Here For You | ✓

chapter thirteen | the one with the flight

"Are you ever gonna wear them?" She countered with a raised eyebrow.

"No, but-"

"Then fuck off."

"Language," Chloe curtly remarked.

Veronica rolled her eyes and dropped on the stool next to Danielle, whose nose was buried in a giant book with text highlighted in all neon colors to imaginably exist. She had an exam in two hours, and her nerves started to uncontrollably jitter.

"You doing okay?" Veronica bumped her shoulder lightly, and the latter heaved a dramatic sigh without looking up.

"You mean if I'm okay with putting my quest to figure out my sexuality on hold for the sake of grades? No. I'm not," Danielle rambled, dropping her hand and jerking her head up. "I am this close to take the exam with the information I now know." She gestured at the tiny gap between her index and thumb.

"I'm assuming 'this' is exactly how much you know of the material?" Chloe wryly remarked.

Veronica pressed her lips in a tight line, cocking her head to the side despite Danielle forcing herself to focus on the words before her. "We can talk about it when you're back," She offered.

"No, honey. You're not gonna be here when she gets back." Chloe didn't even look at her, but her tone was sharp enough for Veronica to get that she didn't have a choice. She huffed loudly anyway. Veronica got a deal out of Chloe about getting back home at six after she told her Allen had a woman over. She didn't further elaborate, but Chloe had apparently been in a good mood... or Veronica figured she had been too drunk.

She noticed Chloe didn't put a mug of coffee for her like she always did. She brushed it off and made her way to grab a mug from the cupboard. There was a knock at the door, and her pulse momentarily froze.

"It's open!" Ethan yelled,

"Tsk!" Chloe clucked her tongue in frustration at him.

Allen opened the door and peeked his head inside, giving Ethan a cold stare. "Don't you have food at home?"

"And give women a reason to stay for breakfast?"

"You're such a dick," Danielle snapped. "Are you at least honest about your asshole intentions?"

"Of course." Ethan frowned, taking a sip. "I ask first. What, you think I enjoy giving people false hope and have to deal with the complication later?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, and Veronica silently shuffled around with her coffee as they argued, ears shaking at the sound of footsteps coming closer. Her cheeks warmed, and she was already cursing herself, pulse accelerating the closer Allen got to her. She lifted her head to get it over with.

Big mistake.

She wouldn't ever get over him wearing his dress shirt with the sleeves rolled at the elbows. It made him look dangerously hot with his wild curls and big blue eyes. It was only seven-thirty in the morning, and Veronica could feel the heat spreading in her entire body. Allen held her gaze as he approached her, stopping only a foot away. He hadn't seen her for the past two days, and his gut flipped at the uneasy thought that she was putting her defenses back up.

"Hey." She smiled at him, smooth and full. But her eyes were guarded. He blinked, features relaxing as he studied her.

"Hi." He breathed, unsure. The sudden twist in her mood was evident from her posture, a stark difference from the loose and bold one she had the last time they hung out.