Casey's shoulder was pressed down as Snow contentedly put her head on top of it and with her hands clutching his arm. She gazed at him with a smiling face, and he kindly smiled back.

A second later, Malloy took the other side of Casey's shoulder by laying his head on there. He made those eyes at him. "Aww," Malloy said.

He turned his gaze and looked at him weirdly. "What? Your shoulder looks nice to relax on." Malloy acted casual in his voice.

Casey normally would overlook it as a typical Malloy behavior, but except it wasn't. Recently, he's been acting bizarre. Ever since Snow and Casey disclosed to Malloy and Kyle about seeing each other, Malloy looked like he didn't believe it, but when he saw how serious the two were, he stopped briefly in his tracks. He mentioned how Casey ignored his heed about the two of them falling for each other in their relationship days. Snow told him there was a lot to Casey than she'd ever expected, but he was easy on her. He gave his congrats anyway, and Kyle had too.

"So like... could you...," Casey hesitated, hoping he didn't have to finish his sentence. He'd hope he gets the hint.

"Nope, I'm good here. My head needs resting after those long lectures." Malloy made an exaggerated yawn.

"Kyle," Casey called.

"Sorry, I'm busy reading," Kyle said. He sat there on the grass with them, but he had his head and eyes bored into a textbook. How could he possibly stay calm while reading outside gets him, but he's working under pressure before his next class in twenty minutes.

Casey looked back to Malloy with a serious gaze. "Malloy," he said but carefully demanded.

Malloy lifted his head with his eyes not leaving Casey. "Yes? Is there something you need?"

He searched for words and didn't know what could spell out that he'd like his privacy with Snow and having more space with her. His friend had been all up on their space and hanging out with them a lot as well as tagging along with Kyle with them. Snow and Casey discussed their plans on where to go or what to eat that's meant for the two of them, but with those two including themselves in their plan, it's difficult to have alone time.

When watching a movie, Malloy sat between Casey and Snow, and with Kyle on the right of Casey's side. Going out for lunch to eat, he mentioned being hungry and wanted to eat with them. At the arcade, they couldn't play together because Malloy and Kyle loved video games too. Even as simple as walking and holding hands around campus sometimes, Malloy interrupted their time and threw his arms on each side around their shoulders, and their conversation between the two died down. He made sure he was with them at any available time.

Casey let out a rough sigh. "Could you be less in our space?" 

"Oh, how much?" He made a sarcastic remark which was found in his voice. "This much?" Malloy scooted two inches away from him. "Maybe a little more for you?" He added a bit more gap to the space. "Is that enough?"

Casey wanted to throw himself somehow.

Snow cut in. "I think what he's trying to say is that... you've been hanging out with us lately, and we really like you around, but sometimes... it'd be nice to have quality time with just between him and me."

She looked off in a distance before her eyes met Malloy's. "Would it be okay if we could have some days to ourselves? It'd be... appreciated if some special moments are reserved for us."

"Aww, but can't I watch too?" Malloy tilted his head, portraying an innocent-like act even though he knew what he was doing.

"No, Malloy." She shook her head, nervously chuckling.

He turned his eyes away. From the action of scratching the back of his head, he appeared distressed. Soon he faced back to them. "Alright... I'll let you two have some alone time."

Thank you. Casey felt relieved.

❥

"Do you think this would look good on me?" Snow asked, holding out a pastel cardigan in a color-block effect with yellow, blue, lilac, pink, and mint.

Casey tilted his head at it. "That's... colorful."

"Yeah." Her eyes widened at the obviousness. "So, do you think it would look good on me?"

"I don't really see you wearing lots of colors at once."

By his response, she made a worried look. "So this won't look good on me?" Snow glanced at the cardigan again.

He shook his head. The idea of fretting about his opinion on a simple outfit piece was silly. "Well, do you like it?"

"I think it looks cute."

"Then why do you need to know what I think of it?"

She shrugged as her voice sounded partly anxious. "It doesn't hurt to get a second opinion."

Casey had forgotten why he agreed to come out window shopping with her. She was the one to propose it'd be fun to see what the trends are or what could be in stock—not like she'd buy anything. She mentioned wanting to give a second chance for their window shopping when she thought back to the very earliest activity they had done together.

It's a hassle when people spent their time browsing and ended up not buying anything, and then, their time was wasted.

It would simply be easier if people know what they like instead of consuming their time whether they want something or not. Then again, he ended up liking one of them. How uncanny.

"I think you'd be fine with just about anything. You'll make it look cute," Casey stated.

Snow threatened to hold back a smile at him, and then she casually sneaked a peek at the price tag. The price on there was enough to tell him she didn't want it anymore as she was quick to put it back in the clothes rack.

"Never mind. I don't need all that pastel." She swept back her hair with her hand, drifting her gaze like she never picked it up in the first place.

"How much was it?" Casey inquired.

"It was about thirty-five dollars," Snow murmured.

Why was it suddenly so funny? He didn't know why when he chuckled out. "You knew how hard it'd be to look at the entire store only to find something you think you like or want to try out, and when you do, you decide they never existed. You come unprepared."

