Eros let out a breath through his nose as he grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and stuffed a pen in his pocket. He turned and gave his empty dorm room a quick scan, hesitating on the bedroom where Ashley's bed remained nothing but a lone, black mattress. He clenched his jaw and made his way out the door into the hallway. He locked the door with his key and made his way towards the exam hall, dreading every minute of it. 

He lowered his gaze at his watch and nearly turned about and went back to sleep. He had a whole two hours to spare before the test begun. He might as well make his way to the library and go through his notes again, having them saved in his Google Drive. Even though he was in his last semester before he graduates and gets his PhD, Eros was still not used to the dread and pressure that came with exams. He wasn't really concerned with keeping his Elite position—never was—but he was worried about failing and having to retake whatever course he did. It had happened to him at least five times in the now four years of his University days.

The library was unsurprisingly packed with students revising for their finals. At first he had been shocked to see that people actually cared about their grades, having witnessed the transition from his mother being in charge to Gregor eventually replacing her with his tyranny. Before he took over, the grounds were randomly selected by Evelyn herself. She held a whole parade for it and pulled names from a large glass bowl until all seats were taken. Everyone else would then remain in the Novice Grounds until the next graduation when seats would be available. Eros himself never made the cut, because he never signed up for the slot. The odds were just never enough to convince him to.

He picked an empty seat next to a random guy he's seen around campus a lot and tried not to spook him. He knew that if he did then the guy would leave and there were barely any more vacant seats. Exams were important, and he wasn't about to be the reason someone failed. Turning on the provided laptop in front of him, he took another quick scan around the enormous library and pursed his lips. Everyone had their heads buried in reading materials, their laptops, and some were busy discussing among themselves. There was the occasional last minuters that were running all over the place, frantically picking up heaps of books—some even going as far as to write on their thighs and forearms in hopes of cheating their way through. 

Eros knew that the invigilators wouldn't really care and let them do whatever they want, but once the lecturer realizes what they wrote would be the same as the their notes, it would be the end of them; that is of course, if they care enough to call them out for cheating. Another gamble Eros wasn't willing to take. He turned back to his laptop and went through his material, understanding it the best he could. He was a Business major, so he regretfully had a lot to learn and remember, maybe too much to cover in the extra hours he had. The man next to him eventually noticed that he wasn't alone. Eros saw him look up at him from the corner of his eyes. The man looked shocked to see him there as he gave him a look, slumped his shoulders and watched him for a couple more beats.

Eventually, he turned back to his notes, pushed the pencil in his hand behind his ear and scratched his clean cut head. Eros waited for him to get up, but when he made no sure movement, he assumed he realized that he was here for the exact same reason. Eros' shoulders slumped in relief and he went back to his notes; reading them as if he was reading a novel. A curious woman intentionally walked past him for that very same hypothesis and snuck a glance at his screen. Eros knew what she was up to only when she walked past him again and went back to her seat; whispering to what he assumed were her friends. They threw glances his way before going back to their own studying.

Minutes ticked by and it was soon time to start heading to the hall. Sighing, he logged out of his Gmail and school account, before he shut his laptop. He was about to get going when he looked up and froze, only then noticing who was sat down in front of him. The library table had exactly four seats that faced each other in a somewhat square. He was so focused on his revision, that he hadn't heard them. How had he been so aware of everyone else around him but these two? He wondered as he blinked and looked at the other presence of his table. 

The man he found occupying the table first briefly raised his gaze as well, cocking an eyebrow, before he grabbed the pencil and spun it in his hand; sneaking a quick glance at Eros and the woman in front of him, before lowering his head back at his book. Eros looked at Ashley as she furiously typed away on her laptop, her eyebrows scrunched in a scowl and her bottom lip between her teeth. He searched her face, questions swimming in his head, wondering whether she knew he was right in front of her, and how she would react. Turning his gaze at the other person on the table, he raised an eyebrow of his own once he locked eyes with Reece's piercing blue ones. The man smiled at him to which he slowly replied with a cut nod.

"It's been a while man. How are you?" Reece begun, oblivious of the tension radiating from the two former roommates.

Or maybe he felt it, but simply choose to ignore it.

