A FEW WEEKS had passed since Milo's breakup. At first, tensions were high.

Nicole became wary around me, probably worried about her situation with James, unbeknown to her that I already knew. There had been several times where it looked like she had something to say to me but stopped herself at the last minute.

Then finally one night, she decided to come clean. Even though what she and James did was wrong, I wanted to ease her anxiety, revealing that I already knew about it from other sources. She was painfully shocked at first but then her shoulders slumped, relieved yet ashamed.

Although I tried to comfort her, she remained distant, feeling guilty over what she had done. I gave up eventually and decided that once this settled down, she'd come back around and we could carry on as we did before.

James tried to get into contact with me, claiming that he wanted to apologize for his outburst and explain himself to me. But I refused to even go near him, disgusted and a bit fearful of what would happen if I saw him again alone.

Milo was also a bit fragile, the cheerful gleam in his eyes had dulled down for a while. He and I visited his special place a few more times, enjoying each other's company as we walked through the forest to the lotus pond.

I tried to give Milo some space so that he could have time to process what happened, which he took for a while. But soon, it seemed like he slipped out of his fragile phase and we had always somehow managed to find our way back to each other; constantly bumping into each other around campus, migrating closer to each other whenever we hung out, and even being paired up together for a project.

Milo didn't seem to really mind though. In fact, it seemed like he'd take anything as an excuse to be near me, claiming at one point that we needed to meet up at Bella's so that I could help him brainstorm ideas for a scripting project, which he then just so happened to forget his laptop and we ended up staying in that coffee shop for hours talking when it seemed like only a few minutes passed.

And if I was being honest, I didn't mind either.

"So what did you choose?" asked Milo as he settled down next to me with a bowl of popcorn while his laptop sat at the end of the bed, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"A dystopian movie called What Happened To Monday. It sounded interesting when I read the description." I grabbed a handful of popcorn and poured it into my mouth, savoring its salty buttery flavor.

As the movie progressed, we rested against the headboard of his bed and eventually found ourselves fully laid down on the comfy mattress underneath his blanket with the laptop on our bodies.

I couldn't remember what scene I saw last as my eyelids became heavy until they closed without my consent.

A loud shrill sounded and woke me the next morning, disrupting the peace. As I reached over for my bedside table, I felt a weight on my body. Ignoring the weight, I reached to the side and swatted the air instead of a wooden table, which woke me up.

I looked down and saw half of Milo's body peeking out of the blanket, an arm and a leg exposed. The parts of his body that weren't hidden beneath the blanket draped over my body as his head laid next to mine on the pillow. His whole scent engulfed me in a euphoric bubble, instantly calming me from the grumpy mood I would've been in because of my loud alarm.

Trying to wiggle free, I managed to get one leg out from under him when he stirred and his grip on me tightened a bit. I froze as my heart began to palpitate from the gesture. Looking at his face, I gently swished a strand of hair that had fallen on his forehead and admired his peaceful state, contemplating if I wanted to wake him or not.

"Milo?" I whispered softly, gently nudging his arm that was around me. I whispered his name again and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He smiled at me in his sleepy state, a shallow dimple emerging on his cheek, which didn't help the state I was in and only caused my heart to beat even faster.

"You know, I should let you go but...I don't really feel like it," he said in his deep sleepy voice. "Unless you want me to."

He looked at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. I said nothing as I decided that staying in for a few more minutes wouldn't hurt since it was the weekend and shut my eyes, inhaling Milo's lavender scent. I felt a pair of lips gently kiss my forehead, lingering there for a few short seconds before departing, causing butterflies in my stomach.

I fell back asleep within a matter of minutes and when I finally awoke, I was able to freely roll to my back. I stretched my arms to the side and felt a dip in the mattress beside me but no Milo. The bedroom door was closed but I could hear some shuffling outside.

Swinging my legs off the side of the bed, I walked into the kitchen where Milo held a mug of coffee in his hand while another rested on the counter. Like me, Milo wore the same clothes he had on last night, a navy blue shirt and gray sweatpants.

"You're finally up. I thought I'd come in there and jump on you to wake you up but I guess that plan's out of the window," he teased.

I playfully rolled my eyes as a smile formed on my lips as Milo handed me the other cup of coffee across the small island in his dorm. "If you did, I would've screamed so loud that China could hear me."

I took a good sip, sighing with content before asking, "When did you get up?"

"Only about twenty minutes ago. I figured I'd make some coffee since the morning is always a bit hazy until I've had a cup of it."

I nodded in agreement, smiling as I took another long sip. From behind the rim of his cup, he stared at me inquisitively, the gears shifting behind his eyes. Looking back at him, my eyebrows lifted as if to say 'what is it?'

He downed the rest of his drink before rinsing out his cup and placing it in the sink. Walking back to his original spot, he leaned both hands on the counter, his forearm muscles becoming prominent, and asked, "Are you doing anything tonight?"

My eyes shifted to the ceiling and moved back and forth as I tried to think of any plans I had. "Mmm, I don't think I had any plans."

"Good, because I just made some for you," said Milo confidently with a smile.

"Oh did you now?" I amusedly chuckled. 

"Yes, I did. You, me, Tanyo's, seven thirty tonight," he demanded with a smirk. Ooh, he was good. He knows how much I loved their food and their five-layered chocolate cake.

"And why exactly are we going there?"

Milo straightened up and smiled, dimples prominent.

"I think it's time that I officially took you out on a date."

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A/N: hey everyone, hope you enjoyed and please vote if you did. As always, thank you for supporting my story! ♡

-Karlee 💛