I don't know how long I had been seated on my bed, just staring blankly at the grey hoodie in my hand. My finger traced the smooth writing on the back, reminiscing the night we watched the stars in the stadium. It was more than obvious how much I missed Holden, knowing that he was only walking distance only encouraged the ache.

"You know, you could always just talk to him" Avery said, startling me. The soft hoodie slipped off my palm as I abruptly turned to face her, sudden heat crawling to my check. I remained silent, watching her fumble with her shoes as I contemplated my response.

"I -I don't think he would want to see me" I said lowly, picking at the dead skin on the side of my thumb. My chest dipped to my stomach as I absorbed my own words, a sour taste invading my mouth at the truth behind it.

"Why wouldn't he?" She asked while standing to her full height, her face pooling with Inquisition.

"We argued before I left," I forced down the boulder that had been lodged in my chest, clearing my throat to clear my voice.

"Its not my place to say this, but I saw how messed up he was when you were missing. He defiantly still cares."

That only meant he was human, that he was capable of other emotions apart from the blank facade he always masked his face with. Maybe he was being driven by guilt? He had no reason to. I took a deep breath, momentarily shutting my eyes as I pushed the matter to the furthest part of my head.

"I don't know..." I replied honestly.

Although she looked like she wanted to say more, her eyes dropped to the hoodie before acknowledging mine with sympathy. With a nod she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I folded the hoodie delicately, placing it at the top of the pile of clothes in my dresser. I had been folding up my clothes when I caught sight of the grey material, I couldn't even remember when I had pulled it out but I had. I resisted the urge to breath in his intoxicating scent that still lingered on the piece of clothing, I would only dig the hole in my heart deeper.

Groaning, I glared at the time displayed on my phone, roughly shoving my books into my less than tidy book bag. It had been four days since I settled back into school and quite frankly, I couldn't wait for the weekend. I was operating on unhealthy hours of sleep and an alarming amount of caffeine.

The only thing I was thankful for was that I was mostly preoccupied during the day, I had no time to wallow. Thankfully, the prodding eyes weren't as significant as I had thought. People didn't treat me like broken glass nor did they sympathise with me. I liked that. But it didn't mean there wasn't the exception that would stare at me during an entire class, as if waiting for me to break down.

It was midday Friday, meaning I had my only class in about thirty minutes. I leisurely walked out of the door, descended the steep satires on my way out of the dorm. I pushed the tip of my index finger on the bridge of my spectacles, pushing it further up my nose as I tried to avoid the blistering sun.

I went through the same repetitive routine, seating in the same chair I had on my first week as I listened to the monotonous voice of the professor. My head stiffly faced the white boarded during the whole class, completely ignoring any intrusive eyes or uncalled for whispering. Some of it was probably just in my head, a subconscious taunting.

I fluidly packed up my books once the class was dismissed, the screeching of metal against the tiled floor bringing great irritation to my ears. I followed the crowed of chattering student out of the room, sighing at the fresh air once they dispersed.

"Savannah!"

I cast my eyes around the hallway at the sound of my name, shrugging it off as my imagination when I only registered the usual bustling of students.

The distant calling of my name rang through the hall again, rattling the fear I had been concealing. Even though I knew Xander was behind bars, I couldn't help but suffocate in fear at the slightest unusual encounter.

A hand softly clamped on my shoulder, squeezing all the air out of my lungs as I jerked my body away from the hand. I struggled to get a hold of my breathing, this leading me to wheeze and it didn't help that my heart was hammering painfully against my chest.

"...are you okay?"

My heart gradually began to calm down at the lack of a clear threat, my eyes blinking multiple times to clear the haze. I dragged in long breath, exhaling before starring up at the familiar dust of freckles.

My eyebrows creased once I regained my vision, the blurred image of a concerned Dylan baffling me.

"Um...hi?" I murmured while composing myself, wiping the foggy lens of my glasses on the edge of shirt. He seemed momentarily stunned, clearing his throat before dropping his hand from my shoulder.

"Hi"

He said while a barely there blush tainting his cheeks. I awkwardly stared at my worn out converse as a looming silence ensued. I had only ever interacted with Dylan when he was behind the cafe's counter, outside here I had no idea what to say to him.

"I heard about what happened" he said slowly, in a calculated manner.

The walls I had built around me immediately came back up at the mention of the night. It sounded mean even in my head but at the time I wished I had walked a little faster, maybe I would have avoided this confrontation.

"I wanted to make sure you were fine" I was grateful for his concern but I really didn't have it in me to entertain this current topic.

"I'm fine" I said shortly, smiling to soften my words "I haven't being seeing you at the cafe" I tried desperately to change the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah, I had a family thing so I just got back" I bit back a relived sigh at his cooperation, nodding with the smile still in place.

"Oh"

"Its why I hadn't found out what happened sooner" he said, my relief flattering.

I was just about to politely excuse myself when someone roughly knocked into me. I quickly gained control of my footing, catching the off handed apology of a lanky guy probably rushing to a class.

"Watch where your going, dude!" Dylan shouted at the guy's back as he rounded a corner. He turned back towards me concert etched on his face as he gingerly rested his hand on my upper arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked for the second time today.

"Yeah I'm fine" I said while staring at the corner that the guy had disappeared behind.

"Maybe we should move to a quieter place" I noticed how his palm remained on me. It felt oddly intimate and for some reason I didn't like it and being the awkward person that I am, I stilled completely as I debated whether to push it away or not.

"Dylan..." I began, deciding to shrug him off.

"We'll just get coffee...as friends. I promise" he said, interrupting me while his pale green eyes flashed pleadingly. I nodded once, evoking a bright grin from him as he motioned towards the exit with his hand.

We had just taken a few steps when I caught sight of someone from the corner of my eye. The ferocity at which I jerked my head towards him gave me whiplash but I didn't address it. It was the first time I was seen Holden in weeks, he stood by a wall a little further from where I was standing.

He had on a plain black shirt and dark jeans, a baseball cap concealing his black hair. A thin frown had taken over his plump lips as his hard eyes glared at the back of Dylan's head. For as split second his eyes softened when they met my own but that was it, only a second. Holden turned, the swarm of students engulfing him.

"Come on" Dylan urged me to match his pace.

I couldn't shake off a nagging feeling at the back of my head, I felt like what I was doing was wrong. Like I was cheating on Holden, which was impossible. There had to be a relationship for someone to cheat, my heart just hadn't realized it yet.