Chapter 6: Will You Be My Babe

Liana's POV 

Months passed. Xavier started saving me a seat before I even entered the lecture hall. Somehow, we always ended up walking in the same direction after class, even when neither of us had a reason to. I laughed at his jokes—even the ones that weren't funny—and our study sessions somehow lasted longer than they needed to. Closer than I meant to let anyone get, if I was honest with myself.

One afternoon, Freya caught me smiling at something Xavier had said.

She raised an eyebrow. "You've been hanging out with him more lately.” Arms crossed, leaning against the wall outside the lecture hall. "You seem comfortable around him now." Her smile was there, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

“We're just partners,” I said, adjusting the strap of my bag so I wouldn't have to look at her directly. It's not my fault the professor keeps putting us together.

Oh, just partners, she repeated, like the words tasted wrong in her mouth. Right. Don't worry about it.

I shrugged and adjusted my bag, Freya had always been protective, I figured she'd get over it.

So I didn't ask what was wrong.

Adrian's POV

I found Freya by the courtyard steps, alone for once, scrolling through her phone with the kind of focus that meant she was avoiding something. I didn't waste time getting to the point.

I see the way you look at Xavier, I said. Stop pretending you don't care.

She went still. For a second she didn't even look up, her thumb frozen mid-scroll, and I almost thought she'd let it go. Then she turned on me fast, her eyes sharp, phone forgotten in her hand.

Leave me alone, she said. I don't care about that bully.

I didn't answer right away either. I let the silence sit there between us, let her hear how little I believed her.

I've done my part, I told her finally, and I meant it as more than just an answer. Be careful.

She didn't respond to that, not right away. She just looked at me like she wanted to say something and thought better of it, her jaw tight, her grip tightening on the phone in her hand, and I walked away before either of us could make it worse than it already was.

Liana's POV

I was cutting through the hallway, half-listening to the noise around me, when Xavier caught up to me, a little out of breath like he'd jogged to catch me. Meet me at the basketball court, he said, Something fluttered in my stomach,I tightened my grip on my bag. "Okay," I said. "I'll meet you there.”

I found him already there when I arrived, the court empty except for him, bouncing the ball absently against the pavement, scratching the back of his head like he didn't know what to do with his hands. When he saw me, he stopped mid-bounce, and the ball rolled off toward the fence without either of us going after it.

Liana, he said, stumbling over the word. If, um. If someone liked you. Would you accept them?

Maybe, I said carefully, my heart doing something complicated in my chest. Depends on the person. Depends how well I know them.

He nodded like he was gathering courage from somewhere deep, and then it all came out at once, fast, like he'd been holding it too long to say it slowly. I like you, he said. I mean, I really like you. I want you to be my ride or die. My pookie. So, will you. Will you be my babe?

I stared at him. For a second, I couldn't find a single word.

Then a laugh escaped me."You're serious?" He nodded, My hands flew to my face. 

I said yes before I'd even fully processed it, and I hugged him, and then he kissed me, soft, hesitant at first and then not, and his mouth tasted faintly like strawberry, and for a second the whole world narrowed down to just that.

He walked me to the gate afterward and said goodnight. I couldn't stop smiling on the walk back to my dorm. Every few steps, my mind replayed his words. Will you be my babe? I covered my face, laughing quietly to myself.

That night, I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling.

I smiled. Then groaned and buried my face in my pillow, a few seconds later, I was staring at the ceiling again.

I couldn't stop replaying his confession.

Then my phone buzzed against the mattress. A message from the school platform, notifications stacking up one after another until my screen was full of them. It took me a second to understand what I was reading.

Adrian had gotten into a fight. He'd been expelled.

I sat up, the warmth of the evening draining out of me all at once.

The last time I'd seen Adrian, he had been talking to Freya, both of them leaning close as though whatever they were saying wasn't meant for anyone else.

The next morning, I looked toward his usual seat.

Empty, I checked the hallway after class. He wasn't there. And he never came back.