London was particularly talkative the few weeks they had before Christmas and their holiday break. "Christmas is soon! This means you're free for two weeks, right?" he asked inquisitively.

"Yes," Carter confirmed. "December twenty-third to January ninth. Were you planning something?"

"Oh, yeah—what do you want for Christmas? Also, what do you think Lauren would like? Hey, we should throw a party or something. Oh, but I don't have any close friends besides you guys and Violet, and I don't think it would be very fun to have a bunch of strangers at my house..." London trailed off, lost in thought.

Carter frowned. "You don't have to get me or Lauren anything, and we were having a sort-of holiday part anyways."

"What? No, of course I have to get you a present." London flashed a flirtatious smile. "That's what friends are for, right? What would Christmas be without presents?"

"Uh—still Christmas," Carter said flatly.

"Carter, you're so negative." London pouted. "Christmas would be nothing without gift-giving."

"Actually," Carter began thoughtfully, "Christmas is a religious—"

"Yeah, okay, smartass." London rolled his eyes affectionately. "Of course, I know that. I just like to make people happy."

Carter shut up after that, eyeing London warily.

"What?" London asked after a few moments, raising an eyebrow at Carter.

Carter sighed. "You care so much about other people."

"Its that a bad thing?"

"No. Just don't hurt yourself."

London stared at Carter for a moment, enough to make Carter turn uneasy and blush—and then London promptly burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" Carter said, scowling at London.

"Nothing—oh, Carter, sweetheart," London giggled, a wide grin on his face. "I just thought—you know, you're saying that when the exact same thing applies to you. You're adorable."

Carter's frown deepened and he looked away from London, who was starting to tear up with laughter. "I'm not adorable, I don't care about other people, and don't call me sweetheart."

"Don't be so adamant, sweetheart," London snickered, stressing the pet name just to spite him. "You're so small and cute, and you care so much, you don't even know."

Carter reddened, avoiding his gaze. "I don't give a fuck about you."

"Don't swear, honey, it makes you more attractive than you already are," London chuckled, his fit of laughter finally dying out.

"I hope you get run over by a truck while you're crossing the street."

"You don't mean that, love."

Carter glowered at London. "No, I don't."

"Sweetheart."

"Fucking asshole."

London laughed again, ruffling Carter's hair. "My stop's coming up. I'll see you, Carter."

Carter ignored the disappointed feeling when London pulled the line to request his stop, fixing his hair irritably. "Bye, London."

"Oh, hey, exams are coming up, right?"

Carter looked up from the screen of his phone, caught off guard when London spoke again before stepping off the bus. "Yes," he said, realising he was being spoken to.

London shot Carter a smile that probably cured cancer all over the country. "Good luck."

And then he was gone and Carter desperately wanted to die inside because feelings.

~~~

Carter was tapping his pencil against the glossy page of the textbook in agitation. He could feel the girl sitting across from him giving him a death stare, but all Carter could really think about was London, London, London.

Had it really been four months? Carter felt as if he'd known London for years.

He drove Carter home late at night after a movie because he didn't want Carter to go home alone. He spent the entirety of their visit to the fair with Carter when he could have been enjoying himself with Violet. He visited him while he was sick and listens to him talk about his shitty problems and nightmares when he could have been asleep.

London was too good for someone like Carter. What had Carter done for London? He was pretty sure it was nothing, nothing at all, because when he thought about all the four months he had spent with London he couldn't think of one single thing he had done for London.

Carter stopped tapping the pencil against the textbook when he realized the tapping had quickened. He sent an apologetic glance at the girl.

She softened when he made eye contact, much to his surprise. "Are you okay?" she muttered, the whisper pretty loud in the silent library.

"Just stressed for exams," he replied, letting a light smile cross his expression. He was sure it looked now like a grimace than an actual smile, but kept the happy facade on so he wouldn't have to burden the girl with all his inner torments.

"Oh." She smiled warmly. "I'm sure everyone is, to be honest. I graduated a year ago so I'm not in college anymore, but I'm working on a manuscript to send to a publisher—sorry, wait, I'm telling you my life story, aren't I?"

"No, I don't mind." It struck Carter as odd that he was actually keeping up a conversation with a stranger without stuttering or embarrassing himself, but he somehow found it in himself to keep talking. "Manuscript, you said?"

"Oh, yeah." She twirled the pencil in her hand absentmindedly, nodding. "I write fiction. I mean, it's probably really stupid to you, and i know I can't really make a living off books, but it's pretty cool and it's my dream to—" A hand flew to her mouth hastily before she could go on. "Sorry. I'm rambling."

Carter chuckled, finding the habit sort of... endearing. "That's okay. I'm kind of used to it."

She laughed—giggled? Carter wasn't quite sure. All her laughs sounded like giggles. "So, what are you studying?" she asked.

It took a moment to register in Carter's head that she was asking about him. "Oh, economics. It's pretty boring compared to what you're doing."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. "Business and economics and stuff like that was hard for me in high school. I think everyone doing something like that is probably really smart."

"Oh, er, not really," Carter said, turning pink and looking back down at his textbook. "I'm pretty average in most fields so I just did what would probably benefit me most in the future."

The girl shrugged. "Well, wanting to have a stable future isn't something to look down on. I think we romanticize being spontaneous with these things," she laughed. "It probably isn't the best idea."

"But it's brave," Carter interjected. "Like, I think a lot of people wish they could do things, but don't because it's a really low chance that they'll succeed. It's cool you're taking that chance."

"That's what everyone says, but really, I don't know." She shrugged, a tiny frown replacing the smile on her face. "Maybe it has nothing to do with talent once you get to a certain point. I think now I just have to be lucky, and I'm starting to realise putting your entire career on luck is, well, bad, to say the least."

Carter looked back down at his textbook. "Do you like writing?"

She looked at him curiously. "I suppose you have to to get this far."

"Well, if you're doing something you love and you're happy, why doubt yourself?" Carter questioned. And then he looked up to see the awed expression on the girl's face, and turned bright red. "Uh, I mean, not that you should take my advice, because I'm probably romanticizing it as much as it is already all over the internet, and I'm pretty bad at advice in the first place, and, er, um—"

"No, no, no, no, no," she replied quickly, shaking her head. "Uh, I think it's great advice, and I used to believe that too—not that I don't anymore, but ti was a nice reminder, and it was great advice, I think, and, um, I think you're really cute—"

There was a sudden lull in the conversation.

Carter wasn't sure if he was comfortable with the abrupt silence.

Carter gulped. "Uh, I'm... "

Flattered? Surprised? Mediocre?

"I'm... Carter."

The girl stretched out her hand slowly, frozen in her seat. "Nia."

Nia. Carter thought that was fitting.

