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Raiders in the Dark(Chiffon&Caspian)

Jared turned around slowly. Gods, had he forgotten? For shit sakes, that was stupid. How could he have forgotten to lock the door? He chided himself for being a scatterbrain. At least the panties were in her room and not in his pockets or something stupid.

He flashed a big cheesy smile and nodded "don't worry chief! I'm always on duty!" Jared replied, doing his best Inspector Gadget impersonation. "GO GO Gadget Flashlight!" he grinned and reached into his patrol belt. He pulled out the mini-maglite and shone it into the room. He pretended to jump into the room and put his back up against walls like the police shows always depicted. He checked the bathroom - clear. He checked the closet - clear. He checked the bedroom - clear.

He lifted up the skirt under the bed and looked underneath. He chuckled at a pair of socks and an old bra with some twisted hooks. "I have found some questionable, dusty items underneath the bed. At least there are no serial killers or attack dogs. The room is safe."
 
“And you are sure no closet monsters?” She arched an eyebrow at him laughing at his playfulness.

She was still a bit unnerved by the door to her room being unlocked, but the more she thought about it the more she couldn’t remember locking it when she left this afternoon. Didn’t just suck when you did something so often that you couldn’t even remember doing it? Caroline shook her head as she smiled at Jared.

“Thank you oh great protector, I feel much better now.” She batted her eyes a couple of times at him before breaking out into a laugh. “Though I am curious, what exactly is under that bed?” She laughed as she lifted up the bed skirt pretending to look under it. She turned to Jared.

“Well, I guess you’ve spent enough time on me, I am sure there are other students out there in need of your protective services.” She winked at him before motioning to the door. As much as she’d love to continue talking to him, he had a job to do.
 
Jared didn't want to go back to work. He wanted to stay and laugh here with Caroline, possibly forever. He knew that couldn't be though, so he turned and shrugged semi-pathetically. "I guess I am being kicked out..." he moped playfully, then laughed just to let her know his disappointment wasn't with her.

He stepped out into the hall and checked the rooms with music or noise coming out of them. One room had a skunky smell that was all too familiar, so he turned around and pretended that he had been called up to the floor above for an emergency repair of a window. Clearly it was going to be busy for a Tuesday.

11:00 came and it was slowing down. The REAL partiers wouldn't be back until after 2:00, well after the 12:00 end of his shift. At 11:45 he went up to the roof and looked out over the quiet campus and sighed, thinking about Caroline. At 5 minutes to midnight he walked back down to the patrol room and began stowing his gear.
 
Caroline watched the clock. It was getting late. Jared would be off his patrol shift soon. She pressed an ear to the door, hoping to catch the sound of him going back to his room. She checked the clock on her TV. And then she heard the noise of footsteps in the hall, slow and measured. She knew it had to be him. Opening her door a crack she saw Jared’s from slinking down the hall towards his bedroom.

“Jared?” She called soflty, as the shadow passed by her door. “Do you wanna come in and watch a movie? I hate to admit it, but I’m still kinda spooked from this evening?” She knew how pathetic that sounded, but try as she might she couldn’t fall asleep, thinking about someone having access possibly to her room. Her paranoia had gone from thinking she’d been forgetful for locking the door to someone having access to her private space, and neither helped put her mind at ease.

The last thing she wanted was to be alone, and given her penchant for being a tad scared of the dark and of being on her own to begin with, well she was dying for some company.
 
Jared was accustomed to being invited into rooms for a beer or a laugh. On one or two occasions he had been asked to come in just for the company. Never had he been invited into a room with a girl by herself. He wondered if she wanted him, or if she wanted a campus patrol rep. There was something pleading in Caroline's tone, she was obviously spooked. Jared didn't mind keeping her company, as he was a little nervous about having forgotten to lock the door. A pang of guilt stabbed him in the rib, but he didn't let it show on her face.

"Sure. We can use my Netflix account and we can watch something on your laptop." Jared smiled. "We'll avoid the scary movies and we can pick something fun or something that will put you to sleep. Either is fine with me. My first class isn't until 11:00 tomorrow."

