Snow breathed out, focusing on her center and happy place. She wondered how he was going to take it when they're about to talk about how they made it this far; this far of the relationship mark of their series.

The last seven days had flown by, and they were close to the very end.

Casey had been more than a team player; he was a good seed. She knew he had it in him and that there was more to him than he led on. It was good for him.

He came by and sat down next to her on the grass, and he looked at her calmly. "Hi Snow," Casey said.

It had been a while since she heard him say her name. "Hi Casey," Snow replied.

She shifted her body around as he did the same so they could look at each other directly. "How have you reckon these days have been for us?" she asked.

"I think..." he paused, grasping for the right words. "I think we've been improving a lot since day one. What do you think?"

She nodded in agreement. It was really interesting. Snow had looked over at the list and marked off the ones they had done, silently counting down the days. A lot of them were just starting out and being themselves, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable but just getting used to. She was at that stage with him where she thinks she could count on him, and he's likely and hopefully counting on her too.

"Yeah, it's getting high. You're finally learning to be part of this relationship," she told him.

"So I wasn't before?"

"More like, you were unsure of it, but then you come to see I had good intentions and not trying to hook up with you, right?"

"Whoa, whoa," he cautioned with a hand up. "I never thought to hear you say the word 'hook up'."

Snow chuckled. "It's not uncommon. Is it? I know the term, you know."

Casey looked like he couldn't believe his ears for the first time. Like perhaps he might want to pull the screws out from her. "Don't ever use that word in front of me."

"It's not like I'm innocent from hearing what people use these days around and on the internet. Now those people are the ones you should be careful of," she specified humorously.

Snow usually preferred to stay off on the internet aside from watching a series because she didn't want to look at her social feed that could be crawling with couple pictures, and it would hit her with the sadness that she was still single. She didn't like that, but avoiding it from reality was impossible too.

"Whatever. So, are we really here to talk about..." It looked like he didn't want to say it. He dreaded that word since he couldn't talk about them before.

Feelings. 

"Feelings, yes. We have to talk about them. This is just all about checking in with each other, acknowledging, and see how we're really doing. It's not bad to just say from what's in your mind. You always have to talk about your feelings in any relationship." Her eyes met with his, and the determination in her eyes was strengthening.

He sighed, acknowledging in defeat. "Alright, I supposed I can do that now."

"So, how are you feeling? Are you okay?" Snow asked sincerely.

Casey moved up his hand to rub the back of his neck, the hesitation weighing in him. "If you're really asking how I'm feeling underneath, I'm doing my best. I don't know how to feel. I'm just trying to take everything in easily. Sometimes, you don't know how to really feel. You just feel everything all at once or none at all."

There was uncertainty in his eyes. He still was confused about how to deal with his emotions. Something like this was a big deal for her, as though he's caving in to tell her what's on his mind finally. "It's okay. It's definitely okay. We don't have to know our feelings either. They're just there to let you that it's just there."

He shrugged. "I'm still pretty much the same."

"But the only difference is you're slightly better now," she pointed out. "Not to say you weren't before, but like you're allowing yourself to... do more."

Snow pointed to herself, referring to her. "I'm feeling happier now that we're talking and learning. I felt uncertain and bashful in front of you when you're so close off that I didn't know if I could do it. If you hadn't reassured me before, we wouldn't continue in our practice relationship."

His lips curved up at the ends slightly. He reached out and took his hands in hers. His hands were big but warm. "You gave me something to look at, to think about; I looked back at my past relationship and always wondered where it could've gone wrong and why was it something I couldn't keep. Why couldn't I keep it? I asked myself this a thousand times if not more. Now that I know the truth, sometimes it isn't just me. But I definitely think I could've done more. There were some moments even though they were unsaid that there are things in between the lines I needed to read them."

Since when did he become so serious in the way she'd never seen him like this? She didn't know where this was leading to, but she was quiet.

"I'll save the rest of my breath until the last day, but thank you for putting up with me. It must not be easy on your end. Dealing with someone who hated life and thought nothing but his past girlfriend. It means a lot you try to put thought to help me try to understand myself better." He smiled warmly, his thumb motioning in a small circle on the back of her hand.

