Chapter 11- We can be friends.

Asher's pov.

I stepped out of the cab right in front of my house, paying the driver before rushing through the front door.

Leonard's heavy suit jacket was clutched tightly in my hands, still smelling faintly of his cologne.

I let out a quiet breath of relief when I saw the living room was empty. No one was downstairs to question me.

I hurried up the stairs, but just as I reached the landing, the door to my sister's room swung open. Ava stepped out.

We briefly locked eyes, neither of us saying anything as we went to pass each other in the narrow hallway. But then, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes dropping to my hands.

"I haven't seen that jacket before," Ava said, narrowing her eyes at the dark fabric.

"It's not mine," I said, keeping my grip tight on it.

"I was wondering," she murmured, leaning closer to inspect the material. "That looks way too expensive to belong to you."

"It's for a friend," I muttered, shifting past her.

"What friend?" She asked, turning around to follow me with her gaze. "Neither Trevor nor Brady look rich enough to own a suit like that."

"I have other friends," I said, not looking back. "It belongs to one of them."

Ava stared at my back for a long moment, clearly not buying a single word, but she didn't push it. She just let out a quiet huff, turned around, and headed down the stairs.

I pushed open my bedroom door and blinked in surprise. Trevor was sprawled out across my mattress, completely focused on a game on his phone. The moment the door clicked, he looked up, sitting up straight.

"Where have you been?" He asked, dropping his phone onto the blanket.

"You're still here?" I said, closing the door behind me. "I thought you would’ve gone home by now."

"I came over to hang out because I was bored out of my mind at my place, But then you just vanished without saying a word." He said, sounding offended.

I walked over to my closet, carefully placing Leonard's jacket onto a neat wooden hanger. "I'm sorry about that."

"Actually, I should be the one apologizing," Trevor said, his voice dropping into a quieter, serious tone. "I'm really sorry about what happened this morning."

I hung the jacket up, smoothing down the sleeves. "It's nothing to apologize for."

He watched me closely, his eyes full of concern. "Are you really okay?"

I knew he was talking about what my mother said.

"I'm fine," I said, keeping my voice steady as I walked over to my desk chair and sat down. "I'm used to it."

"I had no idea you were dealing with that kind of stuff at home," Trevor murmured, looking down at his hands.

I forced a faint smile, bending down to unlace my wet shoes. "It's really not that big of a deal, Trevor. All mothers annoy their kids sometimes." I pulled my shoes off and set them aside, looking back up at him. "When are you heading back anyway?"

Trevor immediately leaned back, flopping his head onto my pillow. "Are you kicking me out?"

"Just asking."

"There's nobody at my house, and I can't stand Brady's roommate right now or I would've crashed at his dorm," Trevor groaned, staring up at my ceiling. "So I'm just going to spend the night here."

"Alright then," I said, shifting in my chair.

Trevor rolled onto his side, his eyes drifting across the room until they landed on the closet. "Whose jacket is that, anyway?"

"Someone gave it to me so I wouldn't get soaked in the rain," I replied smoothly, picking up my sketchbook from my bag.

A slow, teasing grin spread across his face. "Someone? Is this 'someone' your boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes, tossing a crumpled piece of paper from my desk right at his head. "Stop saying nonsense and go to sleep so we aren't late for class tomorrow."

Trevor chuckled, catching the paper easily before burying his face back into the pillow. "Alright, alright. Goodnight."

The next day, the three of us sat at one of the concrete tables in the university courtyard, surrounded by the usual noise of students eating, reading, and moving between classes.

Stacks of heavy notebooks were piled between us. Brady and I were hunched over our pages, scribbling down formulas, while Trevor leaned back in his bench, his thumb flying across his phone screen.

"Hey, I just got a text," Trevor said, tapping the screen with his knuckles. "Someone says there's some insanely hot guy walking around campus right now."

Brady didn't look up from his calculator. "And what are we supposed to do about that?"

"Apparently the girls are losing their minds," Trevor chuckled, turning his phone around to show us the screen.

It was a shaky video sent by a guy on his football team, showing a crowd of students peeping around a hallway corner. "Look at them."

I glanced at the blurry video, then flipped the page of my textbook. "It's really none of our business. I just want to actually understand this topic before the quiz."

"What part are you even stuck on?" Trevor asked, leaning forward and pulling my notebook closer to him.

I pointed to a messy block of text and symbols. "This mass balance equation. I don't get how the input stream variables change when the reflux ratio increases."

Trevor rolled his eyes like it was the easiest thing in the world. "Look, the input enters here, right? If the reflux ratio goes up, more liquid goes back into the column, which changes the composition of the distillate at the top. It’s just basic conservation of mass."

I stared at the lines he drew, my mind completely blank. "Wait. If more liquid goes back down, shouldn't the top product decrease instead of changing composition?"

"No, because the vapor keeps rising!" Trevor said, his voice getting a little louder as his patience slipped. "What is so hard to understand about that? It’s literally right there in the diagram."

