| October 6 | Very Early Friday Morning |

I groaned as I pulled myself out of my car and trudged towards the front door of my apartment. The stickiness of spilled alcohol made my shirt cling to me. My feet ached and my head throbbed. Tonight had been a long one.

Our second ladies night had been a success but I was beyond exhausted and ready to call it a night. And luckily for me, I was off this weekend since Danna believed Jas could hold her own. Hopefully I wouldn't be called unless there was an emergency.

I shoved my key into the door and let myself in but the sight of Megan at the counter shocked me awake.

"Jesus what are you still doing up?!" I whispered as I clutched my chest.

"Dying," she deadpanned before sipping her energy drink.

I set my keys down. "Homework?"

"Finishing up my presentation."

I cringed for her.

"And I have a midterm paper due tomorrow that I've barely started."

"Bad week?"

"It's like all my professors got together and agreed to make my life hell." She rubbed her temples. "How was work?"

"Work was work." I stepped closer to her. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Unless you know a lot about the roles of women during World War One and how it shaped societal roles of today... I don't think so."

I sat in the chair next to her. "Okay you're gonna have to dumb it down a bit for me."

Finally, she laughed. "Go shower. I'm almost done."

"But what about your paper?" I asked.

"It's not due until midnight Friday," she confessed.

"Technically it's already Friday."

She shoved me. "Go shower."

I groaned. "You're always so grumpy when you're tired."

I made my way to the bathroom and stripped out of my work clothes. Maybe I could help Megan with her paper. Do a little research... Oh who was I kidding? I could barely get out of high school much less help with a graduate level research paper.

I showered and dressed for bed, exiting the bathroom only to see Megan curled up waiting for me. I joined her under the sheets.

"Finished the presentation?" I wondered.

"Yep." She sighed. "And I'm exhausted."

"You're not all jacked up from that Redbull?" I joked.

"My brain literally hurts."

I let my hands roam under the covers. "I can take your mind off of it."

When my hands touched her stomach she inched closer, but I could tell it wasn't going to happen.

"Sam..."

"I know," I said through the dark. "You're tired."

"It's not that I don't want you."

I moved closer. "Oh trust me, I know."

She released a giggle.

My hands glided over her hips. "But I'm also off till Tuesday..."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll rain all weekend," she whispered.

"That sounds fantastic."

"Does it?" she teased.

I captured her lips with mine and kissed her goodnight for a few minutes, then she turned over and I pulled her body into me.

Don't get me wrong. I knew Megan was stressed out and all, but lately with our schedules we hadn't had much time to do things couples do, and it was bumming me out. I knew this is what she wanted and I was more than willing to stick it out with her, but sometimes I just wanted to help. Yet, with my high school level knowledge and amateur research skills, I wasn't sure if I could do anything.

Then again, my best friend would probably be able to.

* * *

"Sam if you don't stop calling me before noon-"

"I need your help."

She paused. "What did you break now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing. I need your help writing a research paper and I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Research paper? What, Danna's testing you on the history of alcoholism in America?"

"No uh..." I scanned over the guideline worksheet for Megan's paper. "The history of World War One and how it shaped societal roles for women today."

"Why the hell are you doing Megan's homework?"

"Because I'm trying to help her?"

"No, you're trying to fail her."

"Blair."

She groaned. "Fine. I'll help. Only because I understand her pain. Not because I like you or anything."

"You love me."

"Every day is a struggle."

"Do we like, go to the library or something?" I wondered.

She paused. "Yeah I think that's a good idea."

"Great. I'll pick you up."

"See you in a few."

Then she hung up as I grabbed my keys. I paused at the door before leaving.

If I was going to college I might as well look the part.

I dug around on Megan's side of the closet and pulled out a Mizzou T-shirt and slipped it on. Then I dug out my old high school book bag that probably had nothing but a pen and notebook in it.

When I arrived at Blair's I knocked to signal I was here. She opened the door with a frown.

"Why are you wearing Megan's clothes?" she asked. "Did you bump your head and suddenly develop the urge to enroll now?"

"God no," I answered. "Just figured I'd look the part."

She closed the door and followed me to my car. "Look the part, huh?"

In about five minutes we were approaching the university and I prepared to fight for a parking spot.

"It's usually just easier to ride my bike to school," Blair informed.

"You ride a bike?"

"Well yeah?" Then she sighed. "Tell me again why I'm helping you do this?"

"Because you're a good person."

"Right," she said. "My good deed for the year."

Even though Megan and Blair had been attending Mizzou for over a year, this was my first time going to the library. I had walked parts of the campus with Megan before, but this was new.

Once I parked we started walking towards our destination.

Something I liked was that there were a lot of people that looked just like me. Mizzou T-shirts and book bags. No one even seemed to notice me, much less care that I was here. College didn't seem so bad from the outside.

