Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Nic: Have you ever seen someone so beautiful that you actually teared up a little?
I mean, like, just a little bit.

Sav: We've been over this. I can't relate to your level of thirst, man.

Nic: Whatever. Just trust me on this. It happened.

The studious Savannah Kelly went on to explain the obvious: Of course Nic wouldn't see this devastatingly, tragic, beautiful man ever again. Those were just the consequences of going to a huge-ass school that was basically a mini city. It was it's own city. Which meant... Nic could walk by the same spot every day for an entire week and never run into that guy again. He itched to take a picture, but he couldn't get his phone out fast enough before they were beyond the point of crossing paths.

Nic was in such a daze he stumbled on his shoes and tripped into a girl passing by. Though, he had a nice conversation with her while they kicked aside the fallen ice cubes from her Starbucks drink and planned on getting together later that week for a coffee.

He couldn't seem to concentrate on that either.

What the hell is wrong with me? he thought as he dragged his hands through his hair before plotting to memorize the date and time the girl wrote onto his hand.

Writing, he mused, instantly perking up. Pen, I need a pen—

He scrambled through his bag as the class started. He flipped to a fresh page on his notebook and started to scribble down information in the form of lines, scratch-marks, and anything that could possibly resemble the face that did this to him. How could he ever go on without another look into those soulful—albeit, distracted—eyes? There was a certain aloofness about this character Nic began to conjure up. The kind that suggested No, of course he wouldn't look at the camera. Or, Yes, that was the color of his headphones. He probably listens to rock, but, like, older, out-of-style rock. He made a mental note to force Sav to help him create a playlist for this bizarre, angelic creature so Nic could draw all of the portraits of him to this music.

He hadn't realized it until everyone started packing up that he literally spent the entire class drawing. Well, it's not the first time, he thought to himself as he was about to close his notebook.

"Holy hell, that's so fucking good," someone spoke up beside him.

Nic jumped a little, startled by the compliment. He looked up at the guy now lingering over his desk to get a look at Nic's portrait. "May I?" the guy asked, and Nic shrugged, sliding the notebook over.

It suddenly occurred to Nic that flaunting around a semi-realistic drawing of a stranger he saw in passing probably wasn't the best idea. That was evident the second the guy said, "I'm not much of a drawer myself, but this is fucking good. It kinda looks like this one guy I know."

"Really?" Nic perked up, hastily scrambling out of his seat to look at the portrait again to make sure they were thinking about the same guy. "How would you describe him?"

"I dunno. Kinda broody, quiet. Doesn't talk much unless he's prodded, ya know? I mean, I just met him this week but... labs, ya know. Gotta talk to your lab partner and stuff. Kind of a course requirement," the guy said with a laugh, handing the notebook back so Nic could put it away. "Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. Milo."

"Nicolas—you can call me Nic though," he replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and accepting the hand Milo reached out. They wound up walking out together by happenstance, and so he decided to pull the conversation a bit longer. "So... not gonna lie—I might have seen the guy you're talking about out in the Quad. We just crossed paths and I felt the need to draw him. You know his name?"

"Nah. I'm terrible with names—usually takes a few times to memorize 'em," Milo confessed, squinting up at the sky before looking at Nic again. "So I hope you won't be offended when I ask for your name again next class."

"No offense taken, my dude. Where you headin' next?" he asked. They were approaching an intersection of walkers and bikers, and they paused to avoid being flattened by one of those horribly dangerous death-machines. God, did Nic hate the bikers around campus.

"I have a class on the other side of campus, so I gotta go to the bus station. You?" he asked.

"Dorm. I live in Kingsley."

"Ah, Mayhew. Good Ol' Mayhem, as I like to call it," Milo laughed, and nudged Nic in the shoulder. "See you around."

"Yeah, see you."

