"I think it's cute," Briar tells me confidently.

"In what context would I ever find use of that information?"

"I'm not saying it's useful in any context. That's why they call it a fun fact. I've explained this to you before." She gives a thorough roll of her eyes.

The bus rocks our shoulders against each other again and again. I grip the edge of the seat in front of me to give her more space.

"A spaghetto..." I recall the word out loud.

"Is the term for a single strand of spaghetti," she confirms. Then she turns to give me one of her beaming smiles. "I bet your brain just released a boost of dopamine from how fun that fact was."

I shake my head as I look at her. "How do you know all this information anyway?" I'm almost scared to ask.

Briar gets momentarily distracted to help Val adjust her hair. She's sitting with Myles in the seats beside us. The bus is loud with everyone else around us. This is our first out-of-town game since the season started. With all the games we've won so far, our competition has branched out further.

"Because I grew up spending a lot of time at the library and when I wasn't reading I was scrolling through the internet," she answered through the bobby pin in her mouth as she put up more of Val's hair. She leans over the aisle to get a better reach.

I give an unsatisfied grunt as she gives Valentina her full attention. The other boys in the back are loud and rowdy and I keep myself from rolling my eyes to the back of my head. They're knocking a ball back and forth between each other. There's no order in it and Coach doesn't bother to tell them to shut the hell up.

I see Bradley at the back of the bus as he chucks the ball to a kid who wasn't paying attention. He tries to catch it at the last second but it bounces off his hand and comes shooting forward down the aisle.

I reach forward and grab Briar's waist and yank her out of the aisle. I hear the small "woah," she lets out before she falls back into me. I now have her tucked in between one side of my body and the back of the seat.

What pisses me off the most is that I when I look back, Bradley shows no sign of an apology. His mouth is covered with his fist as he finds something about what just happened funny.

Someone from the front grabs the ball and readies to throw it back. I lift myself off the seat and intercept the ball as it's thrown in the air. I waste no time with my next action.

I tuck the ball under my arm, drag the window of the bus down, and chuck the ball into the open air.

"Hey, that was my ball!" I hear him shout from the back of the bus. I stick my middle finger in the air towards him and watch in satisfaction as the ball lands into a ditch on the side of the road.

Valentina is watching me silently. Then she watches Briar and her gaze bounces between us for a moment. I ignore her as she turns to Myles. Something she comments makes him smile.

I look at Briar and she suddenly crosses her arms. "Did that make you feel better?" she asks sarcastically.

"Mhm," I reply. "A real boost of dopamine."

I think it's cute when she turns away so that she can hide her smile.

>><<>><<>><<>><<

I shoot a basket and people cheer.

My team mates shoot a basket and everyone cheers some more.

We win the game and everyone cheers just the same.

What I notice hardest is the way that Briar cheers. She's happy tonight. The real Briar happy, not the try-to-look-happy Briar. The kind of happy where she glows.

She is glowing tonight. When everyone celebrates and I'm the first one she turns to, I feel like this is the way it's supposed to be.

Briar is supposed to be smiling at me, to me... with me. I'm supposed to be the first one she turns to in a moment she's this happy. I knew I was looking for her and when I met her gaze I knew she was looking for me too.

I'm yanked from my thoughts, both figuratively and literally. Valentina is now dragging me by the arm and out towards the gym doors that must lead outside.

I could stop her if I wanted to, but part of me wanted to know what she thought was so urgent. I look back towards the crowd.

"She's fine, I left her with Myles." I shake my head at her words and let her lead us away.

"What do you want?" I finally voice my question when it's just us.

She crosses her arms in front of her chest. "She might like you."

"What?" I don't even try to hold back the bite from my tone.

"Briar, she might like you."

"Yeah, Val. It's Briar. The girl likes everyone." I ignore the extra boost to my pulse. I shove that to the back of my head, the same way I stuff those extra thoughts down too.

I flinch when she slams her fist in my chest. "Stop acting like you're dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

I stare at her for a good minute. "Fine, I'll humor you for a second. What makes you think so?"

She gives me a pointed look. "I'm her best friend and you know what girls do? Talk."

"You're saying she talked to you about liking me."

"In not so many words she told me she might. So in not so many words, I am warning you about what happens to your manhood if I find out you hurt her."

She might. I can't voice my questions out loud. Like, what exactly did she say? How did she say it? Valentina is frustrating as hell.

I look up and realize that she's waiting for me to say something. "You don't have to threaten me with anything, Val."

"I mean it, Roman. I've never seen you in a relationship before. I've never even heard you mention a girl before-"

"I get it, Val."

"And you should know by now that she's been through a lot. And I worry about her all the time. So, if you're going to be closed off and pissy all the time then-"

"Val!" I shout, cutting her off. "I get it. I understand." She watches me pensively, waiting for me to go on. "You don't have to worry about her when it comes to me. I'll take care of her. Okay?"

She contemplates this. I'm ready to walk away. Then she slowly nods her head, taking me more seriously than she has before. "Okay," she says simply.

We walk back to the gym in silence to find Briar and Myles. When Briar comes up to me, Val looks at me again. She gives me another nod, another silent confirmation to herself.

This might be the first time we truly understand each other.

A/N: I know and I'm sorry. I'm working two jobs right now and stressing out over college exams. They're my big grown up exams. Adulting is hard.

I haven't seen my crush at my coffee shop job since I've been back. Apparently he still comes in, I just never when I'm there SMH!

Thank you for being patient <3 I'm doing my best, I promise :'(