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"I don't understand Sav at all," Leo ranted as he paced the floor of their dorm. Both Olivia and Nic sat on the futon together while she mindlessly played Pokémon off of her pastel pink DS while simultaneously listening to Leo. Nic was so enthralled by the game that he nearly missed what started the Sav-topic in the first place.

Leo hesitated, pressing his hands to his hair and groaning. "I haven't talked to her in almost a week—she doesn't answer her door when I knock—hasn't even opened my messages—"

"Kinda sounds like you're in looove..." Olivia cooed, flopping to the side with a wide grin.

Leo scowled at her, his pink cheeks making it clear that he couldn't possibly take the joke. "Sav is my resident, first off, which means if anything happened between us I'd get fired. And second: We're just friends, but she's, like... she's awesome and all and she's incredibly smart and she's in one of my classes because our majors overlap in that regard and all the TAs love her but she hates me. She hates me! Why would she text me? I don't understand."

"Jesus, I was just kidding," Olivia murmured to Nic, laughing quietly to herself.

Nic shrugged and said, "He can't really take sarcasm sometimes."

"Why weren't the two of you at dinner yesterday anyway?" Leo demanded of Nic, who jumped to attention, eyes wide at being called out so quickly. He hoped no one would notice, considering how panicked Sav was about having to skip her regular mealtime to avoid sitting with the others.

"Uh..." he started, nervous. "I-I don't know. I was at the Co-Op."

"Then where was Sav?"

"Christ, Leo, why are you getting so worked up over her?" Olivia asked, eyes on her game as she fiddled around with the buttons. "I've sorta picked up on the fact that she doesn't care about you, so why should you care about her?"

Leo fell silent for a moment, and the longer he thought, the more his feet started to ache to move again. He started pacing all over again, and Olivia muttered something under her breath about how Leo just "needed to relax." Nic leant back against the futon cushion, his head tipped towards Olivia's shoulder as Leo continued to panicked. Sure, Nic knew that some part of Leo was obsessed with Sav, but he never suspected that Leo would act like this just from a few texts from Sav.

After a moment, Nic asked, "So what'd she say? Can I see?"

"No."

"Oh my God, Leo," Olivia complained. "Just show him the damn text. They aren't bad." She turned to Nic, and added, "I helped him reply 'cause he was having a meltdown or something."

"Was not," Leo snapped, and Olivia giggled to herself, biting her tongue cheekily. He jokingly glared at her as he opened his phone and held it out to Nic.

Sav: Hey Leo I feel bad about blowing up at you. How's your face?

Leo: Hi again. My face is fine, but I would like to know what I did to deserve it.

Sav: Ha, yeah, I'm sure you do. We should hang out some time.

Nic stared at the texts for a moment longer before blurted out, "Seriously? That's it? You didn't reply back? That was yesterday."

"I panicked," Leo confessed.

"He wouldn't let me help him," Olivia said pointedly. Nic rolled his eyes, and while Leo let out a distressed gasp and tried his best to defend himself, Nic smiled giddily to himself. They hadn't exactly planned for this to happen. Nic wasn't entirely sure how Leo would react, but now... this was way better than he anticipated.

While Leo and Olivia argued with one another, Nic checked his phone and searched through movie times before he decided to interrupt them. "Well, if you're so worried about hanging out with Sav on your own, we should... all go to the movies some time," Nic suggested, which caused them both to fall silent.

Eventually Olivia looked up at Leo and shrugged, "I think the movies would be great. You wouldn't have to talk to her and start another fight."

"I am worried about starting another fight..." Leo agreed, and slapped down his arms. "Well, she kind of makes it hard to avoid fights when we argue all the time."

"You do love arguing with people," Nic murmured as he glanced at Olivia pointedly, as if to point out that they had just been arguing no more than a minute ago. She looked down guiltily, but smiled all the same. "So movies? I'll take care of inviting Sav, and I have a friend who wants to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean."

"Oh God, please no," Olivia begged. "I can't stand how many movies they've made."

"They're excellent, what are you talking about?" Leo said, and before she could prompt another verbal fight, he said, "Are you gonna invite Kieran?"

"Uh... No. He doesn't like going to the movies. He has the attention span of a peanut," Nic lied. He was thankful the conversation didn't stick to him then, and instead they started to arrange the details on their night out. It took some convincing for Nic to stop Leo from inviting the whole Kingsley Gang, but that seemed to be the only hiccup.

