The night before had ended pretty much horribly. Snow urged him to tell her about what she saw back there when he showed up at their table and then began to act differently. She hadn't seen him this way.

He let her in with only a few words, and that was that guy wasn't good news.

Snow didn't know what to say about hearing that the guy she just met wasn't a good guy to Casey. When she asked again what the problem was, he just wasn't in the mood. That much she could tell.

She remembered the ugly.

"You must know him, right?" Snow pointed out what was most likely the obvious case. "It must come as a shock. You're feeling things."

"I'm not eager to take this now that he's here," Casey said sharply.

"You may not have seen him since then... Have you consider that maybe he changed?" she speculated.

Casey scoffed at how ridiculous that sounded to him. " You don't know anything."

Suddenly, a sense of safeguarding washed over her. "But why can't people be better now than they were before?"

"Do you think it's that easy?" he questioned her.

"You'll never know."

"I'd be damned."

What was this attitude coming from within him? So he didn't like him, but this was on another level. She didn't back down.

With her brows drew together, her expression perplexed. "How do you know that? You just took it out on him."

"Are you really saying it to me right now?" The tone in his voice asked skeptically.

"I just think that it's not fair on him. Maybe it's just you that is feeling this way," Snow remarked.

She shouldn't have said that because those words drove him over to the edge. He could've gone on; he could've exploded why he felt that way. Instead, he told her, "Fine, whatever." He stared at her narrowly with horrified disbelief.

It distressed her just the way they left it and no goodbyes. She couldn't enjoy the rest of the time without thinking if she could've said any different to him than to throw an accusation. Was there something she didn't know because she would like to be filled in.

She even felt terrible for spoiling the night for Kyle and Malloy. She thought to deserve a hearing for kind of starting something even though it was unintentional. Rather than getting annoyed, they comforted her as they talked it out then left to get her Frosty at Wendy's.

Over the weekend, she couldn't even relax without thinking about what had happened. Most of the afternoons, Snow spent bicycling around the neighborhood in circles, making herself in the head crazy. The blue sky that normally put her at ease just made her see things and weird shapes in the same clouds.

One looked like a monk, and it moved. That inner voice spoke to her about the mountain she was trying to climb over was an obstacle. The only way she would ever get to the top was patience, perseverance, and strength. Why did it tell her that?

Snow thought she could only lessen her nerves if she could talk to Casey. She left her math classroom and quickened her pace as she went to find him. It came useful to memorizing his class schedule as she needed to go near a specific building where he might walk by.

Her fast walk fastened when she saw a glimpse of his figure. She clutched onto the strap of her backpack tightly as her shoes hit the grass. "Casey," she called out subtly.

He didn't turn around.

"Casey, hey." She tried again.

He kept moving forward, and it got her to frown. Taking another two steps, she was about to tap him on his shoulder, but then he increased the gap between them. So now he's further away from her.

Did he not hear me? she wondered as she looked at him walked up the stairs. 

Even by texting him, Snow didn't receive a response, and it was over two hours. She knew he had a break in between classes, so why wasn't he saying anything back? Did it mean that much by what she said to him, or was it because of the guy Casey didn't like?

Utterly confused, she sank her head onto the library table probably wishing she knew what to do.

What about the leftover days of their Relationship series? Was it going to continue? How would they work it out? Did he even care about that anymore?

Her brain was going on overdrive that she could hear circuitry sounds flicking. Then she could hear a chair pulled out next to her. A familiar voice rang, "Hello, Snow."

Her eyes instantly widened like having to hear a wake-up call, and she turned her head in the other direction and saw Harry with a gentle smile gracing his face. Snow lifted her head and casually straightened up her back.

"Harry, hey, hi." She took a bit of strand of her hair, not knowing if she was pressing it down or playing with it.

Really? Hey, hi? Right next to each other?

A light chuckle escaped his mouth. "How are you? Feeling okay?"

"What? Yeah, I'm doing fine. What about you?" Snow asked nervously.

He stretched his arms back, looking at her thoughtfully. "I guess I'm doing fine too. I was just on my way to work on my own assignment, but then I saw you here. Thought I popped in and say hi, you mind?"

No, I think I like this. "No, I don't."

Harry studied her face, his light brown eyes in search of something. She smiled at him though she's not doing an astounding job of hiding her nervousness. He placed his curled-up fingers against his cheek, his elbow leaning on the table, and she was certain he was thinking.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Just thought I asked."

