PARENTS WERE SOME OF THE MOST EXHAUSTING PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. A full day after seeing hers, Jen was still worn out from the interaction, but she was set on not dedicating the second half of her weekend to sulking. The weather was pleasant enough for late March, cloudy but on the warmer side, so she decided to get out of the apartment and go ride her bike until her legs started hurting too much and it stopped being fun.

All of her athletic clothes were old and embarrassingly ugly, but since she intended for this outing to be more for leisure than exercise, she decided that she could get away with just throwing on a casual outfit. After hunting through her pile of clean laundry for something cute but relatively practical, she pulled on a pair of plain tights under a short, pleated skirt that wouldn't constrict her legs too much. One of her favorite sweaters, an olive color, also happened to be one of her most lightweight ones, so she tugged it on over her head and tossed her hair back into a scrunchie that she'd once borrowed from Celie and then never given back. She gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror and, deciding that this was sufficient, grabbed her purse and headed outside.

Chicago didn't exactly have a reputation for being the safest city, so although she always made sure to properly lock her bike to the rack out front, Jen was a little bit surprised each time she walked out the door to see that it hadn't been stolen yet. Its pumpkin hue made it inevitably stand out against the other bikes it was clustered with, but she could never bring herself to repaint it—the color was one of her favorites, reminding her of fallen leaves or a cozy fire or the froth on top of an espresso.

Her head was bent down as she unchained her bicycle, and even when she noticed the quiet clicking sound of another one's wheels nearby, she simply assumed it was someone passing by behind her on the sidewalk or one of her neighbors coming to fasten theirs to the rack. A quick jolt of surprise sparked through her veins when she happened to glance up and saw that it was none other than Robert stopping at the curb.

Jen's eyebrows lifted as she watched him get off his bike and stroll over to her like this was a regular occurrence. His hair, sticking in all sorts of wrong directions, looked like it had gotten into a fight with the wind. 

"To what do I owe the pleasure on a Sunday afternoon?" she asked.

He procured a small envelope that she hadn't even noticed sticking out of his shirt pocket, twirling it between his fingers. "I started reading Madame Bovary again and I was trying to jot down some quotes I thought you might like, but I filled up my first sheet of paper rather quickly. I thought I ought to go ahead and give it to you."

Her heart expanded in an unfamiliar way as she thought about him tucked away with his book, diligently copying down word-for-word the excerpts he thought might most resonate with her. In some ways, the gesture felt more intimate than a touch, but she tried not to appear too affected by it.

"And this is so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" she teased instead.

"I'm sure it could wait. I just didn't think it had to."

She tucked the envelope into her tiny purse, which she was now glad she'd brought with her instead of just her keys. "I, for one, just think you're coming up with excuses to see me."

Jen glanced back up from her handbag, and for a brief moment, she worried that she was being a little too familiar with him, a little too bold. But then the corner of his mouth quirked up into a little grin. And he didn't correct her.

"To my credit," he offered smoothly. "I wasn't planning on actually disturbing you—I just meant to leave it in the mailbox. I couldn't predict that you would already be outside when I showed up."

Against her desires, Jen didn't invite him inside. It wasn't wise to push the limits of their self-restraint that much, not when they'd gotten so good at being friends again.

But she didn't want him to leave, either.

"Well," she offered slowly, a little hesitantly but hopefully. "It would be a shame for you to run off as soon as you got here. Wanna join me? I wasn't going anywhere in particular."

Behind the polite smile he was giving her, she could see his head and his heart playing a silent game of strategy, deliberating if accompanying her was a good move. She wondered if this was how it would have to be every time they saw each other until her time at St. Catherine's was up – locked into an intricate dance of danger, trying to avoid missteps, wanting to hold one another close and at an arm's length at the same time. 

He finally opened his mouth to speak. "I hear Delaney's on Mayberry St. has good coffee."

At this, Jen smiled. "Lead the way."