Next week. Next week I'll get a name, Nic promised himself, but moaned aloud as he turned to head towards Kingsley—only to be floored by a bike coming out of nowhere to trample him. "Fuck!" both him and the rider screamed, and he flipped off the rider without much thought. He realized that would definitely become a habit he'd have to stamp out before Mama came to visit in two weeks. She'd whack him with a rolling pin if she heard how much he started swearing just within the first two weeks of getting to Arnette University.

Nic ran his hands down the sides of his face as he meandered down the street to Kingsley. It was one of the farther dorms—not exactly close to the center of the weekend mayhem otherwise known as where Mayhew was. Initially he wanted to live there, for obvious social reasons, but it just didn't work out that way. Besides, Mayhew was an older building—at Kingsley they had all the newest renovations AKA awesome showers. He didn't mind that one fucking bit.

The second he lumbered into his room, he threw his backpack onto the futon and soon followed with it. He struggled to nudge his shoes off, but eventually they fell to the ground, and he groaned into the cushions. Where had all of his motivation gone?

The writing glared on his hand, and he frowned at it before sitting up and trying to remember what the girl looked like. Grey hair, right? It was definitely dyed, and kind of edgy. Maybe he had a thing for edgy people...

The Guy.

Nic pulled out his notebook and tore out the page with The Guy's face on it. It was still fresh in his memory. His motivation returned again, and he ran to his desk where he stuffed all of his art supplies. He pulled out his pencil set and an actual sketchbook, and began the process of rendering the image he had in his head, and translating it onto paper all over again. He kept his original sketch taped over his desk for a reference, and an hour later, when Sav got out of class, he had a few song suggestions to apply to The Guy.

He was so enveloped in coloring it in that he hadn't even heard his roommate come in until the volume on the speakers was turned down. Nic paused for a minute and looked over his shoulder. "What, Leo?" he asked.

"Bit loud, huh? The neighbors'll hate us," his roommate said. Nic scoffed and leaned back on his chair, hooking his arm over the back. Leo always tended to notice whatever Nic was doing, and came over to investigate further. "Drawing again, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. A synonym would be 'dying,' but I go for either." Leo scoffed at that, and gently tapped his finger on the pad of paper, leaning against the wooden post of the loft. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure I know this guy. You using a reference picture or something?" he asked, and Nic went red all over again. He was thankful his summer tan still hadn't faded, otherwise it would have been blatantly obvious.

"Uh... not exactly. I might have seen him in the Quad earlier today. Felt like drawing him," Nic confessed. "You know him?"

"Hell yeah. He's a cool guy—he's a sophomore, like me," Leo said. "He applied to be an RA, too, but didn't get in. I think he's working at a restaurant now or something."

"Really?" Nic perked up. "Do you know where?"

"Nah, sorry," Leo confessed with a sigh, collapsing on the futon and nudging Nic's backpack aside. He let his arm fall over the back of the futon and looked at Nic, eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Nic practically squeaked, and turned away so fast he got a bit dizzy staring into the light of his lamp. "Nothing! I don't—I don't know, just wondering. S-So you know his name then?"

Leo thought for a moment, and the longer he waited for an answer, the more Nic's hopes dropped. He forgot—most everything that didn't have to do with Leo's education, or his work as an RA, was useless to him. "Um... God, I can't remember," he hissed out, rubbing a hand over the stubble on his chin. "I mean, I think it started with a 'K.' Like, Kevin or Kendal or something basic like that."

Nic snorted and said, "Basic? I didn't even know you knew mainstream vocabulary."

Leo scowled at him and chastised, "Get back to work—and I mean actual work. Stop doodling and work on homework."

"But what if his name is Kendal? That's too close to Barbie's Ken doll," Nic whined, collapsing over his drawing with a moan. "I can't afford to fawn over a Ken."

"You can't fawn over anything if you're working on homework," Leo told him, promptly taking out his own laptop and notebook.