***

They hardly suspected that Nic would ditch last minute and leave Leo to sigh as they stood outside of the movie theatre, lowering his phone into his pocket as he told the group, "Nic isn't coming. Kieran pulled another one of his 'spontaneous date' schemes."

"Aw, that's too bad," Olivia murmured.

"I mean—you guys still want to see the movie, right?" Sav said, nodding towards the marquee showing the titles that included, but was not limited to, Pirates of the Caribbean: Blade of Poseidon.

"Hell yeah! I've waited a decade for this," Milo said from where he stood beside her, wrapped up in a golden scarf and hat. He stepped towards the door and held it open for them. "Shall we?"

He gestured them inside and wandered in after Sav. He winked at her, and she grinned discretely to herself before donning that familiar scowl that they all knew too well. And as they entered the lobby of the theatre, she looked up to find Leo glancing back at her from where he had his arm around Olivia. She pointedly looked away, aware that something in her chest always twisted uncomfortably whenever she saw public displays of affection. It had nothing to do, necessarily, with handholding versus kissing, but... it still made her cringe like hearing nails against a chalkboard for next to no reason at all. She couldn't control how irrational she got when she heard people chew food too loud, or hearing people vomit in much the same way she couldn't control how irrationally furious she got when people kissed in public and she could hear the obvious smack of their lips separating—

She visible shuddered at it, and Milo asked, "You okay?"

They were stuck in line, and Leo and Olivia were having their own little conversation. So Sav murmured, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just pissed off is all. So how do you know Nic?"

"Economics. I know—boring. But it's easy and it'll up my GPA. How do you know him?" he asked.

"Welcome Week," she confessed with a wince. "He hit on me and now we're friends."

"Irony."

"Tell me about it."

They both laughed a little before Sav cleared her throat and scowled. "I'm supposed to hate you. Shut up." Milo chuckled to himself, looking away with a roll of his eyes. She gave him a tug on his jacket, silently telling him that he had to stand closer if he ever planned on making her look uncomfortable with all of this.

Regardless of whether or not Sav was on board with this, she couldn't ignore how much her skin crawled when people touched her. It was tolerable with Milo—for whatever reason, the big guy just seemed like one huge, harmless teddy bear. She wondered if Milo was even capable of looking threatening, but... with how many times Leo looked back at them, she convinced herself that anyone was capable of looking threatening, even Milo.

So she let Milo offer to pay for her soda because he had a dollar off coupon or some shit, which she declined. She let Leo ask Milo how old, exactly, was he? Which Milo replied with, "Eighteen." Sav was so certain that Leo was prepared to flaunt the fact that she was just seventeen, but the words shriveled up in his mouth the second he caught sight of Sav's warning glare.

Yeesh, Nic was right. He is acting weird, she thought to herself as Leo hovered nearby the soda machine.

Milo plucked her cup out of her hand and said, "Let me take care of this. I am the expert at making suicides."

"Suicides?" she repeated, eyebrow quirking up as she stepped to the side to avoid Milo's work.

"It's a type of soda drink," Leo explained, and Olivia added, "You know—Where you mix a ton of sodas together." She tossed a bit of popcorn into her mouth before reaching around to pop a piece into Leo's mouth. Sav inadvertently gagged—usually she just did it comically, but she forgot that she wasn't around Nic or Kieran or her high school friends who understood the joke.

Milo tapped on her shoulder, so she turned around and found the cup held up to her. He twisted the straw around to face her and said, "Try it—make sure it tastes good."

She held onto the cup around Milo's larger, tanned fingers and pulled the straw into her mouth. She sipped it and hummed in approval, and as Milo removed a hand to place it on Sav's upper back, someone blurted out, "Milo?"

Sav perked up, and saw a look of pale dread wash over Milo's face. She blinked and turned around, trying to find the culprit of the annoyed exclamation—her attention turned to a girl with fluffy brunette bangs and long, fluffy hair. She stood alongside a beautiful, angelically pale girl with the longest blonde hair Sav had ever seen—Bev and Ellen.

"Whoa, Sav!" Ellen blurted out. They were waiting in line for their tickets, but Ellen leapt straight over the red rope to race towards them. "What're you doing here?"

"Uh..." she droned, looking between Milo and Bev before noticing that both Leo and Olivia looked startled by the intrusion.

