Their residences were further away this time, and because he was in a dorm and she was in a company apartment, it meant that they had to hop a bus. But they did it anyway. His place was tiny and uncomfortable, but hers was even more so, so she ended up coming to his place most of the time.

He checked his phone, eyes narrowing at the time.

9:24

She said she’d be by an hour and a half ago, and she hadn’t texted him. He lifted the phone to his ear, but it rang a few times before sending him to voicemail. But then there was a knock on the door, and he swung it open.

“My boss held me late.” She rubbed at her temples, and he could see her dark circles forming after just a few days of her internship.

“Food’s in the microwave,” he yawned, ruffling his hair as he closed the door behind her and grimaced. He needed another heat pack. She noticed, frowning and lifting up the back of his shirt.

“Your back looks swollen.”

“It’s sore, but it doesn’t feel—ow!”

She simply raised an eyebrow, pushing him down to the bed and on to his front and rucking his shirt up, running her fingers along his spine and pushing at the pressure points until he had melted into a puddle.

“I don’t know how you do that,” he groaned, feeling limp on the thin mattress. She returns from the microwave with two bowls of food and a heat pack that she slapped over his lower