You went to school the day after, not really having a choice since this class was six hours long and often contained some theory at the beginning. You could leave right after that, though, and that’s what you were planning to do. The least time you spent with Eli, the smaller the chances you’d want to stop him from leaving.

You didn’t speak to him. Not on Tuesday, not on Wednesday. Thursday came by, and he caught your arm softly after your only class of the day.

“Wait…”

“No.”

“Please,” he said sadly. “I just want to talk to you some more before I leave. We’re not in the same team in professional graphic design, you probably won’t talk to me after that, and today we have nothing to do now that this class is over. It’s 9:30. Still early. Please. Let us talk a little before I leave.”

You clenched your teeth, not even looking at him. Not wanting to look at him. Or else he would make your heart waver. And you’d beg him to stay. You didn’t want that to happen. He would be happier without you.

“Okay,” you heard yourself saying.

Wait, what?

You frowned, clenching your teeth. Why had you said that? You… you didn’t want to spend that time with him…

You could hear the smile in his voice. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t like you had any choice. Happily you only had your camera bag with you that day. And so you followed him as he brought you through town, until you reached the Botanical Garden of Montreal. You frowned, though; at this time of the year, in this cold November, there was nothing to be seen, right? The outer gardens were even free to walk into…

“Why are we here?” you asked him.

“You’ll see,” he chuckled before pulling you towards the greenhouses.

You frowned when he got you little stamps without paying, only briefly seeing him wink at the lady who was putting them on your hand. You groaned at the intense humid heat of the greenhouses that were hosting tropical plants, and you hurried in taking off your coat. He took it before you could find a way to bring it with you without making it get in your way, and you looked at him with a frown.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking your coat. You’ll need both your hands to handle your reflex, right? You wouldn’t want to drop it.”

“…”

“So, feel free to take pictures of all of these, okay? Take your time, do as if I’m not there.”

He had a sad smile.

“As if I were not existing.”

You couldn’t help it. “If you were not existing, I’d be home right now, taking a nap.”

He chuckled. “Sorry. But I thought that maybe you’d like being here for a while, taking photos, not having to concentrate on your coat being in the way.”

“…”

“Plus, I’ll have something to show you when it’ll be dark. Later today. Almost tonight.”

“…”

“That means you’re stuck with me until then. But please bear with it, okay?”

You sighed. “All right.”

You were actually half-happy and half-annoyed. Happy because you could spend the entire day with him. With that retarded adorable idiot who had just offered you a free pass for a day in the Botanical Garden. But annoyed because that entire day with him meant that you’d have to keep your actions in check for an entire day, so you wouldn’t make him think that you wanted him to stay.

You did want him to stay.

You couldn’t possibly just tell him that. You were too proud to go back on your decisions.

And so you spent the entire day in the greenhouses, taking photos, doing just as he had told you to do. You ignored him and simply took your time to get the best composition and light possible, only coming out of the place way, WAY after lunchtime. You weren’t hungry, though, because you had been busy, and being busy with fun things to do prevented you from feeling hungry, which was a good thing. And so you came out of there being a bit mixed up, looking at your cellphone to know what time it was.

“Four PM already?!”

“Seems like it,” Eli said, shrugging. “We still have a bit of time before it gets dark. Want to go and eat somewhere? We’ll come back after.”

“I don’t have infinite metro tickets per month, idiot.”

“I’ll pay the tickets for you, okay? We can go to Chinatown and eat there. And then we’ll come back.”

“…”

“Aw c’mon? I know you like ramyun.”

“…”

“Please?”

You sighed. It was tempting indeed. But you didn’t know what he wanted to show you when it’d be dark, and that was getting on your nerves a little. You didn’t like following without knowing anything.

“Not if you don’t tell me why we need to come back after.”

“I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise.”

“Dude, the outer gardens have nothing for us now that we’re in November.”

“I know.”

“So why do we have to come back when it’ll be dark?”

“You’ll see later. Please? After tonight I promise I won’t speak to you ever again, so you’ll be free to do whatever you want without me being in the way. You’ll be rid of me. So, just for tonight, please?”

“…”

“Please. Just stay with me now. And tonight, until I bring you back home. For my last free night here in Montreal.”

“… last free night…?”

“I’m leaving on Saturday morning. Well, morning. Very early morning. At 3. So I’ll go to bed extra early tomorrow. Tonight’s my last real night here.”

“…”

“Please. Will you spend this evening with me?”

You sighed again.

“All right.”

Only a few more hours, and it would all end.