Nic studied his profile for a moment. He drew Leo enough times since his roommate moved in a week ago. Of course, they were all hidden and secret and never to be dug up by anyone other than Nicolas Sandoval, but Nic was starting to think that Leo was a less appealing subject now. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were roommates; Leo's excessive thoroughness with sticking to the rules dampened Nic's mood sometimes. All he could think about was The Guy's face now, and he was itching to finish the drawing.

"Nic," Leo warned. "Stop thinking about it and work on homework. I know you have something to work on."

"So is that how you do it? No wonder you don't have a girlfriend—you'd probably just avoid her by doing homework," Nic remarked, and turned away with his teeth biting his lip before he could see the deadly glare Leo turned on him. But mentally, Nic gave himself a high-five. That was a fucking good one.

* * *

But what were the chances that Nic now knew two people who knew the face he'd been drawing incessantly?

The more Nic thought about it, the more concerned he was about flaunting his drawings around. It wasn't like he tried. It was just the nosey people who looked over his shoulder in the middle of class and noticed it lingering on the corner of his notebook, or taking up an entire page in his sketchbook. Within a week he knew two more people, and was going on a third as he met up with the girl at Starbucks in the main campus building.

It was a good thing he recognized her by her hair. After getting a good luck at her, he realized it wouldn't even be a problem spotting her on campus. She had a unique face, especially with her dark skin and striking blue eyes. He was almost certain they were colored contacts, but then again, emphasis on almost certain.

"Hey, you made it," she said, and Nic shrugged, slapping his hands down against his thighs.

"Hey, I totally did," he laughed. "How was your week?"

She took in a deep, stressful sigh. "It was... fine, if not a horrific slap to the face. So much for the relaxing weekend I had planned," she said, and gestured that they should probably get in line. It seemed like it was rush hour, which gave them plenty of time to talk. And Nic found that he... didn't mind it at all.

She was sarcastic, witty, energetic—and she definitely knew how to talk. She didn't ramble; she just phrased things in a way that enticed him to know more. It wasn't until after they rounded the curve in the line that he realized he didn't even know her name.

He cut her off quickly, "Wait—we don't even know each other's names. I'm Nic."

"Olivia," she laughed, swapping her phone to her left hand so she could shake his extended hand. Her fingernails were painted a faint blue, nearly the same shade as her eyes. "I'm a freshmen. Medical Sciences."

He gave an appreciative hum. "Tough major, I respect that."

"Everyone's majors are difficult in their own respects. What about you?"

"Undecided, but leaning towards fine arts. I just don't know what to do with it yet. That seems to be the whole point of this, huh?" he commented, glancing up at the menu. He was about to ask her what she wanted to drink, but the words fizzled up in his mouth and turned to a steady, "Uh..." as his eyes followed the figure turning away from the farthest machine, moving across the counter to hand a drink to a waiting customer...

Fuck you, Leo, for saying The Guy worked at a fucking restaurant, Nic thought to himself, feeling his face heat up as he quickly turned his gaze down to the bakery in front of him. He wanted to scream at himself—You spend all week wondering what restaurant The Guy could work at, and you can't even look him in the eye when you get the chance?

"Um... you okay there?" Olivia asked him, and he realized that they were up next in line. It was a miracle that The Guy wasn't manning the register—Nic never would have been able to form a straight sentence if that was the case. By some divine intervention, he was able to order and wait approximately five seconds before turning to Olivia and saying:

"Okay, I have a confession to make. I hope you didn't think this was a date, because I'm not even straight," he said quietly, and she just seemed amused by it.

She snorted, her smile pushing her cheeks up against her glittering eyes. "Fuck, what a concept. I sort of figured because no straight guy dresses as well as you. I was kinda keeping my hopes up that you would be straight," she confessed, and pointedly looked down to survey his outfit. He looked down at it, frowning.

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Literally nothing! That's the problem!" she laughed. "All the guys who've hit on me so far look like basic white guys in khakis and polos. I thought you would save me from them and whisk me away to the nearest H&M wh-where we'd—Hey! S-Stop laughing! You're gonna make me laugh!"

