Malloy floored his palms to the table with a gasp escaping his lips and his gray eyes widening. "No way, it's finally over?" he said, and then exhaled out a relieving sigh. "I never thought you two would be done."

"So, how does it feel?" Kyle asked.

Snow had just told them about the ending of her and Casey's relationship series. They weren't bound to each other by little activities and plans and could now just be like normal friends to each other. She admitted she had her fun and unusual shares with him she thought she would never experience. However, it did bring them closer to learning and understanding each other as a person, and that itself was a personal goal to reach. So technically, she gave the guys what they wanted to better their friendship so the group dynamic could flow along more naturally and wouldn't be so awkward with them. 

"It feels nice. We can put this behind us now," Snow said.

"It is weird, but maybe it would be just one of the memories that you would look back on and think, it's just a time we need to look at ourselves," Casey mentioned.

She couldn't agree more. It was a time for them to look at each other and then themselves, to make a move and step forward. It prepared them for their next obstacle in life shall they face out to the world of dating and relationships.

"You guys are hilarious but glad you got that out of the way now," Malloy said, glancing out the window of the campus.

It's really over. After Snow declared that the relationship was over, the weekend passed by in a blur. She didn't believe that after thirty days, it'd be done and quick like that. There was no problem with her and Casey since they made a good friendship in the benefits of their relationship. 

"Yeah...," she said, glancing out the window with him as well while slowly taking a sip of her drink.

While she had not only thought about Casey at the last moment, Snow looked back at her stale love life. It was almost over with the semester, and she wanted to know if she had changed a little. How? She didn't know, but something else could tell her.

A sign. Could someone give her a sign?

Like destiny that had heard her calling, presented a moment to her when Harry walked by out at the campus, with a dazzling smile on his face. She lit up when she saw him, and her eyes were following him. He wasn't alone; he had two other people around him. They were guys. She guessed that even he could have friends around just like her. The sight was all cute, and it made her want to know even more about him.

"Oh my god," she muttered under her breath. Could she be missing him? Would he be the one to fill her life with such colors?

"You're staring at him," Kyle pointed out in an obvious way.

"Yeah," she said, her voice filling with the sound of infatuation.

"So, do you have any plans to go to him, or will you just stare at him like the girl you are?" Malloy asked and went ahead to imitate Snow as he put his hands up to his cheeks, leaning out forward and making exaggerating googly eyes at Harry, who now stood around with his friends by a tree.

"I don't look like that," Snow denied, her voice rising in a high pitch.

He turned back over to her. "Yeah, you do."

"No, I don't," she said again.

"You do."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You do," Malloy stated boldly with emphasis. "You do that when you can't find it in you to talk to him. He sometimes sees you and says hi. You should try it too."

"Do I look like that?" she asked confused, turning to Kyle and Casey for support, but neither of them wasn't saying anything.

They looked like if they were to say something, it would make them look bad. "Are you guys saying I just stare hopelessly at him? I thought you guys were my friends," Snow exclaimed.

"And we are. We have to tell you the truth that you really do that," Kyle said without a doubt.

She shrank back with a small expression. Really? She really must be that hopeless.

"Maybe you can finally try to ask him out now that you're over and done with Casey. See if you can pick up on something with him," Malloy suggested. 

"No, I don't have a plan. I thought it'd be better to trust the process, but even so, I don't know how I could do that." If Snow did significantly go out of her way and had brazen confidence, she could hope that Harry would look at her and say yes with no doubt.

She would lose the small confidence in herself if that was put out into reality.

"Then why don't we go with you to make sure you could?" Malloy asked confidently.

No. No. She shook her head vigorously. As much as that was a sweet thought to have them beside her, she couldn't let that happen. A few times in the past when Snow was crushing on a guy, they said sort of embarrassing things about her. Kyle fewer times without intending to, but Malloy boasted her in a good not so good way. It was overstated than what she would like.

"You don't have to," she said, trying to let them down easy.

"Oh, we should go over there. Maybe I can finally say hi to this guy." Malloy lifted a corner of his mouth to a mischievous smile. That smile would put her in trouble.

"No, I got this. I can do it." She faked her confidence. Besides, maybe she could convince herself halfway not to back out. She could pretend, and they might not notice it.

"You obviously do not, and so we should be there with you for moral support." Kyle piqued his brown eyes into a state of curiosity. He was serious.

Suddenly, this became a bad idea. Couldn't she do this herself?