Snow wished she could talk to Kyle or Malloy, and they may know what to say or at least helped come up with something, but they're both in their perspective classes. This was her mess, but a solution wasn't going to come up right away.

"Oh, not really much," Snow answered dejectedly.

It looked as though her positive spirits were let down for a second, and now he was looking at her with scrutiny.

"You seemed like you have something troubling you. I don't mean to pry," he noted considerately.

"Oh..." She felt silly. Maybe it was written all over her; then again, she didn't know that many guys apart from her friends would notice. "I didn't know I look that way."

"I would know it because my little sister has that troubling expression," Harry said, and his voice lowered, "especially if she thought she saw a ghost. She would worry for endless weeks and have me sleep with her in her room." 

That made her chuckle because she thought how cute that was, picturing him as a big brother helping his sister relieving her stress.

"There you go. You look a little lighter now," he pointed out lightheartedly, and she stopped for a second.

Did he do that on purpose, or was that true? She hoped it could be both.

❥

As more hours had passed by, there was still no response from Casey. He had to be still furious with what happened that he hadn't let go. He must have needed more hours to himself, and she told herself to wait a little more.

Even weekends can still get your head wrapped in all this entanglement.

There was only one bright side today. It was with Harry, and Snow didn't believe it. Earlier, he asked her if she had free time earlier. She questioned why, and he said she could use some cheering up. Thinking about how thoughtful the offer was, she accepted.

Snow waited at their campus cafe as she sat on one of the tables, scanning around for his appearance.

They'd only talked for several minutes, so when he made this suggestion, it felt sudden, but maybe it was something she needed to take away the pile of anxiety at the moment.

She rarely went to this kind of university hangout since coffee and tea weren't her thing. She was more of a fruit juice and smoothie kind of gal. And occasionally spoiling herself with soda.

Small chatters filled the ambience as she looked around the nearby tables and some other students. As they were sipping onto their drinks and unloading themselves, whether they were talking about the pile of schoolwork professors gave them or some busy plans they were looking forward to.

Not again. Snow spotted a couple all snuggly and loved up. 

A boy with his right sleeve pulled up, revealing his tattooed forearm that she could discern the shape of a car, had wrapped his arm around a girl's shoulder who had long brown hair in a low ponytail and olive skin. She wore a white crop tank top and high-waisted jeans while he wore a shirt with graffiti font and a busy design on the front and plant design shorts. Now noticing the back of the boy's neck, it was tattooed with lines like angel wings.

The contrast between the two was noticeable but surprisingly look like they fit together or at least rough it out.

From the vibes that she got from them was the boy with an appreciation for street art, outdoor plants, and heavy metal music, and for the girl was mellowing with vintage finds, jazz piano, and lazy Sunday brunch.

The girl embraced her arms around his abdomen as she leaned her head to his chest. Her eyes glanced up at him with a smile curving up her lips. He returned the same affection with his eyes.

It was a stomach-turning pain. I'm so forever alone.

"Hello, Snow," Harry said, catching her attention as he took a seat at the table across from her.

"H-hi," Snow said, shocked. He still hadn't ceased with his gorgeous presence, as it's still something to fawn over for her.

They had texted each other just short and casually, but meeting in person was another thing. She actually had to converse with him and get to be more close up to him. Why was he good-looking?

He smiled at her in an easygoing manner as he let his hands rest on his lap. She sent a look of "what?" to him. He said, "It's funny, to see you like this. Being here around. I may still need to wrap my head around, but it's just so odd, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it," she said, agreeing.

His smile was like a sunshine aura glowing up a whole wheat field. It was just that magnificent to look at like when she's looking at him. How could one person look this way?

Would he go for a stroll in a wheat field with her if she asked?

"So, up for a drink?" Harry asked and turned his head toward the counter.

After waiting for one person in line to place their order and receiving it, the two were up next. Snow couldn't decide what she wanted. She regarded each of the selections, but still, she didn't know what she liked to want. She couldn't make up her mind at all and was a terrible decision-maker.

Because Harry noticed this, he inputted a suggestion. "If you can't make up your mind, do you want to try what I'm having?"

Snow didn't think she could get flattered by this. It'd be like they were sharing the same drink, the same taste, and the same experience. He became dashing just now as he went ahead and spoke to the barista about the order after her consenting.

