Yuki knocked on Emilia’s door out of courtesy and let himself in. She was in the same position he had left her, sprawled across her bed in last night’s clothes. 

He was carrying a white face cloth and a bowl of warm water. She was now sleeping soundly in her bed but when she first got home in the middle of the night, she was hugging the toilet. They were lucky “dad” was a heavy sleeper. 

Guiding her to the bathroom and back was a nightmare but he was finally able to get her to calm down and sleep. He shook his head and faintly smiled as he wet the towel and wrung it. 

The two of them have lived under the same roof for so long, they had a bond that was more than just friends but not exactly siblings since they weren’t related by blood. When he had no one left, her family had taken them in without thought and he would always be grateful. He tried to do whatever he could to make it up to them, but he knew it would never be enough.

He wiped her face with the damp cloth and laughed as he smeared some of her makeup off. She was in for a surprise when she woke up later. A layer of her foundation had come off and her freckles on her cheeks were now visible. He didn’t realize they were there before, guess he didn’t really notice. 

He wet the towel again, wrung it and folded it into a rectangle to place on her forehead. He sat on the edge of the bed and studied her face a bit longer. When he was young, it took him a long time to accept that his parents were gone. He started to think it was unfair and didn’t understand why it had to happen to him. Emilia’s parents may have been the one to reach out first, but she was the one to bring him out of a dark place. 

And for that, he was forever grateful. 

Emilia stirred and kneed Yuki’s ribs, knocking him out of his daze.

“Damn it Em,” he mumbled and got up to massage it and walk off the pain. 

She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms above her head. The first thing she saw as she awoke was Yuki towering over her with his hands on his hips.

“Gooooood morning Yuki!” she yelled with a crack in her voice and gave him a smile. He tried to keep a stern face but he cracked and scoffed at her. 

“First of all, it’s two in the afternoon and second, you’re lucky to have me in your life.”

She sat up ready to reply with a snarky remark but the damp towel that was on her forehead fell onto her lap. She glanced over at the bowl of water and then took in the state of her room. The memories from last night came flooding back.

“I love you, Yuki!” She exclaimed and hugged his stomach from where she was sitting. In return, he ruffled her hair.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“For getting home late and drunk. How did you get home anyways?”

Emilia pondered for a moment and then had a lightbulb moment. 

“Where are my clothes from last night?”

“Obviously in the laundry basket since you puked all over yourself,” Yuki pinched his nose to make fun of her as she ran downstairs.

She could hear the machines going and feared the worst. She opened the lid of the washer and swished her hand through the water but didn’t see her pants. She noticed the pile on the floor for the next load and leafed through that, nothing. She started getting anxious but then noticed the smell. She followed it to the laundry tub where Yuki had left it for her to wash. 

“Oh thank god,” she sighed in relief and dug into the side pocket but found nothing. She could’ve sworn that James guy gave her something when he dropped her off. She looked in the back pockets and found it! 

She opened the folded paper and found herself staring at another sketch or her, asleep with her arms as pillows. In the top left-hand corner, there was a little note:

Sorry but I hope you don’t mind; I couldn’t help myself.

James Kim

Emilia smiled at the drawing of herself. She had spent the night chatting away with James after they established he had drawn her that one morning during a sunset. 

Since she was holding it under the light, she noticed there was something on the back. She flipped it over and was looking at a schedule of some sort.

“Northeast University?! We go to the same school?” She looked at it more carefully and realized it was his class schedule. 

““Still Life Painting, Mixed Media, Sketchbook, 3D Printing…he must be an art student!” 

-----------------------------------------------

Rylie sat on a wooden bench outside Skywalk Café waiting for Cameron to arrive. She was 30 minutes early, but she didn’t want to risk being late and having him wait. 

“Rylie, right?” She looked up and saw his friend Joel from the other night with an iced coffee in hand. She smiled back and nodded.

“Oh right! Today’s the day you and Cameron meet up! I’m glad you guys hit it off, he’s usually so shy. I was trying to get him out of his shell, but it looks like you did it instead.”

“What do you mean?” she asked confused.

“Well, I’ve known him all my life and he’s a good person but a bit of an introvert. There must be something about you that caught his eye though because he approached you first,” Joel said with a grin. Rylie nodded slowly and couldn’t help but smile to herself. When she had talked to Cameron that night, she could feel he was sincere and genuine. A lot of them were in the beginning but let their mask fall after they got what they wanted so she never expected much. 

Her phone rang, snapping her back to reality.

“H-hello?”

“Rylie! Where are you?! Don’t tell me you’re out again!” She picked up expecting Cameron but got her mother instead; she sighed.

“Good morning to you too,” she rolled her eyes. “I’ll be out for awhile. I’ll be back before it gets dark.”

“You’re always going out and leaving me alone! Don’t you have work today!?”

“They gave me the day off so I took it, it that a problem?” 

“You should’ve worked anyways! We need the money!” Rylie pulled her phone away from her ear as her mom yelled louder.  

“You know as well as I do that we have enough for this month. You only want the money so you can buy your cigarettes. If you wanted them so bad, you should get a job!”

“Why you good for nothing daughter! Who’s the one that’s providing you with shelter and food to eat?”

“Technically, me. I do EVERYTHING!”

“Why you…” Her mother kept on ranting as she hung up. While looking down at her phone in her lap, tears started to form in her eyes. She didn’t know why but she couldn’t stop them from falling.

“Uh…is everything okay Rylie?” Forgetting that Joel was still there, she quickly wiped her eyes and faked a smile.

“Yeah of course! Don’t worry about it, it happens all the time.”

He knew it was anything but fine, but he didn’t know her well enough to pry or offer comfort. But anyone in her position would find it hard to ask her help…

“Oh look! There’s Cameron!” She yelled and pointed behind Joel.

“Hey Joel! What are you doing here?” He walked up and went in for a bro hug. 

“I was just picking up some coffee before heading to the gym and bumped into Rylie here. Don’t worry, I’m not spying on you,” He laughed and Cameron blushed slightly. Joel focused on her and was about to ask if she was okay but he thought against it. If she really wanted anyone to know, he’s sure she would share when she was ready. 

“Alright you two, have fun,” Joel swung his gym bag back onto his shoulder and disappeared around the corner.