For ten minutes, Robin had waited for Tyler to arrive at the library for their study session. With sweaty palms, dry mouth, and pounding heart he kept glancing at the door in the hopes of seeing a boy on crutches, with blonde strands of hair dancing in front of green eyes and a lollipop between his lips, make a grand entrance.

Robin kept telling himself this was no big deal. It was only a tutoring session. There was no need to be nervous. But his body was saying the opposite.

Maybe agreeing to the tutoring arrangement had just been a charade on Tyler's part anyway. A way to pander to his counselor. Maybe he wouldn't show up.

This notion made Robin feel silly about all the thought he'd put into making sure Ty didn't feel awkward. He didn't want to make the mistake with the stairs again. Therefore, Robin had arrived at the library early enough to occupy a table on the bottom floor, close to the entrance. He didn't want Ty to have to hobble around in narrow passages as they looked for a table or force the other boy to scale the spiral staircase to the second floor of the building.

There were probably elevators, but Robin wasn't sure where. Perhaps they would have to ask for a key in the reception. Perhaps Ty would find that humiliating. Perhaps he would blame Robin for not thinking such things through.

There was a lot of "perhaps" running through Robin's anxious mind.

He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead on the desk in front of him. He was overthinking things, as always.

"Calm down, Robin. Calm down," he whispered to himself while breathing in and out through his nose. This was a method to keep calm taught to him by one of the many doctors he had visited during his childhood when he was poked and prodded over and over. And yet all the poking and prodding never led to a conclusive diagnosis.

One tap, and then another. The sound came closer and Robin looked up.

Blonde curls and a lollipop.

"Are you asleep?" Tyler asked with a crooked smile that revealed a blue-ish tongue. The tip flicked across the round treat between his lips like a lizard. Robin surmised that the color must originate from a previous lollipop. Perhaps grape or blueberry. He couldn't help but wonder if Ty's lips would taste sweet and fruity as well.

A breath in and a breath out served to focus him again. What were these thoughts? This was just a tutoring session.

"I'm... awake," Robin blurted out as he tried to act normal. How did a normal person even act? Robin didn't quite know anymore. Perhaps he'd never known.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Tyler continued casually, seemingly taking no note of Robin's flustered state. Hopefully, he was passing the normal bar. "I might have fallen asleep myself in Miss Horn's office. She told me I could take a nap, so I did."

While Tyler put his crutches against a chair and untangled himself from his backpack, Robin jumped up to pull out a chair.

"Such a gentleman," Ty teased while sitting down. "I can sit down by myself. My arms work perfectly well." He lifted a hand and curled it to flex the muscles above. The sight of the hard edges moving underneath the skin made Robin's pulse race.

"Sorry," Robin mumbled while a blush spread over his face. The balance between doing too much and too little was hard to strike. Balancing had never been Robin's strong suit anyway. He could barely walk on a sidewalk without tripping. Although his coordination improved after he stopped taking all those medicines the doctors used to prescribe him.

Ty must have seen Robin's predicament and decided to take pity on him. "I don't mind some help," he muttered and reached into his jacket pocket. "Here's a lollipop for your trouble, Robby."

The cherry-flavored candy matched the shade of Robin's face. He took the offering without protest. "Thank you." Robin looked down at the candy, afraid to meet Ty's eyes.

"I'm glad you found a table on the bottom floor," Ty said. "I don't like those stairs." He nodded toward the many narrow staircases spiraling toward the upper balcony.

As usual, Robin had no idea what to say. "I tried to make it easy for you," he tried, feeling like he once again put his foot in his mouth. But as he looked up, Ty just smiled sweetly, while still sucking on that damn lollipop. The gesture almost seemed suggestive.

Robin looked down at the table again as another blush rose on his cheeks and he once again focused on his breathing. Damn it, Robin! What was the matter with him?

"That's nice of you, Robby," Ty said while unloading his books from his bag.

Every time Ty called him Robby it felt like fireworks went off inside his chest. It was the name of someone else. Someone he wasn't, but maybe could be one day. Someone brave and confident.

"You're... welcome." Robin looked up again and met mischievous green eyes, a sweet smile, and a shrug that seemed to mean something he couldn't quite decipher. Their eyes remained locked for a brief moment, during which the hustle and bustle of the library around them seemed to disappear.

The moment dissipated when Tyler flicked the stick of his lollipop toward a waste bin while making a swooshing sound. It bounced off the rim and landed on the floor.

