"I'm guessing they made up."

"I'm guessing they had make up sex."

"Sabina!" Mary Jane whines, covering her flaming cheeks with her hands. "Please. Stop being vulgar. There's a kid in the room."

The dark-skinned beauty places a hand on her hip. "Am I wrong, though?"

Her stare scares Mary Jane. She huffs and rests her face on her palm. "No," she answers sulkily.

"I'm not a kid," Andy protests, crossing her arms. "I'm a year younger than you, MJ."

"A kid," Mary Jane and Sabina say at the same time.

"I have a boyfriend!"

"A boyfriend who's not a boyfriend," the eldest counters, taking a sip from her milk tea. "Honestly, Andy, please find someone else. Luke is literally a waste of your time. Look at our little orange head here."

Mary Jane doesn't bother correcting her anymore. "Andy, bub, I love you, but Sab's right. There's a million other guys there willing to date you, you know?"

Andy pouts. "I like him."

Sabina raises her eyebrows. "Do you?"

"Okay," Mary Jane cuts in before the youngest could retort, "let's let Andy decide for herself. She knows she has us if things go bad. Right, bub?"

"Right," Andy agrees, nodding. "I know the both of you are looking out for me, but I can look out for myself as well. Right now, I'm just happy MJ's happy."

The ginger smiles and reaches over to hug her tight. "Thanks for knocking sense into me."

Sabina flips her hair over her shoulder. "Well, I'm happy you and your family got your shit together and shut that bitch Alice up. Everything's going great, right, MJ?"

Mary Jane grins. "Yep. Everything's great."

*

Everything's great for a couple of months.

Mary Jane is happy. She's actually happy with someone.

She's met Adrian's friends, Kento and Danny, when they came over his apartment bringing pizza and beer, and Danny is sweet and funny while Kento's a little quiet and shy, but nice nonetheless. But seeing the three of them together was fascinating—they're all rowdy and loud when they're playing video games and they're messy when eating, and Kento doesn't know how to use chopsticks and Danny can eat noodles without utensils.

Mary Jane thinks they're like three puppies. It's cute.

They're sitting on the couch together—well, cuddling is the more appropriate term— and Adrian's watching a show on the television while Mary Jane's on her phone, scrolling through her social media, when she gasps loudly and turns to him with wide eyes.

Adrian glances at her briefly. "What?"

She switches her gaze back to her phone, then back to Adrian, then back to her phone again. "Oh my God, it is you!"

That catches his attention. His eyebrows draw together. "What?"

"This was you?" Mary Jane asks incredulously, shoving the screen to her boyfriend's face. "You were so thin, holy shit."

Adrian takes the phone in his hand and sits up. "Where did you get this?"

"You look like you haven't slept in weeks," Mary Jane continues, snatching the phone from him again and leaning back against the sofa. The picture's of Kento, him, and Danny—they're standing outside a building, and Adrian's friends are hugging him from the side, throwing up peace signs. Adrian's face is expressionless as he stands between the two—his body frame is so thin. "Was this during finals week? But Danny and Kento look fine. Maybe you haven't been eating much. You do that, you know? You forget to eat sometimes. That's why I need to remind you."

Mary Jane hasn't noticed, but Adrian's jaw is set as he stares at her. "Where did you get this?"

"Or maybe you haven't been working out here yet? Oh, Danny sent it to me. I asked for a picture of you before because you don't have any. Do you remember when this was taken?"

"No," Adrian says harshly, grabbing her phone again. "I'm deleting this. Don't ask for pictures of me again."

Mary Jane's frozen at his reaction. "Oh."

Adrian doesn't look up. His jaw tightens.

"I'm sorry," Mary Jane mutters. "I...didn't know it would make you uncomfortable..."

He puts down the phone and rubs his forehead with his free hand. "It's okay. You didn't know. Sorry for snapping, I just—I hate it. I hated how I looked. And I don't want you to see that."

"I'm sorry," Mary Jane says again, whispers the words this time, "okay. I won't ask again."

Adrian raises his head and gives her a small smile. It looks a little forced. "Thank you, baby."

So. They have their arguments, but Adrian's kind. He's sweet and patient, and they make it a point to talk. Always talk it out.

So everything's going great.

But everything's going great until Mary Jane sees the date on her calendar and remembers—she's supposed to go to Worthington tomorrow.

The only light in the room is Mary Jane's lamp, and Sabina's phone. They're both seated on their desks, and Andy's already knocked out from exhaustion from her shift at Baked!.

The ginger taps her pen against the paper. "I have a dilemma."

"Spill," Sabina replies immediately, looking up from her screen.

