THE HANGOVER THAT FOLLOWS is a massive bitch, but it's nothing compared to the remorse he feels.

Unlike Drew, who does a lot of incredibly stupid shit when he's drunk, only to conveniently forget everything the next morning, Colin remembers.

He remembers everything.

And so, when Perry tells him that Sadie left that morning to go shopping with her friends, Colin finds himself breathing out a sigh of relief.

The apartment feels more spacious without her around, and after last night, he's not quite sure how to act around her.

He'd touched her hair.

Like a fucking idiot, he'd touched her hair.

And then he'd thrown up again. Not on her, thank god. If he had, he'd never be able to live it down. Even so, the memory makes him want to disappear. The earth could swallow him whole and he wouldn't even complain.

Colin hates hangovers with a passion. His head feels like it's splitting in two, his throat is parched, and his unsettled gut is getting back at him for all the alcohol he'd consumed last night.

"I'm never gonna drink again," he says, holding his head in his hands.

"Hard same."

Perry, who's sitting on the other bean bag chair, is not looking any better than he is.

In a surprising turn of events, last night had veered off into a completely different direction. Instead of Colin and Perry taking care of Drew, the exact opposite ended up happening. The memory is a little fuzzier than the rest, but it's there: Drew and Sadie were the ones who had to bring them home. They had no choice but to call an Uber because neither Perry nor Colin could walk without stumbling every five seconds.

Colin may or may not have dozed off on Sadie's shoulder, but that's a memory he refuses to acknowledge.

"I need water again," Perry says, but makes no move to stand up. "My mouth is so dry it doesn't make sense. I'm not a fucking plant. Why do I need so much water?"

Colin could use some water himself, but he doesn't stand either. Instead, he looks down at his phone and sighs.

What a fucking idiot.

He'd texted Cindy five times, every message becoming more unreadable each time. She hadn't replied until this morning, and is now sending a multitude of questions asking about what, exactly, happened last night.

Colin ignores her, then checks the other messages he'd sent. There's one sent to Henry, who hasn't replied yet, and another to Dexter, who's asking for details.

The worst, however, were the ones he'd sent to a previous classmate. They were groupmates for a project so they had to add each other on Facebook.

He'd sent two messages: the first is a blurry photo of himself; the second is him apologizing for the missent text. She sent back three words--"lol all good"--together with a laughing emoji.

"Why did you drink so much anyway?" Perry asks him.

"Don't even ask."

"I mean, it was fun seeing you like that. I feel like you never really loosen up, you know?"

"Why are you still talking?"

"No, but really." Perry shifts to get a better look at him. "Is something up?"

"It's nothing. I just got carried away."

"Is it Sadie?"

Colin's eyes snap to his. "What?"

Perry shrugs. "I'm just guessing."

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Never," Perry replies without missing a beat. "Is it true you never hooked up in high school? Like, ever?"

"Are you gonna shut up or am I gonna have to shove my fist down your throat?"

"Kinky," Perry says, but when Colin straightens in his seat, he immediately scrambles back. "Okay, okay. Shutting up now."

Colin glares at him for good measure. Perry flashes him a smile and then goes back to fiddling with his own phone, probably to post another dumb Tweet about his hangover. Rolling his eyes, Colin gets to his feet and leaves him to get a much needed shower.

Drew's already awake when Colin comes out of the bathroom.

"Rough night?" Drew gives him a teasing smile.

Before Colin can even think of a reply, Perry looks up to give him a look of despair. "He won't shut up."

Colin raises a brow. "That makes two of you."

"No. Don't lump me with him. Unlike me, Drew is not charming enough to pull off being annoying."

"Is that any way to treat the person who took care of your drunk ass last night?" Drew asks him, looking prouder than he should be. From where he's seated, Perry buries his face in his hands and groans. Drew pays him no mind and adds, "You all thought I was gonna get drunk, but look who's laughing now."

Colin shakes his head, but doesn't say anything more. Instead, he walks past them both and into the bedroom to get dressed. When he's done, he sits down on his bed, drying his hair with a towel. (He could really use a haircut, he notes.)

He's just about done with his hair when his eyes snag on a pink sticky note, only just partly visible from under the bed.

He picks it up and sees Sadie's neat handwriting. It seems to be a to-do list for her requirements, with only two items crossed out so far. There were dates enclosed in parentheses for every item, and Colin can only assume that it's the deadline for each.

She missed three of them.

◇

As always, he could be wrong.

She could have just forgotten to cross them out.

Just because she hadn't marked them done doesn't mean that she didn't actually submit them in time, right?

