My head felt like it had been run over by a truck and then someone decided to crush the remains with a sledgehammer.

With a groan, I turned to my side and buried my face in the pillow, waiting for the throbbing to subside. Migraines were a bitch. Even when the pain stopped it left me feeling sluggish and hungover for hours. I was about ready to go back to sleep and pass out for a few more hours when a distinctly familiar scent hit my nostrils.

The specific scent of berries that I had started to associate with that one special person was enough to make me forget about the throbbing in my head or my desire to sleep. I jolted awake fast enough to make my surroundings spin for a second. Clutching my head, I shut my eyes and took deep breaths.

And as if the floodgates of my brain had opened, events from earlier today came rushing back in excruciating detail. The way I had almost passed out in the lobby while walking back to my car, running into Evelyn, and how she had to practically haul my ass to her apartment.

Her apartment. I was in her apartment!

The realization was like another bucket of ice water dumped on my head. No wonder I was surrounded by her scent. My gaze snapped to the side where Evelyn was sleeping awkwardly hunched over her desk. God, she was going to wake up with the worst cramps. It made me feel bad for imposing myself on her.

But that didn't outweigh the embarrassment I felt. Over the last week, I had imagined the way I would face her again an alarming number of times. But none of them involved her helping me and bringing me to her apartment in a half-dead state. I had imagined meeting her during one of the shoots for the project where I would pull her to the side by some excuse and apologize.

Or at one of the parties at our house where I would apologize and then we would kiss and make up. I had even started dropping hints in conversations with the guys that I would very much like to have a party at our place just so Evelyn could come over. Because let's be honest I missed her.

To the extent that Evelyn not only ruled my dreams but also my waking thoughts. I should be ashamed of the number of times I dreamed about her. Sometimes us together in bed, sometimes me holding her, and sometimes just her smiling face. It was torture. One that I would beg for if it stopped.

It was scary how habitual I'd become of her presence in just a month. As if she had always been a part of my life and not having her beside me made it all feel strange.

I had also done some deep thinking and self-reflection once my initial anger had calmed down after our fallout at the penthouse. As much as I was furious at her for everything she'd said and for leaving like that, I realized that I was at fault too.

What kind of relationship she had with her parents wasn't my business. I had no right to lecture her on how she should behave and how she shouldn't. I was just projecting my own fears on her. And technically what she'd said wasn't completely wrong. I was no one to her. We were in a mutually benefitting situationship and that's all. I had no right to yell at her.

I knew I had to apologize and I very much intended to do so but my current predicament had thrown me off-kilter. The numerous speeches I'd formulated in my head were wiped clean and instead "fuck, I'm in her apartment" was playing on repeat.

My eyes briefly darted to the door wondering how bad it would be if I just skedaddled out of here while she was sleeping. Probably "get a slap to my face next time I meet her" bad. That would surely put me at the top of Evelyn's asshole list if I wasn't already #1 on it.

Scratching that idea, I slumped back against the headboard and let my eyes wander around her room, taking everything in. The curtains were drawn but still enough sunlight filtered in to give the room a dark yellowish hue and make everything pretty much visible.

Evelyn's studio apartment was a square the size of our kitchen at the sharehouse. It ended even before it began and honestly was the smallest living space I had ever seen. It made me wonder how she was even comfortable living in such a cramped space. Sure there was enough space for walking and maybe even sitting on the floor if anyone wanted but that was about it.

From what I recalled through the haze of my headache, the kitchen was right next to the entrance. Probably behind the wooden structure beside the bed that divided the square into two parts. It acted as a partition as well as a shelf to store knickknacks.

Evelyn has placed her books, some boxes, and other random stuff on it. But what caught my attention were the tiny hello kitty figurines lined neatly in the shelf space in the center. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined her having a collection of hello kitties.

There were a total of 4 of them wearing different outfits, ranging from a chef to what I could only assume was an astronaut from the transparent globe around the cat's head. I was about to pick it up and inspect it closely when the sound of rustling stopped me halfway.

"You're awake," Evelyn's sleep-heavy voice came from behind me and my head snapped back so fast that I almost sprained my neck. Evelyn rubbed her eyes, blinking at me before letting out the most adorable yawn. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh... Good," I mumbled as I watched her get up and stretch herself like a cat, wincing with every move. "The headache is gone."

Evelyn nodded. "That's...that's nice."

And just like that the conversation died, leaving an awkward silence behind. Which felt even more strange because this was the same girl I was laughing and rolling around in bed with, tickling each other a week ago. I didn't like it.

"Do you mind if I opened the curtains a little?" she asked, jerking her thumb back toward the window. "It's too dark in here."

"Go ahead," I replied. Not that she needed my permission to do whatever she wanted in her own house. But she was being considerate of me and it just made me feel guiltier.

I watched Evelyn slowly slide one curtain from the side so that I would still be in the dark and won't get hit by direct light. She kept glancing at me over her shoulder to make sure I was still doing okay. The sky outside was painted in hues of pink and orange, indicating that I had slept through the afternoon. And imposed myself on her more than necessary.

Once Evelyn was satisfied that there was enough light in the room and that it wasn't affecting me in any way, she went back to her desk and sat down, rolling her chair to face me. We stared at each other for the longest beat as if assessing if something had changed with the other over the last week.