"I'll go then," Casey spoke up.

She surprisingly couldn't believe it when she turned her eyes to him. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll come along and be there for you," he said, his voice calm but assuring.

She didn't know what to say, but he was willing to step in? At least it couldn't be bad with him; she hoped.

"Wow, Casey wanting to step in for support? That is something," Malloy said, with the same reaction as hers, not expecting it too.

"Wait," Snow said softly. I wonder if... She was color-coded curious if Harry would respond to her right now. Their text back and forth to each other was only semi-progressing, and she loved that he was the kind to be up for a chat. And sometimes she became so overwhelmed that she ended up leaving him on read when she didn't mean to. She just didn't know how else she could build on a conversation without thinking it'd be boring for him.

Snow swiftly got out her phone and sent Harry a quick text message that said hi. She watched out through the glass window where Harry was chatting with his friends. Will he see? she wondered.

Harry pulled out his phone from his pants pocket, gazing at his phone. To her surprise, he typed away on his phone. Just before she knows it, Snow got a new text message.

Hello Snow :)

It's a simple hello, but she felt giddy flying through her chest. She wrote another text message for him. Would it be okay if I come see you rn?

She glanced up to look at him again as he looked down at his phone, despite the presence of other people around. Why was it sweet that he didn't mind taking a bit of his time to talk to her even though he had people currently to talk to?

Yeah, I'm outside the quad by the cafeteria building and somewhere by a tree. I'm hanging around with just a couple of friends. Come say hi!

"We'll be back then," Snow said to them, rising to her feet and making towards the exit with Casey following along with her. She knew that those two would be watching them, and more or less, she was relieved they sort of have her back. Maybe?

Harry entered her line of vision, and there he was. He was standing there tall and chatting away. She didn't know if she had enough courage to walk over there, but she forced herself to as she got closer to them. Harry turned his head, spotting her with a light smile on his face.

"Hi," she began, slowly putting a smile on her face.

"Hey," Harry said, and he noticed Casey. "Oh hey, I remembered you... you were with her that one time, right?"

Casey nodded his head. "Yeah, it's Casey."

"Right. It's good to see you again, Casey." But Casey didn't look that much thrilled, but Snow supposed it's his normal face around strangers.

"Oh hey guys," Harry said to his friends, who have been looking at Snow and Casey with curious glances. "Come meet them. Emil, Brooks, meet Snow and Casey," he introduced them.

He casually glanced at her and Casey, making an effort to do the same and gesturing to his friends. "Snow, Casey, this is Emil and Brooks."

"Hi, nice to meet you two," Snow said politely. Darn it, I'm polite again, aren't I?

Casey just gave a nonchalant nod at them.

"Snow, huh?" Emil said, his blue eyes scanning her regardfully. 

What accent was it? It's foreign. She only heard an accent familiar like that once from watching a show, but she couldn't tell.

"Yeah," she responded meekly. "It's just a nickname my friends and parents called me by, but I go by Shauna too."

"That's a nice name."

"Thanks."

"How's it going?" Brooks asked.

"It's going fine," Snow answered.

Brooks shifted his gaze to Casey, wanting to hear from him too.

"Same," Casey said.

How should I ask him now? Snow looked to Harry expectantly as she wanted to have a moment alone with Harry, but how could she ask for a moment alone when he's with others? Wouldn't it be strange to take him away when they're there?

Should I do it another time? But wouldn't that be a wimp move? Why couldn't she be braver? Should she wait it out more or just try it?

Another voice in her reasoned with her. What's the worse it could happen? Truly getting embarrassed in front of him. But come on, she needed to know how it would look when she could gather up her courage, and if she couldn't do it, she could fake it, right?

"Harry," she said gently. "Would it be okay if I could have a moment alone with you?"

He gazed at her. "Oh, yeah sure," Harry responded, then turned back to his friends. "Would you guys mind?"

His friends had wide grins on their faces. "Go ahead," Brooks said. "We'll be over there when you're done." He pointed in a farther direction.

They started to back up. "Don't be too long, Harry," Emil said, giving him a quick wave.

Snow felt a tiny bit bad that she sent them away, but she needed this moment or maybe she would never convince herself for this to happen. Casey was still right there by her, and she needed him here in case things go wrong.

"So, did you want to talk about something?" Harry asked curiously.

