I felt safe. My eyes drifted close and to my joy sleep overcame me.   

~~~~~ 

*Time skip* 

*Alex* 

I walked back to Thomas' dorm slowly. I just finished my semester finals. I was on break! 

And tomorrow I go on a date with Thomas. I'm walking home kicking a rock, thinking of where to take him. 

He likes being outside and music. I could get my speaker and a blanket an take him to the lake a little while before the sunset and we can listen to whatever he wants. And then we can star gaze. 

He loves the stars. He could go on and on about them. I wonder why... 

Stars are special to him. But for what reason? 

There are so many things left for me to figure it about this boy. I plan to find it all out though. I want to know him, more than just his past. I want to know his present. What he thinks. Why he acts the way he does. 

I kick the rock into a melted patch of snow. I stop and sigh. I look up at the cloudy sky and huff out a breath, watching as my cold breath dissipates. 

I continue walking to the dorm. It's quiet, all the birds have left for winter. The campus was covered in a thin blanket of snow. I crunch through the hard snow, up steps, and around the corner until the familiar door comes into my view. 

I open the door and take a step in before shaking off the snow and water from my clothes and shoes, placing everything in either a mat or a coat rack before sitting down on the couch to text Thomas. He finished his finals yesterday but had one day left of work before they let him off for his break. 

ShortButSassy- Hey 

I waited, watching the three dots appear on and off my phone screen. This usually happened. Thomas overthought every text he sent so he responded quite slowly, ( this is totally me)  but I didn't care. 

Tree- Hi. 

I can't help but laugh a bit. After all that, he texted "Hi". Jeez, what am I going to do with him? 

ShotButSassy- How long until your off? 

The dots appeared and disappeared for about three minutes before my phone buzzed. 

Tree- Maybe another 33 minutes. 

ShotButSassy- That's a specific time 

Tree- It is? I didn't know. I'm sorry doe it bother you? 

ShotButSassy- It's fine. I was just saying. Calm down. 

Tree-Oh okay. Sorry. 

Why does he say sorry so much? 

ShortButSassy- Ready for tomorrow? 

No reply. No dots appearing on the screen. He must be working like he probably should be. I laugh at myself standing up and walking to the door. I put my shoes and coat on and start walking g to the comfortable cafe Thomas worked at. 

The sun seemed like it was trying desperately to peek through the clouds but to no avail. 

I opened the heavy glass door scanning the building for Thomas. I saw him at a table talk to a table with a guy st it. He was smiling and chatting with him pouring him another cup nor coffee. 

He started to laugh a little bit and my instincts kicked in. I rushed over and tapped him on the shoulder. He whipped around and looked at me. 

He had a  blank expression for a second before flashing a big smile. 

"Alex! Hey." 

"Hey, Thomas. And you are?" I turn my gaze to the man sitting at the table. He looked at me with a glare before replying. 

"Daniel." 

"Mm, Daniel," I mutter out his name before turning back to Thomas. 

"I texted and you didn't respond so I figured you were working. But I wanted to see if you were okay with going to the lake tomorrow." 

"Oh, sure sounds great." 

"Great then. We'll go at 10 or 11?" 

"Okay!" He smiled brightly at me and turned to this Daniel dude. 

"Anything else you need?" 

"Your number would be nice." Thomas' face went blank and his eyes widened. I clenched my fists. It took everything in me not to punch this dude. 

Thomas' eyes water up and he rushed away. 

I glared at the man. 

I leaned in closer to him resting my elbows on the table. 

"If you made my Thomas cry, then you might want to leave before you don't have a chance." 

He looked at me almost intimidated but quickly regained his composure glaring right back at me. 

"Yeah right. Who cares. What would you'd do anyway?" 

I snatched his shirt and pulled up to his feet. 

"Shut your mouth before you regret. You've done enough damage." I pushed him away and walked off in the direction Thomas went. 

I found him outside leaning against a small tree. I leaned against him. 

"Hey..." 

"Hi." He sniffled. 

"Are you okay? Why'd you tear up?" 

"Nothing. I'm fine." 

I wanted to help him but I needed to know. But I'd didn't want to push him too either So I let it go and just rested my head on his shoulder. 

He was tense when I first laid my head down on him but he quickly relaxed a little bit. 

" So tomorrow sounds like its gonna be fun." He mumbles out rubbing his arm slightly.
"Mhm."

It was a tense silence. The Daniel guy walked out glaring at me as he walked to his car. 

He needs to chill. 

"You should get back to work. I'll wait." 

He just nods and starts heading back to the small building. 

I sigh heavily. 

I can't help because I don't understand, but I can't understand without crossing the line. 