They both dissolved into giggles, nearly crying from the hilarity of it. In the end, Nic brushed nonexistent tears from his eyes and reached for his phone. They did what any freshmen in college would do—added the other on Snapchat and any other relevant social media.

When their drinks came up, that momentary spike of fear returned, noting that the voice their names came from was the same one belonging to the face he nonstop drew all that week. His face went red, wishing he'd been able to record it and God, he was turning into a stalker. It was probably a terrible thing for him to know where this Guy worked.

Whatever the case, Olivia saved him and went to fetch the drinks. She had a knowing twinkle in her eyes as she led Nic over to where the half-and-half was. "Ah, I see why you brought it up now. Understandably so," she commented as she added a dash of milk to each of their coffees before snapping on the caps. "Do you have time to stick around a bit longer? Or do ya gotta go?"

"I can stick around," he confessed. It wasn't like I had anything else planned for today, he admitted to himself as he let Olivia take the lead and claim a recently opened spot by the windows. After they were seated for nearly five minutes, talking non-stop, he realized just how clever she was. He had a perfect view of the counter where Kieran would call out the drinks. She did this on purpose, that snake, he mused, taking a sip of his coffee as he zoned for a moment, studying the figure of the man behind the counter.

"His name's Kieran," Olivia said.

"Hm?" Nic droned, blinking and looking back at Olivia. Wait, she said something important—

"Kieran. He's name's Kieran," she reiterated, and tapped her fingernail on her chest. "I saw his name tag when I picked up the drinks."

"Wow, you're observant," he mused aloud, though inside he was chanting the name. Thankfully, he was nothing like Milo and Leo in that manner. He could remember a name just in passing. He never really thought of it as a skill—but mostly he just found them to be important things to remember.

"I try to be when necessary," she confessed. "You said you saw him a while ago. You planning on talking to him?"

Well, I never really thought that far, he confessed internally. "Probably not. I don't think so. You don't usually act on crushes, you know? Besides, I'm not sure what he's all about."

"You didn't know what I was all about, and likewise for me to you," she said. "I still would have come even if it wasn't a date."

"I know, but that was different. We actually talked. We had some connection. I have no connection to him. I can't just... walk up and say 'Hey, I think you're so fucking hot, wanna make out?'"

"Wow, I did not need to hear that." The voice came from beside them, and both Olivia and Nic jumped at the sound of it. Olivia went bright red, but Nic turned and merely laughed. It was just Sav.

She dragged over a spare chair and plopped down. She noted Olivia quick enough, but spared only a second to say, "Hey, I'm Savannah but most people call me Sav. Nic is a friend of mine."

"Oh—Gosh, I was worried there for a second," Olivia laughed, clasping a hand over her heart as she turned her wide eyes to Nic. "I'm Olivia. So you two know each other?"

"Yeah, we both live in Kingsley," he explained. "Welcome Week Buddies."

"That's cool that you guys still hang out. My Buddy was kind of a bitch," Olivia confessed with a nervous laugh, leaning back with her arms crossed. "But, that's for another time. What brings you here, Sav?"

"Definitely not whatever you two were talking about before," she snorted. "But I'm here now, so I have to know. You talkin' about The Guy?"

"The Guy?" Olivia repeated.

"The Guy now has a name. His name happens to be Kieran, and he's right over—whoa, where'd he go?" Nic blurted out, panic shooting through him. Olivia twisted around to see and yup, Kieran wasn't anywhere behind the counter. They waited to see if anyone came out of the back room, but... alas.

"Well shit," Olivia said, turning back around. "What an elusive Guy. I swear he was there a minute ago because you were zoning." Nic gave her a dull look, and Sav scowled at them.

"I feel like you're shitting me with this. What are the chances that I show up and he's not there," Sav complained, and Nic shrugged. "My timing is always on point. So I say this Guy doesn't exist, and that's final."

