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Vexx isn’t usually a runner, but he doesn’t care much for that now as he sprints across the quad to the library, his heart pounding so hard it’s difficult to breathe. He’s twenty minutes late to his tutoring session with Aryn, the cause a difficult lecturer who wanted to teach his class a lesson in discipline, and he can already imagine the annoyed pout on her face as she waits for him.
If he’s honest, it’s almost too cute to imagine - but he doesn’t want to annoy her, and so he picks up the pace, huffing as he finally stumbles past the library doors.
He strides past the organised aisles - biochemistry, marketing, counselling - and scans the tables at the far end of the library, stopping in his tracks when he sees Aryn in a booth near the back.
Vexx makes his way over, and the sight has him smiling as he sees Aryn napping, using her folded arms and a crumpled cardigan as a pillow. Some flyaway strands of hair have escaped from the braids along the side of her face, and they stir and settle across her skin with her shallow breathing.
Unable to stop himself, he brushes a knuckle along her cheekbone gently, afraid to wake her. Everything about her seems softer when she sleeps, from the relaxed curve of her mouth to the way her lashes brush against her cheek. He frowns a little when he notices the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes, and briefly wonders whether their tutoring sessions are taking its toll on her alongside her already staggering workload.
He debates on whether he should let her continue sleeping, but the librarians were rather strict on seat hogging regulations, and he didn’t want Aryn to wake to a cross middle-aged woman knocking obnoxiously on the table.
“Aryn,” he calls softly, and her brows furrow in protest. “Aryn, I’m here. Sorry I took so long.”
One doe-brown eye cracks open, and then the other. “Vexx,” she mumbles sleepily, leaning into his touch, and his heart stutters. “You’re late.”
“I know,” he says, watching as she sits up and stretches, yawning. Her shirt rides up a little, exposing a sliver of pale, creamy skin along her waist, and he forces himself to look away. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.”
She scrunches her nose, pouting. There it is, he thinks to himself, unable to suppress his smile. “I don’t know, Vexx,” she sniffs playfully. “You’ll find that I’m not such a forgiving person.”
Grinning at her, he replies, “We’ll see,” before he takes her by the hand and pulls her from the booth. “Come on, get your things. I’ve got somewhere I wanna show you.”
✧✧✧
Aryn has no idea where Vexx is taking her, and if Nova were here she’d raise an eyebrow and say that that would be a cause for concern. But she can’t bring herself to ask too many questions as he deftly maneuvers his motorcycle through traffic, his movements practiced enough for her to feel safe in his care.
Tightening her hold around him, the wind whips at her hair, and Vexx absently pats her hands where they’re locked around his waist. She can feel just how firm the muscles of his abdomen are through his clothes, how warm and broad his back is as she leans against it, and though Aryn has never been the type to blush and giggle about cute boys, she feels her cheeks warm at having him so close to her, her body flush against his.
The term ‘the journey matters more than the destination’ has never made sense to her before, given how impatient she usually is, but maybe she just hadn’t been on a motorcycle ride with one Vexx Serif yet.
When he finally pulls to a stop along a row of shops, he turns around to help Aryn remove her helmet. “We’re here,” he grins at her, smoothing her hair down. Self-consciously, Aryn wonders just how much damage the helmet did to her hair. “Go on in and pick what you like.”
He points to a shoplot a short distance away, and Aryn lets her line of vision follow his direction. The front of the place is decorated in cream and beige, with the slightest accents of baby blue, and the sign on the front reads ‘The Inside Scoop’.
She lets her curiosity get the better of her, and she walks ahead of Vexx, peeking through the window. There’s a colorful array of ice creams on display, and Aryn’s mouth waters, thinking about how she’d skipped breakfast today. Gingerly, she pushes the door open, the chime of a bell signalling her arrival, and the cashier on duty looks up and greets her with a warm smile.
“Hello, welcome to The Inside Scoop!” The guy seems to be around her age, and he’s cute in a boy-next-door kind of way, freckles dotted across the bridge of his nose. “What can I get for you today?”
