Sinful.

The week Eames has after Arthur’s school year begins but before Eames’ school year begins doesn’t turn out to be so bad. Between orientation and actually settling into his dorm, meeting his new roommate and trying to figure out exactly where all his classes are so he won’t get lost once the school year begins and look like a fool, Eames actually is kept quite busy. That doesn’t stop him from calling up Arthur or Ariadne and complain to them about how they’ve abandoned him and he’s so lonely without anyone to keep him company, which of course is a lie, because there are plenty of people already on campus, getting settled in just like him, and Eames is rather good at making new friends, so by the time the school year begins, he already knows a fair amount of people.

There’s this one girl, Mackenzie, who lives on the floor above Eames, who he’s grown quite fond of. She’s blonde and cute and opinionated, and Eames likes talking with her even though most of their conversations end in arguments over the silliest things because neither of them agree on much except for that waffles are better than pancakes and acrylic paints and charcoal are pretty much tied for “most fun medium to make art with.”

They’re sitting around one day a couple weeks into the school year in the bright sunshine, sketching people sitting in the quad on this giant piece of paper they managed to get a hold of, and Mackenzie’s trying to decide if she should dye her hair or not.

“Because people always look at me and all they see is blonde,” she’s saying as she sketches another person into what is quickly becoming a disorganized mural of random people they may or may not know. “It’s like people automatically assume I’m stupid or something and I hate that.”

Eames hums thoughtfully and doodles absently along the side of the paper, wondering when he should have lunch. He doesn’t have another class till two today, so he’s got time, but he’s getting hungry. He’s also feeling kind of lazy and doesn’t quite want to put the effort needed into standing and actually going somewhere so he can get something to eat.

Eames is saved from having to make the decision, however, when a shadow falls over the paper and he looks up and it’s Arthur standing there, dressed nicely like he always is in his well-tailored pants, a button up shirt, and a sweater.

Eames grins and exclaims, “Arthur! What a lovely surprise it is seeing you here.”

The corner of Arthur’s mouth curves up but he doesn’t quite smile, and he asks, “Have you had lunch yet?”

“No, in fact I have not,” Eames says jovially. “Are you offering to buy me some?”

“Perhaps,” Arthur says and holds his hand out to help Eames up.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Mackenzie stage-whispers at Eames as Eames takes Arthur’s outstretched hand and makes as if to stand.

Eames winks at Mackenzie and asks, “Jealous?”

Mackenzie rolls her eyes at Eames and laughs softly. “I’ll see you later, I guess,” she says. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I will,” Eames says in a tone brimming with innuendo, which earns him a half-hearted glare from Arthur, and he waves goodbye to Mackenzie before walking off with Arthur. He sticks his hands in his pockets and asks, “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Arthur says, just like on their first date, and this time you’ll see brings them to a Vietnamese noodle shop Eames didn’t even know existed despite having lived in the area for the past four years. When Eames asks Arthur how he finds these sort of places, Arthur just shrugs and says, “I don’t cook. It’s only practical that I’d find good places to buy food.”

“You could learn to cook,” Eames says as their waitress brings them bowls of steaming, fragrant noodles. “I could teach you.”

Arthur smirks and shakes his head. “For your sake, I suggest that you not,” he says. “I’d probably end up setting you on fire or something.”

Eames laughs. He asks Arthur how James is and Arthur says that the kitten misses him, and Eames wonders if they’re really talking about James or something else altogether. He wouldn’t be surprised if this is Arthur’s way of telling Eames that he’s missed because Arthur isn’t one to admit dependency on anyone.

-

About four or five weeks pass before things go wrong. Eames isn’t sure why things go so wrong, hell he isn’t even sure when things started going wrong, but something’s messed up and he doesn’t quite know how to fix it. He doesn’t even realize anything’s off at first, because he’s so caught up with schoolwork and Ariadne coming to visit for a weekend, but about a week in, he realizes something’s definitely not right.

About a week in, he realizes he hasn’t heard from or seen Arthur in too long and he could give Arthur the benefit of the doubt and assume Arthur’s just busy but Arthur always finds the time to call Eames, in the afternoon sometimes after he’s gotten out of class or in the evening after he’s had dinner, just before he goes to bed, so this definitely isn’t normal. Eames tries calling Arthur, hoping Arthur’s not actually upset over something and this is just Arthur being forgetful, but Eames’ call gets sent straight to voicemail and Eames has a feeling that it’s intentional. Eames sighs and snaps his cell phone shut, chewing his bottom lip between his teeth as he tries to think of what he might have done.

He thinks of the last time he saw Arthur. It’d been Saturday morning and they’d just finished having breakfast. James Bond the kitten was snoozing on the bed, curled up on Arthur’s pillow as always, and Arthur was only half-awake and running into things and swearing at everything, and everything had seemed perfectly fine. Eames had to leave because Ariadne was coming back to visit, and Eames had promised to spend the entire weekend with her.

“Well, I’m off then,” Eames had grinned at Arthur as he’d slipped his shoes on to leave. “Try not to be too sad while I’m gone.”

Arthur had snorted and said, “Don’t worry; I won’t.”

Arthur was leaning against the doorframe, customary cup of coffee in his hand as he bid Eames goodbye. Eames had chuckled and crowded into Arthur’s personal space, placing his hands on Arthur’s hips.

“You won’t miss me?” Eames had teased, feigning a pout. “Not even a little bit?”

“Not at all,” Arthur had insisted, lifting his chin for emphasis.

Eames had laughed and kissed Arthur firmly on the lips. “Alright, then, if that’s how you’re going to be. I’ll call you later,” Eames had said.

Arthur had hummed softly and pulled Eames towards him again for another kiss, slower and sweeter and a touch deeper than the last one. Eames had smiled against Arthur’s mouth and felt quite possibly a little in love. And he’d said so, murmured “I love you” softly into Arthur’s mouth, and he’d been so caught up that he’d quite nearly missed the way Arthur tensed and then pulled away, eyes hard and jaw set firmly. Arthur had said goodbye to Eames in a guarded, detached voice that reminded Eames a little of when they’d first met and Arthur had always been aloof, but Eames had thought nothing of it at the time and said goodbye to Arthur cheerfully before turning to leave.

But now, thinking back, Eames doesn’t know if he was right to just disregard Arthur’s behavior like that, because now that he thinks about it, that’s probably when everything went wrong. That has to be it, he thinks to himself, because it can’t be anything else. But if that really is the reason Arthur is ignoring him, when Arthur finally starts talking to Eames again, and that is if he does, Eames might not be ready to just forgive and forget.