I got dressed and went ahead to get breakfast. Not long, Roy came to eat. He looked cleaned up from being so his hot and sweaty morning jog. I could smell a whiff of his body spray and the clay pomade from his hair. The scent was comfortable on my nose that I wanted to stick it to him.

"Morning," he greeted me.

"Oh, hey. I mean... morning," I stammered.

Anyhow, he got dressed into a long-sleeved navy blue turtleneck top and checkered slacks. Even though, the material was thick, I still could picture him shirtless.

I was hoping that my face didn't turn red just imagining his abs underneath that thick clothing.

He could be one of those #fitsperation people after telling me that he was chubby and worked hard to lose those weight.

Pfft... #fitsperation. That's so 2013.

Either way, he could be those people. Must be inspiring.

"Man, they have the best Hungarian cheese sausage ever," Roy said as he started eating it. "Hmm... so good."

I just nodded. "Yeah... It is. You look.. good, by the way."

He just raised his brow at me right after, yet he smiled. "Thanks."

Somehow, I just wanted to tell him that to let it out of my system. I didn't compliment him because of how he fixed himself up, but it was because I wanted to tell him that his hot bod was so fine.

Maybe it was a weird approach, but it was still worth it.

I did get that butterfly inside my tummy and I did everything to not let out a giggle out of me.

"You look great too," Roy added. I think he was just being nice. "I like the... new look."

"Thanks," I said politely, and I could feel my cheeks burning even more.

"Thanks again for letting me write about your photo studio."

"No problem. I'm so honored that you will be writing about it."

"And don't worry, I won't be on the way when you guys are working," Roy assured me.

"Okay," I nodded. "Anyway, if you have any questions, Mav is there to help you out."

"Alright."

After eating, we put on our coats as we were heading out the door. Before leaving, I liked to check all my stuff that I needed for work. You know, after I accidentally misplaced that one thing for my job. "Okay, I got my phone, my wallet, and of course, my camera. Never ever forgetting that again," I claimed jokingly.

"Hey, guys, where are you guys heading?" Barry asked as he walked in the hallway.

"My photo studio," I answered.

Barry looking at us all funny. "You two? Together?"

Roy and I exchanged glances and nodded at him. "Yeah..." Roy replied, shrugging his shoulder. "Oh, I forgot my notebook. I'll be right back real quick."

"No problem," I said.

Once Roy rushed up to get his stuff from his room, Barry turned to me with that same weird expression on his face. "You guys have been hanging out a lot," he remarked. "Is there something going on between you two?"

I froze. It felt like a cold, icey water splashed on me from his... assumption about me and Roy. "What!?" I stuttered. Plus, my voice got high, and I was hoping that I wasn't obvious. "Ahem... I'm just showing him around and he wanted to write about my photo studio."

I wasn't sure if Barry was convince. "Alright, I was just asking. You guys have been together a lot."

"Right, maybe someone needs to stop reading Cosmos."

"Hey!" He became defensive. "Just telling you what I'm seeing."

I just shook my head and rolled my eyes at him. That was when, Roy came down the stairs. "Okay, I got my notebook," he said.

"Alright, let's go," I replied, so that the topic would not continue if we stayed there a little longer.

When we were about to get out the door, Barry just had to have the last laugh. "Ahem... Denial," he coughed. Or at least pretended to cough.

Roy sort of caught that. "What was that?"

Good thing, I caught that too. "Bless you," I responded jokingly to Barry, then left very ubruptly with Roy.

That was close.

Later, we arrived in the photo studio. I had to work again right away and so did everyone else, while Roy began exploring the house. He started in the main entrance and the hallway, and took pictures first.

You know, it felt strange having him there. A good kind of strange. I know I had been with him eversince I met him in the inn.

Me and Linus had to work. There were times that I had to go out of the room to get some things for the shoot, or toilet breaks, and I would see Roy talking to Mav and Jo since they were helping him to go around the house so he wouldn't get lost. I could here them laughing too. It was like they were friends.

I was a bit nervous at first about him being here with my friends since that was the second time they met and getting to know each other. However, I became relieved to see that he fit in well with them.

My only fear was that time was if they might slip up about him looking like Topher, or something like that.

Anyway, seeing them chatting and laughing, I was glad because it felt like there was a void that was filled in this one big house.

It also felt like a weight lifted off from my shoulder that I didn't have to hide about him from them. Or maybe a half of those weight just lifted off my shoulders since I hadn't been entirely honest yet with Roy.

Nevermind that.

I get that it was weird, but that's how it felt.

It felt like a light came back in our lives again.

My only wish was that light would not leave. I know it was asking too much, but I badly wished it stayed a lot longer.

I didn't realize that I was in my thought bubble, until Linus elbowed me while I was steaming a tailored blazer. "Ow!" I reacted, then I turned to him. "What was that for?"

"Admit it, you like him. Like, like him, like him," he whispered.