“Hi!” She replies, a big smile on her face, and the boy blinks at her a little before flushing a light red. “I’ll have a look and let you know!”
The boy mumbles a response, and Aryn hunches over the display, peering at the delicious-looking treats through the glass. The variety astounds her: there’s mint with pistachio and almond, honey with ribbons of lemon syrup (Nova would like that , she thinks to herself), and rum and raisin drizzled with thick chocolate sauce, amongst others. But the flavour that catches her eye is colored a candy pink, and shot through with bright red ribbons of fruit.
“I’ll have the Strawberries and Cream,” she tells the cashier excitedly, beaming at him. “In an ice cream cone, please!”
“I knew you’d pick that one,” says a fond voice from behind her, and when she whirls around Vexx is there, smirking at her as he musses his red hair back into shape. “Good choice. That’s one of their bestsellers.”
Tilting her face to him, she responds with a mischievous smile. “What can I say,” she teases. “I have good taste.”
Vexx shakes his head, laughing a little, and Aryn’s mood feels just a little lighter.
“Miss?” The cashier calls to her. “That’ll be $2.50.”
“Oh, coming!” Aryn shakes herself out of her reverie, preparing to pull a five dollar bill from her purse, but Vexx beats her to it. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he turns her around, giving her a soft push towards one of the seats.
“Go grab us a seat, princess,” he says, and her heart skips. “This one’s on me.”
Before she can retort, Vexx is already walking over to the cashier, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. She sighs, knowing better than to fight him on this one, and heads to look for a place for them.
Vexx glances at her, grinning as he watches her go. The way she’d perked up upon seeing the ice cream was worth the hellish navigation from college to downtown, and it made him glad to see how she’d cheered up visibly upon entering the ice cream store. He hands the cashier a fiver, thanking him as he takes the cone from his hands, but stops short upon seeing an uneven scrawl on its accompanying napkin.
A phone number.
Vexx lifts his eyes from the napkin to the cashier, who’s suddenly nervously shifting on his feet. “Ah,” he says flatly, looking the other guy up and down as he gives him a cold smile. “Sorry mate. She’s spoken for.”
The cashier shrinks into himself even more, and Vexx crumples the napkin in his fist, dropping it onto the counter. He finds it strange how irked he is by the situation, and he doesn’t realise his brows are still pulled together until he slides into the seat across Aryn.
“You’re frowning,” Aryn points out bluntly, pressing a finger onto the wrinkle between his brows, and Vexx blinks, snapping out of it as he hands her the ice cream cone.
“The guy over there thought it’d be smart to slip you his number,” he scoffs. “I did you the honor of putting him in his place.”
Her eyes widen, before a knowing smile creeps onto her face. “That’s a shame,” she sighs. “He was kind of cute.”
Vexx shoots her a look. “You’re joking, right?”
Aryn shrugs, grinning at him. He was too much fun to tease. “If you’re jealous, Vexx, you might as well admit it.”
Jealous? Vexx’s scowl deepens as he casts the cashier a glance from the corner of his eye. As if.
“I’ve got no reason to be,” Vexx answers smoothly, shaking off the annoyance and plastering a smug look on his face. “You came here with me, didn’t you?”
There’s something about the guarded yet curious look he’s giving her, and Aryn smiles, thinking that maybe that was enough fun to be poked for today. “I did,” she chuckles. “Thank you for bringing me here, Vexx.”
At her words his gaze softens, and suddenly it’s almost unreal to Aryn - the fact that they’re here together, with him looking at her like she’s something new and precious - and it feels like her heart’s going to implode on itself. How does he do that - send her heart fluttering with the simplest things he does? But that in itself pales to what he’s just said, the words ringing in her ears. Almost as if…
Oh my God. The gears in Aryn’s brain click into place, and realisation fizzles through her. Was this… a date?
The idea of it brings a flush rising to her cheeks, and if Vexx notices, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he gestures to where a thin path of pink is slowly dripping its way down the cone. “Your ice cream is melting,” he points out, still wearing that soft look on his face as he gives her another smile. “So, am I forgiven for being late?”