A line creased between her brows. "That's not my fault everything has so many styles and choices. One can dream they can afford all of this, but when they can't, they take up their time thinking what's best for them. A lot of thought process goes behind thinking about a purchase. I would think I know which I want the most, but then I see more things, and it's just not fair." She gestured all around her with a how-do-you-expect-me-to-not-like-everything look on her face.

"Yeah, you and your indecisive mind."

She looked like a little kid in a candy store, and he could see that actually happening.

He put his arm around her shoulder as though he said, don't worry in a hug. Her expression melted quickly, and she seemed to be forgetting her small worries.

All of a sudden, a woman who looked to be in her thirties greeted them with a smile on her face. She displayed in her white blazer over the black and white polka dot fabric as the top was tucked into her blue jeans. There was a badge attached to her shirt with the name Daryl printed.

"Hello there, is there any way I could help you two? Are you looking for anything in specific?" There's an enthusiasm in her tone as her gaze flickered to the two of them.

Snow shook her head quietly. "No, we're just looking."

The woman bared her smile more. "There must be something that you might be interested in. Do you like anything in light brown or cream colors?" She pointed out to the beige cardigan Snow was wearing. "We have lots of good ones. Some of the new ones just came in today, and it's really cozy and loose fit that I feel you just might like. I'd recommend it."

"I'm okay, thanks..."

"Let me show you to the others you may haven't seen yet first. You may take interest in them once you look at it." The store associate asserted herself in a way that Snow couldn't say no when she followed her to a different section, looking back at Casey as she mouthed a 'sorry' to him.

They walked out of the store, and she carried an item in a shopping bag in her hand. He gave her a silent look, and she shrugged timidly.

"I couldn't help it, okay. I just bought a long sleeve sweater shirt. It's really soft too..." Her voice trailed off ashamedly.

"Then you found something," Casey said.

"I guess."

Snow shared that the woman appeared very friendly when she pushed her to different clothing and styles. She took her time with her to find everything for Snow and for her to feel comfortable with what they had. As they spent several minutes chatting, a girl with dark, curly hair with rose-colored blush in a light pink ribbed turtleneck sweater and high-rise lilac jeans approached them.

"Hello," the girl spoke. "I really like your shirt." She pointed to Casey's black long sleeve shirt, not standing out anything of the ordinary.

"Oh, um... thanks?" Casey said dubiously.

My shirt is just a shirt.

"It just looks so good, and I want to get something like that to my dad." Her eyes brightened with eagerness when she took one step toward him. "Can I feel the material of it?"

Before Casey could say anything further, the girl took no mind with her palm pressed up to his chest and the cotton-poly fabric. "Wow, I really like it." Her face twisted into an unbelievably great shock. He stifled under her touch, attempting not to speak out against her right away. Her fingers roved over to his shoulder as she said, "Impressive." Then her gaze lifted up to his eyes. "Where do you buy your shirts from?"

"I don't know," he muttered through gritted teeth. "My mom usually gets them for me."

The corner of her mouth lifted up, and her fingers now stopping onto his biceps. "Your mom has good taste. Maybe your looks come from her? It seems like your smile would adopt your face so amazing," she complimented casually.

Snow didn't have any clue as her entire body became stilled with her expression that had gone pale. Like she's fighting not to intervene.

He grabbed the top of her hand to push them off from him. "Look, that's enough now. I'm already with this girl right here, and she's with me." Casey gripped Snow's wrist, pulling her to his side closer. "Could you surrender now and leave?"

The girl just tilted her head at him. "Is that so? Are you two friends?" she asked.

"Does it matter? We are with each other, and that's enough," he replied defensively.

"Oh... okay then." She looked between the two of them with a wondering gaze. "Then I'll be on my way." Her head turned back to him. "You really do have a nice shirt." The girl quickly strode away.

"That was weird," Casey commented. He looked to Snow.

"Yeah..." 

More weird stuff had been going on throughout their excursion at the mall. Almost as though any coincidence they ran into had moments that kept them from actually enjoying themselves, and the moment he thought all the occurrence was done with, he was dead wrong. Every person or inconvenience slipped into their way.

Few women—who were rather inquisitive—noticed Casey, firing questions about how old is he, what he does, and if he liked to meet their granddaughters when he browsed around by himself without Snow at Hollister. While waiting in line to get ice cream, a guy behind him was talkative when he babbled about the most nonsensical things. He didn't need to know about some random guy's visit to the doctor about his back problems.

Why is something happening frequently?

Something felt off; he scoured the floor area of the mall. A group of friends strolling around with some shopping bags in their hands while they laughed together. A father holding hands with his child, who looked up at the high ceilings, seemingly intrigued by the indoor lighting. A head peeking out from behind the round pillar. Wait... he stopped in his track to focus on the head. Casey recognized those brown boyish shag hair that belonged to one person.

As though the stalker with his eyes widened, realized he was caught, he backed his head behind the pillar.

