When I got into class, I never expected Vance to still take the seat next to mine. Obviously, Adam would have already told him about what happened so I imagined that he would prefer some distance between us.

But when he sat down and silently slid a heart-shaped chocolate on top of my notebook, my emotional self just wanted to bawl right there and then, "A little birdy told me something and I think you need a little bit of cheering up just as he does as well."

"How is he?" I dared to ask quietly.

"Hating life and everything about love," he chuckled, too lighthearted for my liking. Hold on, I thought that he wanted to cheer me up – couldn't he sugarcoat just a little bit?

"Well, he has all the right people there to comfort him," I scoffed, half dejected and half bitter, "You and Heart included."

He then paused for a moment when I practically spat that out. And if my eyes dared to deceive me, I swore that I could see ghost of a smile gracing his lips.

"He hasn't told her, you know," he informed in a concealed smug tone, "Seems like you're wrong about one thing."

I huffed and turned away from him, instead focusing on rewriting my notes because whatever mind games he was thinking of, I was not in the mood to play with him.

Yet I still cared that he told me that Adam had yet to tell Heart about how I somewhat took his heart, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it like a bitch. I could almost imagine the fury that would shoot my way once he does.

She was fiercely protective of him so might as well say my prayers now and hope that she doesn't kill me on sight.

Meanwhile, I couldn't even tell my best friend because I was afraid she might actually do what she had promised – to fly here. I have to remember that Gracie was as spontaneous as I was so if she said that she would travel across the Atlantic Ocean for me then I had no doubt in mind that she would.

I want to go home.

A full week later and it was still like that. I've yet to remember the last time I had a full meal, aside from the small snacks Meg and Julia forced me to eat because they were worried about me. Not only that, I was losing sleep over this.

There were times when I would just stare at the closed curtains of the windows, imagining what it would be like to run out again like that morning when I've finally decided. Of course, I was tempted to but I don't think my body would hold up a random jog at dusk, no matter how much the weather reports kept telling that warmth would finally squeeze itself soon into this horrible, cold, bleak, weather.

On a particular day when I was just busy attempting to finish my report, I almost screamed when a video request popped up.

Justin.

Instead of answering immediately, I scrambled around for my phone to turn on the front camera to at least see if I was decent.

Spoiler alert, I wasn't.

My hair was a bird's nest on top of my head, my eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them, and my skin was incredibly sallow.

I pulled out my hair tie and attempted to comb my hair using my fingers, trying to fluff up some life into it, but sadly, it fell limp.

Well, this was as good as it was going to get.

I accepted the call and while it loaded, I slapped my cheeks to bring back some color to my face. Of course, he caught me while I was doing it but that was the least of my worries.

I just knew that there would be questions that I had to answer.

He saw just how down in the dumps I was. To my surprise, instead of asking, he simply stood up and got back with a mug in his hands and he instructed me to go down and get myself a hot beverage as well.

"Seriously?" I gaped and he nodded, shooing me away.

So I went down to the kitchen and fixed myself a mug of tea. I flashed a smile to our dorm mother and walked right back to my room where my laptop was still wide open.

And he just talked about anything and everything – how his day went, what the boys were up to, even the damn weather.

"A little sun every now and then but it's still freezing most of the time," he chuckled, "How about there?"

"Absolutely miserable," I replied and it was obvious that it had a double meaning.

"Nothing a little hot chocolate and a fuzzy sweater can't fix," he shrugged, trying to be lighthearted, "And if that doesn't work, you know I'm all ears."

I felt the corners of my lips tugging upwards, "You always have been."

"And always will," he stated, his tone gentle and soft, "Are you tired?"

While I haven't told him anything yet, I guessed he figured it out on his own.

It was already two in the afternoon but because of what happened, I still haven't found the motivation to do anything productive. Meg and Julia constantly have to check on me and I only went out to go to my classes or to use the bathroom.

It was incredibly pathetic.

"Yes," I said quietly.

Oh how I wished you could just come over and gently run your fingers through my hair. That was the surefire way to get me to sleep.

