at my full name.

"Eli." I correct and Miles appears confused.

"Sam always says Elias." He points out and I crack my knuckles awkwardly.

"The only people who call me Elias are Sam and my father." I admit and Miles laughs.

"And now me!" He says, laughing happily.

"No...thank you. It's just Eli." I insist, interrupting his laughter and his smile drops slightly. I glance over at Sam who looks rather smug at this moment in time. He's really no help at all.

Miles regains his composure startlingly fast and moves to stand closer.

"Well, I guess you two are the infamous 'Sam and Eli'." He admits and I frown, looking over at Sam who looks just as confused.

"What?" I ask and Miles looks slightly uncomfortable. Alice's eyes are wide, as if communicating 'abort mission' which is a shame, as Miles isn't looking anywhere near her.

"Well, you know. Everyone knows, you're always together. Everyone on campus knows." He says, not making eye contact any more.

"Everyone knows what?" I ask, my voice is harder now, more demanding.

"That Sam's in love with you." He says, as though it's obvious. My mind works slowly and the first thought in my head is what the hell? Who in their right mind would say something like that?

"What the fuck? Why would you say something like that?" I ask, my voice incredulous.

Miles looks plain petrified, as if he hadn't thought that I might not take this well.

I haven't dared look at Sam yet, but I can guess he's probably feeling awkward and a little unsettled.

"It isn't any of your business, what on Earth makes you think that it is?" I continue, my unfortunate height coming in handy as I loom over him.

Miles is frozen to the spot and I can quickly feel my momentary irritation melting into uncomfortable awkwardness.

"You can apologise to Sam, you've made him exceptionally uncomfortable." I prompt, turning to my best friend who is watching wide eyed.

"I'm sorry." Miles mumbles and I huff at his ridiculous attempt.

"It was nice meeting you Alice." I mutter, clenching my fists as I attempt to control my temper. I throw my arm over Sam's shoulder and lead him away. He is silent and I'm thankful, needing some time to reign in my fury. It's a shame really, Alice had seemed ok for the 2 seconds that we had interacted.

"Your choice of friends is questionable at best." I mutter after a few minutes of silence and Sam chokes out a laugh.

"What does that say about you?" He asks and I chuckle, glad that he's still capable of joking around.

"Want to go get drunk?" I ask but Sam shakes his head solemnly.

I nod slowly, leading him back to my room and he follows without question. I hadn't really expected that, I wonder if that kid was telling the truth? Does the whole campus think we're together?

In all honesty, I don't really give a shit, but it's interesting that I didn't have a clue what other people thought of us. I tug off my jacket and throw it onto my desk chair carelessly, my feet carrying me to the piano without my consent, my fingers drifting to rest on the keys of their own accord as I attempt to calm down.

I hear Sam rustling around behind me but I don't pay him too much attention until he sits down beside me on the bench. My fingers brush against the notes eagerly and I pick up where I left off earlier.

The familiar tune calms me soon enough and I let the song morph into a different one, another composition of my own. It's more hopeful, but still soothing; it sounds like home.

I try not to think about my best friend sitting beside me, judging every note I play, but eventually the song ends and my fingers still. I huff and close the lid gently.

"I assumed it was a CD." Sam says suddenly and I turn to look at him, bemused.

"What?"

"The song that was playing earlier when I knocked, I thought it was a CD, not you actually playing the piano." He says, his voice still sounding slightly awe-struck.

I shrug and get up, not liking the attention.

"What piece of music was it?" He calls out, flipping through one of my music sheet books.

"Uh, I wrote them." I say dismissively.

"You wrote both of them?!" He asks incredulously and I chuckle at his voice.

"Yes." I answer, which is responded to with silence. I glance around and note that Sam is sat staring at the piano as if it were a foreign species.

"Are they about anything?" He asks, gently prodding a key as I flop onto my bed.

"The first is just something soothing, something that goes really well with a rainy day." I admit, willing him not to ask about the second.

"What about the other one?" He asks and I internally groan.

"That one's for us." I say bluntly, staring at the ceiling.

I don't lie to Sam. I suppose the reason why is because I'm constantly lying to him about the connection I have with him. I frown at the thought.

"Us?" He says, his voice demanding me to elaborate.

"Yeah." I utter, not willing to elaborate much more. A sense of dread washes over me as I ponder what this will do to his ego. I will surely regret this.

I'm greeted with an eerie silence and I'm just about to prop myself up and take a peek at Sam when he flops down on top of me. I groan at the added weight and shove him off me. Yep, I regret it already.

"Awwww! That is without a doubt the nicest thing you've ever said to me." He says, squealing and I groan again, turning so I'm face down.

"I barely said anything, fat ass." I say, my voice muffled by the pillow beneath me.

"You said enough. I'm just so loveable, aren't I? I'm your person." He says, his smug smile prominent in his voice and I kick him off my bed.

"My person?" I ask and he hums in confirmation. I roll my eyes, not willing to admit that he's correct.

"I'm sorry, isn't it me that's oh so loveable." I say, lifting my head and smirking at him on the floor. His face falls into an unimpressed expression and he throws his sock at me.

I grimace and throw it back at him, knowing his foot will get cold soon enough and he'll need his sock back.

"I can't believe the whole campus thinks I'm in love with you. That's so embarrassing." He whines, pulling his sock back on predictably.

"Hey! Why is it embarrassing to be in love with me? I'll have you know that I'm a catch." I say with mock offence and watch as Sam's frown dissipates.

"You're right, I'm sorry. You sure are a catch, I can't believe I'm not actually in love with you." He drawls and I sigh, placing a hand over my forehead.

"Me neither, I mean everyone else is."

Sam laughs openly at that, but mumbles something under his breath which I don't quite catch. He doesn't bother to repeat it, so I assume it's not important. I close my eyes peacefully and feel Sam clamber back up onto the bed, laying out next to me.

"Why do you let me call you Elias?" He asks suddenly and I open my eyes, peering into his, which are closer than I had imagined.

"Because it's my name." I deadpan, watching in amusement as Sam waits for my real answer with an unamused expression.

"You've always called me Elias." I relent, not too phased by his question.

"You mean I pronounce it right?" He asks and I chuckle.

"No, I mean when you say it, it just sounds right. I like Eli, but I let you call me Elias because you always have." I say, frowning when my explanation doesn't really make sense.

"Well... I mean it is your name so..."

I nudge Sam in the ribs and he laughs, raising his hands in surrender.

"Okay! Ok! I get it, I know what you mean. I like being the only one who calls you Elias." He says.

"Except my dad." I point out and Sam huffs.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't count." He says sulkily and I agree for his sake. Sam yawns loudly and I heave myself up, grabbing a spare pair of shorts and throwing them at him.

"Cheers!" He says happily, knowing that he won't have to travel back down stairs tonight. I tug off my shirt and replace my jeans with sweatpants, heading into the bathroom to wash up before bed.

"Elias?" Sam calls and I poke my head out.

"You're my best mate, you know? You're my person." He says, glancing up and I smile lopsidedly, my toothbrush still in my mouth. I head back into the bathroom to rinse my mouth and head out again.

I sit down on the covers next to Sam, not once thinking this scenario is anything but normal. This is the way that it has always been, this is what best friends do.

"I know." I say simply and he nods, already too far gone to respond with a verbal answer.

I switch off the lights and make my way to the sofa, hauling a spare blanket with me as I go and smiling faintly at the antics of my best friend, feeling quite blessed to have him in my life.

_

A/N Hi guys! I'll try and update this frequently as I really want it complete, but I also want it to be good, so no promises.

PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE :) ❤

Have a lovely day x