Monster in Hiding

December 14th, 1999

My mind was insane, everything I ad read in the past three days was running through my head nonstop. I couldn't make sense of the simplest thing anymore.

Groaning, I pulled my glasses off of my face and pushed myself away from the desk in my tiny dorm. A knock sounded from the door. "Stacy isn't here, go away!" I shouted, pinching the bridge of my nose. Studying for finals had definitely taken its toll on me and didn't seem like it was going to ease up any time soon.

My eyes flashed to the alarm clock sitting on the corner of my desk, the time was reading twelve fifty five. I had a final in five hours, and so far it looked like I wouldn't be getting any sleep before it. I still had too much studying to do. There was another knock on the door to my dorm. I hadn't been lying before when I said that Stacy wasn't here, she was once again out partying with some guys she was selling to. "She's not here!" I groaned loudly, throwing myself back against the back of the chair I was sitting in.

I attempted running my fingers through my hair, but the long locks were greasy and tangled together. A shower could do me some good, and at this time of night, the showers would be practically abandoned. Pushing myself back away from the desk, I rose to my feet before moving over to the closet where all my clothes were stored.

I grabbed a pair of undies, some pajama pants, and a tank top before also grabbing a clean towel and my shower caddy. As I was slipping my feet into a pair of flip flops, there was a third knock on the door. This time, I would be handling the problem face to face instead of simply shouting through the door. This time, I would get the message across. I refuse to be bothered like this all night.

Making sure I had my key, I stepped out of the dorm- only opening the door wide enough to allow myself to step through. "Listen, buddy, how many more times do I have to tell you that Stacy isn't here, so you need to leave." I growled, my back turned to whoever was standing there. Using my key, I locked the door so that no one would be able to enter the room while I was gone. "Well, as nice as that is to know, I'm actually not here to see Stacy." The familiar voice made my entire body freeze. Turning around slowly, I saw Matt standing behind me with his arms crossed over his arms.

My key, shower caddy, and clean towel all slipped from my grasp as I saw him standing there. "Oh my gosh!" I grinned, jumping into his arms. I could hear him laugh loudly as his arms wrapped around my waist and held me against him. I buried my face in the crook of his neck, and all but inhaled his scent. I had missed this man so much.

We hadn't seen each other in almost a month, since Thanksgiving at Anna's house. He had been busy with the band, and I had been busy with school- there just hadn't been any time for us to see one another. "What are you doing here? Not that I don't want you to be here, but what are you doing here?" I smiled up at him as he set me back down in front of him. He kept his arms locked around me. "I couldn't sleep tonight, so I started thinking." He said with a sigh. "Uh oh. That's never good, are you feeling okay?" I teased him, bringing my hand up to his forehead.

"Ha, ha you're very funny." Grabbing my hand, he pulled it away from his forehead. "I was thinking about how long it had been since we'd seen one another. I know we've both been super busy, but then I realized that I wasn't busy now and I knew you'd probably be up all night studying and could use a break. So here I am." He explained. Dear God, how did I get so lucky to end up with this man?

"I was actually about to go take a shower. You could join me if you want to, unless you just want to wait here in the dorm for me?" I suggested, pointing over my shoulder at the door behind me. A sly smirk immediately appeared on his face. "You really think I'm about to pass up taking a shower with you?" He chuckled.

Leaning down, Matt picked up all the things that I had dropped on the floor when he surprised me. Then, he took my hand in his and we made our way down the hallway to the bathrooms. Just inside of the doorway was a wall full of sinks and mirrors, and across from them were toilet stalls. Then, further back in the room, behind another wall were about ten showers where the curtain thankfully came above our height. Unlike the ones on the lower levels, that only came up to about my collarbone.

I couldn't help but laugh as Matt's hands found my hips, and he pressed me up against the wall across from the showers. "Shhh. You don't want to get caught do you?" He chuckled almost darkly. He had a point, this was a girls only dorm. If we got caught in here, there was going to be hell to pay- I could lose my on campus housing. Hearing footsteps coming from somewhere in the hallway, I quickly grabbed the front of Matt's shirt and pushed him backwards into a stall before closing the curtain in his face.

"Is there someone in here?" A voice echoed through the bathroom. Grabbing my shower caddy off of the floor, I was quick to make it seem like I had only just walked in. "Y-yeah it's just me." I responded, stepping closer to the corner of the wall. A head poked out from around the corner, and I was almost relieved when I saw that it was one Elaine. She was the dorm monitor. Kept track of everything, and made sure everyone was safe.

"Oh, hey Elle. What are you doing up so late?" She hummed, leaning against the wall. Elaine was a bit older, worked for the college, and was amazingly nice. It was almost hard to believe that she was able to get along with everyone so well.

"Couldn't sleep. Finals are just getting to me I guess. I've been studying nonstop for my next one, so I figured a shower would be a nice break. " I shrugged my shoulders ever so slightly. Trying my best not to make it completely obvious that my long term boyfriend was hiding in the shower stall behind me. Hopefully he was smart enough to stand back up against the wall instead of right at the curtain. That way she wouldn't immediately be able to see his feet.

"I completely understand, just don't stay up too long. Even though studying is important, you do need to sleep." With that, she waved ever so slightly before walking out of the bathroom. I waited until I could no longer hear her footsteps before stepping into the stall with Matt. He was standing there with a sick smirk on his face and a familiar look in his eye.

Hanging the caddy on the hook in the shower, I leaned over and turned the knob on the water, then I started stripping out the clothes I had originally picked out this morning. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Matt still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Are you going to strip and join me in the shower, or just stand there watching?" I chuckled, stepping forward into the stream of hot water. It felt so amazing running down over my shoulders after sitting at my desk for so long.

The next thing I knew, Matt's tattooed arms had wrapped their way around my waist and pulled me back against him. Reaching up and back, I leaned back against him and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.

I felt at peace in this moment. It had been a long time since Matt and I had seen one another, let alone had some time just ourselves.

Leaning down, Matt pressed kisses along my shoulder and up the side of my neck and I couldn't help but smile contently before turning around to face him. I couldn't even think of how long it had actually been for the two of us. Too long.

Sighing contently as he pressed his lips to my own, I felt his hands go down to my ass. Squeezing slightly before lifting me up off of my feet, I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel my lips curl up into a smile as Matt moved us to where my back was pressed up against the wall, but we were still under the steady stream of water.

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Hearing my alarm go off, I groaned loudly before rolling over to slam the snooze button down. A familiar, tattooed arm kept me from falling off of the small bed. My eyes shot over to the bed on the other side of the dorm, relief falling over me when I saw that Stacy hadn't come back during the time that we had been sleeping.

I pressed a small kiss to Matt's lips before pulling myself out of his grasp. As soon as I was out of the bed, Matt rolled over onto his side and stuffed his arms up under the pillow. I could't help but smile at the sight, the man was just so cute. Pulling a pair of pants on over my underwear, shoved my feet down into a pair of fur lined boots. I also pulled a cardigan over my shoulders before grabbing my books and rushing out of the dorm.

I also made sure to lock the door behind me, that way no one would walk in on Matt sleeping in the dorm.

Last night, or this morning whatever you want to call it, was the best I had slept in weeks. All I had to do was pass this final exam and then I was free until after the new year. And I plan on spending as much time with Matt as I possibly can.