She couldn't grasp what this was when their hands touched each other, and it was just soothing to feel another skin pressed against hers. He put in a good word for her, and gosh, how can words be this kind of sweet? He had been a tough shell on the outside, but once bit into him, there was flavor, and it came gushing into the sweet chocolate flavor and mixed with caramel. He liked the bitter flavor of coffee, but just add a lot of sugar, and it could deviate into something else.

It was every little moment of kindness he'd returned back to her. "I appreciate this. I didn't know you had a lot in you, but you do."

"It's fine. I just want to make sure you're okay around me," he said.

"Then... what's your favorite that we have done since I'd like to hear what you think?" she asked out of curiosity.

He placed her hands back safely onto her lap and glanced down while he looked lost in his thoughts. He glanced back up when he knew what to say. "I honestly like that Bowling Intervention. You guys were all there, and I had fun knocking down some pins. I won second place in the end."

He added a smirk. "And of course, you bought us all food."

So his plan did work in the end. "So that means you want to go out bowling again?" Snow wondered.

"And seeing you lose? Yes, I'd like to," he remarked.

She raised her fist up decidedly, a crease forming between her eyebrows. "No fair. It's not my best game. But we can play basketball, and I'll show you."

Casey raised an eyebrow inquisitively, a tiny smile coming to his lip. "They may be right. You're really are like a puppy. Mostly friendly, and you can kinda bark when threatened but no bite."

Heat rushed to her cheeks, feeling like he had just personally attacked her. "W-What?"

"You're fooling absolutely no one. But that's okay," he said with his voice in a teasing manner, and then his face leaned in close. He lowered his voice hushed enough to her ears. "I can see right through you."

Her eyes widened big enough she was certain she's a deer in headlights. Snow reared her head back dramatically and looked away. Since when did he learn to start calling me out? 

He let out a soft chuckle. "I never had friends who gave me quite the entertainment as all three of you are when we're together. It passes on the time. I never thought there are people who wanted me involved in things," he said honestly.

She stared at him, astonished. It sounded to her like the three of them had changed his life for the better. They were a bunch of odd musketeers, and yet, he liked to hang out with them. They weren't anything special, but she knew that her friends were to her. He accepted them and her.

It will be better after we're over, right?

"We'll have other days for the four of us to be together," Snow reassured softly.

"That sounds great," he concurred.

"Yep, great," she emphasized.

"Have I... in your book yet... made higher points now than before? You don't have to change your score for me, but could you tell me a little how I'm doing... like a progress report?" Casey inquired.

Snow raised an eyebrow, almost quite shocking from having him hear say that. "You said you don't like homework."

"I don't. And I am going to be devastated when I have to go home later and attempt to work on my eight-page essay," he sighed dreadfully.

"That sounds tragic. I have a quiz coming up, so yeah, I'm not really ready for that." She shook her head. It was giving her more than anxiety. It's giving her a plummeting sensation of her very existence and all things questionable that made her want to cry.

"Good luck."

"Thanks." Luck was an odd probability to her.

They couldn't tell each other about how they were doing because the very end of their relationship mark is where they would lay it open. Their assessment result was paramount, the very conclusion from what they went through in the beginning, middle, and end. To their strengths and weaknesses and how much they knew about each other. The adventures that took the course in the thirty days they built upon a 'relationship'.

The end may hit differently.

"The only thing I could tell you now is that... you should keep being the way you are now, whether you would go back to Raquel or find someone new. She... will be receptive as long as you are." Snow gazed at him with hope filling inside her that was for him. He had gone through his own personal struggles that she wished she could take away, but it was impossible. No one can take away the pain inside others. The pain inside could hopefully subside when circumstances have allowed them to.

She didn't know how he acted around with Raquel, but if she was seeing how Snow saw in him, there could be a high possibility she could fall for him again. Perhaps he had hidden a part of himself in front of her that made her question things. But there's no way she could deny deep in her heart that the love in her could restart again.

She should give him a second chance... 

It was none of her business, but she would like to know more about their relationship than what he was giving her. Maybe someday when he knows her better.