Eros looked at Ashley once again, seeing her still busy doing whatever on her gadget. He turned back to Reece, realizing that she knew he was there, and was very blatantly ignoring him. A part of him knew too, that he was the reason behind her scowl and the fury she was taking out on the poor, innocent laptop.

"It has." He said simple, before he slowly rose on his feet, getting the message, "—we should catch up, Reece." He dismissed, before he snuck a glance at her again from the corner of his eyes. 

She was now still, her fingers pausing on the black keys below them and her eyes gazing at nothing in particular. He pondered whether he should greet her, but thought against it once the scene from the their room flashed in his mind. He grimaced and instead tucked his seat behind the table before he looked at a smiling Reece. Eros nodded at him once again then walked away from the couple and the very obviously eavesdropping man with them. He lightly tapped his pocket, feeling for his pen before he took his time getting to the exam halls. He still had half an hour left and choose to take his time getting there early and be done with it. His mind eventually wondered back to Ashley and how she acted however, and he knew then that it would be all he thought about will doing his finals. 

How will I tell her everything, if she will barely look at me? 

🔱🔱🔱

Business Math, the subject the devil himself made. Ashley gritted her teeth as she stepped out of the hall with steam oozing out of her ears. She looked down the hallway where she was sure the rest were waiting, seeing as she was the last one out. They all stood a few feet from the door with equal scowls on their faces as they probably discussed the paper. The course was a must for all Majors; arts included. Ashley shook her head at the ridiculous rule as she made her way towards them, her mind wondering where in her Culinary Arts and Art career she would need to do Sets. 

Surely, she wondered, what even was that?

Eventually, she reached her friends and stood by Reece, who wasted no time in wrapping his arm around her and gently pulling her closer to him, hugging her from behind, "That paper can go to hell." He said as he placed his chin on top of her head, most likely pouting.

Ashley nodded aggressively, both agreeing and messing with him in the process, "Thanks for waiting, though." She paused, addressing everyone who looked at them with giant smiles on their faces, causing a nice blush to peek through her cheeks, "—should we heading to lunch? I'm starving." She finished as she rubbed her stomach to emphasize her statement.

Seb spoke first, scratching the back of his neck, "Uh, well, Eros is still—doing his test so you guys can go ahead." He revealed, his eyes darting at Ashley subtly as he shifted on his feet.

Brock nodded from beside him, shoved his hands in his pockets and lowered his gaze to the ground. Ashley looked between them, before looking at the rest whose demeanor suddenly changed. She placed her hands on her hip.

"Hey, it's okay. He's your friend too. As much as I don't want to admit it, you've known him all your lives and I mean—," she paused, looking back and the brooding, conflicted duo, "—god knows he needs you." She finished, watching them lift their eyes back at him, feeling the weight of her words.

Eros did tell her that they also do Gregor's bidding not too long ago and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the man probably had a hold on them like he did his own son. No matter what happened between them in their room, and despite what she now knows about him, she didn't want to make Seb and Brock feel like they had to choose between them. Especially since they were the only friends he had. 

Seb sent her a smile as he parted his lips and looked behind her and Reece. Ashley, knowing just who he was looking at, turned her head regardless and her eyes instantly locked with Eros' sharp, calculating ones as he stood leaned on the exam hall door frame she had just walked out of. He looked away first and pushed off the wall but made no move to approach them. Ashley frowned, wondering if he got taller over the little time they had spent apart, before she shook her head and turned back to Seb; only to find him watching her with a ghost smile playing at his lips.

"Thanks for getting it." He said before he spared Ally a glance—who narrowed her eyes at him and nodded at her brother's direction—and walked away from the group.

Brock jogged behind Seb to caught up, staying behind to copy Ally's gesture and avoid a smack on his arm from her. Ashley raised an eyebrow at Ally who shrugged, "I told him to tell Eros we're going out." 

"You guys are dating?" Casey voiced in disbelief as she looked between them, "—wait, you guys liked each other this whole time?"

Alessio shook his head next to Casey, "You've known them since you were twelve. How couldn't you tell?" He assumed, earning a chuckle from everyone.

"Well I'm sorry I'm oblivious." Casey said as she rolled her eyes at him and bumped his shoulder with her tiny little floral purple stationery purse. 