Trying to follow someone on a bike was difficult, but not nearly as difficult as the alternative – trying to stay beside someone on a bike in a city as crowded as Chicago. So Jen followed him as closely as she could, shouting at him not to run into cars or pedestrians each time he shot a glance over his shoulder to make sure that she was still there (but nearly wrecking them both in the process).

They received a few dirty glares from passersby, but she didn't care—she was just relieved that they both made it to Mayberry Street with all of their limbs still attached. For one nice, fleeting moment, she felt victorious, but the feeling rapidly deflated as they approached the storefront of Delaney's Café.

The lights were out, the door was locked, and according to the sign, they were closed on Sundays.

She'd nearly become roadkill for nothing. "I feel betrayed."

Robert shot her a sideways look. "By me or them?"

"Maybe both."

The corners of her lips curved downward into a crescent as she peered around to see what else interesting there might be in the immediate vicinity. Although it hadn't taken them an unreasonable amount of time to get here from her apartment, she wasn't very familiar with this little corner of town.

Then, as if fate wanted to make it abundantly clear that it wasn't done turning their plans sideways, she felt the tiny plop of a raindrop atop her head.

That's just rude, she thought. "And now I feel betrayed by God."

Robert laughed, but her insides were twisting with nervousness. She obviously didn't have an umbrella on hand, so if it started raining any harder, this was very quickly going to turn into a very legitimate problem.

He, too, had been scanning their surroundings like she was, and she watched him brighten as an invisible lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. "I know just the place."

Jen didn't contradict him – it wasn't like she had any suggestions – but she grew increasingly wary as he led her away from buildings rather than towards them, to a tiny park across the street that was understandably empty at the moment. The feeling doubled over as he chained his bike up like he was planning on staying here longer than a minute or two.

"What are you doing?"

The rain was making itself known; its intermittent pattering gradually elevated to a steady drizzle. She silently admonished herself for choosing to do something outside this afternoon even after noticing that it was cloudy.

"Trust me."

But his grin was about as reassuring as the thick layer of dark clouds overhead, which was to say not at all.

Jen instinctively wrapped her arms around herself as if it would protect her from the elements at all. Her sweater already felt disconcertingly soggy beneath her fingertips. "Robert, we can't just stay out here-"

Her gaze drifted over his shoulder to what she hadn't noticed before. In the near distance, at the other edge of this city block-sized park, she spotted one of those in-ground jet fountains that you could run through.

And he had definitely been eyeing it a minute ago.

"Oh, no," she started as firmly as she could. "No, no, no. You are not-"

He spread his hands wide. "What have we got to lose? We're already wet." Jen was shaking her head vehemently. "It'll be fun-"

"It'll be freezing," she corrected him.

"No it won't," he assured her with an almost concerning amount of confidence. She hated how easy he was to believe, how promises could slip off his lips like honey and she wouldn't question them. It was going to get her in trouble one day.

Or right now.

Just the sight of him walking over to the nearest water spout and stepping back into it, instantly getting drenched, was enough to nearly make her shiver. Her fingers bunched into the damp fabric of her sweater a little tighter as Robert shook his hair out like a wet dog, looking astoundingly unbothered.

"See?" he called to her, his voice catching in the wind. "Totally fine!"

"No..." she was still whimpering, but she herself was almost as wet as he was now just from standing out in the open. The tops of the skyscrapers were engulfed by low-hanging clouds, the sky the color of smoke. All there was to break through the bleakness was the brightness of his grin as he ran back over to her and took both of her hands in his, sparking her body alight and sending an electrifying sensation through her veins.

He pulled her towards the fountain, towards him, but then stopped when there was only a mere foot or so of space between them. Step back, her conscience told her, but as usual, she disobeyed.

Some of the mischief had left his expression. "I won't actually make you."

Once more, she smiled at him. "Thank you," she said.

And placed her hands on his chest to shove him backward with all her might, sending him stumbling back into the jet of water.

Jen couldn't help herself—she burst into a fit of giggles as he spluttered and nearly fell on his butt. He caught himself at the very last second but appeared to have gotten water up his nose.