"Can you just explain it one more time without getting annoyed?" I muttered.

Trevor slammed his pen down on the table, a grin spreading across his face. "Only if you go to the vending machine and buy me a soda."

"I don't have money to buy your soda," I said, shoving his shoulder. "Stop being cheap and just explain it right."

Trevor groaned, pulling the book back.

He tried pointing to the variables again, breaking down the chemical flow step by step, but the moment he finished, I still looked at him blankly. "But what about the pressure change?"

Trevor rolled his eyes so hard he practically looked at the sky. "Forget it, Asher. Just go to the professor’s office and let him deal with you."

I let out a dry huff. "To think my mother actually told me to let you tutor me."

"Hey, what's wrong with my tutoring?"

"You're a terrible teacher," I said, snatching my notebook back.

Before Trevor could argue, Brady nudged my elbow hard. "Hey... isn't that Leonard Michaels?"

Both Trevor and I looked up.

A few yards away, standing near the edge of the brick pathway, was Leonard.

He looked completely out of place in his sharp, dark corporate suit. Marcus and two other massive bodyguards stood right behind him, their eyes scanning the courtyard.

But Leonard wasn't looking at the campus, his dark eyes were locked directly onto me.

My heart gave a sudden, hard skip against my ribs. I froze, my hand tightening on my pen.

What was he here?

Brady leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Am I crazy, or is he looking right at us?"

Trevor followed Leonard’s line of sight, his playful mood completely vanishing. "He isn't looking at us, Brady. He's looking at Asher."

Before anyone could say anything else, Leonard turned on his heel and began walking toward the main exit.

"I'll be right back," I muttered to the guys, pushing myself up from the bench before they could ask questions.

I hurried across the grass, pushing past a few groups of students until I caught up to his broad shoulders. "Leonard!"

He stopped, turning around slowly. The rigid expression on his face softened just a little when he saw me.

"I didn't expect to see you here," I said, offering a small smile as I caught my breath.

"Are you a student here?" Leonard asked, his low, deep voice cutting through the outdoor chatter.

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're here to visit someone?"

"I just finished a meeting with the university board," he said simply.

"Oh. I see." I didn't push for details. If he was meeting with the board, it was probably about something major, like funding or expansions. It wasn't my place to ask.

Leonard shifted his weight, his gaze drifting over the campus buildings. "I was thinking of getting a coffee before I leave."

Marcus stepped forward immediately, his hand moving toward his jacket. "I will go get it for you, young master."

"That isn't necessary," Leonard said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "I'll go myself."

I looked between them, then cleared my throat. "I can show you where the cafe is. It’s on the way to the library."

Leonard looked back at me, nodding once. "Okay." He turned to his security detail. "Wait by the car. I will be there shortly."

Marcus looked like he wanted to object, but he took a step back, signaling the other two men to follow him toward the parking lot.

Leonard and I turned and began walking down the paved path.

The silence between us felt heavy, and the loud thumping of my sneakers against the concrete was starting to make me nervous.

I cleared my throat to break the quiet.

"Thanks for last night, by the way," I said, looking down at my shoes.

"It was nothing," Leonard replied.

"If I knew you were coming to my school today, I would’ve brought the jacket with me to give it back."

"You can return it whenever it's convenient," he said smoothly.

He kept his eyes moving around the campus, watching the groups of students laughing and talking on the lawns.

After a moment, he spoke up again. "The two guys you were sitting with earlier... are they your friends?"

"Yeah, they're my friends. Brady and Trevor," I said, glancing up at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Leonard murmured, his hands resting inside his pockets. "You just seemed very close."

"We are," I said, a small smile forming as I thought about them. "I've been friends with Trevor since middle school, and we both met Brady back in high school."

"You have been friends for a very long time, then."

I nodded, shifting my backpack strap. "What about you? Let me guess.... You have a lot of friends?"

"I don't have any friends," Leonard said. His voice was completely flat, completely casual, like he was just stating a regular fact.

My smile faded, and a sudden wave of guilt hit my stomach.

I looked away, wishing I could pull the question back.

"I don't need friends," Leonard added, his voice hardening slightly as if reading my expression. "So I don't keep them."

I titled my head. "Thinking you don't need people is wrong. Everyone needs someone. Having a friend means there's someone who actually notices when you're having a bad day, or someone you can just talk to without having to pretend to be perfect all the time. You shouldn't have to carry everything by yourself."

Leonard didn't say a word. His expression still remained blank.

The silence stretched, making my cheeks warm up a bit. I rubbed the back of my neck, "we can be friends."

Leonard stopped dead in his tracks.

I paused too, turning to look at him.

We stood in the middle of the path, students brushing past us on either side, but his focus was entirely on me. I looked up into his eyes, giving him a quiet, reassuring smile.

"We can be friends," I repeated softly. "If you want to."