We walked through the doors of the library and Blair looked at me. "Wanna grab some coffee? There's a small shop all the way in the back."

"There's a coffee shop in the building?" I asked in awe.

"Well yeah? This place is filled with anxiety-filled students all doing the same thing we're doing," she informed. "It's pure profit for them."

I laughed. "Is college really that bad?"

"It's the worst."

"Really? Then why go through it?"

She sighed. "Because it has its pros too."

"Like?"

We stood in line at the coffee shop. "Like jobs. It gives you a leg up. You meet a lot of nice people and you learn how to adult. It's just the money part that's total bull shit."

I nudged her. "Lucky you got a free ride."

"More than lucky," she answered. "But I also busted my ass through high school. It took a lot of work."

We ordered coffee and Blair led me to the second floor, which was super quiet compared to the first.

"Why are we up here?" I wondered.

"You have some cash?"

At this I made a face. "Like, fifty dollars?"

"Damn," she said. "I'm kinda jealous I can't bartend yet."

"Why do we need money?"

We rounded the corner and Blair brought me to a secluded area of the floor. Wooden stalls lined the wall and she walked up to the third one and knocked twice.

"What do you need?" the voice behind the stall spoke.

"Research paper," Blair answered.

"You have what I need?"

Blair looked at me. "Give me the assignment and the money."

I pulled out the criteria for the paper and the fifty dollars. "What the hell Blair-?"

"Be quiet," she demanded.

She slipped the stuff under the door. Then we waited for an answer.

"I'll have it done in a few hours," the voice stated. "Bring me a Venti caramel latte and a flash drive when you come back."

Blair smiled. "Sure thing."

Then she grabbed my arm and led me away from the faceless voice.

"What the hell was that?" I questioned.

"Me helping Megan," Blair stated.

"Yeah but that person-"

"Is a graduate student making big bucks helping us little guys out."

"So like... this is normal?"

Blair laughed. "Very. And she's the best from what I've heard. Hell, she helped me pass my literature class."

"When you have a gift, use it I guess," I joked.

Blair looked at me. "Wanna get some breakfast? We have a few hours to kill."

"Sure," I complied. "But I was prepared to work on a paper."

She shoved me. "Like hell you were. You were gonna make me do it."

"You're right."

We walked down the street and into a café that seemed to be deserted.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Class," she answered. "It'll be really busy around lunch."

We ordered some food and sipped on our coffees before Blair decided to ask the real questions.

"So what's been up with you and Megan?" she inquired.

I shrugged. "Not much. School and work have been our lives lately."

She narrowed her eyes. "You haven't been laid in a while, huh?"

I scoffed. "What? No."

She just gave me a look.

"Stop looking at me like that."

She didn't stop.

"Fine. You're right," I broke. "But that's not what's wrong."

"Liar."

I rolled my eyes.

"That's why you're doing this," she beamed.

"No it's not," I defended.

"Yes, it is."

"Okay maybe it's one of the reasons," I confessed. "But it's also because I just want to help her."

Blair gave a small smile. "Helping a graduate student is near impossible."

"But she does it for me."

"It's different."

I sighed. "I just feel useless."

"You're not useless." She sipped her coffee. "And Megan doesn't blame you for not being able to help her. Jesus, you pay the bills for crying out loud. That's more than enough."

I knew she had a point but somewhere deep down there was still a feeling of helplessness. Megan was at a point in her life where her education was her life, and it was stressful. I didn't want her thinking she was better off without me on her shoulder.

"What are you thinking?" Blair wondered.

"You think Megan gets annoyed with me?"

"What? She-"

"I'm serious," I said. "I mean, she goes to school and then work and comes home to do more work and by that time I'm usually at Jinx-"

"Sam," she cut me off. "Get out of your head."

I took a deep breath.

"She's at a point in her life when she needs you the most," she advised. "College is stressful. And you're probably the one thing that doesn't stress her out. More or less."

"I know I stress her out," I claimed. "Especially with the Jas thing."

"Oh please." She laughed. "Megan's built a bridge when it comes to Jas. Trust me, she's not worried about that."

I stared at my coffee cup.

Blair leaned forward. "Megan needs you to be her support system. And in my opinion, you're doing a great job."

"That's the nicest thing you've said to me in a while," I joked.

"Yeah well, sometimes you need it."

I nudged her playfully under the table before our waitress brought our food.

"So you think you can give me a tour of the campus before we go?" I wondered.

"Sure," Blair complied. "Maybe I can convince you to take a class or two."

I just laughed. "Yeah right."

* * *

After breakfast and a quick tour Blair and I went back upstairs to exchange the requested goods for the research paper. If I was being completely honest, I was nervous. Nervous because I didn't know what to expect when I showed Megan, or how she would react. What if she read the paper and realized it was all useless?

