this chapter is dedicated to @BookLover984 for literally always leaving the nicest comments. thank you :)

I was a second-year psychology major. I was curious by nature.

As I sat through my last lecture of the day, I couldn't keep Griffin off my mind. I wasn't sure why; he wasn't exceptionally nice, nor had he been exceptionally rude. He hadn't really done anything, but I couldn't keep my mind off the semi-breakdown he seemed to be having the other night. No matter how hard I tried to focus to my professor, I just couldn't.

I knew it was nosy of me, but I wanted to know why Griffin had been freaking out the other night. He seemed so composed that morning, and that only seemed to spike my curiosity. Why would someone who seemed as calm as Griffin have such a bad freak-out in the middle of the night?

"Emmy," a voice said, and I practically shot out of my seat. I turned my head and saw my friend Cara sitting next to me and instantly relaxed, slouching back down in my chair like I had previously been doing, "I thought you were sleeping."

I laughed and leaned forward, crossing my arms over my math textbook and then resting my head on my arms, "I'd rather be."

Cara nodded in agreement, eyes locked on a space a little above the board. I had met Cara a month into school when she switched into my psychology program, and we had instantly clicked. I found out Cara had originally been a math major, but dropped it three weeks into the school-year. I was shocked Cara had even stuck with psychology as long as she had, considering how much she always said she hated it.

Professor Rivers dropped his marker on his desk and clapped, dismissing us for the day. I sighed and pushed myself up, grabbing my bag and textbook off my desk. I followed Cara out the door, not paying attention to the homework Rivers was calling out. I knew it would be on his lecture site later that night, and I just couldn't bring myself to spend another minute in that class.

Cara and I broke free from the throng of students, making our way across campus. Cara spent the whole time talking about how Professor Rivers' voice was a worse torture to listen to than nails on a chalkboard, and I just nodded in agreement, not really having the energy to keep up with the conversation.

It was when we hit a coffee stand that Cara stepped in front of me and quirked an eyebrow, a question spilling out of her mouth before I had time to order, "What's wrong?"

I frowned and quickly ordered before stepping aside and letting Cara do the same, "I'm exhausted," I admitted, switching my book to the other hand as I grabbed my coffee, "My neighbor had a freak-out in the middle of the night, and I didn't get to bed until, like, two."

Cara started walking towards the parking lot and I trudged behind her, "The one who screams in German all the time, or the lady who cleans?"

"Neither," I replied, and Cara's eyes widened a bit in interest. I shouldered my backpack and went on, "I doubt you've ever even seen him, but he lives next door to me. Griffin - that's his name - he was freaking out because he couldn't get his key in the door. He was literally banging so hard on his door that I thought he was going to knock it off its hinges."

"That's so weird," Cara agreed, nodding and brushing her dark hair back from her face. She dropped her bag from her back and instead opted to carry it, "No wonder you didn't get any sleep."

"Yeah, but Joan's night-cleaning didn't really help, either."

The small smile that always seemed to be on Cara's lips fell and instead morphed into a frown. We walked in silence, but I didn't really mind. Being woken up in the middle of the night and having morning classes had taken a toll on me, and I was absolutely exhausted. I just wanted to go home, push Griffin out of my mind, stuff my books and homework as far from me as I could, and take a long nap.

I bit back a yawn and walked over to my car, putting my textbook on top as I dug around in my keys for my bag, "I'll see you tomorrow," I told Cara, wasting no time in unlocking my car and practically falling into my seat.

"Good luck with all your neighbors," she teased, grinning at me before making her way towards her car.

I spent a good five minutes sitting in my seat, door opened, head resting against the steering wheel. My mind was racing with thoughts, eyes dreary with exhaustion, and it took everything I had to gather the strength and energy to shut my door, turn on the ignition, and begin the drive home.

-

"Jeez, Emmy, I always thought you were my quiet neighbor."

I cursed and stumbled around on the stairs, picking up all my fallen textbooks. Halfway up the staircase to my apartment, my schoolbag had inexplicably managed to fall off my fucking shoulders and tumble down the stairs. And, to make matters worse, it had only been half-zipped, so now textbooks and papers littered the dirty stairs.

I briefly looked up at Griffin, ignoring the amused smile on his face before bending down to gather up an armfull of papers. Griffin mumbled something under his breath and walked over to me, taking the steps two at a time as he walked past me to get a fallen science textbook. Griffin smiled and held it out to me, my schoolbag draped on his other arm.

"Thanks," I said, awkwardly shuffling the huge stack of papers in my arms as I fumbled to grab the book, "Um, one second - "

"Nah, it's fine," Griffin said, stepping around me and practically bounding up the steps. He turned and held out his hand, wiggling his fingers before saying, "Give me your keys, I got it."