"I completely forgot I was supposed to go to Worthington tomorrow," the younger explains, running a hand through her wet hair, "but I made plans with Adrian. What do I do?"

"Don't go to Worthington then," Sabina says easily, shrugging. "You don't need to. I thought you gave up on looking for Seth."

Gave up. Mary Jane purses her lips. "I didn't give up on him. I just...stopped."

The older shoots her a blank stare. "That's giving up. Go to Worthington another day."

Mary Jane takes a deep breath. "I'm not sure if I want to. Go back, I mean."

Sabina tilts her head to the side. "Does Adrian know?"

Mary Jane swallows hard. "No. He doesn't...he doesn't like talking about Seth. He's closed off about him...I'm not sure he'd be okay with me going back to ask about him."

"You don't need Adrian to tell you what to do and what not to do," the older says flatly. "But I think he should know if you want to go. I don't think he's going to stop you, either. If he does, break up with him."

"It's going to take a lot more than that for me to break up with him," Mary Jane mumbles, twisting her pen around her fingers. "Can I ask you something?"

"You know you always can."

"Why...why did you never help me find him? Seth?"

Sabina doesn't hesitate to answer. "You never asked."

Mary Jane looks at her. "That's...no, really. Truth, Sab."

There's hesitation this time. As if she needed a few seconds to pick her words carefully. "I don't think you should look for him."

That—that made Mary Jane's lips part in surprise. "What?"

"I don't think you should look for him," Sabina repeats quietly. "You were wasting your time looking for someone who...you know."

"Who what?"

"You said it earlier, MJ. You just stopped. Maybe he just stopped, too."

"No, no, wait, back up—you think I'm crazy. You think I was crazy for looking for him."

"I didn't say that," Sabina argues, voice firm. "I just...you said it yourself—there's no trace of him anywhere."

"But at the bar," Mary Jane says weakly, "you said things. That I shouldn't give up."

"I said things you wanted to hear. At Baked!, I told you that maybe he doesn't want to be found. He's never tried to find you."

Mary Jane inhales shakily. "You don't want me to look for him. Because, what, he disappeared? He stopped talking to me?"

"Because he isn't worth your time!" Sabina says, raising her hands in exasperation. "Because he gave up on you, Jesus Christ, MJ."

"So all this time you thought I was stupid. For what I was doing."

"No, I—stop putting words in my mouth."

"Funny, that's what Seth said too."

Sabina's quiet. "We should cool off. I don't want to keep fighting."

"Sounds good." Mary Jane stands and picks up her bag and hoodie. "I'm going to Adrian's. Call me tomorrow when you're done being...whatever it is you're being."

            "Ditto," Sabina replies icily.

Mary Jane leaves. Doesn't even turn off her lamp.

When she arrives at Adrian's door, she doesn't realize her cheeks are stained with tears until her boyfriend steps outside and immediately embraces her. "Hey, beautiful, don't cry."

"I'm s-sorry," Mary Jane whispers, hugging him back. "I know i-it's late, and I woke y-you up, but I needed you, Sabina and I kind of fought, and—"

"Okay," Adrian says, and pulls her inside. "Come on. You're freezing. You should've called me earlier, I would've picked you up."

"I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible so I d-drove. Didn't even t-think about turning on the heater."

In his bedroom, Adrian peels back the covers. "Get inside the blankets. Come on."

Mary Jane does as he says.

Her boyfriend scoots closer to her and cups her face. His thumbs brush her skin gently. "Want to tell me what happened? Or do you want to go to sleep?"

"I'll tell you now," she answers, sniffing. "I just need t-to calm down and warm up for a sec. Hug me?"

Adrian wraps his arms around her without another word.

Mary Jane buries her head against his neck, and she feels safe. This is her safe place.

"Please don't get mad," she finally says a few moments later. "Promise me."

Adrian pulls back and takes her hand. "Okay. I promise."

Mary Jane takes a deep breath. "I...I was supposed to go to Worthington tomorrow. It's written on my calendar. I go there sometimes to ask about...you know, Seth."

"Okay."

"And, uh, I actually don't know if I want to go back," she explains softly, "but then the conversation took another turn when I asked Sab why hasn't she ever tried to help me find him...and she said I was stupid for wasting my time on someone who gave up on me. And I don't know if Andy thinks the same."

There's nothing Mary Jane can read written on Adrian's eyes as he hums in acknowledgement—that he's listening.

