W Y A T T 

"Hey Wyatt, are you coming to Connor's party tomorrow night?"

Jacob got out of the bathroom in his jeans only, and went through his drawer, carelessly throwing some t-shirts on his bed before he picked a black one that he put over his head. Having grown up with a sister, and each of us having our own bedrooms, I wasn't used to sharing a room or a bathroom when I moved to university. Needless to say, in the first couple of months of being here, I found it very weird that I had my roommate waltz out of the bathroom shirtless every morning.

"I don't know, man." I glanced at him while I packed my laptop in my bag and a couple of notebooks.

"Ever since that girl came to Columbia you never hang out with us anymore."

"Now you're just sounding like a child, Jacob." I chuckled. "I literally spent all afternoon yesterday playing basketball with you guys outside."

"Yeah, but you used to come with us to every party."

"I didn't say I wasn't coming tomorrow." I threw one strap over my shoulder. "Plus that's not true, I always skip Trevor's parties. That guy's... not cool."

I find myself scrunching my nose at the lack of better word to describe Trevor Harrison.

"Whatever." Jacob ran his hand through his wet hair before picking up his phone. "Jackson and I are coming. And we're hoping you'll join us."

* * *

I didn't have a set college routine at Columbia. Like most students, I don't dedicate myself to study until a few days before the test, I don't work on my papers right away, and I complain on a daily basis about how I can't keep up with classes and still don't do anything about it. Usually I just go with the flow, with the exception of Thursday. On Thursdays, I do laundry.

You'd think Friday and Saturday nights were the preferred time for laundry because most people were at parties or hanging out with their friends, but I'd come to find that a lot of people thought that, too. So, I settled for Thursdays. We have a common laundry room with about ten washing machines and ten dryers, which was more than enough, but on a busy day, it could get pretty chaotic.

I was minding my own business, Arctic Monkeys were playing on my airpods while I was putting my clothes in the washing machine. Amongst the smell of laundry detergent and clean clothes that fill a room like this, I could smell the fragrant notes of jasmine and a hint of fresh orange blossom. And I only know one person who wears this specific and unique fragrance.

I looked around the room, saw two guys getting their clothes out of the dryer and one girl using another washing machine. Then, I turned around and bingo! There she was. Harper was sitting criss-crossed on one of the chairs, with a book in her hand and playing with the tip of her hair with the other.

I quickly picked up the last four shirts in the basket and threw them inside the washing machine before pressing the Start button. I made my way towards Harper, standing a few inches away from her. After noticing my shadow on the pages of the book she was reading, she looked up.

"Wyatt."

"Harper."

We stared at each other for a minute, just looking at each other's eyes and wondering what to say. When nothing came to mind, I broke the silence and asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for the washer to stop."

"You need help with something?"

"No Wyatt, this is no romcom nor an episode of Friends. I am very much capable of doing my own laundry, thank you very much."

She didn't say it in a mean or sarcastic way, just teasingly which, by the way, was an improvement in the way Harper would communicate with me these days. I chuckled.

"Do you mind if I sit?" I asked, pointing to the empty seat next to her. Harper nodded her head telling me to go on before closing the book she was currently reading, It Ends With Us. I glanced at her sideways as I sat down, and noticed the title of the book.

"So, how was California?"

"Amazing." Harper had a smile on her face, a bright smile that I hadn't seen in a very long time. "I missed everyone so much."

"I'm glad you got to visit them." I tried hard not to lose myself in her scent that invaded me as she shifted in her seat, uncrossing her legs and letting them fall down, her feet hitting the floor. "How are the classes going?"

"Okay."

"If you need, I could help you with it." I stuttered before explaining myself.

"I'm a couple of years ahead of you, so... anything you need you can count on me." I finished with a grin that hopefully didn't look too creepy.

"Thanks."

After talking on the phone with my sister, who had been with Harper when she went to California to visit, we both concluded that Harper was having a hard time, period. I don't think the cause is living in a new city, being away from friends and family, or the pressure of university. I think it may be everything all at once. This wasn't just a big step that Harper took, this is lots of major steps. And just knowing that she's going through it, is enough to cause my heart to twist.

And since I am the only one at Columbia that she knows, I'm gonna make it my mission to help her however I can.

"We could actually make it a thing." I suggested before the opportunity would pass. "We could set up a date, let's say Friday nights."

Harper gave me a look, a bit of a mixture of suspicion and surprise, and I instantly started second guessing my choice of words. "Only if you want to, of course."

She showed me a small curl of her lips. "And you know what, you would be doing me a favor, actually."

"Oh yeah, how so?"

"The guys are always dragging me to games and parties and I always end up giving in." I shrugged lazily, giving the impression that it was no big deal. "And if we actually set up a day and time to study, I'll have a commitment and a reason not to bail."

"Okay." She said, and after sitting up straighter, she reached her hand out, and held it up, waiting for mine. "On Friday nights we'll study, but you'll have to bring donuts."

My palm touched hers, and I felt her soft and warm skin against mine as we shook hands.

"Deal." A beat. "You know, you picked a perfect day to do your laundry."

"Really?" She asked, sounding surprised. "Why?"

"It's the least busy day of the week." I explained. "On all other days you pretty much have to fight for a free washing machine."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." I laughed as I recalled some of the first incidents I had with laundry. "I remember the very first time I came here to do laundry. Someone had forgotten to remove their clothes from the washer once the cycle was over and this girl with purple hair totally freaked out. So she removed the clothes herself and put it on one of the baskets so she could use the machine."

"What happened after?"

I chuckled as I replayed the scene in my head. "Well, the owner of the clothes had overslept and only came to get his clothes the next morning and they were all smelling kind of funny cause they were wet for the whole night."

"Oh my God!" Her mouth was ajar and she took her hand to her face to cover it. "I can't believe it."

"Yeah, but that story had a pretty good ending. They started dating a couple of months later."

"Now that is a romcom!"

We laughed and chuckled and I mostly enjoyed looking at her smile. She was looking less stressed, less uptight and more... loose. And I felt so happy to see her this happy.

This had to be the first time this has happened since I started university, but I was actually excited to study tomorrow night, because I couldn't wait to see Harper again.

I guess it's safe to say I was definitely not coming to tomorrow's party.

* * *

author's note

i can't wait for friday nights too!! 💗

question: what's the worst laundry mishap to happen to you? 

please don't forget to vote if you're enjoying LEOYAM, and leave a comment with your thoughts! also follow me on ig - missmarswrites - for sneak peeks, edits, quizzes and so so much more!

xoxo, mars