When I had the flash drive in my possession my first instinct was to run it over to her, but I figured I'd read a little bit of the paper first. Just in case.

Blair led me to the computers and I plugged it in.

"I'm telling you this girl's legit, Sam. She wouldn't play you," Blair defended.

"I'm just reading a little bit," I claimed.

And read a little bit I did, only to realize this was probably the best paper I've ever laid eyes on. It flowed so well, and she even included in-text citations and everything. All for fifty bucks and a latte?!

"Wow," I whispered.

"Told you," Blair teased.

"Think Megan would believe me if I said I wrote this?"

"Not in a million years."

I rolled my eyes. "You're right."

Blair nudged me. "And you're welcome, by the way."

"Yeah thanks," I finished. "There's no way she's not gonna like this."

"Well why don't we bring it to her and find out?" Blair suggested.

I checked my phone and realized she should be heading over to the resource center for work.

"Yeah let's go."

We made our way through campus and I felt giddy with excitement. I might not have been able to help her write the paper, but I could always count on Blair to find a way around my weaknesses.

I saw Megan chatting with someone over the help desk as I approached. Of course, she still looked stressed, but hopefully my surprise would help.

I walked up behind her. "Hey babe."

She turned with a smile on her face. "Sam what are you doing here?"

I smirked. "I have a surprise for you."

"Hopefully it's to tell me you are soon going to be a millionaire, which will allow me to drop out of school."

I gripped the flash drive with a smile. "No... but it's still something you're gonna like."

"Okay what is it?" she beamed.

I held up the flash drive for her to see. "Your research paper."

She furrowed her brow. "My what?"

"You know, that paper you had to do on the war or whatever." I placed the drive in her hand. "Just in time to turn it in early for extra points."

She studied me and Blair. "Are you two serious?"

"As a heart attack," Blair claimed. "Sam said you were totally stressing so we decided to help you out."

Megan snapped out of her trance and plugged the drive into a computer for inspection. When she began to read the paper the look on her face was priceless.

"Okay I know you two didn't write this," she stated while staring at the computer.

"Don't believe in our ability?" I teased.

Megan just gave me a "really" look.

"Okay we didn't write it," Blair fessed up. "But it's good right?"

"It is." Megan looked at me. "So who did write it?"

I sat in the chair next to her. "There's this chick upstairs at the library that writes other people's papers for like, fifty bucks and a coffee. She did that in two hours!"

"Jeez Sam, be quiet," Blair ordered.

I went silent and scolded myself for letting my excitement get the best of me.

"I seriously can't thank you two enough," Megan said.

That's when the phone rang, pulling us all out of our moment.

"You have to get to work?" I asked.

She sighed. "Yeah..." Then her hand landed on my knee. "But I'll be home in a few hours."

I felt the heat rush to my face. "Then I guess I have something to look forward to."

She leaned in and kissed me before pulled away. "I'm so glad I have you."

I glowed. "Well... back at you."

Blair grabbed my arm. "Okay you two. You can finish this at home."

We parted from Megan and I couldn't stop smiling from how good I felt. She had been so grateful, and it took nothing more than fifty dollars and some effort.

And maybe I was doing this relationship thing better than I thought.

* * *

A few hours later I heard Megan's key in the door, signaling she was home. My heart jumped with excitement.

I met her in the hall. "How was work?"

She sauntered up to me and threw her arms over my shoulders. "It was great because I didn't have to stress over my paper."

"That must've felt nice," I teased.

"Oh it did." She brought her lips to mine. "But you know you didn't have to do that."

"I know," I answered. "I wanted to."

She gave me a warm smile.

"You gotta let me know what you make on that paper though," I stated.

"Of course," she agreed. "I'm expecting no less than a B."

"So what are the plans tonight?" I wondered.

She sighed. "I was thinking about doing absolutely nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Just spending the whole weekend at home, with you."

"This is actually the first weekend I've had off in a while."

Her face inched closer. "I know. I'm excited for you."

I couldn't help but bring my lips to hers, knowing this weekend was probably much needed for our relationship. And I was more than happy to spend it all relaxing with my girlfriend. Being with her never got boring.

"How does pizza, beer and binge watching Netflix sound for tonight?" I asked.

She smiled. "Like heaven."

I kissed her once more before turning on our TV and grabbing two beers. When I returned to the living room she just stared at me.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I joked.

"I just love you a lot," she answered.

I sat on the couch and signaled her over. She sat in between my arm and body and made herself comfortable.

"I love you more," I countered.

"Not possible."

"Is too."

"Nope."

I smirked. "Fine. We'll agree to disagree."

Then I pressed play on the show, knowing today had restored some of the confidence I had lost over the past few months.

Helping Megan wasn't necessary, and I knew that, especially with her schooling. But I had to remember she never expected me to help. It was always a choice. And as long as I still felt the want to help her, then I knew our relationship was on the right path.