In Trent's room, Fallon sat on the bed up against the wall, her legs draped over Trent's, her laptop resting on her lap as she eagerly typed, hoping to finish her short story for class earlier than she anticipated. Trent was watching her intently, he noticed the way her eyes got wider as she typed what he could only assume was the climax of her story. And then watched as she wrinkled her nose and slammed on the backspace key when she was displeased with what she had written. She herself was a work and progress story. Her expressiveness made him chuckle.

"What?" She looked at him, tearing her eyes from her laptop.

"Nothing," he shook his head, refocusing himself on his own screen. "You're just so animated when you write."

She felt her cheeks blush, "I am?"

"I know exactly where you are in your writing based on the face you're making."

"Bullshit, no you don't."

"Did you just write a whole resolution to your problem and then decide you hated it and delete it all?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "fuck off," she giggled as she kicked him lightly. "What are you working on anyway?"

"I'm working on a research paper about weaponizing pharmaceutical drugs."

"Oh. That sounds....great." Fallon said seemingly confused.

"It's interesting actually, a lot of things doctors prescribe daily can be used as weapons of mass destruction if they fall into the hands of the wrong person. No one ever mentions it or reports on it, but it's an actual thing."

"Interesting. Are you thinking about weaponizing aspirin in the future?"

"Never know," he shrugged, smiling at her.

Since their fight about Matt, the two had found a way to skirt around the issue. Fallon spent most afternoons with Trent after class. They either worked in her apartment or his room at the frat house. A few nights a week she would get dinner with Matt at the dining hall. They would go out every couple weekends, and other times, Fallon filled with working, catching up with Sarah, or trying to keep up with her mom. She, for the most part, had it down to a science.

Her and Matt didn't declare a label right away, they both agreed for now that they would just continue getting to know each other. This seemed to please Trent and kept conversations about him to a minimum.

Fallon slammed her laptop shut, frustrated with the ending to a story that she was now sick of writing. She crossed her arms frustrated and leaned her head against the wall. It caused Trent to once again look up from his laptop. He put the computer aside on the nightstand and pulled at her arm.

"Relax, come here."

She often let her frustrations get the best of her. She shifted her body from the wall to being parallel with Trent's. She curled her body up to his as he draped his arm across her, reaching for his laptop with his other hand. Once she got comfortable, he went back to typing his research paper.

"I need a nap." She said, closing her eyes and curling up closer. "Can I have a blanket?"

Trent reached for the fleece blanket folded at the bottom of his bed and handed it to her, helping her unfold it and covering her feet. "Thank you," she said.

"Take a nap, stop stressing, I'll wake you up for dinner." She nodded. "On second thought," he closed his laptop and once again placed it to the side. Grabbing his phone, he set an alarm for an hour. He scooted himself downwards so his head could rest on the pillow and pulled the blanket he had given Fallon up over himself too.

She moved closer to him, allowing him to take her in both his arms, she was cold, he could feel the chill through her clothes. He made sure each part of her was covered and proceeded to run his fingertips up and down her back, a ritual they had both done since they were kids to help each other fall asleep.

"I don't wanna go to the party tonight Trent."

"You don't have to."

"I'll go back to my apartment before it starts."

"You don't have to go, we can lock in for this one, have a movie night, they can run the risk team without me."

"No, no, don't let me ruin your fun."

"My fun? Psh I'd rather stay the hell away from everyone and have a drink with you instead any day." He reached for his phone, Fallon saw him compose a text the the group chat of housemates.

I'm locking in tonight, run risk without me. Move Anthony to the door, put the new kid James in the green room, keep everyone out of the upstairs.

"Done, no party for us tonight."

She hummed slightly as she smiled, "I'm telling you, you could have just enjoyed your Friday."

"I am gonna enjoy my Friday."

His phone buzzed with a reply from Brian,

All okay dude? Saw you go up with Fallon earlier, she alright?

God, she loved Brian so much. Trent texted him back,

All good, doesn't feel well, taking care of her, for once.

Another reply,

You owe her more than once for the shit you make her put up with. Be good to her.

"I love Brian," she blurted out.