"Hey Snow, looks like our friend is here," Casey said dryly.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Snow asked confusedly.

He traveled specifically where he saw their stalker, and right there, as it seemed, he was contemplated and panicky, muttering to himself under his breath. He jumped in surprise with his hand surged up to his chest when he saw Casey. Snow caught up with her pace to see him there too.

"Oh my. H-hey, what a pleasant surprise to see you here," Malloy said, trying to keep his cool as though he didn't see them until just now.

"Why are you hiding here?" Casey questioned him.

"Hiding? I wasn't hiding. I was... standing... in this specific spot." He pointed at the ground where he stood, staking his claim.

Scoffing, Casey didn't believe a word he said. "Then why were you eyeing at us?"

"Eyeing at who? I was admiring this pillar and this... strong structure." Malloy rubbed against the pillar, taking a sudden fascination at it. "Look at how massive it is. People don't appreciate architecture enough."

"Malloy..." Snow said quietly.

Casey looked at Snow, figuring it might have something to do with her possibly. "How does he know we're here?"

She scrunched her face sheepishly, laughing out softly. "I might have told him where I was going with you."

He couldn't believe it. Should he expect that she would keep quiet when they constantly talk and fill each other in on everything? She had a sorry look, but he just plainly stared at her without knowing what he should react to that.

"Why would you do that?" Casey asked.

"I thought it would help him put him to ease?"

His head rotated back to Malloy. "I thought you said you would let us spend quality time, but this whole time you were following us?"

"It's not just me. Kyle's here too," Malloy mentioned, with Casey's eyes slightly widening at him.

He motioned a signal in the larger distance where that one big fake potted plant was at, and then, Kyle's head appeared out to the side behind the leaves, waving an innocent hi to Snow and Casey.

Kyle made his way over to them. He nodded coolly when he stood along with them. "How's your guys' day going?"

"It's doing okay," Snow said.

Casey cast him a silent, deadly stare. "Why are you here too?"

He appeared taken aback and pointed to Malloy. "He made me do it."

"So am I the bad guy?" Malloy asked.

"No," Snow said gently.

"Why were you following us?" Casey demanded.

There was a sudden intake of breath from Malloy as he met Casey in the eye seriously. "Because I don't trust guys."

Then he aimed his direction to Snow. "Don't worry, I trust you," Malloy assured her sweetly.

He looked at him questioningly. "You know you're a guy, so that means you can't be trusted either."

His eyes enlarged at the realization. "Oh shit, you're right. Let me rephrase that. I don't trust you."

What? Casey had a puzzled look at him. "We've been friends now."

"So? Men have primal instinct, and ninety-nine percent of the time, they will act on any given chance they would take. You can't act civilized if you're completely alone with a pretty girl like her. I know something will happen when I'm not around, and I'm here to make sure nothing will." Malloy confirmed as though it's his absolute duty to look out for any unsettling things as though Casey would do them.

"Malloy," Snow began. "You were only looking out for me, right? That's really kind of you to do that, but it's okay. I'm positive Casey wouldn't do anything that I'm uncomfortable with."

"Not yet. We don't know Casey for that long."

"Um, Casey's right there," Kyle interjected.

He fixed his stare to Malloy as intensely as he could. "Were you the cause behind all those weird incidents?"

Malloy smiled wickedly, his expression like it belongs to the rightful devil's work. "I did great, huh? Luckily with my looks and my wits, I convinced the ladies to do things for me."

"Even that one dude?"

"Oh yeah, I paid him five bucks to annoy you."

"The older women at Hollister though, that was a total coincidence... that one wasn't us," Kyle pointed out.

"So wait... the sale associate that was assisting me was because of you?" Snow inquired, gasping.

"Yeah, and you got yourself a new outfit piece. You're welcome," Malloy said, referring to the bag she's holding.

Snow pursed her lips as a look of contemplation spread across her countenance. She slowly spoke. "He hasn't done anything. So far, I like how things are with him. I'm feeling lucky that I'm doing things I wanted to do with someone. You're possibly worried, but don't forget I can also set things with him too if I need to. I'd like to learn about him more to see if we work out well together as we are now. I won't get the chance to know if you're always around. It's kind of like you'll know when you know... do you get me?"

They held their gazes at each other. Eventually, he sighed. "Okay, I guess coming out here and stalking you two is going a little bit overboard. I'll... be at the food court, getting something to eat and then going home." Malloy looked to Casey. "But she'll tell me anything if you screw up, remember that."

And with that, Malloy and Kyle said their goodbyes to Snow and Casey before the two walked off. It was at peace again when there were just two.

"You're really going to rat me out if I messed up?" Casey asked.

"Yep, I will," Snow said.

He would remember this moment.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

Hello. Hopefully you're having a great early start of your week. What do you think of this first bonus chapter? Isn't our friend Malloy great? :))))

Second bonus chapter will be out soon! In case the story still doesn't feel like it's not over to you, I welcome you cute comfort chapters to put you in a lighthearted mood. 

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me.