Bev stormed over, and Milo looked visibly sick. He dropped his hand from Sav's back, and practically hugged the soda cup to his chest as she snapped at him, "See! I told you he harasses girls! Ellen, you saw him!"

"Jesus Christ," Sav muttered under her breath, pressing a hand to her forehead.

As Ellen hissed between her teeth, shaking her head, Olivia stepped up, hand on her hip while the other held on to her popcorn container. "Excuse me, but who are you two? How do you know Sav and Milo?"

"I don't harass girls," Milo insisted, which just led Bev to yank Sav by the arm and towards them. She squeaked in surprise, and Milo reached out to hold on to her free hand. He pulled on her, but Bev just held on tighter.

Bev leaned over Sav to hiss, "Then stop fucking touching them, you pervert."

"Holy shit what is going on?" Olivia blurted out, her annoyance showing on her tense expression, eyes flickering between the four of them before she said, "Who do you think you are? Accusing people like that?"

"You want to explain or should I?" Milo snapped at Bev, pulling on Sav's arm. "Because clearly you think Olivia would be more likely to believe the account of a girl over an innocent guy."

Bev gawked at him, jaw dropping before her fury damn near ruptured through her ears in clouds of steam. "I do not think that!" she shouted. "I believe what I see—"

"And at what point did you ever see me harass a girl?"

"Just now! You're making Sav uncomfortable—"

"Right now, everyone is making me uncomfortable!" Sav shrieked, voice high-pitched and panicked. Milo instantly dropped her hand, as if just now realizing he was holding her in a death grip. Bev's fingers left behind red marks on her pale wrists. Sav reached for her soda cup and yanked it forcefully away from Milo as she stared at the ground, scowling. "I don't know Milo very well, but I know he doesn't harass girls. We planned to make it look like I was uncomfortable around him, so he must have been doing his job right."

Milo rubbed his hand over his forehead, and sighed as he stared at the ceiling, aware that everyone was more or less confused at the both of them now. Sav breathed out shakily and looked at Leo, whose eyebrows raised at her.

"It was Nic's idea. We were gonna try and show you how uncomfortable people make me when they harass me and shit. But I don't know how... more obvious I have to be to convince you that I'm ace! Because no one likes to be harassed, not just me, so the plan was shit from the start—no offense Milo. You're awesome."

Milo scuffed his shoes on the carpet. "Thanks Sav," he murmured, blushing.

"I don't understand," Leo murmured, brow tense. "What's the point?"

"The point, Leo," she hissed out, "is that I'm pissed at you. You can't just force someone to try something they're uncomfortable with! It's like... forcing someone who doesn't like tea to start drinking tea every fucking day to get used to it. I won't get used to it! I don't want to get used to it! I'm a coffee person not a tea person, and no amount of tea is gonna change that."

"So we were hoping that... you'd call me out at some point tonight," Milo continued when Sav fell silent. He scratched the back of his head nervously, looking away from them. "'Cause we sort of... planned an accidental double-date scenario. Nic's idea, again. He and Kieran should be walking in soon, 'cause they wanted to snoop."

"Yeah—they were planning a date this weekend," Ellen commented, and smirked a little. "This is definitely the kind of date material Kieran's looking for. A stakeout."

Bev snorted and quietly agreed with her. She let out a soft sigh and said, "So... what movie are you guys seeing? Mind if we see it with you?"

"Yeah, maybe we could surprise Kieran and Nic," Olivia suggested, and instantly Bev and Ellen were all about the idea. They hurried to grab their tickets, and agreed to meet them in the theatre.

On the way to the theatre, Milo fell in step with Olivia to plot on how to surprise Kieran and Nic, which allowed Leo to catch up with Sav. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and remained nervously quiet until Sav murmured, "The plan didn't really work out. Sorry for dragging you here."

"It's fine. I'm just... glad you're talking to me again," he confessed, and Sav's cheeks heated up as she turned away. That would definitely be something he'd pester her about. Thankfully, he didn't bring it up. "And I'm sorry. For making you uncomfortable at the party. And any other time before or after that."

She scratched the back of her neck, smiling softly. "Thanks, Leo. I might just forgive you now."

"Oh come on," he laughed. "I won't try to convince you to drink tea any more."

She snorted and threw her head back laughing. She elbowed him in the side, and joked around with him as they got to the theatre and picked a spot to sit. Olivia squeezed passed them to claim Leo's other side, and Milo settled in to the seat beside Sav. He winked at her, and she grinned back. She couldn't seem to stop smiling.

