Kevin checked the room assignment everyday day, sometimes multiple times a day, to see who his first college roommate would be. He didn't want someone who wasn't tidy, partied too much, or was a bigot. He needed to see a name there and social media stalk the person ASAP, but each time he checked, the second line for the residents of his double room dorm would read "unassigned."

He checked one last time the morning of move-in, and it still read "unassigned."

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief. He was hoping for a non-shitty roommate in general. But having no roommate at all? That was even better.

After getting through an uncomfortable family breakfast with his mother crying over her "sweet, little baby finally leaving the nest," the Barrs loaded up the rest of the car and made their way to Kevin's new life.

They arrived towards the very end of the move-in day to avoid the mad rush of people, but upon arrival to campus, they realize the mad rush was still occurring. It took nearly an hour to check-in and get his keys, with all the workers being apologetic for the delay, but also quite vague as to why there was a delay in the first place. There was also a line that seemed to be reserved for parents being outraged at the condition of the dorms. Kevin audibly swallowed. If his dad was not in favor of the condition of the dorm, he would definitely be louder than all of the parents there.

They struggled to find a place to park, since it appeared that several construction companies decided to take up the first two rows of the building next to Kevin's, subsequently also blocking people from walking near there or entering the building.

By the time they did manage to park, his dad needed to sit in the car for a moment and decompress.

"Hey kiddo, why don't you go ahead and go unlock your room and scope things out, while we get your bike off the rack so we can open the trunk?"

Kevin nods to his dad. He grabs his laptop bag and pillow before heading into the dorm.

As soon as he unlocks the door and steps inside, Kevin see a half empty dorm room, aside from the suitcase and two boxes already inside. He freezes. There should be nothing inside. And there should be no one inside either, especially not a faint voice saying "dusty, dusty, dusty," from behind what he assumed was an opened closet door.

Kevin takes two steps back and cranes his next to read the room number. He then tries his key in the door again. No. This is the right room.

Kevin takes a step inside and knocks, feeling awkward for having to knock to enter his own room, but he wasn't sure the proper etiquette for inquiring about a potential room assignment mix-up.

He hears a startled noise followed by a crash.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

A tall boy steps out from behind the opened door, tugging on the edge of his beanie, and stepping over the fallen pieces of a tool kit.

Kevin drops his pillow, fumbling to catch it, and causing his laptop bag to swing into the dorm room door, the sound of the impact muffling the profanities he was muttering under his breath.

He has no fucking right to look good like that.

Kevin's always had a thing for tall, lithe dudes, but to see one this cute and within five feet of him? That was not right. And if he wasn't currently staring at Kevin, then Kevin would already have pulled out his phone and snuck a pic to send to Nazz. They have a habit of sending random pics via Snapchat of guys they thought were attractive, or that they thought fitted the other's taste in men. They called this "HDA" for "Hot Dude Alert" and this was definitely an HDA moment.

Kevin strides across the room and sets his bag and pillow down on the bed furthest from the boy. When he turns around to face the stranger, he is greeted by an outstretched hand and an adorable gap-toothed smile.

As soon as Kevin shook his hand, the boy spoke. "Hello! I'm Eddward, with two D's. But my friends call me Edd."

Kevin smirked, "Is that with two D's as well?"

"Why, yes… it is!"

His hands are so soft and his eyes are like a deep sea blue and holy fuck, college is awesome.

"I hope you don't mind that I already pick this side of the room," Edd said, gesturing to the bed that was blocked by the suitcase and boxes.

Before Kevin could even register the comment, he hears a familiar, loud grumbling. "Why couldn't you pick a room on the first floor?"

Kevin took one of the boxes his dad was carrying and set it on the desk. He watched as his dad looks back and forth between Kevin and Edd before finally saying, "I thought you didn't have a roommate."

Kevin realized that he still hadn't gotten around to figuring out why Edd was here either, so he looked towards Edd to explain.

"I was originally assigned to the dorm building next door, but there was a massive pipe burst, causing severe flooding just this morning. They had to reassign the entire first floor, so I got placed here."

"Wow. That does explain the nonsense outside right now."

Edd nodded. "They said it will be some time until we are allowed to move back in.

"That's awful!" Kevin jerked his head towards his mother when she spoke, surprised by her sudden appearance. "Did you manage to get all your stuff moved over?"

Edd vaguely gestures towards his belongings. "This is all I had brought into the dorm at the time. The rest was still in my car, luckily. Didn't have to move in twice." He gives an awkward chuckle before kneeling down and finally picking up the fallen toolkit.

Kevin nods. "Yeah, could have been worse, I suppose."

He then leaves with his parents to grab more boxes to move in. When they return. Edd is wiping down his desk. Kevin thinks nothing of it until his mother speaks up.

"Dear, is anyone helping you move in?"

Edd shakes his head. "No ma'am."

Kevin knew what was coming and started to head for the door before his mother made a move. She looked at Edd, startled, and quickly turned to Kevin, already leaving, and said, "Go help… I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Eddward, but-"

"Go help Edward bring in his stuff!"

Kevin nodded in compliance and headed out the door, hearing Edd protest, saying he needed to sanitize the room first.

He peeked his head back in to see his mother taking the can of Lysol from Edd. "I can do that. Now you go get your stuff."

Edd turned towards Kevin, looking lost. Kevin simply said, "C'mon. Let's get your stuff."

As they made their way through the parking lot towards Edd's car, Edd cleared his throat and said, "I actually didn't get a chance to ask your name earlier…"

"Huh? Oh, right… I'm Kevin."

"Kevin. Okay. Well, I do appreciate you helping me, but you don't-"

"Psh. It's no big deal. Besides, you'll give my mom a chance to keep busy instead of crying over the fact that I'm leaving for college."

Edd laughed. "Then I guess this works out for the both of us."

As both boys continued to move-in and unpack, Kevin realized this plan was working in his favor better than expected. It was a little embarrassing how his mother had to comment on everything she unpacked, regardless of if it was Kevin's or Edd's stuff, but seeing her happy instead of sad was worth it.

Plus, seeing the way Edd smiled at all her doting, that adorable gap-toothed grin… Man, definitely worth all the embarrassment.

Once done, the Barrs say goodbye to Edd. They headed into town to take in the sights and get some dinner before they leave Kevin here to start his new life. By the time Kevin returns to his dorm, Edd is already in bed and asleep. Kevin decides he'll just lay in bed and play games on his phone, but as soon as his head hits the pillow, he registers the exhaustion of move-in day.

Before sleep consumes him, he turns towards Edd, straining his eyes against the dark. He wonders how in the world he lucked out with getting someone so adorable as a roommate.

Heaven help me if he has a head full of long, dark hair under that stupid hat. I don't need him to be fitting my type even more than he already does.