Trent laughed, "I love Brian too. He's a genuinely good person." He placed his phone on the nightstand and wrapped Fallon in his arms, "warmer?"

"Yes, thank you."

He rested his chin lightly on the top of her head, taking in the smell of lavender permeating from her hair. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to relax. Everything lately had been feeling like it was moving at two times the speed of normal. The end of the semester was fast approaching, papers and projects were piling up, Trent was desperately trying to keep up with it all while also securing an internship and making sure that all the boys were secure as a team to function when he finally moved on from the university and the fraternity.

Fallon shifted under his arms. Her breathing had slowed down and her eyes fluttered every so often, clearly overcome with the desire to sleep. Leaving her here was also on his mind. She would be perfectly fine without him, he knew this. She was a fireball who never backed down and was one of the most resilient people he had ever known. She was kind to everyone, but didn't take any shit from anyone. Having her here with him for the last three years gave him the solid foundation he needed to continue pushing himself through school because she was always there with the extra nudge.

It was more fear than anything. Fear of the real world, fear of the responsibilities that came with graduating, and fear that they would lose the time he valued so much. But none of that had anything to do with her. However, it had everything to do with his want and need to keep her as close as he could and be there just in case something were to falter. And while he knew it looked to everyone else like she was always the one taking care of him, he took pride in the moments where she could let her guard down and exist without worrying because she knew he was there.

He must have drifted off somewhere in between thinking about everything. It was enough to mentally exhaust anyone. But the ringing of his alarm woke him up at the time it was meant to. Fallon didn't stir. Trent cautiously unraveled himself from her, stood up and stretched, placing the blanket over her again after he had knocked it out of place. He moved to his desk chair now, reaching for his laptop, deciding to try and resume his paper from earlier. He would wake her up in another half hour, letting her get the sleep that it seemed she so desperately needed, it was only seven anyway.

He dove back into the research portion of the paper, reading through scholarly articles and highlighting any information he felt he might be able to incorporate into his final draft. He was so deep in his work that when he heard a knock on his bedroom door, he wasn't sure if he had imagined it or if it had been real. He stood up and tapped on the desk lamp, suddenly aware of the darkness that had set into the room. He opened the door enough so that he could see who was standing in the hallway, and he wasn't sure if he was surprised or angry when he saw Matt standing there.

"What's up?" Trent asked, still not completely opening the door.

"Brian said Fallon is here with you, I've been texting her all afternoon, she hasn't answered."

Trent's face was stoic, annoyed simply by Matt's presence. "She's been here, she was working on some final projects she had. We took a nap and she's still sleeping." He cracked the door open further so that Matt could see her curled up in Trent's bed. He enunciated the we in his statement, hoping it might get a slight rise from Matt.

Matt's face changed, "okay, I'll just talk to her tonight at the party."

Trent smiled cannily, "no you won't, we're locking in, she doesn't feel well. I'll tell her you're looking for her though, enjoy the party." He slammed the door closed, not giving Matt an opportunity to respond. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed, annoyed, but trying to contain his frustrations. The sound of the door must have been enough to wake up Fallon, he watched as she squirmed under the blanket and turned over to face his desk, her eyes, pools of blue steel, gazed up at him. "Well good morning," he said smiling as he walked back over to his desk chair to sit.

"Hi," she elongated the word as she said it, stretching her hands over her head and then pulling herself back into a ball.

"How do you feel?'

"Better, I needed that. And your bed is so comfy." She spread out all her limbs, taking in the space of his queen size bed compared to the small XL twin in her apartment.

He laughed, "your boyfriend was looking for you. He came to the door while you were asleep."

"I don't have a boyfriend, we're just talking," she giggled, picking up her phone to see an array of text messages from Matt. "I'll deal with that later," she tossed the phone aside. "Can we eat please? I'm starving."

"Now you're speaking my language. Come on," he reached for her hand and pulled her off the bed. "It's getting closer to party time, there's probably a lot of people downstairs, everyone should be cleaning or prepping, just a heads up."