He nodded quietly. "Okay."

"I like the early morning breakfast date. It's nice to learn about a memory of yours. Maybe someday you'll tell me more about her?" Snow asked hopefully, her eyes rounded with interest. She was ready anytime for another sit-down and hear storytimes.

"Maybe," he recited. For him, it was all she needed to know for now.

Snow felt a little bit let down, but it was okay. Maybe it was more fun to wait out what happens later on. They could take their time.

"Tell me about your heartbreak. Let me know how much it hurts. Tell me what I should do if I found someone and if they break my heart. What is the weight of it?" she asked, wanting to know the scars in his heart and the face he hides when she wasn't around.

What is it like to have someone break up with you? 

"Wow," Casey said, the question being heavy for him. "I don't know if I should express it. It's... difficult."

"Tell me anyway. Malloy told me that his first heartbreak was like someone had a hammer and just aimed to thrash his heart until every bit of him shattered in pieces. For him, it was ugly. Having it to go through it twice, he would rather now puke at the thought of being serious about someone."

She curved up her lips slightly tense. "I want to know what it feels like for you."

He paused, trying to figure out what to tell her, and pursed his lips. "When you know someone for a long time, and then, when you finally get in a relationship with someone you like, it means everything to you. You feel like you're holding something great, and you want to care for it. And when that someone breaks up with you suddenly, it feels like a cut but a deep one. Her love is like an extremely powerful drug, and it's just excruciatingly hard to separate."

He looked down at his hand stacked on top of the other one, slowly closing and opening his palm that's in front of him. "You live in your own state of mind, and you shut out everything and everyone. You go through disbelief, refusing the refusal. You can't imagine the world without that someone. You couldn't sleep at night. You have no will to eat or shower. You couldn't believe it's real-life that your relationship ended. You start hating everything. You start hating yourself. You may even start to hate the person who gave you emotions, but you still want them anyway."

"Sleep is my only escape. I only want to do nothing but sleep. I've been using sleep as my escape since I was fourteen. It's kind of my coping mechanism and now even a part of my routine. It's awful. Every time I think of her, my heart slams itself against my ribcage, then proceeds to skip a beat. Depression becomes my only friend."

Casey stopped himself from saying more. It seemed like all he knew was heartbreak and regret.

"Just be prepared that if you're serious about that person, then... you'll need to find something else to hold onto. If you don't have anything, you'll be miserable. How you get over it... it's on you." His eyes were unclear but they held something serious.

Snow absorbed each of his words. His world was so lonely that he didn't have people to depend on and have to cope with the problems all by himself. Now she could understand more on why Raquel meant a lot to him. Taking her away from him removes a shed of happiness and comfort he has known.

"It still hurts, right?" Snow asked.

"It does. That hurt will carry me. No one can really remove that deep cut. The only thing you can possibly wait on is that it would just hurt less. But don't worry about me. I'll tough it out eventually," Casey said, looking at her.

"Okay." She nodded. "Remember what I said before. You'll be stronger. It won't just be me. You have friends now who are there for you and care for you. Of course, I'm okay with you needing more time. You have your own pace." Her eyes softened. She only hoped that her reminders could help him.

"You have your own pace too. You will have that prince charming you'll be dreaming of; he's probably not a real prince, don't be disappointed—but he'll give you what you need. It's okay to wait longer if it means you'll have everything you ever wanted," he added. 

Something in her was bubbling up. It was the way of his words or that he knew what always bothered her. He was right. The pacing didn't matter as long as the result ended up being okay. Maybe she didn't need to search, and things will come eventually. She was patient for everything, but for love, she wanted it desperately. 

Will I find someone who will love me the way he loves her?

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Hello! Happy Friday! It's the beginning of July, wow! Time is going by sooo fast, can you believe it? Will you also believe Snow and Casey's relationship series is almost coming to an end? There are two chapters left until they're finished and then the rest.... you'll have to find out what happens when they don't make any expected plans or dates anymore. But it's a fun surprise, right? 

Do you like how their friendship is coming along? Is it looking natural for you? Do you miss the awkward moments between them because sometimes I still do. 

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