~~~

Nia had passed Carter her number on a pink sticky note before leaving the library, so Carter and Nia had been keeping in contact. After two weeks or so, Nia told Carter that, while she had believed he was cute and that she still did think he was, any feelings that could have possibly blossomed died out when they became closer as friends than anything else.

Carter smiled at her and told her he thought she was pretty cute too, but wouldn't date a girl taller than him.

This earned him a rough shove from Nia, saying that if he was going to smile at her and tell her she was cute he shouldn't say something so stupid and insensitive and boyish afterwards—and life went on.

A few days later, Carter was sitting in the bus on the last day before Christmas break, listening to London ramble, until London asked him a question.

"What?" Carter asked.

"Ugh, you zoned out again?" London whined, annoyed. "Fine, I asked what your grade average and GPA was in high school."

"My GPA was a 4.0, and average was, uh..." Carter furrowed his eyebrows. "I think it was a ninety-six."

"What?" London nearly shouted. "How do you get a ninety-six average? I thought my average was pretty good, but I only just got to eighty and that was because my English mark was the highest in the class," he complained pitifully.

Carter shrugged. "I would have liked it more if I got a perfect score."

"Is that even possible?" London groaned, elbowing Carter in the ribs. "What are you doing in this university if you could probably get into Harvard with those numbers?"

"First of all, I could never afford Harvard. Second of all, I didn't want to live alone. Third of all, that hurt." Carter eyed London with a frown, rubbing his side.

"Whatever. You're barely five feet tall and you're smarter than me." London pouted.

"What does height have to do with any of this?" Carter replied, rolling his eyes. "Oh, and, by the way—I met someone and forgot to tell you. Her name is—"

"You never tell me anything," London whined, cutting Carter off. "Do you hate me?"

"Sorry, I forgot," Carter sighed exasperatedly. "Her name is Nia."

Carter could have sworn he saw London stiffen, but London smiled at him before he could question it any further. "When'd you meet her?"

"Oh, er... a few weeks ago?" Carter said cautiously, knowing London would freak out after discovering Carter had kept it hidden from him for a few whole weeks.

"You met her a few weeks ago and you didn't tell me?" London whined pathetically. "When do I get to meet her?"

Carter frowned, noticing that London had become a bit less loud and whiny after he'd mentioned it. "Soon, I guess."

On the short walk from the bus stop to the university, Carter wondered what he had said to make London... off.  

~~~

[a/n] oh man i didn't realise i wrote so much of this chapter on my phone while i was out blueberry picking lol i just added a few things ;;) this chapter was just a lil bit of carton being friends while i injECT AN UNPLANNED DOSE OF DRAMA (jk this isnt good im not sticking to my outline im screwed)

these new plot interjections may make the story a little bit longer :-) tiME TO GET BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD BEFORE I GO OFF ON A TANGENT AND FUCK UP THE PLOT