Jared walked into her dorm room and looked around, in the dark it did look a little spooky.
 
Caroline blushed as Jared said okay. She knew some of the girls in the frat house liked to try their hand at seducing the patrol guard, but she wasn’t one of those. That was why she waited until he was done to ask him to keep her company. She was a bit nervous inviting him in, but she really really didn’t want to be alone.

“Whatever you like,” she smiled meekly at him. She hated being weak, but at this moment she felt that way. She closed the door behind him, clicking the lock in place. The light beside her bed gave off enough of a glow for her to grab her laptop and plug it in and set it down on the bed.

“I feel like such a ninny, but my mind has been working overtime. I’m fairly certain I must have left the door open when I left this afternoon for the coffee shop, but,” she shrugged. “Other possibilities have run rampant, and now I can’t sleep.” She offered a self depreciating smile as she sat down, adjusting a pillow behind her back as she tucked her feet in under the quilt on the top of her bed.

“So, I’ve never used NetFlix, you’re going to have to enlighten me.” Her voice was light, but there was still something not quite certain in her tone as she spoke.
 
Jared thought back to earlier that afternoon. How could he have been so neglectful, how could he make someone worry over his own actions. It was an invasion of her privacy and she deserved better. On the other hand, at least he knew there wasn't a serious threat currently.

"It's ok, we all leave our doors open, I've done it a million times. It's like I don't want to own any worldly possessions while in college." Jared chuckled. "We haven't had a break-in in these dormitories in 6 or 7 years. As a matter of fact, that's part of how campus patrol got started. Well, that and all the binge drinking. I don't think anyone would come up three stories to break into this specific unit, especially come up here and not steal anything." Jared didn't mention that the reason he came in was to put something in the room, not the other way around. "Tell you what... I'll even double check that you're ok during the evenings if you like. A special courtesy from a boy you kissed 10 years ago."

Jared smiled and opened his laptop to Netflix. He scrolled through the movies and selected something that was guaranteed to make anyone laugh: Horton Hears A Who.

"Basically you just scroll around the screen until you see something you like. Here's something that will be awesome, it's Dr. Seuss. How can you get any more comforting that Dr. Seuss?"
 
Caroline laughed at Jared’s rationalization. He was right, there hadn’t been a reported break in for years. And living on the third floor it was unlikely, but still. She watched as he chose the movie.

“That would actually be fine, I don’t think I’ve seen it.” She pulled the blanket to the side and smiled a bit of a blush on her cheeks in the silent offering. If they were going to watch a movie, she might as well not be the only one warm and comfy.

She wondered if she was just feeling sentimental. The conversation this morning in the laundry room had been great fun. But she knew, if it had been someone else on campus patrol tonight she’d not have asked them into her room. She knew there was no expectation of anything.

They were going to share a movie, and he was going to keep her company, and that was it. She felt safe with him, and his presence in her room chased away all those negative thoughts that had been looming since the early evening.
 
Jared sat on the bed and offered to let Caroline rest her feet on his legs. He didn't mind providing the comfort, and having a little human contact when you've had a rough day was always nice. He was there for her. He felt terrible that he had allowed himself to cause her grief, but was also happy that he had been rewarded with the opportunity to comfort her. He had dreamed about being asked into the room in the past, but never thought he would be welcome in the room, let alone welcome in private with her. Seeing her in a vulnerable state made him feel both guilty and privileged to be in the room with her.

The movie started and without knowing what else to say just blurted "feel free to get comfortable. I won't go anywhere until you're asleep."

He smiled to Caroline, hoping she would take him up on his offer.
 
Caroline let Jared get comfortable beside her, then cuddled herself to his side letting her right arm snake behind his back, her head on his chest, her left hand on his chest just under her cheek. She pulled the blanket closer about herself and him, the combined heat of their two bodies already making her warmer.

