Songs for this chapter are:

What You Need- The Weeknd

Perfectly Lonely- John Mayer

Jason Walker- Echo

...

It's been less than ten minutes since Dakota left my house and I'm more and more ashamed by the minute. I hate that this happened to me, and to her. I can't imagine how my inadequacy has made her feel.

Well, I can sort of imagine because she climbed down my fire escape and obviously preferred leaving over talking to me about what happened. I wish she would have talked to me, even yelled at me, instead of leaving through my bathroom window. I feel like shit about it, so I imagine that she may feel even worse.

Her words ring through my ears, "I don't get it. How can you not?"

I felt so much worse in that moment and now those words won't seem to stop repeating inside my head.

I sit on the couch and bury my face in my hands. Dakota is probably never going to want to talk to me for a while, maybe never again. The thought of that makes my head spin. I can't imagine her being completely out of my life. The thought is so strange. Too strange. I've known her half of my life and even when we broke up, I still knew she was out there, not hating me. Her having bad feelings toward me for the rest of our lives just wouldn't be right. It would be like messing with the universe, it wouldn't make sense.

A knock on my door pulls me from my pity party and I jump up. It must be Dakota, it has to be since Tessa is closing tonight and since it's Friday, she won't be off until at least midnight at the earliest. The guest knocks again and I prepare myself for the tornado that is Dakota. Did she come back to hear my apology, or possibly even give her own?

I rush to the door and yank it open. It's not Dakota. It's Nora, with her hands full of grocery bags.

"Can you grab something, please?" She's struggling with the bags in her hands and I grab as many as I can without making her drop one.

When I glance inside them, there's lots of green stuff. I can't tell what any of it is, except that it's green and looks kind of fluffy. The heaviest of the three bags makes a clinking sound when I put it on the counter and when I peek inside, I find three bottles of wine.

"Sorry, I was either going to lose an arm or the wine and after today, I'd rather lose an arm," Nora says as she puts the other bag on the kitchen counter.

She begins to pull stuff out like she lives here and I watch her silently navigate my kitchen and place her food inside my fridge. She pulls out the bottles of wine, one by one, and puts them in the freezer.

I thought wine froze, unlike liquor, but I don't want to ask her and look like an idiot.

"Are you waiting for Tessa or something?" I ask, unsure how to start conversation with her, or if I should.

We've been distant since agreeing to be friends, so I take it she doesn't want to be friends after all.

Nora nods. "Yep. She's having a rough night too, a twenty-top just walked in and they put them in her section even though she's still new. I got bitched out for bitching out the hostess," Nora rolls her eyes.

"Seems fair?" I shrug, smiling at her so she knows I'm joking.

She smiles, "Touché."

I watch as she opens a drawer and pulls out the cutting board. She doesn't do anything with it, she just leaves it sitting next to the microwave while she empties the last bag.

I lean awkwardly against the counter and think of an exit plan before I become a burden.

"Oh my god," Nora says, touching her forehead with the tips of her fingers, "I'm sorry. Are you busy or having company? I just barged in here and started unloading groceries and didn't think to ask if I'm in the way."

She's not in the way, but I'm so, so, so, glad she didn't come here ten minutes earlier.

"No, not at all. I'm just going to study and go to bed. You'll have the kitchen to yourself." I tell her.

She blows a loose strand of dark hair out of her face and it falls right back down in front of her eyes. She's still wearing her work uniform. The same one Tessa wears, black pants, white button up shirt, and that bright green tie. Nora's shirt is tighter than Tessa's, or so it seems.

"Thank you. I just really needed to not go home to my apartment tonight. I had such a shitty shift and I can't handle any of those bitches right now," she huffs.

Her eyes meet mine and she covers her mouth. "No offense."

"None taken," I tell her, meaning it.

I don't ever want to be in the middle of Dakota and Nora's friendship, or lack of. I would rather be in Mrs. Umbridge's office staring at cat pictures while tortures me.

Both women seem to be flames and I'd rather not become a pile of ash.

"I'm going to make some food if you want some? I just grabbed a bunch of stuff and I'm going to see what I can whip up," Nora offers me.

This is the most we've spoken in a while and I'm sort of glad she's speaking to me again. I figured we would both avoid each other and make things awkward, but this is a much better alternative.

"I'm not really hungry," I say, even though I am. "I just ate." I lie.

I'm pretty sure Nora got stuff to make her and Tessa dinner, not Tessa's dorky roommate and I don't want to lurk around longer than wanted.