"Dammit," the blonde boy groaned and flopped his head on the table with the dramatic flair of an Italian soccer player. "Well, I'm disabled so hopefully the staff will forgive me for not picking that up."

"Should I get it?" Robin wondered cautiously and looked around to see if a staff member had noticed them littering.

Ty shook his head so the unruly curls rustled in front of his eyes. "Just leave it. I'll look really sad and pathetic if anyone comes by and asks." He demonstrated his sad look convincingly before breaking into an infectious smile. "Losing a leg is a good way to make people let you get away with things. Although I don't recommend it..."

Robin just nodded and cursed his awkwardness. "Should we start studying?" he suggested because that's all he could think of saying.

"Bring it on," Ty replied and flapped his hands over the textbooks on the table. "I'm ready!"

"We've covered chapters one and two in the Psych course," Robin started while looking at the syllabus that he had neatly folded out in front of him. His hand reached for one of the books that Ty had shoveled onto the table in a messy pile. Perhaps this tutoring session should also include methods to organize your study material.

Something soft and warm met Robin's finger. Tingles spread through his body, like bubbles from a fizzy drink. It popped and tickled through his veins.

Still tingling all over, Robin looked up. Ty had reached for the same book and their hands met at the ridge. Green eyes looked into his while the tingles multiplied by the moment. The intensity overwhelmed him.

Quickly, perhaps too quickly, he moved his hand. He looked away. He needed to breathe.

As Robin glanced up Ty had also moved his hand. Eyes were hidden by blonde curls.

A silly thought struck Robin. Perhaps Ty had felt it too. Perhaps it wasn't only him.

He chased the thought away. He was just imagining things. There was nothing to feel. No connection or chemistry. This was just an ordinary tutoring session. Because if it was something more... he didn't quite know how to process that.

So Robin took a deep breath and turned his focus back to the task at hand. "There's a study sheet," he continued as if nothing had happened. "We can go through all the questions on it together."

Ty nodded, while still obscuring his gaze among wild curls. His chest heaved as he inhaled deeply. Then a sparkling smile and unbothered eyes appeared from under the golden curtain of hair. "Let's do it, Robby," he said and smacked his hands on the table. "As quickly as possible. I'm getting hungry."

Hunger proved to be a good motivator as Tyler sped through the study sheet, proving that his mind was keen when he exerted himself. Without really knowing what had happened, Robin soon found himself standing beside Tyler by the donut kiosk outside the library. They probably made big business selling coffee and pastries to tired and hungry students.

"A dozen donuts, please. Half of them glazed and half of them chocolate-covered." Ty fired off a smile, as sweet as the ordered pastries, toward the girl in the donut shop.

"Are you feeding a whole football team?" She giggled while fiddling with her braid. The blue-plaid uniform matched her eyes and a few stray strands of chestnut hair had made their way out from the uniform paper hat to frame her face. The clucking laughter felt like a threat to Robin, somehow. He wasn't sure why.

"No," Ty replied sheepishly, a crooked smile still dancing across his face. "Just myself and Robby."

"Should I carry the donuts for you?" The giggly donut shop-girl tilted her head to the side like she was looking at a stray kitten. It seemed she had just noticed Tyler's crutches. "I really shouldn't leave the kiosk but I could pop out quickly and help you."

"I'm fine," Tyler muttered while readjusting his stance on the crutches, probably trying to figure out how he would carry the box without dropping it. He didn't seem to appreciate the girl fawning over him like a wounded baby bird.

"I'll take the donuts." Robin swooped in to lift the box off the counter. "Thank you, miss."

The girl gave Robin a surprised look. Perhaps she hadn't even noticed he was there since her attention was focused solely on Tyler and his gleaming smile.

After Tyler had paid the girl, the boys walked toward a picnic table under the giant oak trees that shaded the campus lawn. Early fall was in the air, with its mix of cold drafts and soft sunlight. The leaves above them shone vibrantly, in flux between green and yellow.

Robin put the box of donuts on the table and before he had even had time to sit down, Ty had taken a seat, put away his crutches, opened the box, and stuffed half a donut in his mouth. "I haven't eaten anything since lunch," the blonde boy said, mouth full of fried pastry dough and melted chocolate. "I'm starving."

A quick glance at his wristband told Robin that lunch would have been about an hour and a half ago.