"Why does everyone look stressed out?"

Perry shoots Drew a glare. "It's called a hangover, dumbass."

Unaffected, Drew turns to them with a smile. "You want me to order some tacos? I got coupons from last night."

Colin's stomach churns, thoughts of puking flooding his memory. "Please don't."

"But I'm hungry."

"Not tacos."

"How about Chinese?" Perry suggests.

Before they can decide, however, the door opens. They all turn to find Sadie stepping into the room. She lets the door shut close behind her. Kicking off her shoes, she gives them a bright smile and lifts a brown paper bag with noticeable grease stains.

"I brought food," she says. "Not sure what you guys liked, so I just ordered whatever."

Drew's whole face lights up. "Holy shit, Sade. You are an actual angel."

Colin keeps his eyes low, his mind preoccupied with two things: Last night's stupidity and the sticky note he'd just found. Okay, make it three things, because Drew had just opened the paper bag and Colin's stomach, still half dead from last night's episode, grumbles.

"Oh, wait, that one's for Colin."

Colin's head snaps up. There's silence at first, and it might just be Colin's imagination, but for a second there, it looks as though Sadie is blushing.

"I mean," Sadie says, "that one doesn't have tomatoes, so, um, I just..."

Perry's brows shoot up.

"No, never mind, it's fine. I wasn't--"

"It's okay, Sade," Perry says with a smile that's both reassuring and teasing. He slides his gaze to Colin and offers the sandwich to him. "Here."

Colin doesn't miss the look on Perry's face. He pretends to ignore it as he reaches for the sandwich. "Thank you," he mumbles, resisting the urge to look at Sadie. "How much do we owe you?"

"It's my treat," she replies.

"Bless your whole life," Drew says through a mouthful of whatever sandwich he'd grabbed from the bag.

Colin looks down at his own, noticing that she'd gotten him a roast beef sandwich with caramelized onions and, sure enough, no tomatoes.

Which is what he usually orders.

Part of him is worried about the possibility of her adding weird shit to his food, and another can't help but wonder why she seems to remember the most trivial things about him.

No wonder Perry's getting all these weird ideas.

When she leaves for the bedroom, Colin gives his sandwich a small sniff. College Sadie might be different from the old Sadie, but that doesn't mean he's going to let his guard down. She could launch a surprise attack any second.

The smell only makes it harder to resist, though. He takes a tentative bite, and, despite everything, is surprised to find that nothing is amiss. She'd gotten him a normal sandwich, and he's too hungry to let any further suspicion stop him from eating.

Sadie returns with her laptop. She settles on a spot near the outlet and plugs the charger in.

Colin sneaks a glance, wondering if the sticky note he'd found is something worth troubling himself over. She has a paper due in two days, two that were left uncrossed from her to-do list, and there's also a feasibility study that should have been submitted a week ago. There's other stuff, too, later this week, and it shouldn't bother him at all, but it does.

He knows he could be wrong; that a mere piece of paper is not the most reliable source of information. It's none of his business anyway.

Best to just stay out of it.

◇

Is what he'd told himself.

After two hours of tossing and turning in bed, however, it becomes clear that he just can't let it go.

His head still aches, though not as badly as this morning. He wants nothing more than to sleep through this hangover. It would fuck up his sleep schedule, but that's a sacrifice he would have been willing to make.

In theory, at least.

In reality, he ends up pushing his covers off and climbing out of bed, frustrated.

Going out in this state--hungover, exhausted, and stressed out--makes literally no fucking sense. He knows that more than anyone, but his fucked up brain decides it's the best option for this situation, and moments later, he finds himself dressing up to go out with his laptop in tow.

Drew looks up when Colin steps out of the bedroom. Perry must be sleeping because it's only Drew and Sadie, sitting shoulder to shoulder against the wall.

"You going out?"

"In a while," he replies, heading to the cupboard to get some chips.

Intrigued, Drew says, "Where to?"

Colin's aware that Sadie had momentarily stopped typing on her laptop. He feels more than he sees her curious stare.

Here goes nothing, he thinks to himself, hoping Drew plays his part in the plan his dumb brain had come up with.

"You know that study cafe Mich mentioned the other day?" Colin says, carefully watching Drew's reaction. There's no spark of recognition in the guy's eyes, so he adds, "The one with free-flowing snacks?"

"Oh!"

"I'm going to check it out since I have a lot of stuff to do today."

"Why don't we all go?" Drew says.