Both proceeded to look for shoes that they had kicked off. Fallon wandered over to Trent's dresser, pulling out a hoodie to wear over her t-shirt, assuming the night air had most likely cooled further. She grabbed her wallet from her backpack, making sure she had her student ID to get into the dining hall and slid her phone into her back pocket.

"Good to go?" She asked, turning to Trent who was leaning against the doorframe.

"Whenever you are."

Both of them entered the hallway, clearly hearing the commotion ensuing downstairs. Someone had "Party Up" by DMX playing on repeat and there was a visible haze rising up the staircase, being created by the guys who were smoking down below. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, a few of the older boys called out her name, making their way over to hug her.

DJ was first, "didn't know you were here, we would've called you guys down for dinner." He gave Trent a fist bump after hugging her.

"All good, we're gonna head to the dining hall anyway, thanks though, man." Trent responded for her.

Austin wandered in from the living room next, he had blunt in one hand, a bucket and mop in the other. Spanish music was playing from his phone in his pocket. "¡Hola chica!" He put down the mop and bucket and proceeded to hug her tightly. "Look at me," he let go of her and stepped back, "they got me slaving away mopping floors as if they won't be sticky again in a few hours."

"They just don't appreciate all your hard work Austin. You should take your services elsewhere!" Fallon laughed.

"You know what, you're right. These guys don't know the difference between microfiber and cotton, this house is filthy!" He picked up his bucket again and headed towards the basement door. "Which one of you mother fuckers is gonna mop this basement, cause it aint gonna be me!" He started descending the stairs and mumbling in spanish.

This commotion was calming. Each boy who crossed paths with her was respectful, social, and knew when enough was enough. Trent had found his friends in this house, and as much as they were his metaphorical brothers, they had become hers too.

"Hurry," Trent pulled her towards the door, "before someone else stops us and we never get food," he laughed, guiding her out.

Outside the front door, the risk team had already started to form for the evening. Brian and Matt stood, each with a cigarette in their hand, explaining directions to the rest of the group of boys out there with them. Trent caught Brian's eye as they walked down the few steps into the driveway.

"Just the man I needed to see," he said, making his way over to him. "I just need to borrow him for a minute, Fal." He pulled Trent towards the garage, out of earshot from the group standing around.

Matt made his way over to her, "Hey," he leaned and kissed her cheek. "You okay?"

She nodded, "yeah I'm okay now. I've been overwhelmed with this final creative writing project, I'm stressed about work, and I honestly just needed a nap. My phone has been on 'do not disturb' all day, I'm sorry I didn't text you back."

Matt shook his head, "it's all good, as long as you're okay. You have some free time tomorrow?"

"I think I should, what're you thinking?"

"Let's grab coffee somewhere that isn't the campus cafe."

"That sounds good, text me the time, I promise I'll answer this time," she smiled.

He took a long drag off his cigarette and smiled, "I hope so, I'm starting to think you might not like me."

Trent and Brian made their way back over, "sorry, you guys go get your food, I gotta round up this group of idiots and get them all on the same page since someone," he glared at Trent, "doesn't want to run his risk team."

Fallon felt a pang of guilt in her chest, knowing that she had been the reason they were in their current situation. Just as she was about to apologize, Trent cut her off.

"Some things are just more important," he shrugged, throwing his arm around Fallon's shoulders and guiding her out of the driveway. "If you need me to kick someone's ass, you know which room is mine!" He called back towards them as they headed towards the food hall.

"That's gotta be hard for ya." Brian leaned in slightly towards Matt, lighting a new cigarette and placing it between his lips.

"What?"

"Watching them walk around like they do, they were asleep in bed together this afternoon for Christ sake. You can't tell me that doesn't drive you insane."

Matt felt his temples heat up, "it's fine."

Brian raised his eyebrows, removing the cigarette from his mouth and blowing a long trail of smoke, "whatever you say man, but out of every girl you've ever had here from every party we've ever thrown, you chose that one. She's practically an 'untouchable,' and here you are, touching."

"He doesn't own her."

"No you're right, but still, that's a sticky situationship that I'm glad you're navigating and not me." He smacked Matt lightly on the back. "Come on, let's get these boys in the right spots before people start showing up."