He found her sitting on the floor before the vending machine, knees drawn up to her chest, arms tightly wound around her legs, with her head buried in her arms, and hiccupping sobs emanating from her body. It was long past three in the morning, yet here he found a weeping girl in front of the vending machines.

Her sobs seemed so inconsolable that he did not know just how to begin to approach her. He combed his fingers through his hair, rubbing the back of his head several times before he finally brought himself to clearing his throat.

“Ahem, excuse me, miss?”

The girl didn’t hear him over her continuous sobs. He looked around for help, catching the last glimpse of the student who’d gone to fetch him disappearing out the door. No one wanted to deal with a weeping girl on the last two weeks of the semester.

Sighing, he crouched down, tentatively extending a hand out towards her, gently nudging her on the shoulder.

“Miss?”

With a piercing wail that startled him so much he ended up falling back on his on the hard floor, the girl raised her head.

“What do you want?” she demanded with a face blotched red and white. The trails of her tears glowed visibly, her dark, disheveled hair clinging to her damp cheeks. She sniffed so hard he was sure her snot traveled all the way up to her brain.

He could not keep the stutter out of his words when he asked, “Are you okay, miss?”

As he knew she would, the college girl nearly jumped to her feet as she launched herself at him. N scurried away, failing to get very far, seeing as he never rose to his own feet to begin with. He leaned away from the girl, placing his weight on his hands.

She was now the one crouched before him, the front of his prim, white dress shirt crinkled within her shaking fists. Her eyes and expression were wild, her head a chaotic mess, evidence that she had viciously attacked her curls in frustration.

“Am I okay?” she gave a wild, creepy giggle as tears welled up in her eyes. “Am I okay? Of course! I’m perfectly okay! I just lost half—half!—of my final paper! It’s due tomorrow at noon! At noon!”

She laughed again, shaking him weakly and roughly at the same time. “I have three other finals I have yet to study for! I won’t be able to go on vacation with my family because I didn’t manage to get time off of work! Those bastards gave the promotion to the laziest employee after I worked my off for the opportunity! Do you know why?”

She gave him a vicious shake with each word. “DO. YOU. KNOW. WHY?!”

N felt a slight fear clench his stomach. A fear not for himself, but originating from a growing concern for the girl that tried her best to unbalance him with her weakly violent force.

“W-why?” he finally managed to ask.

“Because I’m a university student!”

“W-what?”

“They don’t want to have to deal with someone that takes time off to go to class! And to top it all off, they’re saying that they’re cutting my hours! How will I pay off the rest of my tuition fee?! I won’t be able to make the next payment!! If I don’t finish with my payments…oh, God, will I even be allowed to graduate?”

She stopped shaking him. She lowered her gaze, her eyes overflowing with constant tears. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. She gasped for air, her sobs causing a spasm in her chest. Alarmed, N sat up properly, his hands taking her by the shoulders.

“Please, calm down.”

The warmth from his long- hands seeped through her clothes onto her skin. With a hiccupping sob, she dropped her head into his chest. The scent of his cologne prickled her nose, it was a really pleasant scent, welcoming and kind, but it caused her to sniff all the harder because of it.

“Now, now,” N said as he procured a handkerchief from his pocket, lifting her head to dab at her tears. “Do you think you can take a deep breath?”

She sniffed again, biting her lip. He spotted the tremble still present in her chin. Smiling kindly, he allowed her to blow her nose on his handkerchief and continue crying.

She knelt beside him, her legs tucked neatly underneath her. N smiled, drawing his long limbs in, sitting cross-legged on the floor watching the desperate girl cry and cry and cry. After a good thirty minutes of incessant tears, her sobs diminished into sniffs.

“Better?”

“Mhmm,” she nodded, using the crumpled up handkerchief to wipe her nose. “I’m sorry. I-I’ll wash this and give it back. Ah, no, I’ll buy you a new one… I think I ruined this one.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely ruined,” he teased, “but I’m glad you’ve stopped crying. Although, it’s understandable…all that stuff you’re going through.”

“Oh! I wasn’t crying over that…”

Shocked, and really quite confused, N listed his head, looking into her bloodshot eyes. “Oh? Then why…?”

“The stupid vending machine gave me a peanut bar when I pushed in the code for M&Ms. It was my only dollar and it gave me a stupid peanut bar! What the heck is a stupid peanut bar anyway?!”

N stared at her incredulous for a good while before he burst out laughing. He couldn’t believe his ears! The girl narrowed her eyes, scowling until, slowly, she also laughed at her situation.

“You’re telling me you can handle all that other stuff but a peanut bar makes you break down crying?” N really tried his best not to laugh too hard at her. It had not been that long since he’d also been in a similar situation, but he just found it oh, so cute!

“I-I guess it just sent me over the edge.” The soft red tint on her cheeks made her adorable, her wild hair still stuck to her damp skin.

Before he knew it, N’s hands had reached over and combed her hair out of her face. He’d never met such an interest