"Y-yeah, um..." Her words disappeared as soon as she saw Harry's gentle demeanor. Why did he have to be so good-looking even when he wasn't trying hard to? "The sky looks pretty, right?" she said nervously.

Oh my god, bad move. She wished that the ground beneath her open up a hole and swallow her in.

Harry glanced up the sunny and clear blue sky, chuckling a bit. "Yeah, it's pretty."

Casey nudged her shoulder with his, indicating to her to get on with it. "Right, listen..." Harry stared at her. "I... have something to ask you."

"Really? What did you want to ask me?"

Oh, how she would love to be sucked in his gorgeous brown eyes. Wishing she was the only reflection she could see in him. Wait, she had to do something first. She should ask him an important question before moving on to her objective.

"Are you... seeing anyone?" Snow asked.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not seeing anyone."

Her heart could leap in joy for this. She didn't want to repeat the same mistake she had once. Like she did with Antonio. It's perfect now because that means she got a chance. But her execution, however...

"Um... well, you see... the thing... I like to ask you... is that... I..." Snow turned to Casey, her eyes most likely asking what to do because asking out someone is something she had no expertise in.

He squeezed her shoulder. "What do you think about the idea of going out with her?" Casey asked Harry.

"Going out?" His eyebrows went up confusedly.

Thanks, Casey. Snow felt she could take it over from here. She needed to be the one to do this. "Yes, how would you feel about going out with me... on a date."

I actually said it. Snow imagined her freaking out like a little cartoon version of herself running around and making a big deal out of it. She had never imagined asking a boy on a date. Usually, she dreamt of being the one to be asked out.

"Maybe this weekend if you'd like?" she offered. 

Harry spaced out with a thoughtful expression, tilting his head with his hand going up behind his head.

Please say yes. 

After what seemed like he thought it through, he answered back to her, wincing slightly. "I can't, I'm sorry."

She felt her expression dropped into disappointment. Oh... "Oh, that's okay."

"No, I mean, I can't. I have finals coming up, and I'm overwhelmed with making study guides for them. It's tons of memorization, and my plans for the weekend will leave me sore. But," he said, the 'but' bringing her to attention.

But? She became hopeful.

"If you can wait until next weekend, then I'd love to take you up on your offer and go on a date with you."

A relieved smile spread across her face. "Really?"

"Yeah, you're beautiful. I'd like to spend more time with you, and I'm glad you asked." Harry smiled, and she never thought this could happen except only in her imagination. It wasn't her imagination, was it?

He called her beautiful... and she didn't have any makeup on, but the compliment from him felt genuine.

Was she blushing? She put a hand to her cheek and blinked at him, hoping that by the fifth or sixth blink, it wasn't just what she wanted to see but something real.

"Then how about you let me know later on? I should get back to the guys. Don't want to keep them waiting too long." He gestured his thumb backward, and she nodded.

"Yeah, totally, I'll... definitely let you know later on," Snow said.

"Then see you next time," Harry said to her, but he looked at Casey as well.

They waved goodbye to each other, and when he turned around, Snow still had a smile on her face. She looked to Casey. "Did you hear that? I'm finally going out on a date with a boy, and I never thought I'd see the day coming."

Casey quirked a brow, a small smile appearing for half a second on his lips. "Congrats."

"I don't think I would have done it by myself." Her fists brought up to her chest and were formed in excitement. "I really, really want to thank you. I'll try my best on this date next weekend."

"I just asked a question to him for you," he replied nonchalantly.

"No, but... you came with me... and that makes it all the better." Snow didn't know how else to explain better how much he has done for her. "May I hug you?" she asked hesitantly.

He pondered, and then he spread out his arms a little. "By all means." 

She took gradual steps toward him—her head up to his chin level—and with slow movements, she was careful to put her arms around his back and close in the small gap with her chest with his softly. She hugged him like she didn't want to break him but hugged him enough to let her know that her care for him was there. And within a few seconds, she felt his arms slipped around her back.

He feels... really nice. I hope the pieces of his heart are slowly coming back together even just by one piece; I hope I helped him pick up one piece because I wouldn't mind taking some of mine to give to him.

I wouldn't mind it at all.

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Hello, a surprise Wednesday chapter. I know, it's cool, right? I was thinking Friday days are usually good upload days, but every now and then, maybe I'd like to upload a little early, lol.

So, how are we feeling about this chapter? Are we happy for Snow? Are we all good here? Tell me your thoughts. I'd love to hear them. 

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