"YEAH, I GET IT. Sometimes I kind of want to give it up, but I know that I'd miss it too much," I replied as Stacey and I sat inside Bella's while talking about dance. Since our spring break was coming to a close, Stacey and I decided to hang out before the last few months of the school year started again and another round of essays ensued.

"Since we're talking about dance, I have something to tell you." Stacey put her drink down and turned a bit more serious. "As you know, we had a performance the other day and after the show, I met a casting director for an upcoming Broadway show. He encouraged me to send in a video audition for the lead dancing role, and I got it," Stacey said calmly with a huge grin, although if I were her I'd be jumping out of my seat.

My eyes widened and a giant smile spread across my lips. "Oh my gosh, congrats! That's amazing!"

"Thanks, I know it's unbelievable. Sometimes I have to re-read the email they sent me to make sure that it wasn't a dream," she chuckled.

"Wait, so does that mean you'll be leaving Berkeley?" I questioned, a bit sad to think about the thought of Stacey leaving.

"No, right now the script is being finalized. I'll miss a few months here and there to go to New York and figure out my living situation and meet other people who got cast. But by the time rehearsals start, I'll be fresh out of college," she grinned at the thought.

I was still rendered speechless, my own heart racing at the excitement of it all, and was only able to say, "Wow, I'm so happy for you!"

∞

"YEAH, SEE YOU SOON. Have a safe flight, bye." Held between my ear and shoulder, I hung up the phone and shoved it into my back pocket as I neared the exit, agreeing to pick Ava and Hunter up from the airport when they landed. After Stacey left an hour ago for an appointment, I stayed in Bella's for a bit longer, finishing up the rest of my coffee. Before leaving, I decided to order two coffees to go, one for Milo and the other for myself to drink tomorrow. 

With two coffee cups in my hands, I turned around and started to push the door with my back. A moment later, the door unexpectedly swung out faster than I was pushing, causing me to stumble a bit from the sudden movement. My head whipped to the side and saw a white cotton shirt in front of me.

"Woah, thank you..." My voice trailed off as I looked up to see who was holding the door for me, the smile on my face fading away as my grip on the paper tray tightened.

"Hey, can we talk?" James warily asked, still holding the door open. Sensing my hesitation, he added, "Please? I promise it won't take that long."

After a deep inhale, I nodded and we sat at one of the tables outside.

"I'm sorry, Hadley." James stared at me dead in the eyes as he uttered those words before his head hung low, distress and shame in his expression. "What I said that day in the quad was wrong and I let my emotions get the better of me. I never should've uttered any of those nasty words to you, but all I could see was red. I would never intentionally hurt you on purpose, and I know these shitty reasons don't give me an excuse for the things I said to you, but I need you to know that as soon as you walked away, I immediately regretted everything that happened and it's been constantly on my mind since. I'm truly sorry, Hadley."

That feeling overwhelmed me again, an invisible pressure on my chest. I took in a deep breath as I tried to calm down, taking in all of James's words.

"I accept your apology, James." He looked up at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "But I can't forgive you." And just like that, the glimmer was gone.

I could see it in his eyes while he talked that he meant every word he said, but that's the thing. With James, it's always an extreme swing from one mood to another. Right now, he felt ashamed, but at the next second, he could be upset and frustrated at the fact that I told him I couldn't forgive him.

"Why not?" was all he asked as he stared at me, a whirlwind of emotions pooling in his eyes.

"I know you meant it when you apologized, but the things you said were so vile and hurtful, and words that you can't take back," I explained as gently as I could while trying to hold myself together all at once.

James was silent and just stared down at his lap, a frown etched on his face. Overwhelmed once again, I needed to get out of this situation quickly, standing up from my chair as James refused to look at me.

Not knowing what to exactly say next to get out of the situation gently, I stood up and grabbed the coffees as I walked away. "Goodbye, James."

∞

I'm downstairs, can you let me in?

Be right there

After a minute, I saw Milo step out of the elevator with a smile as he held the door open for me.

"Hey." He kissed my cheek as I passed walked through the entrance, my cheek tingling from the sweet gesture. "Why did you get two coffees?" Milo asked as we stepped into the elevator.