Evelyn's reddish brown hair looked shorter. Did she get a trim? If we were still going good, I knew she would have come to me and showed me her new haircut excitedly. I'd noticed she did that a lot. Get excited over the littlest things and I loved to listen to her.

"I..."

"Are you..."

We started at the same time and shut up immediately, staring at each other again. I shook my head, letting out a sigh. We needed to get out of this funk. "You go first," I said, gesturing for her to continue.

"It's nothing important. You say first," she said.

A part of me wanted to insist on her speaking first but I knew we would be stuck in the endless loop of you first. So, I cleared my throat and tried to gather my thoughts again. There was a lot I wanted to say, that I needed to say but I was coming up blank. It didn't help that Evelyn's intense stare was stuck on me, observing my every move. I couldn't tell if she was admiring me or planning my murder.

"Thank you," I finally blurted out. "For helping me back there."

"You're welcome," she said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "How did— Nevermind."

The flicker of hope I'd felt in my chest at her concern got doused as fast as it had appeared. And we were again plunged into awkward silence. I wracked my brain to come up with something, anything to get the conversation rolling because at this rate we'd be stuck walking on eggshells around each other.

I needed Evelyn to speak. Either a normal conversation or another explosion like last time, anything would do. But I needed her to start talking to me again. Her not talking to me felt worse than us fighting.

"You never brought me to your apartment," I said the first thing I could come up with. "It's closer than the penthouse. We could have come here instead of driving all the way to the town. Would have saved time."

Evelyn's eyes narrowed and I had to tamp down the excitement I felt before she could see it on my face. Explosion it is then. Now I just had to make sure I egged her enough that she couldn't stop herself from speaking her mind.

"Why would I?" she asked, her voice surprisingly calm despite the slight annoyance on her face.

"To save time and energy, Rosy. Keep up," I said indignantly and was rewarded with her signature scowl.

"Why!? So you could have something else to make fun of me?" she snapped.

That punctured the balloon of my amusement immediately. "I would never make fun of you over this. Why would I? It's so pretty."

She looked shocked as if she hadn't expected me to say something like that. "Besides," I continued with a shrug. "All college students have less than ideal housing. It's pretty common to live in a smaller house than the one back in your hometown."

A small, sad smile formed on Evelyn's lips. She opened her mouth to say something but then thought otherwise and shook her head, dismissing the idea. She wrung her hands together, keeping them in her lap and looking at them as if it was the most fascinating thing.

"Which girl would want to bring a guy who lived in a penthouse to her shoebox apartment?" she mumbled.

"Evelyn it doesn't—"

I was about to reassure her that the size of her apartment really didn't matter and try to direct the conversation to our argument last week when her phone started ringing. She gave me an apologetic smile before taking the call.

"Yes, Stacy, I'll be there. Yes, I'm still taking over your shift. You don't need to ask someone else," she said and I surmised it was the pink-striped girl from the party over a month ago. Evelyn spoke for some more time, something about stock and trucks before hanging up.

She looked at me and bit her lip, wringing her fingers again. "Umm... I need to go to work. You can stay here. I'll be back around ten."

I didn't know if she really wanted me to stay or was just being polite and couldn't ask me to leave. Either way, I knew I couldn't stay more than my welcome. So, I threw the flower-printed comforter off me and stood up. "I'm leaving. Don't want to impose on you more than I already have."

Evelyn's face fell but she nodded. "Okay. I'll drop you on the way."

If I remembered correctly, her workplace was in the opposite direction of the sharehouse. She would have to make a full U-turn if she dropped me off.

"I'll be fine," I said and a sudden deja vu hit me. These were the same words she'd said last week. Except looking back, it felt more like a defense mechanism than anything else. I cleared my throat to push those thoughts aside for now. "I'll call a cab."

"I can drop you off. It won't take long," she said and started going around the room to pick up stuff and shove it in her tote bag. "I just need to change and then we can leave."

"It's fine, Rosy. You don't need to rush," I said, grabbing my phone and walking toward the door. She followed me out looking apprehensive.

"Are you sure?" she asked as I bent down to wear my shoes.

"I am," I said, standing straight once I was done. "Thank you, once again. For everything."

She smiled and my heart fluttered in my chest on seeing it. It had been too long since she genuinely smiled in my direction.

She didn't say anything in return and we just stood there staring at each other again. I didn't know how to say goodbye. Usually, when we parted ways, Evelyn would press a kiss on my cheek before giving me one of her full-blown smiles and running away.

Or I would peck her nose or lips and send her away with a pat on her ass while she chuckled, shaking her head. Now? Neither of us could do anything of that sort and this sudden rift between us was disorienting.

"I should go."

"Take care."

We said at the same time and smiled at each other. Not the happy smiles. For some reason, this was feeling more and more like a final goodbye even though we would be traveling together this Saturday.

I turned around before it could get any more depressing than it already was. "I'll see you at the game," I said and opened the door, stepping outside. I didn't look back as I kept walking until I was outside.

Instead of calling a cab like I'd said I would, I kept walking in the direction of the campus. I needed to clear my head and not just because of the migraine. Everything that happened today kept swirling in my head and my chest started feeling heavy with each thought.

I didn't know why I was feeling the way I was feeling but I knew one thing for sure. I wasn't ready to end things with Evelyn yet. I needed more. More time, more of that lightweight feeling I got whenever I was with her, more of her.

I needed to find a way to fix things.