{ picture perfect }

{ chapter five }

(blonde daniel , brunette corbyn , curly jonah)

✩

"are you sure about this, c?" jonah asked. his voice was unsure, fingers hesitantly raking through the blonde hair in front of him.

"this is the fifth time you've asked me that." corbyn sighed, "yes, i'm sure."

"but why?" eben questioned, standing behind the two of them.

"i want a change." the blonde shrugged, reaching for the box of hair dye on the counter, shoving it in jonah's hands. "please?"

jonah studied the box in his hand, looking between that and corbyn's pleading stare. he finally released a sigh, nodding in agreement. "okay, goodbye blondie."

_

"can i see it now?"

"no."

a moment of silence passed, the red hand of the clock clicking twice before the silence was broken.

"what about now?"

"no."

corbyn frowned, hands impatiently fidgeting in his lap as he resisted the urge to touch his hair. the minutes seemed to drag on, corbyn wanting nothing more than to see the outcome.

"how about now-"

"corbyn, i swear to God."

corbyn huffed, crossing his arms over his chest with a small pout. his foot tapped incessantly against the floor, corbyn attempting to strain his neck to take a peek into the mirror.

"corbs, stop moving unless you want this to look dumb."

"why is this taking so long?" the boy whined, leaning his head back to watch jonah.

"oh, excuse me for taking my time to make it look good, i'll just throw it all on your head and see what happens."

"ladies, ladies, no need to argue." eben cut in.

"shut up eben."

"shut up eben."

corbyn reached his hand back to swat at the brunette, "don't copy me."

"okay, wow, that was rude." eben scoffed.

"you know i love you, babe." jonah smiled.

jonah sighed, giving corbyn's hair one final fluff before stepping back, observing his work with a small smile, "okay, you can look now."

corbyn hopped out of his chair with an excited bounce, closing his eyes before feeling around for the mirror, "okay, okay, before i look-eben, what do you think?"

"looks great, c." eben smiled.

"promise?"

"for sure."

"jonah?"

"i should be a hair stylist." the brunette chuckled.

"that's not an answer, how does it look." corbyn grumbled, eyes still screwed shut.

"it looks amazing corbs, i swear." jonah promised.

corbyn nodded, slowly peeling his eyes open. the boy let out a gasp, his fingers hesitantly running through his newly dyed, brown locks.

"wow." he mumbled, messing with the loose strands at the front of his head.

"thoughts?" jonah asked.

"it looks amazing." he gasped, turning around to pull jonah into a hug. "thank you, thank you!"

"of course." jonah laughed, wrapping his arms around corbyn.

corbyn pulled back, now throwing his arms around eben's frame. "thank you for having a useful boyfriend."

eben threw his head back in laughter, wrapping his arms around corbyn. he watched as jonah took offense, mouth hung agape in shock.

"the homophobia i'm faced with in this dorm room is so rude." the boy pouted.

eben rolled his eyes while corbyn scoffed, pulling away from the older blonde.

"really?"

"a hundred percent. now shoo, you're gonna be late for your class."

corbyn's eyes widened, peeking at the clock in the corner, "fuck."

the boy scrambled to pack up his belongings, shoving them all in his backpack before throwing on a random hoodie. in his rush, he barely took the time to process it wasn't his. he was soon out the door, flinging his backpack over his shoulder with a quick 'bye' to the two boys still in the room.

_

corbyn huffed as he walked out of his class. his brain hurt and the persistent wind blowing in his face wasn't doing any favors for his sour mood. the brunette trudged down the campus to his favorite coffee shop, joining the long line with a small sigh.

the boy flashed a tired smile towards the barista, placing his go to order he always gets, an iced almond milk hazelnut latte with two shots of espresso.

corbyn pulled his project paper from his backpack as he began to walk. his eyes scanned over the words with a grimace.

he considered himself to be a serious introvert. he got nervous when he was called on in class, self conscious when he was in a crowded area, socially anxious when he was surrounded by people he didn't know. the thought of having to not only ask a random person to take pictures of them, but to actually carry out the act of taking pictures of them, terrified him.

"corbyn?"

the brunette turned around at the sound of his name, jumping back when he ran into a hard chest. "oh, i'm s-so sorry."

"corbyn?"

he lifted his head to get a look at who he'd run into, eyes widening the slightest bit as a smile lit up his face.

"oh, hi daniel."

"we've got to stop meeting like this." the blonde chuckled.

"you've got to stop bumping into me mister, it's very rude." corbyn hummed, taking his coffee from the counter with a small 'thank you' as it was placed down.

daniel only smiled, taking a step back and gesturing for corbyn walk ahead of him. corbyn did so with a light blush, letting his legs lead them to a booth not far away. daniel sat down across from corbyn, the other setting his bag down before dropping into his seat with a slight huff.

"you dyed your hair." daniel observed.

"i did? no way." corbyn gasped, grinning as daniel rolled his eyes.

"no need to be a bully." daniel teased. "but i really like it, it suits you."

"you think so?" corbyn asked, seeming unsure.

daniel nodded, eyes scanning corbyn's figure before his lips twitched up. "cute hoodie."

corbyn looked down, confused until he recognized the green material as one that didn't belong to him. "oh." he said, looking up guiltily, a shy smile present on his face. "i promise i'll give it back to you at some point."

"don't worry about it." daniel laughed, "like i said, it looks cute on you."

corbyn nodded nervously, cheeks tinting pink. it was quiet before daniel's eyes caught sight of the paper next to corbyn's coffee cup. "hey, what's that?"

corbyn looked down, sighing gently. "just some project that is very anti-corbyn."

daniel laughed at that, and if you asked corbyn, it was one of the best sounds he'd ever heard in his life. "what's it about?"

"basically we have to take pictures of someone you're not super close with or a stranger and capture their life in pictures? i dont really understand it, i just heard someone you're not close with and zoned out." the boy explained, frowning down at the paper.

"oh, well, you can do me." daniel shrugged, "if you want."

"really?" corbyn perked up, feeling his heart leap in a mix of nerves and excitement.

"sure, why not? we're not super close so i'm eligible, plus we can multitask: get your project done and become closer. it's a win win."

"a-are you okay with that?" the brunette mumbled.

"c, i just suggested it." daniel chuckled, reaching out to push corbyn's chin up. corbyn blushed lightly at the action. "i'm more than happy to do this for you."

"right, yeah, of course." corbyn stumbled over his words. "so, uh, when do we start?"

daniel hummed in thought, a small grin overtaking his face. "how about..." he paused, leaning forward slightly in his seat. "right now."

✩

wc. 1313

h - happy birth month to my slave *ahem* i mean editor :) love you kells !

s - i don't appreciate being called a slave thank you

_

how are yall today?