"Jeremy!!" Christine was bounding toward him in the snow, cheeks and nose raw red from the cold. God, she was cute. She wrapped Jeremy up in a firm hug, almost spinning him around. "You're freezing! Hurry up, let's go inside."

Christine took him by the hand, her skin warm against his chilled fingers, and led him inside their favorite coffee shop. It wasn't a big place. It had some comfortable, but old, couches, the walls were heavily decorated with posters and abstract art. The coffee was decent. His favorite part, by far, was the open mic night they hosted twice a week. It was where Christine shined, able to show off her acting chops.

It made her happy, and that made him happy, too.

I didn't realize you were so easy to please, Jeremy.

-I didn't ask you.-

Oh, yeah. He'd forgotten the Squip had a front row seat on their dates now.

"Do you like my new coat?" Christine did a small twirl, coffee in hand, showing off the fluffy, fire engine red outfit she wore, hemmed with white tufts. Jeremy more than liked it.

"You look like Mrs. Claus, but you know... better."

"It's an early Christmas gift from nai nai."

"Tell her I think she has great taste."

Christine flopped down beside him on the sofa, sinking into the deflated cushions.

"Is Michael coming to open mic tonight?"

"You bet he is."

You didn't tell me you were performing anything tonight. We could have run lines.

It almost sounded like the Squip was teasing him. Augh.

-I'm warning you.-

Both he and Christine fell into a comfortable silence, his girlfriend flipping through a random magazine as she sipped her coffee.

"Hey, Christine."

"Yeah?" She glanced up.

"This is totally top secret, Michael would be pissed if he knew I told you. He wanted it to be a surprise..." Jeremy paused dramatically, smiling at Christine's expectant expression. "Michael is bringing a date tonight."

"No way! Who?"

"Remember that guy from Michael's Lit class?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Michael finally asked him out."

Christine pressed her hands to her cheeks, grinning.

"I'm so going to text him and congratulate him."

"Christine, no!"

"You can't drop something like that and expect me not to react." She was reaching for her phone, typing fast, and all Jeremy could do was reach over her and try to snatch the phone away. Christine shrieked with laughter, holding the phone up and over their heads, forcing Jeremy to practically climb on top of her. Then-

"Oh shit."

Jeremy had nudged Christine's drink by accident, causing it to spill all over her new coat. He jumped back in alarm and reached for the napkins sitting across from them.

"I'm so sorry! Did it burn you?"

Christine quickly put her phone aside and frantically mopped up the spill on her clothing.

"I wasn't that hot anymore."

Jeremy hovered over her helplessly, napkins crumpled in his fists.

"Okay..."

"I'll try and wash it off in the bathroom. I'll be right back." She stood up from the sofa and made a beeline for the women's restroom, leaving Jeremy alone with soiled napkins and spilled coffee on the floor. He leaned over to try and mop up the mess.

Smooth.

-Shut up.-

I didn't think human females could be attracted to such a clutz.

-It was an accident.-

She likely believes you don't actually like her clothing, considering how quickly you soiled it.

Jeremy grunted in irritation, dropping the wet napkins in the nearby trash can.

-Do you have a point to this? I don't need dating advice. She's already my girlfriend, and if she was upset, she'd tell me.-

The Squip said nothing as Jeremy returned to his seat with an audible sigh, slumping his shoulders.

You're correct. You have more than exceeded my expectations on your own with Christine. I'll refrain from further commentary on the subject.

-Thank you.-

Jeremy crossed his arms and scuffed the floor with his shoe.

-We have a lot of work to do.-

Oh?

The Squip took a seat in Christine's vacant spot.

-Your apology game is hella weak.-

The Squip stared at him, unimpressed.

I fail to see how.

-Okay. For, you know, starters. It's not a real apology if you insult someone at the same time.-

The Squip stroked its imaginary beard with one hand. The act seemed so unconscious and human that Jeremy was almost taken aback.

I can see the logic in that.

-Also, if you're trying to give advice, insults are not required. At all. Probably not ever.-

You consider statements of the obvious to be an insult?

Wow. This was going to be a lot harder than he'd originally thought. Jeremy didn't even know where to begin. Teaching was never his forte.

-Let's focus on positive reinforcement. I'm no psychologist or anything, but encouraging good behavior works a lot better than rubbing their nose in failure. Like with dogs.-

The Squip raised a brow.

You're comparing yourself to an animal, now?

-No! It was an example. You can access to internet, right? I'm sure there's a million videos on Youtube about it. Look it up.-

Before the Squip could respond it vanished abruptly as Christine took back her seat.

"I think I got most of it out."

"It's not going to stain, is it?" Christine shrugged her shoulders in response.

"It should be fine. It's not the worst. Did I tell you about the time I tried to make spaghetti for Jake while wearing a white dress? It was so bad."

The Squip, thankfully, stayed quiet the remainder of the date, and he'd eaten two croissants before Christine began to stand up to leave.

"Hey, wait." Jeremy stood up after her, reaching for her hand. "Did you sign up for classes next semester, yet? I wanted to try and get more classes together. We only have one this year." He hoped he didn't sound too clingy, but between homework, Michael, and Christine's theater group, they didn't get to see much of each other.

"Actually," Christine responded, voice dropping a little. Her entire demeanor seemed to shift, smile replaced with a small, unsure frown. She glanced at him, then the floor, swinging their hands side to side. "I wanted to talk to you about that. I..." She paused, then smiled again, giving his hand a squeeze. "I can't talk about it now, but later tonight, maybe. I have to catch my next class."

"Okay."

Christine leaned in, kissing him quickly--he blushed every time, and he wasn't even a virgin anymore, so it was ridiculous!--then pulled her hand away.