As I reluctantly handed over my keys to Griffin, I couldn't help but remember him sitting out front of his apartment because he hadn't been able to get his keys in the door.

This time, though, Griffin didn't seem to have a problem. He pushed the door open and held it for me as I walked past. I called out a thank you and walked over to the kitchen table, dumping my papers and textbooks on the - thankfully - clean surface. Griffin followed suit, although he gently draped my bag over the edge of a chair and pushed a few papers away to make room for my psychology textbook.

Griffin dropped down into an empty chair, light blue eyes gazing over the mess that had become my coffee table, "Wow," Griffin said, voice dripping with obvious sarcasm, "I never pegged you as the messy type. Psychology, though, I can see."

I bit back the question on my tongue; I had barely ever talked to Griffin, so I couldn't really understand how he could see me as a psychology major. I just shrugged and pulled two waters out of the fridge before walking over to the kitchen table and handing Griffin one. He smiled and thanked me, but my eyes were locked on the mass of crumpled papers.

I had put off cleaning through my folders and schoolbag, but I knew the day had come. I was a messy person, which usually resulted in me just stuffing papers and tests wherever I could fit them. That, in turn, usually meant that a day like today happened once every few months.

"I gotta go through all this stuff," I sighed loudly and sat down, pulling over my math textbook that was practically overflowing with papers, "Thanks for the help, Griffin."

Griffin bit his bottom lip, blue eyes going from the papers to me. His hands twisted together, thin fingers nervously pulling on each other, "I can help," he offered, dropping his hands by his sides quite abruptly, "if you want."

I wanted to go lay down in bed and sleep the rest of the day away, but I couldn't deny his offer. Aside from the fact that having help would be an incredible relief, it would also be a chance to get to talk to Griffin. There was a possibility that I would get the chance to find out what happened the other night.

"Sure," I smiled at him and grabbed my math textbook, pushing it his way, "Start with math."

Griffin's smile was blinding as he nodded and flipped open the textbook, pulling out a clumb of lined paper. There was something about the way that Griffin flipped through the papers that was so distracting; his fingers gently pried them apart, blue eyes narrowed down to scan through them, tongue occasionally peeking out through his lips when he seemed to be really studying a paper. It seemed like Griffin fully immersed himself in a simple task.

I flipped through my psychology textbook, plucking out notes that weren't needed anymore and tossing them in the trash-can, but my attention was too focused on Griffin. His phone - which he left laying on the kitchen table - occasionally rang, but he never diverted his attention from my paper. There was something so interesting about watching Griffin seem so oblivious to everything around him.

Something so interesting to see someone completely immerse themselves in something as simple as plucking through old notes.

"Is this important?" Griffin asked suddenly, head snapping up as he held a piece of paper in his hands. At first I couldn't see why he asked, but then I saw the little bit of writing scrawled across the bottom: call mom and dad, "It looks old, but I figured I'd ask."

I shook my head, a small smile tugging at my lips, "Nah, not really," I said, gently plucking the paper from his hands and throwing it out. Griffin nodded, eyes dropping back down to the papers, and I couldn't help but blurt out the question, "Are you okay?"

Griffin looked back up at me, blinking as he processed what I asked. There was a brief moment where everything about Griffin seemed to close off - his jaw locked, eyes narrowed slightly, and his fingers wrapped tightly around the edge of the table. But as fast as all those small actions happened, they were all dropped, and Griffin was smiling tightly at me again.

"Yeah," he responded, pushing my textbook to the side so he could cross his arms across the table, "Why?"

I got dry-mouth then and paused, swallowing past the lump in my throat. It was small, but something about Griffin's whole demeanor had changed. He was more watchful, a suspicious look in his eyes. The amusement had drained from his face, and the smile on his face lips looked more like a grimace than anything else. Griffin had effectively closed himself off, and if it wasn't for the little ticks, I might not have even noticed.

There was something about Griffin that was just off.

"Just the other night," I said as softly as I could, gauging Griffin's expression, but nothing changed, "I just wanted to make sure everything was all right. You seemed exhausted, and you kind of still do - "

"Thanks for asking," Griffin said, pushing himself out of his seat and standing up. His dirty blond hair was a wild mess pushed back from his face, blue eyes blazing, "but it was unnecessary."

Griffin stood up and quickly walked across my apartment, slamming the door behind him as he left.

</ i'm so excited for this story! i hope you guys all like it, and please be sure to comment and vote! what are your thoughts on griff and emmy so far? thank you <3