After Ben and Iris spent another hour canoodling, they reluctantly tiptoed back inside due to the cool breeze working its way through their clothes. This time however, instead of awkwardly saying goodnight, they shared a last sweet kiss before parting ways and entering their separate rooms. They both spent a sleepless night, this time filled with affection and joy. Despite barely getting much sleep, they both awoke with the sun, fresh faced as they prepared to meet each other again. Ben went to another bathroom to wash up, and Iris dashed into the bathroom across the hall to do the same, taking care to apply a little makeup to brighten her eyes, not that she needed it with how much she glowed.

She practically skipped into the kitchen with her overnight bag, where Ben was already waiting, leaning against the countertop. He wrapped his arms around her waist immediately, leaning in to give her a sweet kiss. Iris reciprocated gladly with a hand on his chest, only breaking apart when they heard a door open and close. Eventually, they saw Nana enter the kitchen. Glancing between the two, she smiled knowingly.

"Did y'all sleep well?" she asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Iris cleared her throat slightly. "Yes ma'am, we did."

"Well I'm glad to hear it. I wasn't sure y'all would get any sleep with how y'all were practically inseparable on the porch swing last night," Nana replied, grinning widely.

Ben and Iris shared an alarmed look before turning guiltily to Nana. Nana laughed delightedly.

"There's nothin' to be ashamed of, I'm just glad I played Cupid so well! It's about time y'all finally got together, y'all were so obviously enamored with each other all day yesterday, I would've been surprised if y'all were still 'just friends' by sunrise," she said, air-quoting merrily.

Ben smiled indulgently, interlocking his hands with Iris'. "Thanks Nana, I couldn't have done it without you."

"Yeah yeah, thank me later with a certain special invitation and some great-grandbabies," she said pointedly, causing Iris to blush. "Oh I'm just messin' with y'all, get on outta here before the others wake up, I'll tell them you said goodbye, Iris. Spend the day together or somethin' before you go back home, ya hear?"

Iris nodded gratefully. "Thank you Nana, it was really wonderful to meet you."

"Just make sure you visit soon!" Nana said, ushering them toward the front door.

Ben took the bag from her hand and slung it over his shoulder as Iris and Nana shared a warm hug. After saying goodbye to Nana, they decided to take their separate cars and meet up in front of the university they graduated from 5 years earlier.

Stepping out of their cars into the crisp sunshine, they made their way across the parking lot to a place well known to the new couple. It seemed like nothing, but they walked along the empty leaf-lined sidewalk from the building their major was housed in to the campus library. This was a path they had walked alone, together, and in a large group more times than they could count 5 years ago. They remembered running from the library back to their classes just to make it to their seats in time, and they remembered how they practically lived in the library during midterms and finals, subsisting on coffee and whatever the vending machines on each library floor offered.

This time, instead of turning into the library, they went across the sidewalk to the large man-made pond right in front of it, walking across the small arched bridge to the other side, where a couple of park benches sat. Taking a seat on one of them, Ben and Iris smiled through their memories as they gazed at the lake, and the graceful plump geese that paddled idly along the surface.

"Hey, remember the video that went viral in our class group chat back then of someone bein' chased by a goose at this lake?" Ben asked. "I laughed for days, it was perfect for midterms stress," Ben said with a reminiscent chuckle as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.

"I didn't want to own up to it since I found out the face was blurred out, but did you know that was me?" Iris said, scrunching her face in embarrassment even as she smiled at the memory.

Ben drew away slightly so he could look at her face. "That was you?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah. I was just minding my own business on the other bench when those little baby geese came toward me. You know I don't do birds, so I was trying to get away slowly, but those stubborn birdies never took the hint!"

Ben threw his head back in laughter, imagining the comical scene of a very distressed Iris slowly backing away from a gaggle of baby geese.

"Don't laugh!" she said, half-miserable. "How was I supposed to know their mom was right there? Next thing I knew she was flapping her wings and honking bloody murder at me like I'd kidnapped her babies or something!"