"I'll see you at seven!" She was out the door before Jeremy could even respond. He waved half-heartedly after her, feeling a vague sense of discomfort creeping through his stomach.

What the heck had that been about?

I hope you're not asking me.

-No. Definitely not.-

Weirdness at the end of their date aside, the evening was going well. The little coffee shop was packed, the lights were dim, and Jeremy had his arm around Christine's shoulders while they sat. Michael had introduced everyone to his date, Kevin, and Christine pretended this was a complete surprise.

Too bad Jeremy was having a hard time concentrating on, well, anything.

His first semester of college was spiralling to a close at a dizzying speed. He had two weeks to study for four exams, and then a blissful, two week vacation back home with his dad. In his own bed. And as much as he loved Michael he was desperately missing the privacy of his own room. Michael had caught him mastubating once and Jeremy, absolutely mortified, seriously considered becoming celibate the rest of his life.

Christine solemnly disagreed with that arrangement.

Shit, was the Squip going to disagree with his habit?

No, Jeremy. I won't be interfering with your sex life, or lack thereof, this time.

The Squip, obnoxiously, had placed itself on top of their table, lounging away like it wasn't blocking Jeremy's view.

-I was starting to think you had a problem with it.-

The Squip shrugged, idly turning its head to look at whoever had currenlt wandered on stage.

Whether or not you masturbate doesn't have any bearing on our current arrangement. Wank away.

Jeremy flushed, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, and looked down at his phone.

If you aren't going to pay attention to anyone around you, then perhaps we could use this time to study.

If there was one thing Jeremy had learned about the Squip, it was very, very impatient. And pushy. He'd asked for tutoring, but hadn't actually used it much, and the Squip wasted no time interjecting its services whenever he didn't seem overly occupied. And every time he said no, he could feel a weird little kick in his brain, a tiny zap, like the Squip was genuinely frustrated.

So much for being a chill pill.

"Yeah. Fine. I'm barely passing physics." Oh. Oh shit. He'd just spoken out loud.

"Did you say something?" Christine looked over at him, while the Squip rolled its eyes. Jeremy cleared his throat.

"No, nothing. Sorry."

That's becoming a bad habit, Jeremy.

Well, it wasn't wrong. That was the fifth time this week he'd accidentally spoken to the Squip aloud, and one of those times had been in the dorm with Michael.

Michael...

He still didn't know, and it was weighing on him like a rock. Christine probably needed to know, too, but he had no idea where to even start. How to start.

Jeremy.

Jeremy snapped his attention back to the Squip, who had materialized floating blue flashcards in front of his face. He frowned and waved them away, causing the Squip to sigh. There it was. The weird little kicking sensation. Was he feeling what the Squip was feeling?

Tell him.

-Tell him what?-

About me. Tell him.

-Why do you care?-

You're very clearly distressed about the situation. You're distracted. It's distracting you from your classes. And we can't have that, can we?

The Squip was leaning in uncomfortably close.

-I know. You're right. I will.-

The Squip leaned back, seeming pleased with itself.

Good boy.

'Good boy'? What the heck was that about?

"Jeremy! Earth to Jeremy!" He felt a hand roughly slap his back. Michael was grinning at him and pointing to the stage. "Christine is up."

She was performing a bit from Chicago, something she'd been nervous about for weeks. Apparently, despite her love of theatre, she had some trepidation about singing in front of a crowd. For the life of him, Jeremy couldn't understand why. She was so talented, so much more talented than he could ever hope to be, and her singing voice was great. The first time he'd seen Christine perform in high school he couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks.

"Give it up for Christine Canigula!" the MC shouted into the microphone, and the tiny coffee shop filled with applause as she made her way off the stage.

"That was great!"

"Thanks." Christine was smiling, but she didn't look as thrilled as Jeremy would have expected her to be. "Jeremy, can I... Can I speak to you outside for a minute?"

"So."

Christine had taken them outside, to a quiet place in the gravel parking lot.

"Sooo..." Christine seemed uncertain, shuffling from foot to foot. "This is going to sound super last minute, and I wanted to tell you earlier, but I wasn't sure about the details, and I didn't want to ruin the date, but I also didn't want to keep putting it off. So I'm telling you now."

Jeremy could only nod.

"I got accepted into California Institute of the Arts."

"Thats— That's great!" Jeremy grabbed her by the shoulders, grinning, and Christine smiled back, less enthusiastically. "And it's... It's on the other side of the country." He dropped his hands.

"Yeah." Christine kicked at some loose gravel. "Please don't be mad."

"Mad? I'm happy for you. That's your dream school."

"I'm starting next semester."

"Oh." Oh. That's all he could say.

"And... I know we had plans to hang out over winter break, but my parents and I are going to Los Angeles instead, to find living arrangements and maybe apply for some jobs. I wasn't going to, but it all happened so fast and I'm really excited."

Jeremy's mouth had gone bone dry.

"So are we... breaking up?"

"Well..." Christine fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. "I don't hate the idea of long distance, you know? We can still talk. And Skype. But I wouldn't have time to see you again until summer. So, I don't know."

"Sure." Talk about conflicting emotions. He wanted Christine to be appy, but this really super sucked. "It could work." It felt like a lie. Since when did long distance college relationships ever work out?

"We don't have to decide anything right now. We still have two weeks to figure it out." She grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "That's all I wanted to tell you."

For once, Jeremy wanted the Squip to say something. Anything. To tell him what to do to remedy this situation. But it stayed utterly silent.

"Let's go back inside before Michael and Kevin worry."

They had two weeks to figure it out. Everything would be fine.