Golden Rain [COMPLETE]

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She turned, leaving the door open for me and walked into her room. After maneuvering Abigail's carrier through, I paused to take in the space. On the left wall was a short sofa, with lots of pillows, and bright windows to fill the place with natural light. On the far wall was a raised bed with storage underneath and posters and sticky notes stuck up on the wall. To my right was a small desk and swivel chair and a half-sized dresser. But what really caught my eye was that there wasn't a single inch of the room not covered in some sort of study material; books, notebooks, binders, papers, pens and pencils, more sticky notes. It was like an office supply store had puked up its entire inventory into a fifteen by twenty foot space.

"As you can tell I've been studying most of the day. And a lot last night. And a lot yesterday." She cracked a smile, though her eyes weren't as bright as normal, touched with exhaustion. "It's what a nursing student does, I guess."

"Wow. I'm impressed. I think you're doing enough studying for the both of us."

"Nice try, but you agreed to come over so you are now officially drawn into the hectic learning madness." She stepped around a few papers and books, brushing past me to close the door. I caught a whiff of her shampoo, which smelled fruity and fragrant, and I had to keep myself from inhaling deeper. That would be weird despite how amazing she smelled.

She helped me get settled, clearing off the couch so we could both be comfortable to study. I'd brought Abigail's travel crib, knowing I might be here for a while, and set that up next to the sofa so she could nap more soundly. Once that was completed, I reluctantly turned toward the books and papers shoved into my bag and pulled them out, prepared to try and study as diligently as Sav was. Emphasis on the try.

I was mostly past the hard stuff in my microbiology class but the makeup work was still boundless. I was still trying to graduate in the spring so I needed to recover the month I'd lost. It was a little disorienting working on old stuff and new stuff at the same time, but I slowly adapted and made it work.

I'd also forgotten about Sav's almost-but-not-quite ADHD problem. But sitting on the same couch as her while we were studying, I could feel and see out of the corner of my eye every movement. Biting her pen. Crossing and uncrossing her legs. Snapping. Shifting her seating. Flicking the corners of her papers. And she didn't even realize she was doing it. I didn't really mind, though. If I was being honest, a lot of it was cute.

Oh, and yep. That thing I'd kind of might have admitted to myself? About maybe liking her but not knowing if that was okay? That was definitely magnified when I was sitting right next to her. With every movement, I caught myself trying not to let my look linger on her. I tried to ignore the way my heart jumped when she'd accidentally brush my knee—since the couch wasn't very big. And I tried to resist the urge to sniff the air for the amazing smell that lingered in her hair.

Though I'd told Rico I'd figure it all out later, I'd figured it out then, sitting there and trying my best to focus as perfectly as Sav was. I hadn't even realized how far gone I was. I wasn't sure when she'd snuck her way into my every waking thought, but she was there, in every single one. I wasn't sure how my heart could feel something like this after everything I'd been through, but I was feeling it. And somehow, staring at a diagram of a virus had made me finally accept it. How that worked, I wasn't sure. But I couldn't deny it. Not anymore.

So, considering all the things running through my mind, over an hour later, I'd only gotten one assignment done. I was on the verge of dozing off, honestly.

"I need a break," I groaned, snapping my computer shut.

Sav looked over at me, biting the end of her pen. "Sure. Want a snack?" She let her book close and slid it onto the cushions before heading to a mini fridge in the corner of her room that I hadn't noticed earlier.