"He totally exists!" Nic cried out, groaning in distress. He leaned back and forth, craning to see over Sav's disinterested face, and stupid fucking circle-glasses. He pegged her with a glare, and she stuck her nose up at him. "Not fair! You came at the wrong time!"

"If he works at the most popular Starbucks on campus, then I bet he gets hit on all the time by girls and guys and you have literally no chance," she told him, and Olivia rolled her eyes, clearly disagreeing.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Olivia said. "Try to be a little romantic here."

Sav gave her a prosaic glare as Nic propped his chin up on his hand and muttered, "Sav doesn't have a romantic bone in her body. She's aro and doesn't understand the complications of falling in love with a guy's beautiful aesthetic."

"I can appreciate the aesthetic appeal," Sav corrected, flushing at the attention, "but acting on it and shifting fond observations to romantic intentions is just not my style. I appreciate humanity's biological artwork from afar." With that, she crossed her arms with a curt nod of her head. Olivia's jaw was slightly dropped, and she gave a few soft claps.

"That was spoken beautifully," she said.

"Thanks, I try," she said.

At last, Olivia just shook her head, laying her hands down on the table and saying, "I don't understand. So you've been drawing this guy all week. You only saw him once!"

Nic's ears betrayed him. So it wasn't just him thinking that was a little weird. "I can't help myself," he muttered, scratching his neck as he caught Sav's evil side-eye. "He's, like, perfect for drawing material. And—whoa, totally didn't mean that to come out as using him to draw. You savages. Blood leaks everywhere and dries brown. I would never."

Before Sav could toss out one of her snarky comebacks, Olivia said, "He is probably one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever encountered. There's just... something about his facial structure that screams 'Vogue,' you know? Or Calvin Klein. Maybe it's the shape of his eyebrows, I really don't know what it is."

"I always thought his nose was the perfect shape," Nic confessed, practically muffling it into his hand. "But that's just me! I mean, I agree with you on all points there. Beautiful creature."

"You two are both insane," Sav said, pegging them each with a harsh glare. "Now I sort of want to see him for myself. In person—not another one of your drawings."

"I'd love to see your drawings, though," Olivia confessed, and Nic shrugged with a soft, "Meh." She rolled her eyes, drumming her hands on the table. At last, she huffed out, "Well, if you aren't gonna show me... seems like I should get going. Hope you don't mind—we've been sitting here for ages, Sav."

"That explains why The Guy's shift is over," she scoffed, and Nic shoved her in the side of her head. Olivia scooted out of her chair and tucked it in as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She had on a soft, plum skirt and he noted that her tank top showed a strip of her stomach. "Hey, there's a party this weekend. There's a whole Facebook event thing 'cause your name's gotta be on the list of attendees to get in. I'll invite you to it."

Nic tried his best not to seem to eager. "Yeah! Sounds cool."

"Awesome. Maybe I'll see you there. And text me the progress on this Kieran guy. I'll let you know if I see him around campus."

"Yeah, sure," Nic laughed, waving as Olivia walked off and pushed through the exit door. She passed by the window, and waved to them from the outside. The breeze outside made it look like her hair was twirling about, and Nic noted that it was starting to get dark—not because of the time, but because lingering storm clouds. At last, Nic sighed and nudged his empty coffee cup before saying, "I figured seeing him again would convince me that I didn't need to draw him anymore."

"And?" Sav said with a sniff, leaning back in her chair. She had one ankle propped up on her opposite knee.

"And... it didn't work. He's, like... flawless. I wish you coulda seen him in person. My drawings don't do him justice," he confessed. He looked out the window again, and sighed, "We should probably head back before it rains."

Sav noted it as well. "Agreed."

They gathered their things and tossed Nic's empty coffee cup on the way out the door. A gust of wind threatened to knock Sav straight over until Nic gathered her up and pushed her ahead by her shoulders. They were laughing as she hollered, "Quit using me as your human shield!" They scrambled up the steps next to the bus stop and raced across the bridge carrying them over the train tracks along the university roads. They could see the city from here, and they took a second to study it from afar. Besides, it wasn't like they had much time to just... look at it, even in the midst of an almost-rainstorm.