Colin almost lets out a sigh of relief, but holds it in. "Please don't," he says instead, but Drew ignores him as expected.

"You said you couldn't focus, right?" the guy says to Sadie. "Wanna tag along with Colin?"

"What?"

"There's this cafe with lots of snacks," Drew explains unhelpfully.

Colin rolls his eyes. "It's a study cafe."

"Right," he says, then turns back to Sadie with an expectant look on his face. "It might help."

She doesn't say anything at first. She sends Colin a sideways glance and he immediately averts his eyes.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

A few beats pass, then, "Okay," she says. "Let me just get the rest of my stuff."

◇

The Beehive is both everything and nothing Colin had expected.

When he thinks of cafes, the first thing that pops into his head is a cozy space with dim lights and a quaint atmosphere. The Beehive, however, has a completely different feel to it. Brightly lit and spacious, the space has a very modern feel to it--from the mismatched but coordinated furniture to the clean, minimalist theme it seemed to follow.

It took a fifteen-minute bus ride to get there. Colin had to sit with the setting sun in his eyes, while Sadie and Drew sat next to each other behind him. When they got there, dusk had begun to settle in, and the brightly lit cafe stood out among the other shops.

Taking advantage of a hefty discount, the three of them decide to pay the four-hour package instead of paying the regular hourly rate.

Colin finds a desk and settles in, Sadie following behind him. Drew unsurprisingly leaves them to get snacks from the pantry.

Once seated, Sadie's eyes roam around the place, and Colin's compelled to do the same.

Most of the decor is in shades of light blue, yellow, and gray. Though much of the space is filled with rather standard tables and chairs, there seem to be designated spaces for people who like working on the floor (a corner is decked out with a thick, gray carpet, plushies, and throw pillows) or on comfier couches.

"This is very unlike you," Sadie says.

It really is, honestly speaking, but Colin couldn't help but say, "You don't know everything about me."

"I'm just surprised," Sadie says. "Chic and modern doesn't exactly scream Colin. I'm surprised you even know about this place."

Colin huffs. "Maybe I'm not as boring as you think I am."

He doesn't bother to mask his annoyance. He could be sleeping his hangover away right now, in the comfort of his own bed. Instead, here he is sitting at a goddamn cafe listening to her diss him for being old-fashioned.

The worst part is that she's the very reason he's even here.

"I never thought of you as boring, Colin," Sadie says.

Something about the way she says this makes his breath hitch. There's no hint of amusement on her face. Not even a smidge. She looks almost shy, he thinks, as she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes dart to his for a split-second, then quickly falls back on the table.

Silence falls over them.

He busies himself by setting up his laptop and connecting to the WiFi. He feels hot. Is the AC not working? Or are they just too far from it? He shrugs out of his jacket, but only makes things more awkward when his elbow hits the table in the process, making her look up in surprise.

Colin actually breathes out a sigh of relief when Drew finally rejoins them.

Both Sadie and Colin move their stuff to make space for the tray. He'd gotten three mugs of coffee and multiple packets of sugar and creamer. There are also two bowls brimming with snacks; one filled with potato chips and another with small, bite-sized chocolate chip cookies.

"I wasn't sure what you guys wanted," Drew says as they remove everything from the tray to the table. "They also have cereal and trail mix, in case you guys are wondering."

"This is fine," Colin says, just as Sadie says, "Thank you."

Drew leaves to return the tray, once again plunging them in uncomfortable silence. Colin reaches for a cookie, but hastily pulls back when he sees her doing the same. Subtlety hadn't been his main concern and the movement makes her stare at him for a moment.

Colin wants to go home.

But this had been his idea to begin with, so what else can he do but pull his mug closer and pretend everything's all right?

He adds a packet of sugar and stirs it into his mug, berating himself for willingly getting himself in this situation.

What was he thinking?

Going to this dumb cafe, no matter how fast the wifi is compared to the one at home, doesn't actually mean anything. This doesn't guarantee that she'd be any more productive than she is at home, nor will it magically solve all her problems.

All in all, this was a terrible idea.

He'd known it from the start, and it's both confusing and frustrating to acknowledge the fact that no one's forcing him to go out of his way for Sadie's sake. No one's telling him to do this for her.

The problem, he's realizing now, is that when it comes to her, he simply can't think straight.

◇◇◇

a / n :

Sorry for the holdup, but I hope you liked this chapter! I'm planning to write a short story but can't decide over what it should be about. I'm torn between writing a oneshot BTS fanfic and a bonus chapter featuring a side character. If you all have any thoughts on this, let me know!

Love, always,

Sam