"Then I'll tell you a bedtime story," he laughed, the mischievous glint back in his eyes, "Now get comfy."

I blinked at him and shrugged before I placed my mug on my bedside table. I shifted my phone to my other hand so I could get myself underneath the covers, "Okay, I'm ready."

He reached for something beyond my view and he whipped out a familiar book. When I looked more closely, I almost screeched at my story.

Well, our story.

"How is this going to make me relax?" I huffed.

He placed a finger up to shut down my protests and flashed me that goofy smile, flipping through the pages and scanning the text. He already knew what he was looking for so once he saw it, he instantly perked up and dramatically cleared his throat.

I swear, this boy. He was really an open book. His expression were so upfront, you just knew what he was thinking. There was no wondering, he shows the world what he feels and takes no shit from it.

"When I had to take do huge presentation in front of the class, I was on my wits end. It was three in the morning and I was still wide awake, staring at my ceiling as if it was the most fascinating thing in world," he read out loud and I had to blush because I knew exactly what happened next, "Out of desperation, I texted him. To be honest, I didn't expect a reply because I was sure that he was already fast asleep."

Another little spoiler for you – he wasn't.

"He called me and asked me out for ice cream. Yes, you heard it right, ice cream."

I remember that but it wasn't actually ice cream. He just asked me if I wanted to go out and walk around with him. The ice cream was just added for comedic purposes. Still, there was still disbelief when he suggested that and I, being the lovesick fool that I was, said yes.

So I tiptoed out after he told me our meeting place. He did say to bring my school stuff so that he could help me just in case I needed to double check some things. He also specifically told me to wear something appropriate for outside. I slapped on a fresh new outfit – which was literally just a pair of jeans and a plain top – and sneaked out.

"He tricked me though because instead of actually buying me ice cream, he just brought me back to his place," he said and I hummed, reminiscing those days, "He threw towards me one of his shirts and shorts, telling me to wear them and neatly fold the clothes I was wearing."

Now ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the part that made me squeal, that could make butterflies erupt in my stomach, and just remember how wonderful it was to be with him.

"He instructed me to lay down on his bed and of course, my heart was about to beat right out of my chest because we all knew where this was heading," yes, I had a dirty little mind. To be fair, at that point in our relationship, we had already done it so it wasn't like our first time together, "But when I did what he told me, he simply placed the covers on me and went to the other side of bed, laying down and pulling me right to his side. His lifted his hand and ran soft strokes through my hair, bathing us in silence."

And let me tell you, that worked. I was knocked out within seconds and the next thing I knew, he was shaking me awake. The reason why he made me wear those specific clothes and bring my stuff with me was because he already knew that we wouldn't make it in time for school if I had to sneak back. Plus, he wanted me to get as much sleep as possible.

"You're not here to play with my hair though," I muttered softly, though he was right, I was slowly getting relaxed.

"But I will stay here until you fall asleep," he whispered, promising the same thing that night.

To the sound of him breathing, my eyes closed and I finally went to sleep after what felt like so long.

While I did finally catch up on some needed rest, what woke me up wasn't any of my friends calling me down to dinner, but it was the loud blaring of my phone. I squinted with one eye open and tried to feel around for the device, finally finding it under one of my pillows.

I peeked at the name on the screen and my heart dropped down to my stomach when I saw Adam's name.

"H-hello?" I stammered, my voice still croaky.

"Is this a bad time?" he questioned.

Darling, I gave you a bad time, which consequently ended with moping around here, so you could go on and bother me anytime.

I cleared my throat, "No."

"I know you don't want to talk to me but can I ask you for one more favor?"

"Yeah, sure," I nodded as if he could see me.

Though what he did say next caught me off-guard and to be honest, if I wasn't so cautious of what I was saying, I would have cursed out loud.

"Can you pretend that we're still together when Soph comes to visit next weekend."

Excuse me?

---------------

Sorry for the extremely short chapter, but it's a nice somewhat breather. I told you Adam and Sienna's story wasn't done yet so here we go. 

Stay safe everybody and I'll see you next chapter.