"Can you believe that we're actually in college now?" Sav asked, leaning her forearms against the railing and looking over at Nic. He shrugged, bumping his hip with her's.

"Fuck yeah. It's the greatest thing. I'm so glad we're out of high school," he confessed before they lapsed into silence. He did miss his ma, but... he was living in the city now! That was exciting, wasn't it? As they moved on into the Quad's grassy squares and brick walkways, he thought about how... insane it was to think he was now responsible for himself and no one else. No siblings to look after. No car, no assigned chores...

"Shit!" Sav shrieked, and there came the sound of crinkled paper rippling against one of the cylinders where everyone stapled their posters. The wind tore a few others off, and they were pelted with papers, screaming and laughing when Nic attempted to run for it. By the time they were out of the mini-tornado of posters, he knew exactly what Sav was thinking.

"No, no—we gotta get back to Kingsley before it starts raining," Nic whined, but she was already rushing forward to pick up the crumpled papers. "Oh, come on—"

"What, don't you care about the environment? Come help me," she chastised.

There weren't students in the quad around this time, and maybe it was because they all got the right idea—it wasn't exactly fun running around in the middle of a thunderstorm. It wasn't raining yet, but Nic could smell it in the air, and became distracted by it as he grabbed the papers from Sav's outstretched hand and went to dunk them in the nearby recycling bin when—

"At least some people care about trash. God, there's, like, twenty layers of posters on here."

How was it possible that Nic could recognize his voice, just from listening to him call out names all day?

Nic's chest seized up as he turned around, and found a familiar black-haired Guy standing by the cylinder where all the posters were stapled. He had his backpack hooked on one shoulder, a lazy tip in his hips as he tore a page off the cylinder and read, "Over The Garden Wall Musical. Incredible."

Sav stood up instantly, gasping, "I fucking love Over The Garden Wall! Don't you dare trash it!"

Nic thought he might have died a little, because his entire body went numb when Kieran scoffed, and his smirk turned into a smile as he walked over to Nic. He grabbed a few other posters along the way and came so close that Nic thought he might pass out. What was this horrible, vexing feeling inside his chest that told him to just run. How could he possibly face the fact that he—

Kieran walked right past him and stuffed the papers in the bin.

Sav gasped. "You traitor."

"Doin' the Lord's work," he laughed, and nudged Nic in the arm as he headed back to help Sav with the posters. Oh, right, posters. Nic followed suit, bending down and grabbing more of the papers as Sav chattered to Kieran about the all-powerful cartoon show that seemed to have stolen her heart right from her. I can definitely relate, Nic mused to himself as he noted Kieran out of the corner of his eye.

The Guy had a soft, but angular jawline that ended at the narrow point of his chin. His skin was a flawless, pale shade—nearly translucent, actually. Sav was no better, but his just seemed... to have a slight pink hue to it, unlike Sav's bluish tint from spending all her fucking time indoors. It was the subtlest difference, and finding them laughing next to each other made it all the more obvious. They were finishing up stuffing the posters into the bin when Sav pointed out Kieran's jean jacket.

"Nice patches. Where'd you get 'em?" she asked, and specifically jabbed a purple one on his bicep. "Specifically this one."

Kieran looked at it, and then back at her, and then back at the patch. Nic could see the wheels turning in his head, and that gentle pout of his lips nearly drew tears to Nic's eyes. What the fuck is going on...

Eventually Sav twisted her backpack around and showed him a similar pin. It was striped, just like Kieran's, and Nic's heart just about dropped straight through his stomach. Nic and Sav had enough conversations about that particular pin for him to know exactly what was going on. "You're the first person I've met here who's ace too," Sav said. "But then again, I've only been here for a few weeks so..."