Ben laughed even harder, small tears springing out of his eyes. "You looked hilarious runnin' in circles tryna get away from a waddling goose! You know she wasn't actually movin' that fast," he said between guffaws.

"Not from my perspective! Every time I turned around, she was right at my heels, baby geese in tow. I nearly fell in the lake trying to get away from her!" Iris said with a huff, both amused and mildly annoyed that Ben was enjoying this so much.

Ben laughed even harder, sound no longer coming out of his mouth and he doubled over, clutching his stomach with his other hand. Watching her boyfriend laughing was contagious, and Iris had to admit it was pretty funny, although not at the moment. Smiling despite herself, she couldn't help descending into a fit of giggles herself as he watched him slap his knee and shake with laughter. They laughed together, a new round starting every time one of them looked at the other's face contorted in mirth.

After laughing so much their stomachs hurt and finally catching their breaths, they strolled along the tree-lined paths of their picturesque university, pointing out sights and reminiscing over a time that once was.

They passed by the coffee shop they went to last time, smiling at the memory.

"Wanna grab a coffee?" Ben asked cheekily.

Iris grinned. "With you? Always."

Ben held the door open for her as she walked through, interlocking their fingers as soon as he entered himself. Waiting in line, Iris leaned against Ben slightly, still wondering if this was all a fever dream she had yet to wake up from. His warm, strong arm said otherwise, yet she was still playfully wondering whether to pinch herself to be sure. When they got to the front of the line, they saw the barista who took their order last time, Danny. He looked up and smiled in recognition.

"Hey, Ben! You brought your friend from last time too!" Danny remarked with a friendly smile in Iris' direction.

With a proud grin, Ben glanced at Iris. "She was my friend last time, but we're dating now," he said.

Iris felt her face get hot as Danny's eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise.

"Wow congrats, you two!" Danny glanced at Ben. "I see you've got rizz," he said with a cheeky smile.

Ben and Iris looked at each other in puzzlement before remembering that was one of the new trending words these days. Ben shook his head in amusement as Iris chuckled.

"I can never keep up," she said. Ben agreed.

Getting to business, Danny asked, "So what can I get for y'all? Same thing as last time?"

Ben quirked an eyebrow at Iris, who smiled. "Yeah, same thing for me, thank you."

"And same thing for you?" Danny asked Ben.

"Yup," he replied confidently.

"Okay, so that's an iced macchiato with a slice of the house special cheesecake for the lady, and an iced Americano with a slice of the house special cheesecake for the gentleman."

The couple nodded as Ben paid for the order.

"See? You're well on your way to regular status again," Ben whispered in her ear with a knowing smirk.

Iris grinned at the reference as her heart skipped a beat hearing his deep voice in her ear.

After getting their coffee and dessert, they sat down at the same table as last time. Iris reminisced about how different this time was from the last. Now, her hand was clasped in his as he beamed at her in obvious affection as they chatted about anything that came to mind. Their coffee and cheesecake went fast, polished off in the excitement of their conversation as the minutes ticked by. Before they knew it, they were standing by their cars again.

As their date came to an end, Iris kissed her boyfriend goodbye, having already made plans on how to visit each other often, with the intention to hopefully live in the same city someday.

"I'll go see you this Saturday," Ben said wistfully, wishing their date could last a little longer. He settled his arms around Iris' waist, her arms around his neck.

Gazing up at Ben with unconcealed affection, Iris nodded "I'll video call you." She kissed him one last time, closing her eyes in quiet delight as he also gave her a sweet forehead kiss as he caressed her face.

"I'm so glad you came back here that day in August," Ben said after she'd gotten into her car.

"And I'm so glad you asked me to come over," Iris replied with a cheesy grin.

Waving goodbye, she put the car in drive and began her one hour trip back home. Looking into her rear view mirror, she smiled, heart full as she anticipated the bright future ahead.

"Sankofa," she thought to herself with a soft smile, watching Ben waving at her from the rearview mirror.

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