*Time skip next day* 

*Thomas* 

Today is the date day... I don't know what Alex really has planned. I don't know what happened to me yesterday. The guy asked for my number and I broke into tears. How pathetic is that? I sit up in my bed and stretch. I lean over to my nightstand and squint at my calendar. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed I grab my glasses off of my nightstand. I forgot to get more contact lenses yesterday so I'm stuck with wearing my glasses today.

 Taking my phone off its charger and getting a towel I quickly go to the bathroom and take a shower. I let the hot water run for a bit steaming up the bathroom a bit. I turn my Spotify on and skip a few songs until a song I like comes on. (Song above). After the bathroom is steamed up enough, I undress making sure to take off my clouded glasses and carefully step into the shower. I quietly sing along to the song, trying not to wake up anybody who is still sleeping.

 The song ends and a  new one comes on. I stayed in the shower for who knows how long. Stepping out onto the light purple mat and wrapping a towel around myself I turn off my music and poke my head outside the bathroom door, watching the steam spill out. I walk out and rush to my room quickly but softly shutting my door. I shuffle over to my closet and look for something to wear.  

I find a pair of black jeans, a long sleeve red flannel shirt and my black jacket, along with my usual white hightops. I walk over to the mirror on the wall and attempt to style my hair. It's hard to work with when it's this wet. I settle for brushing it out and pinning one side of it down. 

Satisfied with my efforts I walk quietly out to the kitchen and living room area to find that Alex is gone. I walk to the kitchen and find a ripe banana to eat. I scroll through Instagram until I'm left with nothing but a banana peel. 

I walk back to my room and flop down on my bed. I look over at my alarm clock and see the time is 8:53. I'll start to head over to the lake at 9:30. 

I have time to waste. 

*Alex* 

I woke up early this morning packing up everything I needed to set up Thomas' and I's date today. I sling my heavy bookbag packed with food, 4 blankets a speaker, my phone a portable charger, and a new little thing I bought late last night after Thomas fell asleep, a small collapsible telescope, but I won't show him that until it's needed. 

I quietly open the door and rush out immediately running to my left all the way to the lake. When I get there, its frozen over. I find a spot under a tree where no snow fell and put my stuff down. I stand here for a while trying to decide if I want to make a spot closer to the lake to set up or to set up under this tree. I take the easy way and set up here so the ground won't be as wet. I lay down a lighter blanket and then another light one on top. I keep the other 2 fluffier blankets in my bookbag so they can stay at least slightly warmer. I leave everything else in my bookbag. I hide my bookbag and leave the blankets as they are. Hopefully, no one else knows about this spot. I trust no one does and start running back to the dorm. 

When I get back at the dorm the living room and kitchen area are empty and silent. I hear the shower running quietly and the sound of a youtube video playing. 

I wander back to the rooms and find that James' room is opened slightly. I figure that he is the one in the shower. He keeps the door closed if he's in his room. I knock on Thomas'  door waiting patiently for a response. 

I hear shuffling from the other side and the door opens. Thoams stands there in black pants, red flannel, black jacket, and white hightops. 

His hair is pinned back in a way I've never seen before. He looks cute. I smile. 

"Hey." 
"Hey." 

He stands there twiddling his thumbs. 

"So, let's go!" I grab his hand and lead him out. 
We rush out the door and he shivers from behind me. 

"Jeez, Alex it's freezing. I don't have a good enough Jacket!" 
"It's okay!"- I turn a much as I could while still speed walking. -" Trust me. Okay?" 

I only get a smile in return. But that's all I need. We continue walking quickly.  the lake. 

We start walking down the stairwell and when we turn the corner I feel his grip on my hand tighten. 

I slow down a bit and turn to look back at him. 

"You okay?" 

He seems caught off guard, but regains his composure and nods, giving me a stressed smile. I continue marching on. 

We get to the wood and start walking through. By now we're just casually walking. 

"You better now?" I turn and look at him waiting for a response. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." 
"Good." I keep walking holding tighter onto his hand. 

When we get to the clearing I can feel him relax. He starts to continue walking forward towards the usual spot we sit, but I pull him closer to me and I walk to the spot where I set up. 

"What..."
"Hahah, heh, wanna come and sit?"

He smiles at me and nods, walking to the blankets set out on the ground and I follow suit. We sit and he shivers a bit. 

I'm reminded of the blankets I have stuffed in my bookbag. 

"Here." Thomas takes the blankets and instantly cuddles up into it. 

Jeez, he's so adorable!

A/N!!!!!! Hey....haha don't hate me. 
See I've been meaning to write but everything has lately been going downhill. Well down a cliff. But I hope that you all can forgive me and enjoy this chapter. Again I'm really sorry that this took so long but I made it a longer chapter so I hope that can partially make up for taking forever to actually write this. Well thank you for reading commenting and voting and 
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!