She sighed softly as they launched in to the movie. Caroline knew she had worked herself into a stressed out state. But old fears died hard. She had been spooked of the dark for longer than she cared to remember. Something about an uncle jumping out at her once when she was very young, so her mother always said. There had to be some truth to it, because she was skittish if she wasn’t positive she was alone, or if there were strange shadows or sounds in the house.

She only remembered the first half. Then somewhere between there and the last half, the comfort of Jared’s presence, the heat of his body, and the steady beating of his heart, made her relax enough, she slipped into sleep.
 
Jared hadn't intended to stay in the bed after Caroline fell asleep. She fell asleep half-way through the movie and he didn't know what to do, so he stayed. It was only when he awoke a few hours later and his arm was alive with the electricity of pins and needles. Daylight was coming into the room from the early-morning sunrise. She was still asleep on his chest, but he had to move at some point. Slowly he laid her down onto her bed, doing his very best not to jostle her. He laid her back and didn't notice any stirring or any sign of waking. At a loss as to what to do, he simply bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Just returning the favour" he whispered in the softest tone he could muster.

He turned around and opened the door, slowly stepping out into the hallway as silently as he could.
 
Caroline woke, suddenly cold to a relatively bright room. Her alarm read 8:30am. She stretched and then bolted up right.

Jared, movie...

She looked about herself. Jared was gone. She wondered if he had left after she had fallen asleep or if he had stayed a while. Her cheeks flushed a bit. Lord, she hopped she hadn’t done something embarrassing like snored or drooled on him.

She got up and padded to the bathroom she had in her room. She hated sharing a shower, but at least she had her own sink mirror and toilet. That was something more than some rooms had. She pulled her hair back into a clip. The weekends were usually pretty quiet for her, and Sunday was no exception.

She wondered if Jared was up, if he’d slept okay.

She brushed her teeth and washed her face before getting dressed. She chose a pair of soft worn jeans, and a long short sleeved sweatshirt, she’d gotten on sale at Old Navy. On a student budget nothing was better, and this shirt, a dusky green complimented her eyes perfectly, was her favorite purchase from there so far. She grabbed her book, and her wallet.

She triple checked the door this time, before making her way out of the building and to her coffee shop.
 
Jared woke up with 30 minutes to get to his "History of Asia since 1500AD" class, a class he dreaded. It was only once a week, but the class was 3 hours long. It was like 3 hours of getting hit in the face with a feather. Sure, it didn't hurt for the first 2 hours... but after a while the pain began to build.

Jared made the class with his teeth brushed, a small blessing, and everything prepared. Except himself. He was still in his pyjamas. Still, that was kind of fun once in a while. He sat waaaaay in the back in a lecture hall of 300 students, he didn't expect to stand out. He wouldn't even be in the class except for it was core in his program. Alas.

He doodled a bit in the last half hour and found himself unconsciously doodling the lyrics to "Sweet Caroline", something he did once in junior high. He didn't even realize that it was what he was doing until he wrote down the infamous "Bah Bah Bah" portion to the song. He chuckled to himself.

He pondered going into her room again and liberating a pair of her panties, but decided against it for the time being. He plodded back to his dorm room in his slippers and put his books and doodles into the room on top of his dorm-issued study desk.
 
Caroline went through Sunday as though it was a blur, she didn’t even really remember most of it. Somehow Monday, always seemed to sneak up like that on her. She woke at 6:30am, with plenty of time to get to her first class. She loved the mornings, because by now, when most of the other students were just starting classes, she was done.

She took her time going back to her room. The fall air was just starting to get a crisp edge to it, but the sun was still warm and bright. Changing her mind about going to her room, she picked a large oak, now dressed in flaming fall colors to sit under and do her class readings.

It was from that vantage point that an hour or so later she saw Jared coming up the path to the frat house.
 
Jared had meandered all over campus going from one class to the next. He wasn't really one for sitting still, so when he had free time he would wander the campus. The fall air was nice to be out in, soon it would be cold and he wouldn't want to be outside unless there was something going on specifically. He wandered about the field in between the buildings when he saw Caroline sitting against the tree.