I remember feeling so very annoyed that day because Barry teased me earlier and then Linus had to add to that. "I don't know what you're talking about," I scoffed.

"You can't lie to me. You have been staring at him every chance you get."

"Okay, I don't... dislike him."

"Gosh..." Linus sighed.

"Would you knock it off?" I grumbled. "We're just friends. Really good friends. Nothing more than that."

"Hmm... Okay."

Yeah, of course he did not buy it. I expected that. I just wanted him to stop talking about it. However, it was hopeless. I might as well sew his mouth shut close while I drug him to sleep.

Looking back at it now, it wasn't a bad idea.

Okay, I'm just kidding. Then again, maybe not.

Let's get back to the story.

Once the day was over, Linus and I packed our things for the shoot and our clients left. We got down the stairs together and saw Roy writing things down by the front desk while talking with Mav, Jo and Emmy.

"Hi! Lovely," Emmy greeted.

"Hey, Emmy, when did you get here?" I asked.

"About an hour ago. I finished early with my meetings."

"Oh! Nice."

Linus then looked towards our... guest. "So Roy, how's the researching going?" he asked him.

"I haven't started much. So far, I just started with taking pictures and describing it in my notes," Roy answered and closed his notebook, then put it in his bag.

"Oh, okay."

"So you guys are finally done with shoot?" Mav asked.

"Yes!" Linus exasperated to express his exaggeration that we finally finished the shoot. "I need a vacation."

"You deserve it," I said to him.

"Ugh... I wish, but I have another client to work with, but that's still in two weeks. So that means I still have time to just take a break."

"You know what, we all worked so hard lately," Jo said. "Why don't we all like go out tonight?"

We all looked at each other, thinking that it was not a bad idea. "Sure, I'm down," Emmy replied.

"Me too," Linus answered.

"You can come too, Roy, if you want," Jo told him.

"Really?" Roy was a bit taken aback that he was invited.

"Why not?" Mav added. "It's like we know you already."

Wow, they knew how to mess with me. That was intentional, and I would intentionally sewn their mouth shut.

As expected, Roy seemed to find that last part odd. "Yeah, and besides, it'll be nice for you to see a good hangout places here in Barcon," Emmy said.

Roy turned to me first. "You coming?"

I looked at him in a weird way, "Uhm... Yeah," I answered.

"Then okay, I'll go."

"Yay!" Jo chimed. "Oh! Let's go to the Barcon Perk."

"Barcon Perk?" Roy chuckled. "Like Central Perk from Friends."

"Yeah, they made a cafe bar that almost looked like Central Perk," Emmy explained.

"Yeah, I gotta check it out."

"Also, Ben&Ben are playing tonight," Linus added.

I was surprised by that. I mean it was my favorite band. "Really?" I gasped in excitement. "I love them. I thought I would never see them anymore."

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you that they announce their return months ago... After, you know."

"Oh..."

"Who are they?" Roy asked.

"They are an indie band from... out of town," I told him.

"And, they're cool. You'll love them," Emmy squealed, eagerly wanting to watch them that night. "What are we waiting for? Let's lock up and go!"

----

We got to Barcon Perk moments after. It was ages since the last time I was there, and by ages, I meant college years.

Work had been hectic, you know. Plus, there were a lot of new cafes and bars opened after we graduated that my friends and I wanted to try those instead that we forgotten our old favorite since it was not going anywhere anyway.

Although, I remember forgetting why I hadn't been going there for ages.

It was a great place to just chill and have a drink with a good band to listen to.

It was also the same place where Topher and I confessed our feelings towards one another. The time when I was pissed at him, thinking that he liked another girl.

Oh! That nostalgia feeling was coming back and it was a bit overwhelming. "You okay, Lovely?" Emmy asked me all of a sudden in private while everyone walked ahead of us to get a seat.

"Hm? Yeah," I yelped. "Why?"

"It brings back "memories", doesn't it?"

"It does."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm fine," I assured her. "I kinda miss this place. It still looks the same."

"I know, right?" Emmy sighed. "This was our hangout place. Too bad Stephen is not the manager here anymore. He used to give us free drinks every Friday.

Lucky for me, there were a lot of new waiters and waitresses because in my time, our old classmates used to work there and they all knew Topher.

Anyway, we found a place to sit around then started to order something to eat, and like before, I sat next to Topher and then I had to go through that when I had to sit next to Roy. It was not intentional on my part.

As I looked at the menu, that was when I remember why I stopped going to Barcon Perk.

Nothing changed.

It was like I know everything on the menu like it was at the back of my hands.

There were a few new stuff, but nothing unique about them. Well, maybe the desserts. The good thing about it was that even though they tasted the same, it still tasted delicious.

I had mixed feelings about. On the positive note, maybe same isn't a bad thing. It would be nice to have a place that stuck in their ways to look back how far we had gone for the better.