He wasn't really hungry himself, but donuts were donuts, and who could say no? So Robin grabbed a round glazed treat and took a bite. It was sweet, soft, and melting in his mouth.

Sweet soft eyes met his at the other side of the table. A shared look and an intriguing smile followed before they both looked down at the pastries again. The smile made Robin's insides melt. He took another bite to distract himself.

"She was cute. I mean... the girl in the kiosk," he spurted out because that seemed like the kind of thing guys talked about.

Ty shrugged and reached for his second donut.

"You should get her number," Robin continued, unsure of where he wanted this conversation to go. Or perhaps he knew exactly where he wanted it to head but was afraid to admit it. "I think she was flirting with you."

Not that Robin had ever had anyone flirt with him. But he had read many books and according to the intel in those that was how flirting looked like. Smiles, giggles, and hands playing with strands of hair.

Ty just shrugged again. "I'm a lot to deal with," he mumbled, "with this." His hand flapped over his leg and crutches. "I don't really date, at least not," his gaze flickered like he hesitated what to say, "...not like that," he concluded and looked away into the distance without further elaboration.

After a moment of silence, during which the boy opposite Robin snatched a third donut, Tyler cleared his throat. "So are you and the pretty redhead with the shark obsession—Des, right?—are you dating?" His eyes were still averted from Robin and he appeared very focused on dusting powdered sugar from his pants.

Robin shook his head. "Des is my friend," he explained. "My best friend." And also his only friend, but he didn't want Ty to know that. "We've known each other since we were young. I don't date either... I guess."

He'd never felt anything but friendship for Des. His mom seemed to have hopes for something else, always mentioning how good a match they would be, but he just couldn't picture it. Des was cute, sweet, and awesome. But he wasn't in love with her. Despite never having been in love, Robin knew that. Of course, he loved her, but not in a passionately romantic way.

"Good to know," Ty noted. Was he perhaps interested in Des? It would make sense. It was how all the stories went. A pretty boy and a pretty girl who fell in love.

Tyler's green eyes once again met Robin's blue eyes, no longer hidden. A sweet smile shone. A burst of soft laughter bubbled. Swirls of blond hair melted through fiddling fingers.

Wait!?

Smiles, laughter, fiddling with hair.

Robin's mind went on hyperdrive as he tried to make heads and tails of this unknown situation. This did not make sense at all.

Was the pretty boy flirting with him?

A buzz on Robin's phone interrupted the ridiculous thought. He knew who it was and pulled the device up to press the red button. He pressed it hard and decisively. She couldn't ruin this. Whatever it was.

Ty gave him a curious look.

"My mother," Robin explained. "I can call her later."

Ty smiled and kept fiddling with his unruly hair. "Guess I'm more important than her," he said with a laugh and reached for his fourth donut. "Or the donuts are."

As Tyler's arm reached for the donut box, his eyes fell on his watch. "Dammit!" he exclaimed. "I have to go." He sighed. "Another hospital visit. Physiotherapy this time."

Once again, Robin was stumped for words as he got visions of sterilized hallways and white coats.

In a rushed move, Ty reached for his crutches. "I'm fine," he added for emphasis. "I was thinking though that maybe I need more tutoring." He shuffled to standing, turning his hands on the crutch handles to get a better grip. "To catch up, I mean. So maybe we could meet here on Tuesday at well?"

"That sounds good. Tuesday works for me," Robin replied. It wasn't like he ever had any grand plans anyway. And most hypothetical plans paled in comparison to hanging out with Tyler.

"Awesome!" Tyler replied, getting ready to turn to leave.

"What about the donuts?" Robin asked, realizing that half a dozen donuts remained in the box before him.

Ty looked at the box, seemingly trying to wager if he could bring it with him. "You take the rest, Robby," he said, reluctantly admitting defeat. Balancing the box while on crutches would be precarious and the pastries would create a mess if he crammed them into his backpack. Quickly, Tyler grabbed one of the remaining donuts and shoved it in his mouth. "I've had enough... for now."

It didn't actually seem like Tyler could ever have enough to eat. After all, he had downed five donuts in about five minutes. With his mouth full of donut, Tyler flashed a final smile toward Robin, gave out a low chuckle, and stroked some unruly curls away from his face. Then he was gone.

Left by the picnic table was Robin, with a half-full box of sweet treats, an insistingly buzzing phone, and a flurry of conflicting emotions.