He wandered over to her and plunked himself down beside her, bouncing his ass off of a root that was sticking out of the ground. "Argh, I really should learn to look at what I am doing." he groaned, rubbing his tailbone. He shuffled a little closer to Caroline so as to not sit on the root. "So what did you think of Horton Hears a Who? It was always once of my favorite books. I hope they do Horton Hatches the Egg as well. An Elephant's faithful, 100%" Jared grinned. "Seuss is cool, no matter how old you are."
 
Caroline laughed as Jared sat down then shuffled in closer to her. She smiled warmly at him.

“Well, from what I saw of it, it was definitely cute, and I liked the company.” She marked her page and turned to him.

“I don’t remember much after the first half, and then waking up on Sunday morning, alone and cold. When did you leave?”

She hoped she hadn’t sounded disappointed to find he was gone, but she was curious. Truthfully, Caroline was hoping they could try it again with another movie some time soon. She’d not felt anything like this for quite a while, and to be so safe and comfy with someone, well, she wanted to recreate the experience.

Caroline stole a glance at him. He was still so handsome, his lips perfect and his hazel eyes dancing with merriment. It was hard to believe he didn’t have a girlfriend even with his absentminded corniness, he was too cute to be single for long.
 
"Well, I left when the sun came up. I didn't want to, I was pretty comfy apart from the pins and needles in my arm." Jared chuckled. "I didn't want to make things weird for you when you woke up. I've woken up once or twice with a person in my bed when I am not used to it. It's kind of awkward at first, just because it's not something you're expecting." Jared looked a little sheepish.

"You only saw half the movie before you conked out, perhaps you'd like to sit down and watch the rest of it together? There are a couple other good movies on netflix. Perhaps after we finish Horton Hears a Who, you can pick a movie." Jared smiled hopefully, but didn't want to push his luck. He extended the offer and hoped that she would take him up on it soon.
 
Caroline laughed at his admission of one night stands.

“Wow, well, I’ve never woken up beside someone I wasn’t expecting to, so I guess you are one up on me.” She teased him, a smile on her lips as she did so.

“I’d love to watch the rest of it with you at some point, and I will certainly look forward to picking another one.” She winked at him, being playful. Somewhere though it tugged at her heart that he’d been that close with other girls before. Oh she knew he wasn’t a Saint, just hearing it though made it real, and the knowledge stung.

“So how bout we set next Saturday after your shift as our date?” her eyes were glinting with mischief as she taunted him.
 
Jared grinned. "Well, I've been to some strange parties, I've woken up in a bathtub once. Though I must confess it's been a while since I've done anything that crazy."

When Caroline mentioned the movie Jared felt a little flutter in his heart. Perhaps there was a chance with her after all. He didn't want to squander it, so he accepted it on the spot.

"That sounds fun! I can save up a few bucks and bring over some popcorn and a couple cans of soda as well! I don't know if you want popcorn in your bed though." Jared didn't have a lot of money, being on dorm patrol didn't really pay anything. It just got him a discount on his rent and kind of gave him a social exercise. He always had enough to feed himself and pay his bills, but there wasn't a lot at the end of the month. Not like he wanted Caroline to know that.

"I made sure to lock the room when I left as well. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."
 
Caroline eyed him warily.

“How did you lock the door from the outside?” she asked, certain he had not really meant to say that. She shook her head. “No matter, if you want snacks I will have something. You just bring yourself and that will be more than fine.” Caroline smiled at him, she knew Jared was paying his own way through school by working the summers in construction, but that he chose not to work during school, which made things tight.

She on the other hand, well, her folks had been great financial planners and all her summer job money was her play money through school. So while she budgeted herself play cash, she didn’t really have to be stingy if she didn’t want.

She patted Jared’s knee as she used it to brace herself up from her position beside him.

“Well, I should go and pretend to study if I am going to goof off and spend my weekend with you,” she grinned at him, the lightness in her tone reflected in the sparkle of her eyes. She gave him a slight wave, before walking into the house and to her room.

