𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀𝐯𝐢. what's the story?

"It was..." Rome started, his voice was shaking so much that he needed to take a deep breath before he could even continue. "It was a Chinese Grassbird," he muttered like it could explain all the stupid things he ever did in his life.

Pick sighed, shaking his head. "Just hold onto me."

Rome didn't need to be told twice, his fingers were already squeezed on Pick's shoulder so hard that they would probably leave bruises on the boy's skin. Pick took Rome back to the river bank where Emma was already waiting with a lecture that lasted three hours.

Keeping distance be damned, Rome just wanted to feel safe so he didn't let go of Pick's arm unless necessary for the rest of the day.

Well, Pick didn't seem to mind that much.

— ii —

"So what's the story?" Pick asked, looking towards Rome who was playing some stupid game on his phone. They were driving back at night and most of the students were already fast asleep; this time Rome wasn't even mad that he had to sit with Pick again after Porsche took the place next to Emma with an excuse that they have to discuss some things about the project. Rome probably expected that and he was good at adapting to whatever Emma wanted.

"Story?" Rome hummed with a frown, eyes not leaving the screen. Pick put another Pocky stick in his mouth and sighed loudly when Rome just moved his head closer, letting Pick know he wanted to eat, too. As if he couldn't use his hands. Or buy his pack, for that matter, those were the strawberry flavored ones, Pick's favorites and he had to share? After two seconds of considering it, he slowly moved one stick closer to Rome's lips, letting the shorty bite it.

"Yeah, your story with water. You're not just scared because you can't swim, there's something more," Pick answered thoughtfully, feeling the way Rome stiffened next to him. The boy was honestly terrified when Pick pulled him out of the water earlier and then he didn't want to leave Pick's side, even though he's been avoiding him during the last few days of the trip unless he had to take pictures of Pick. Pick knew it was because of their conversation by the drive-in cinema and he didn't like it, but there wasn't much he could do.

Rome cursed quietly, pouting at his phone. "See? The butcher killed me because of you," he muttered, lightly shoving Pick with his elbow. "I... why do you want to know?" he suddenly sounded sheepish, finally looking up at Pick instead of the screen.

Pick shrugged noncommittally. "I like to have approximate knowledge of a lot of things. For example, the fact that Emma is scared of dogs... that can be quite troublesome for Porsche."

"Yeah, I thought about it too," Rome sighed, scratching the tip of his nose. He had a lot of antics that appeared whenever he was nervous and Pick was still surprised at how many things he noticed about the shorty just in one week of living together. "But I guess they'll have to figure it out on their own. That is... if P'Porsche finally asks her out. Really, he's your best friend, can't you help him a little more? I think you've dated every possible girl from our university, you should give him a bit of advice or something," Rome raised an eyebrow. Pick could tell that the kid was trying to change the topic but it surprised him that Rome sounded quite... bitter when he talked about those girls. Why was that?

"It's not the same," Pick said carefully after a moment of thinking. "Porsche genuinely likes Emma, as I'm sure you can tell by now."

Rome laughed involuntarily, nodding his head. "So you don't like the girls you're going out with?" he tried to understand. Pick sighed, absentmindedly giving Rome another Pocky stick to bite, even though Rome wasn't focusing on the game anymore and could take the snack on his own.