"That's cheating," he coughed.

"I wasn't aware that we were playing a game."

Now, his smile didn't quite meet his eyes. "Aren't we always?"

Jen pressed her lips together, momentarily silent. It did feel like the past two months had been a game between them, always awaiting the other's move with anxious anticipation.

"Your move, then," she said.

He didn't hesitate to pull her into the fountain with him this time and she got thoroughly soaked, but the water actually wasn't any colder than what was falling from the sky and she was laughing now as he kept hold of her hands and spun her around.

When she eventually pulled him aside to blink water out of her eyes, his hair was adorably plastered to his forehead. Despite herself, Jen reached up to brush one of the curls out of his eyes. Heat pooled in her stomach as her skin came in contact with his, soft and warm despite being drenched. He was watching her; tiny droplets hung like crystals on his lashes.

"Jen," he managed as she lowered her hand, but the sound was a sort of strangled sigh. "I didn't think this would be as hard as it is. I promise I will try to keep some distance between us for as long as you want me to, but it's not what I want."

A stutter in her breathing. She lifted her pale eyes to his dark ones. "What do you want?" she allowed herself to softly ask.

"You already know that."

She did, she supposed, but she wanted to hear it. She craved it, so she didn't break his gaze. "I'm going to need you to be more specific."

Jen watched as he swallowed down a nervous breath, then raised his eyebrows as if to say, You really want me to do this?

"Well," she said, her voice hitching a bit. "I'm waiting."

That was apparently as much nudging as he needed to shatter the invisible barrier between them—he caught her around the waist and bent to kiss her, his mouth soft yet wanting against hers as she stood on tiptoe to meet him. But this wasn't like the first time, where she was so surprised by what was happening that it took her a few seconds to respond. No, she had been anticipating him now, and her body knew how to react to him more than she ever realized it would. Her fingers slid into and gripped at his wet hair without her consciously thinking about it; all she could really think about were his kisses, hot and increasingly fervent as it gradually dawned on him with each passing second that she had not told him to stop yet.

And when she finally did pull back with him, it was only because she needed to catch her breath. His eyes were dark and wide, his cheeks flushed with scarlet. She imagined that she looked very much the same way, and also that this was the moment where he was expecting to be lectured.

Her breathing was still ragged, and yet she wanted nothing more than to resume where they had just left off. She was tired of trying not to want it, but...

"Are you not scared of this?"

Jen's voice was quiet. Her arms were still wound around the back of his neck, and she wasn't sure whether to tighten them or let go of him.

He was looking at her in a way that she couldn't quite associate with any singular feeling or sensation, but that made her not want him to ever stop looking at her. "No, I'm not."

She blinked more water away. "How?"

He lifted a careful hand to her cheek, his fingertips touching her skin as if she were made of porcelain. "Because," he murmured. "I decided I want this more than I want anything else."

Her teeth played with the inside of her lip. She simultaneously wanted to kiss him and smack him. "You're crazy–"

He couldn't want to risk so much for her. There was still so much they didn't know about each other, still so much left to learn. And yet...

Jen swallowed, making her choice. "But I could afford to have a little bit of crazy. My friends think I need to get a life."

He laughed at that, and the sound of it was wonderful to her, and she nearly laughed, too. But there was still a nervousness bunched up in her chest. "Teach me how not to be so scared of this," she whispered, winding her fingers together a little more tightly.

Raising an eyebrow, he teased, "It's been said that I'm a pretty good teacher."

That got a real, whole, happy laugh out of her. She shook her head. "Dear God, that was the worst line ever-"

"I'm sorry–"

"No apologies," she shushed him. "Just stop talking."

He didn't protest when she silenced his lips with her own.

____________________

A/N:

*throws confetti*

I hope you enjoyed this chapter – I had a lot of fun writing it! Don't forget to vote and comment if you liked it :)

Also, in case anyone was curious, this book is going to have 30 chapters, so we're two-thirds of the way through now!