Author's Note:Greetings, dear readers, and many apologies!  I know I promised an update a while back, but this past month simply got away from me.  I'm back now, but with some good and bad news.  The good news is I have two drabbles to post this week, and if you check back in a few days, the second one should be posted by then as well. The bad news is the next drabble will be my last.  (I thought I'd give everyone fair warning about that.)  It's been several months now since I finished "A Love So Beautiful," and though it was a struggle, I think I've finally worked it out of my system -- at least to the point where I'm no longer in an addictive/obsessive state -- and am ready to move on.  But before then, allow me to share the first of my last two drabbles.  As always, I'm so appreciative of everyone who's subscribed to my story and especially to those who've taken the time to vote or leave a comment.  Reading your feedback is such joy!

Leaving feedback also sometimes results in getting what you ask for!  You all know who you are, but some of you asked for a story set in college and others of you asked to see a "jealous Jiang Chen."  I've taken both elements and merged them into one, and that's how the below story was born.  Enjoy!

 

Jealous Love

Chen Xiao Xi tried not to pout as she tagged along after Jiang Chen. It was her own fault, really. She should’ve known better. She should’ve expected it. And she certainly shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. After all, she’d been dating Jiang Chen for almost six months now, and so she should’ve realized that when he asked her to keep her Saturday afternoon free, it would be for a study date at the library.

The worst part about all of this, Xiao Xi thought, as she hitched her backpack a little higher and kicked at an errant leaf, was that Jiang Chen seemed completely oblivious. When she’d asked him earlier, after he’d come to pick her up from her dorm, whether an afternoon at the library was really his idea of a perfect date, he’d looked at her kind of funny and said, “We’ll go and have hot pot for dinner afterwards.” And then he reminded her that he was sitting for an important anatomy test on Monday.

Xiao Xi sighed. She supposed it was her own fault for being in love with someone like Jiang Chen.

Kicking at another fallen leaf, she ran to catch up to him.
  *****

At the library, Jiang Chen deliberately ignored the way Xiao Xi dragged the seat next to his before plunking down to pull her textbook out of her bag. Instead, he passed her a pen to take notes, certain that she would’ve forgotten her own.

“Oh,” she responded with a nod, accepting the pen and affirming that his predictions had run true.

He then turned back to his own heavy tomes and began to study. After a while, he looked over at Xiao Xi and found her slumped over her notebook. Having expected nothing less from her, Jiang Chen merely moved ever so delicately to slide the notebook out from under her and make her more comfortable. He then went back to studying until Xiao Xi’s phone went off, disturbing everyone around them.

Xiao Xi jolted to attention, instinctively swiping at for drool, and grabbed her phone. “I’m so sorry! I forgot to put the ringer on silent. I’m so sorry, so sorry, so very sorry.” With each apology, she bowed towards the others students studying in their vicinity.

Next to her, Jiang Chen’s only reaction was to shake his head and return his attention to his notebook.

After Xiao Xi sat bac