***

Nic pulled Kieran by the hand as they hurried down the hall in search of Theatre Number Five. Kieran looked killer in his tight black jeans and jazzy oxford shoes with his leather jacket to match. It was impossible not to notice him, or the fact that the girl at the cash register couldn't seem to stop staring and stuttering over her words around Kieran. It was flattering to know that Kieran dressed up for the occasion because they both considered it a date. When Nic initially commented on it, Kieran said, "Good fucking thing you like it 'cause I dressed up for you, you idiot."

Kieran tugged on the back of Nic's sweater as they approached the closed door to the theatre. "You think the movie's started yet?" he whispered, and Nic shushed him with, "Yeah, probably—so be quiet!" Kieran flicked him in the back of the head, but continued to let Nic hold onto his arm as they snuck into the theatre in search of the row number Milo gave them to sit in.

They snuck in a few seats before settling down. Kieran lowered the armrest and leaned against it, kicking his feet up on the chair in front of him. His fancy shoes were slightly pointed, and his face was washed over in the red from the fire blazing on screen. He met Nic's eyes for a moment before leaning over and whispering, "Do you see them anywhere?"

"Uh—No—"

"Then stop fucking looking at me and look for them, you dingus."

Nic mockingly scowled at him before turning around to glance over the people in front of them. The moment he did, though, someone burst up from underneath the seats in front of them with a whispered shout of "Surprise!"

Nic shrieked, slapping his hands over his mouth as he cowered back against his seat and Kieran's shoulder. The people nearest them turned around to glare at them before returning their attention to the movie. The light from the screen caught on their long hair and Ellen's ponytail, and the fact that this clearly wasn't a part of their plan. "Bev? Ellen? What are you guys doing here?" Kieran whispered, sitting up straighter as the girls climbed over the seats and into their row.

Johnny Depp, with his luscious gray hair and fake dreadlocks, came on screen as Bev jabbed her thumb towards it and said, "We're just here for the movie. Saw you two come in."

Kieran narrowed his eyes up at Bev, folding his arms. "You don't even like Johnny Depp."

She plopped down next to him and gave him a pat on the arm, and a dazzling smile. "Heard it got good reviews, so I'm here. Popcorn?" She barely got around to holding out the popcorn container when Nic saw something light up red behind them as the theatre screen shifted.

He swore it looked like the evil glint of someone's glasses.

Strong arms swept around Nic's neck, and it was a good thing his hands were already over his mouth, otherwise he would have screamed twice as loud. He recognized the mango scent of Leo, who squeezed Nic around the head before letting go and clapping his hands onto his shoulders.

Leo dipped between them and said, hushed, "Heard you two were trying to trick me."

Kieran's eyebrow raised as he twisted around, shaking a finger. "No tricking. This wasn't a trick."

"It was a bit of a trick," Olivia replied in a whisper with an innocent shrug. From beside her, Milo climbed over the seat and plopped down next to Nic with a sigh. "But it worked," she added, tapping Nic on the back of the head before following Milo's lead.

Everyone gathered into the row, sharing popcorn throughout the movie until Sav was sucking up air through the straw of her large soda. Nic continued to lean against Kieran's shoulder through the movie, and shared his soda with him. His attention was divided among everyone, aware that Leo and Sav sat together, whispering to one another about this-or-that.

They seemed happy, so Nic settled in and told himself that he'd worry about what happened later. For now, he'd just worry about what the fuck was happening in Pirates of the Caribbean.

After the movie though, when they were all congregating out in the lobby while Sav went to steal more soda from the machine, Milo dropped his arm around Nic's shoulders and said, "Well... I guess it sorta worked out."

Kieran said, "Yeah, if that's what you wanna call it. What the hell happened?"

At this, Bev flinched a little from where she stood alongside Ellen and Olivia. She grimaced at them and raised her hand weakly. "I... may or may not have yelled at Milo."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kieran sighed, letting his head fall back on his shoulders before he rolled his neck and scowled at her. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing!" she cried out, but Ellen elbowed her in the side. "But... I should probably apologize, Milo. That was kinda bitchy of me, calling you out like that."

"You thought Sav was in danger. I understand," he confessed with a soft smile. He shot finger-guns at Sav as she returned with the soda. She beamed at him and gave him a fist-bump. Nic glanced at Kieran, and the moment Kieran looked over at him, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. That just earned him an elbow to the gut.