"Well, I'm not about to fifth wheel, so I'll see you four later." Ally suddenly said before she waved and walked in the same direction the boys went.

Ashley watched her until she eventually got swallowed by the crowd of students from all grounds roaming the hallway. The exam hall had been big enough to hold only half of all the students in the university, so the other half was trying to make it to the room and maneuver past the depressed, brooding group that has just taken the test. You would think someone could ask what the test was like and get leaks, but they were immediately after each other and there were lecturers by the entrances and exits; watching, thirsting for ruler breakers to disqualify. She sighed and leaned into Reece, who suddenly got a call and was busy talking to whoever was on the other end. 

Her mind eventually drifted to this morning. Reece had shown up in her and Ally's room, demanding they go revise for the paper. Ashley had given up and accepted the fact that she was failing the class, but when Reece promised he'll help her prepare since he's taken the test a bunch of times, hope gleamed in her eyes and she was running to get ready. Excited, they made their way to the library and while Reece went ahead and quickly picked a spot, she went to get the text book he recommended to her, claiming it was where the lecturer pulled his questions from the most.

Imagine her hesitation when she came back and walked around what she assumed was a random man seated across her spot. She had placed the books softly on the table and tried not to glance at either of them. It was when she turned to open her notes in her account that she saw him from her peripheral vision. Looking up fully at him, she almost fell back on her chair but instead froze for a good minute. He had looked like a whole stranger at that moment in his casual plain grey shirt. On his neck was what looked like a necklace, but it was tucked into his shirt, preventing her from seeing all of it. His tattoos seemed to be even darker than before; more visible. 

She realized then that a part of her missed him, before everything came crushing back and dread coupled with anger quickly replaced that feeling. This man could be her father's downfall. She had then furiously opened her laptop and aggressively typed in her details, her mind racing, wishing his head was the keyboard, and her fingers were replaced by hammers. She hadn't notice he had looked up as she slumped and buried her face closer to the screen; too angry to care about the bright glare. Reece's voice eventually brought her back from her murderous thoughts and Eros' own shut them up completely. She had watched him walk away before she clenched her jaw and looked back at the laptop.

"You know, that went better than I expected." Reece had commented, which caused Ashley to snap her irritated gaze at him. He had chuckled and raised his hands up in a surrender, before he pushed his chair closer towards her and placed his left hand on her own seat.

Ashley let out a sigh and wiped the look off her face, leaning on his chest and looking back at the laptop, "Alright. I got the books and the notes. Lets do this." She said. She was wise enough to know that she needed all the help she could get from him instead of going into the hall empty handed.

"Do you want to eat out?" Reece's voice said suddenly, bringing Ashley back from the events of earlier that morning. Ashley looked up at him, with an intrigued smile on her face at the mention of food, "—why am I even asking, of course you do." He finished with a chuckle as he snaked the hand that was left on her stomach to her shoulder and stood next to her, "—shall we, baby?" He asked with a smile of his own.

"Shall we shall," Ashley joked, earning a confused look from Casey. She chuckled at her best friend before she told them they were heading out. 

They made their way to the parking lot where his car was supposedly parked. He lead them to a nice, black Range Rover Evoque and Ashley's eyes widened in disbelief, "Damn. I really need to get my life together." She said, watching as Reece threw his head back and let out deep, beautiful strings of laughter; a sound that was very quickly becoming her favourite thing to hear. She pursed her lips and avoided the proud smile that was about slip once she noticed a giant hickey peeking out from his collar.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll be happy to take you anywhere you would like to go until we get you your own." He offered as he gave her shoulder a light, loving squeeze and pulled his hand from her completely then reached for the passenger door after unlocking the car.

Ashley gladly hopped into the seat, squealing when he snuck a gentle pinch on her ass while she got in. She sent him a glare to which he simply stared at her with a smirk on his soft, ebony and pink lips that she knew so well, "What?" She taunted, squaring her shoulders and jolting her chin towards him playfully.

Reece's smirk broke into a slow, full grin before he leaned down and gave her a light kiss on her forehead, "How'd I get so lucky?" He asked softly, before he pulled away and shut the door.

Ashley watched him walk around his car and into the driver seat and clip on the seat belt. He gave her a smile before he turned the car on and pulled out of the parking spot. 

How'd  I  get so lucky?

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