"But that's the thing," Mary Jane continues, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't know if he gave up on me, and I don't know if something happened, but you tell me he's fine, and—I just...I don't know if I still want to look for him because honestly, Sabina's right. He's never tried to look for me. And honestly, I still haven't forgiven him for what he did, but I'm still grateful to him—I will forever be—and I don't know, I just want to talk to him again, at least once, so I finally know what the fuck happened to him so I can fucking stop beating myself up over him and move on."

Adrian's staring at her.

"I'm sorry," she breathes, shutting her eyes. "I know it's a lot. You didn't exactly sign up for this when you said you liked me."

"I signed up for everything," Adrian whispers, dropping a kiss on the inside of her wrist. "Mary Jane."

She blinks. He's never called her that before. "What?"

"Seth is stupid," he murmurs. "You don't need to worry about him anymore."

There's a look on her boyfriend's face that she can't read. "Okay."

So they go to bed. And when Mary Jane's face is pressed up against the pillow, and Adrian's holding her close, she whispers, "I don't think I want to go to Worthington."

Adrian nods against her shoulder. "Okay."

"I think I want to let go of Seth already."

There's a pause. But Adrian also says, "Okay."

The night and silence fall upon them, and Mary Jane is lulled to sleep.

*

When Mary Jane wakes up, it's to the smell of bacon and pancakes.

In the kitchen, Adrian's hair is a mess, just the way she likes it, and he's facing the stove, dressed in nothing but sweatpants. Mary Jane rubs her eyes and admires the view for a second—his shoulders and back are so broad—before she decides to step closer to him and wrap her arms around his waist, leaning into his warmth immediately. "Hey. That smells amazing."

"Good morning," he says in reply, turns to her slightly to kiss the top of her head. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she answers honestly, breathing in deeply. "I'm sorry for last night."

Adrian smooths his hand down her hair. "Stop apologizing. I'm glad you feel better. You wanna sit down? I'm almost done."

"No," she whines, tightening her hold on him. "Wanna keep hugging you."

He's grinning, Mary Jane can tell. "We cuddled all night."

"Want more."

"Needy," Adrian teases, careful to fully face the stove again to flip the pancake.

"You like it."

"Never said I didn't. Come on, move with me, I have to grab the plate. Right leg first."

They maneuver around the kitchen like that; Adrian moves slowly, preparing the dishes, setting the table—while Mary Jane keeps herself glued to his body. They almost fall, multiple times, but Mary Jane refuses to let go until they need to sit and actually eat breakfast.

"Baby, come on, sit down. I'm not going anywhere."

And she knows. She knows that. Still, she says, "You're warm."

"I know," Adrian says fondly, reaching down to tug her arms away. "You sure you're okay? Hey, look at me." He turns her around to face him, and Mary Jane has to look up. His eyes are so light, so beautiful, like they're keeping stars together.

She nods and buries her head against his chest. His heartbeat is silent. Steady. "Yeah. This feels nice."

Adrian laces their fingers together. "What? Mornings with someone ready to cook for you?"

"Just...mornings. With you."

His heartbeat picks up.

Mary Jane hides her smile into his skin. "The food is just a bonus. Thank you for breakfast."

Adrian fills her plate in response, and the two of them fill their stomachs with bacon and pancakes and maple syrup and fruits—and it feels nice. It feels awfully nice, Mary Jane thinks, when before, the prospect might've scared her beyond reason. This—being here with Adrian, is beyond logic, beyond blind faith. Her heart feels safe, and secure, and loved.

That doesn't scare her as much as it should.

After breakfast, they clear the table and wash the dishes, and it's when they're cuddled up on the couch, with an episode of a game show playing on television, that Adrian tells her, "Sweetheart. I think you and Sabina should talk."

Mary Jane wrinkles her nose. "I do too."

A pause. And then, "Are you sure you're not going to Worthington anymore?"

"I don't want to anymore," she answers, closing her eyes. "Letting go, remember?"

Adrian swallows and nods. "Okay."

She sighs. "I'll talk to Sabina soon."

Adrian nods again. Pulls her to him. "That's my girl."

His heartbeat soothes her; and it's erratically loud, and unusual, like it's threatening to burst out of his chest.

"Calm down," Mary Jane tells him, nosing against the side of his neck as she throws her leg around his waist. "Your heartbeat's so loud."

"What? Oh." He looks at her, and his eyes are wide. "Sorry. Should've put on a shirt."

That makes Mary Jane laugh. "I've seen you with less."

"Shut up and kiss me," he says, curls his hand around the nape of her neck, and presses his mouth to hers in a soft, lingering kiss.

It's sweet, but there's also something bitter. Mary Jane ignores it, and they watch the show.

Adrian's heartbeat doesn't slow down.