Nothing is worse than the feeling of questioning whether you're wanted or not. It's even worse than knowing you aren't because at least then you know for sure. There's no desperate hope lingering that maybe your company is wanted.

"Okay. I'm going to leave the extras out for Tessa if you change your mind," Nora says, her eyes on my chest. I should have put a shirt on because now all I can think about is the first time she touched me. And the second. And when she kissed me. And the way her lips tasted like candy and I wanted more.

I need to think about something else. Anything else.

Cakes. Big fluffy cakes with piles of purple ice cream and intricate little flowers. Not the icing that was smeared on her shirt. Cakes and cooking and non-sexy things, like her cooking.

I do enjoy Nora's cooking. She's a hell of a cook. Thinking about her cooking reminds me of cakes, which reminds me of Ellen's birthday tomorrow. I still have no idea what to get her. I was going to ask Dakota for help but that's obviously not in the cards now.

"Are you good at getting people gifts?" I blurt out.

Nora turns to me, her brows furrowed, and she cocks her head. "Huh?"

I cringe at my own awkwardness.

"Like for birthdays and stuff."

"Sort of. I mean I haven't bought anyone a gift in a while, but I can try to help. Who's it for? Dakota? Maybe you can get her something dance related, or a new yoga mat or something."

I didn't even know Dakota was into yoga. It's a strange thought that Nora knows things about her that I don't know.

"It's not for Dakota. It's for this girl I know."

Yikes, that sounded weird.

"Okay?" Nora looks puzzled, but doesn't comment on it. "What types of things does she like?"

Nora continues to put the food away and I wonder if I should be helping her? I honestly have no idea where this stuff goes or how she's going to make a meal out of a can of almonds and a bag of Brussel sprouts. I have haunting memories of Brussel sprouts as a kid. Yuck.

"I'm not sure. I know she studies a lot and she doesn't like flowers."

"Smart girl. I hate flowers too. At first they are so beautiful and soon enough you're forced to watch them wither and waste away and you just end up having to throw them out, and they're messy. A complete waste of time. Like most relationships."

Her voice is so flat that I can't tell if she's joking or not.

"Not all relationships are like that." I try to defend love, even though I'm clearly not in the place to do so.

Nora pulls the plastic bag off of a bundle of broccoli and I watch her eyes look everywhere except at me.

"So how long have you known her? What else do you know about her?" She changes the subject.

"Nothing really," I shrug my shoulders.

Nora takes the bundle of broccoli over the sink and turns on the water.

"Nothing else?" she questions. "Are you close friends?" She asks and I get the feeling she's trying not to be too nosey.

"She works downstairs at the corner store. I wouldn't say we are friends really, but her birthday is tomorrow and I don't think anyone even cares."

Nora turns around from her spot at the sink, soaking broccoli dripping water on my floor, and she says, "Wait. What?"

"Yeah. It's terrible. She's turning eighteen and all she does is work down there. And study. She's always studying."

Nora holds her hand up, wet broccoli and all. "You're doing something for the girl downstairs? The one that always wears the headbands?"

I nod. Her eyes find mine and rest there. She tucks her bottom lip between her teeth and I have to look away from her stare. Her thick eyebrows are bunched together again and her cheeks are glowing. She's wearing more makeup than she usually does, but it looks nice.

She reminds me of the women in those videos Tessa always watches on YouTube. She always says she's going to try to recreate the makeup from them, but I usually see the products in the trash when I take it out and her eyes are puffy from tears, not covered in color.

"You're something else, Landon Gibson." Nora says and my cheeks flush.

I turn a little, pretending that I'm thirsty and I open the fridge to grab a Gatorade.

I don't say anything else. I don't know what to say and I know that if I stand here any longer I'm going to make a fool of myself somehow. I've already done that enough for one day and I don't want to scare Nora away from the apartment. Tessa needs as many friends around her as possible, and Nora seems to be a good one.

"I'm going to finish my paper."

The one that's already completed.

"But If you need anything, I'll be in my room," I tell her, shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweats.

Nora nods and turns back to the sink to rewash her broccoli.

When I get back to my room and close the door, I lean my back against it. The wood is cold against my bare skin and I'm exhausted. Today freaking sucked and I'm so glad it's over.

I don't bother opening a text book to pretend that I'm studying, I don't even bother turning my light on. I just lay down on my bed and close my eyes. I stir for a while, willing sleep to come to me, but my mind is still reeling from Dakota, and now to Nora. She's in my kitchen and I have to keep my distance from her, even though I'm not sure that I want to.