She opened the keyed lock, wondering what he had meant, he obviously couldn’t have locked it after him, she didn’t have any spare keys. But that thought was fleeting and quickly dissipated as she set about studying for her classes.
 
Jared waved back emphatically, just for the fun of it. "See you around!"

Jared was obviously a little scatterbrained. He thought he had locked the door behind himself, but realized that he couldn't have. He didn't even have the key from the patrol hall, so that was out of the question. He shook his head realizing that he was a space cadet. He'd clear that up later, for now he had a date and the luxury of snacks! The world was looking like a very bright place.

He squinted as the sun hit his eyes while he watched all the people on campus go by. He gathered himself up and walked across campus to the cafeteria. He managed to talk one of the attendants there into a cup of coffee. Not busting people once in a while had it's benefits. People were always willing to help him out, simply because as long as people were acting reasonably they never had a problem with Jared.

He walked back to his room with his cup of coffee and the student newspaper. He read something in "3 free lines that creeped him out, wondering if the guy who wrote a note to some girl even knew how creepy he sounded.
 
Caroline made it back to her room in a bit of a daze.

Had she really just made a “date” with Jared?

She spread her books out onto the bed and began studying for her classes. Last year when midterms came in Mid October she’d been mildly surprised. This year however, she was going to be prepared. Two hours later though, she found her mind wandering to Jared.

She got up and checked the small cupboard stand under her tiny microwave. It wasn’t much, and she couldn’t keep refrigerated treats, but it did the trick for popcorn or a quick reheat on a meal. She took a bit of an inventory and then went back to her books, a list forming of things she would get by Friday.

She smiled to herself as she began making plans. The rest of this week was going to drag now that she had something to look forward to.
 
Jared headed back to his room and cruised it, making sure he didn't have anything that belonged to Caroline in his possession. He didn't want to be worried about sneaking anything back in there any time soon. Especially after the discomfort he caused her earlier. He was happy for the opportunity that it brought him, but he didn't want that to be the basis for everything. He had an actual date, an actual DATE with Caroline. He never would have thought it would come true.

Jared went through a whole list of scenarios in his head. Should he wear something a little nicer than jeans and a t-shirt? Should he wear pajamas? Should he bring anything with him, other than his laptop? What should he do?

"I should relax, it's a movie. That's what I should do." Jared sighed, putting everything back into perspective. He was still excited for his date though, something that would carry him through the week.
 
Caroline couldn't believe Friday was here already. She had gone to her last class of the week in a bit of a daze, then headed to the gorcery store for snacks. As she made her way back to her dorm room, she could feel her hands were shaking.

It was just a movie, it was no big deal, yet as she fumbled with her keys, she knew her mind and her heart were at odds with this. She was anticipating, cuddling and likely sleeping with a guy, that meant more than a date. Even if the "sleeping with" was just that, and not the other "sleeping with". She glanced furtively at the clock.

She'd gone out last night and bought a new night gown, one that was a bit longer, but made of a royal blue satin with black lace trimmed cuffs. It had a seductive neckline, with a key hole button, offering a moddest yet tantalizing view of clevage, depending on the vantage point one had. She hoped he liked it.

Caroline busied herself dusting her room and getting it ready for company, a soft wistful smile on her lips as she did so.
 
Jared couldn't think about much once Friday got there. He was getting ready for his date, a day early no less. He wanted to make sure that he was at least presentable. He knew he was going to have to do some laundry, so he bundled up his clothes from his laundry pile and put it all into his laundry bag. Everything was ready to go before he began his Friday night shift.

He wandered the halls. It was a busy night, after a broken window and an indoor bonfire in a metal mixing bowl he had to shut down a few things that just went too far. Most of it was young people trying to be funny, a common cause for disturbances. After this he was blissfully happy that he didn't have to work the bar crowd that got in at 3:00am. He walked each floor with his flashlight and his notebook. So far, after the fire alarm and the vandalism, all was quiet on the western front.
 
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