He offered to pay for her even when she said that she could do it herself. But as soon as his lips formed a smile, it was difficult to not let him.

Two cups of Green Tea Latte sat at their table. She heard about the commotion for it once and hadn't had the urge to try it until now.

Harry picked up the cup and took a sip, then encouraging her to do the same. She took her cup in hand and tried it. At first, it tasted a little sharp, but a few seconds later, it had a bit of a sweet kick. Not too bad, she guessed.

"I would prefer the actual Green Tea than a latte, but we take whatever we have here, right?" Harry jested.

She nodded her head and shrugged. "Yeah..."

"Have you tried tea?" he asked seriously.

Her head shook quietly.

"Absolutely gobsmacked!" His eyebrows widened unbelievably at her. "That's funny. You should try them."

"Do you like tea?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Like them? Love them. I'm not just saying that as a British," he laughed softly, "but it's honestly like an antidote for a bad day or after a long shower. It gets you going, and you know, when they're warm, it's like a centering of your heart and soul."

What a heartfelt response. The words, especially at the last part just felt like a breath of comfort.

"Sounds lovely," she replied.

Harry waved a gesture on the table. "Do you know what's the right way to drink tea?"

"Hmm?"

"You begin with freshly boiled water. I can't tell you how much people put it in just hot water; this also requires a teapot. Any teapot would do."

Snow listened as he explained out the rest of the instructions of making the perfect tea. He was so knowledgeable and quite excited, even if they're talking about tea.

This would be how her perfect dream guy was like; he took pride and consideration in his interest while also not afraid to dive into the details no matter how little they were. He'd be happy to share whatever it was and let her know about it. His voice was all smooth and pleasant-like but also belonging to a handsome prince charming.

He'd look good in a prince outfit.

"You wouldn't believe it, but I'd add milk to my cup," Harry stated.

"I've not heard of it," she said with interest.

"It tastes excellent." He nodded approvingly.

Snow took another sip of her drink. Was this not a fantasy, and if she blinked, he'd still be there? She put her cup down and blinked at him a couple of times.

He was still there; she had confirmed he wasn't imaginary.

"So, do you have something you want to bring to the table?" Harry asked, drumming the table lightly.

"I don't know," Snow said meekly, looking down at her lap. "What do you mean?"

"I can only know as much as you can tell me. If there's something bothering you, hmm." He paused in thought. "I hope I could be much help."

"Ahh, it's not you. It's just something I have to deal with." Snow couldn't lay out her problems onto him.

"Fair, we only just learned each other's name recently," Harry considered. "How about this? Give me your hand."

Her eyes widened slightly at this request, but he only smiled simply. "I won't do anything," he assured.

Trusting his words, she leaned forward and placed a hand on the table. Harry shifted his focus onto his backpack, pulling out something. In his hand, she could see what appeared to be a black marker. He used with one hand to hold down hers firmly and on the other, using the marker tip. She felt the tip against her skin for a few seconds, and then he released her and put the cap back on.

"Done."

It was a drawn expression of a smiley face.

"I'd do that to my sister whenever she feels sad or worried, and it works almost all the time," he explained.

Astonished, her eyes looked at the cute smiley face that was smiling at her. Was this his way to cheer her up? No boy had done anything like this. She almost felt touched by this small action.

"Does it work?" Harry wondered.

Snow looked at him wide-eyed and amazed. She could see a glowy effect shining onto him and strengthening; this feeling emerged like a cacoon coming out of its shell, and now the butterfly is spreading their wings and gently taking off.

"Yeah," she said, wanting to melt into a pudding right this instance.

"Good," he replied gently.

There was that gorgeous smile again; how was he able to do that in one move and able to melt away the uneasiness from earlier troubles. How on earth was he real?

"How about I bring you tea flavors next time?" Harry asked, slinging his left hand onto his right shoulder.

"That sounds perfect," Snow answered undoubtedly.  

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Happy Tuesday! Can you believe we're in April? I can't. Time goes by fast. I wouldn't believe it. Anyway, what do you think about Snow and Harry? Isn't he so oh charming? I'll be swooning. 

Yikes for Snow and Casey right now. There are unspoken words there. We'll have to see how they can fix this. Do you think anyone is in the wrong here? Personally, there are two sides.

Get ready for the next chapter because oh. Oh. Like OH.  

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