"Because," my hand jutted out in his direction, "I bought one for you." Milo took the drink and straw as we stepped out of the elevator and walked to his dorm.

"I really do have the best girlfriend in the world, don't I?" said Milo as his smile never faltered, stepping into his dorm. My heart was ready to leap out of my chest as I heard those words. I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing the word girlfriend come out of Milo's mouth.

Sitting on top of the bar stools with my coffee resting on the overhang of the kitchen counter, I was grinning from ear to ear like an idiot as I stared down at my coffee, twirling the straw between the tip of my fingers.

My smile slowly faded as I remembered my run-in with James, feeling like I need to talk about it with Milo.

"What's wrong?" asked Milo as he saw my smile drop.

"Don't freak out on me, okay?" I placed my hand on top of Milo where he immediately turned his palm over and intertwined our hands, bringing our hands up to his lips as he kissed the back of mine.

"Okay," he dragged out in a skeptical tone.

"While I was coming over here with our coffees, I ran into James." His grip tightened a little as I rubbed small circles with my thumb on the back of his hand to reassure him. "He apologized for what he did that day in the quad."

"And?" Milo questioned, building up tension in the room.

"And I accepted his apology but told him that I couldn't forgive him." Milo exhaled strongly, deep in thought.

"What happened after you told him that?" He asked, staring at our hands.

"He asked why I couldn't forgive him and I told him that it was because the things he said were vile and words he couldn't take back. Then I walked away and came here." His eyebrows were drawn together as he brushed his thumb on my knuckle. "Say something."

"Are you okay?" He finally looked me in the eyes and I forgot to breathe for a second as he stared at me intensely. 

I nodded as I offered him a soft smile and leaned into his shoulder, "I am now."

He kissed my forehead as we sat there in comfortable silence before a loud ringing noise startled me and I quickly pulled away, hitting Milo's chin with the top of my head.

I cringed as Milo laughed it off and rubbed his chin, "Sorry."

He grabbed his phone from off the counter and turned to me when he saw the caller ID. "I have to take this, I'll be right back." Our hands broke away as he slipped off the bar stool and walked into his room, closing the door gently behind him.

Nearly five minutes had gone by and he was still on the phone. I grew curious as I slowly slipped off of my stool. Careful not to make a sound, I quietly crept to Milo's door and listened.

I could barely hear what he was saying but managed to decipher a few phrases. "Oh, I thought it doesn't start until the fall. Why is the starting date being pushed up?" After a few seconds, he spoke again, "Um okay, when is the latest I have to let you know by?"

After a few sentences I couldn't decipher, I heard Milo end the call and my eyes widened. I walked as briskly and quietly as I could back to the kitchen. But of course, I hissed in pain as my clumsy ass kicked the leg of the bar stool, which caused a loud screech against the wooden floor.

Milo rushed out immediately, concern washed over his face. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just accidentally kicked my toe on the stool leg," I reassured him as I examined my toe, now turning red. "That was a long phone call. Who was it?"

Milo tensed but quickly composed himself as he focused his eyes on the paper towel roll on the counter. "Just my boss asking if I could work overtime this month since the weekends are getting busy."

Liar. "Oh, are you gonna do it?"

"Uh, I told him I'd think about it and let him know." He rubbed the back of his neck as he rolled in his lips and slipped onto the bar stool.

My phone began vibrating and I slid the green button across the screen, bringing the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Hads. Our flight landed early, are you able to pick us up now?" Ava said through the other side of the line.

"Um, yeah I'll leave now." The line went dead and I shimmied off the stool as I turned towards Milo and grabbed my things. "I have to go. Hunter and Ava's flight landed early and they're here."

"I can take you," he suggested, also slipping down from the stool.

"Thanks, that'll be great," I offered him a smile as the words from Milo's conversation on the phone lingered in the back of my mind.

_______________

A/N: kind of a filler for the most part :/

After the first scene in the next chapter, the story will continue a couple weeks after this chapter. (Hope this doesn't cause any confusion :p)

Also...I am aware that Berkeley doesn't use the quarter school system, but just for continuity reasons, let's just say that they had spring break. Thank you :)

-Karlee 💛