"Actually, same," Kieran laughed. "In terms of the first person I've met. But then again, it's not like a lot of people flaunt it around."

"Right, right. So are you a freshmen then?" she asked, and they were just about to dissolve into yet another conversation when a water droplet splashed right onto her round glasses. Nic was still staring at them like they were aliens—but then again, it looked like Kieran had an alien patch on his denim jacket along with a few National Park patches.

"Shit, it's raining," Nic commented, looking up at the sky through the mesh of trees arching over their heads. When he looked back down, he met Kieran's eyes—it was like The Guy hadn't even realized Nic was there the entire time. They stared at each other for a moment, until Nic grew worried. Did it look like he was trying to check Kieran out? Would that make him uncomfortable? God, Nic could still remember the time when Sav punched him for checking her out that first time they met during Welcome Week.

But Kieran didn't punch him, and instead cleared his throat before looking over his shoulder. "Well, I should probably be going. Where are you two headed?"

"Kingsley," Nic replied as he reached behind him to pull his umbrella out of the side pocket on his backpack. "What about you?"

"Ah. Well, not exactly near there," he replied. Well that's a bit vague, Nic thought bitterly, and realized he was too much of a coward now to pry further. "I'll see you two around."

He saluted Sav, and on the downward motion of his hand, gave Nic another punch to the arm. They both just stood there for a while, until there was a long enough delay for Nic's umbrella to signal their own departure. Still, Sav seemed a bit out of it. She was smiling like crazy though, so Nic asked, "What are you smiling about? You look like a serial killer on the hunt."

"That may be. We never got his name," she said. "I'll have to dig him up on the internet. He looked really familiar, so I mean I bet I could find something easy enough."

"Maybe that's because you recognize him from my drawings," he commented, continuing to walk before realizing that Sav wasn't following suit. She was staring at him, and then pointed off to where Kieran disappeared. Nic sighed dramatically, slapping his hand down. "What? Come on, you're gonna get all wet."

"Wait—you mean...? That's The Guy? That's Kieran?" she hissed at him, quiet enough so it wouldn't carry across the Quad.

Nic felt like screaming. How obvious did he have to be? "Yes, that's what I just said. Now come on—"

"Why didn't you ask him out, then?" she demanded, and Nic's entire face went red. Was she seriously going to fight him on this right now, when they were a good ten minutes from Kingsley in the pouring rain? "Look, he's right over there! You could run and catch up to him!"

"But—"

"But what? I agree he's pretty cute. I'm not blind, Nic—"

"Yeah, but he's ace, Sav," he hissed at her, stepping up so he could hold the umbrella over the both of them. Clearly she wasn't going to move until they finished this. "I can't just... ask him out."

"Sure you can," she said. "What's being ace got to do with it?"

Nic just stared at her. It seemed like she had enough sense to know why that was. Eventually she picked up on it one way or another, because she groaned aloud and said, "Nic, just because he's asexual doesn't mean he doesn't go on dates! Ya just gotta find out his boundaries and stuff, ya know?"

"So you're saying that if I asked you out on a date, you'd say yes," Nic deadpanned, and Sav's ears went red, shoulders bunching up. "Exactly. That's what I thought."

"But that's just me! Everyone's different about that kind of shit," she muttered, and pointedly stuffed her hood over her heavy, shoulder-length curls. Her bangs were soaked, and her normally ginger-hair turned brown, framing the roundness of her cheeks. "So you gonna catch up to him?"

Nic had to admit, he considered it. It seemed like a tempting offer. And it wasn't like he was opposed to running, especially when that beautiful, brooding face was at the finish line. Then again... he wasn't sure what he was looking for aside from that. What was his end goal? He had to have an end goal. There he was, spending all week thinking about this one guy, and never knowing what to do when it came to actually seeing him face-to-face.

He frowned, thinking about what he and Olivia talked about. So he shook his head and said, "No, I don't think so. C'mon, let's get moving."