Aryn shakes herself out of her smitten stupor, drawing herself up with as much poise as she can gather. “I guess I can forgive you for being late now,” she says in a dismissive, playful way, taking a lick of her ice cream. It tastes tart and sweet and rich, and she can’t help the pleased sound she makes. “This is so good.”
Suddenly, Vexx starts to chuckle, and Aryn pins him with a curious look. “What, what’s so funny?”
He covers his smile with the back of his hand, his green eyes bright with amusement. “No, it’s just… you have a little something,” he admits, tapping the corner of his mouth. “Over here.”
Aryn’s lips part in a small ‘o’ of realisation, but before she can dig a tissue out of her purse to wipe it away, Vexx is already reaching over, his thumb brushing away the ice cream near her lips.
Her heart rate goes haywire, and she nearly jumps at the contact as she flinches away from his hand. “Hey!” She splutters, smacking his arm. “I had it handled!”
“‘Course you did, princess,” he laughs, sinking back into his seat. “Don’t worry, I only wanted to help.”
But it’s then that a wicked idea sneaks its way into Vexx’s mind, and he smirks at Aryn, holding her gaze as he licks the ice cream on his thumb into his mouth.
“And besides,” he adds, “I just wanted a little taste.”
Aryn blinks at him, stunned for a moment before the embarrassment hits her with the full force of a speeding freight train. Her thoughts go into overdrive, and suddenly the ice cream parlor is too hot for her, the man sitting across from her too much for her to handle.
Or maybe, it’s the other way around.
“You…. YOU….” Aryn says weakly, feeling her face heat up so bad that it actually kind of hurts. “GO BUY YOUR OWN ICE CREAM!”
Vexx shrugs like it’s no big deal, infuriating Aryn with how charming the movement is. “Nah,” he grins at her, green eyes twinkling. “That was already plenty sweet for me.”
Aryn lets out a loud groan, burying her face in her hands, and Vexx laughs, feeling lighter than he has in days. With a sudden pang of longing, he hopes to himself that he gets more time with her, more days just like this. That they get more time together while he still can.
“Okay, okay. I’m done,” he says, still laughing as he pulls her hands away from her blushing face. For the briefest of moments, he allows himself to imagine cupping her cheeks and pulling her in for a kiss before he shuts the thought away. “No more teasing. Now, can you run me through Porter’s Five Forces again?”
She looks at him accusingly, blush still on her face as she launches into a lesson about the importance of business strategy and competition. Vexx smiles warmly as he watches the red fade from her cheeks, and they pass the next hour engaged in conversation about industrial rivalry, only pausing for Aryn to take a picture of her half-eaten ice cream.
When dusk starts to fall and the sun begins to turn everything golden, Vexx and Aryn leave the shop, hopping back on Vexx’s motorcycle as they wind their way through the evening traffic back to college. They make it back before the sun disappears below the horizon, and before Vexx can get off his bike Aryn tugs at his sleeve, snaring his attention.
“I have something for you,” she says to him, unable to meet his eyes. He’s sure her cheeks are red, but he thinks it could also be the glow of the setting sun. Curious, he tilts his head, cocking one red eyebrow at her.
“Hm? What is it, princess?” He asks, heart full with a day well spent.
The words have barely left his mouth for a second before Aryn leans forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and Vexx’s mind goes blank. Her mouth is warm and soft against his skin, her grass-and-wildflower scent clinging to the smooth ebony of her hair, and for a moment Vexx has never been happier to be alive.
Alive, and with her by his side.
She pulls away, and now he’s certain she’s blushing. “That,” she mumbles, staring at her shoes. “Thank you again… for today.”
Aryn turns, ready to run for it, but Vexx anticipates this, catching her by the wrist and yanking her back to him. Wide-eyed, she watches as Vexx laces his fingers with hers, a goofy-looking grin on his face.
“You… are very welcome,” he says in a low voice just for her, and Aryn’s heart nearly stops when he raises her hand to his lips, returning her earlier gesture by kissing the back of her palm.
He doesn’t let go of her, even as he slides off of his bike. If anything, he squeezes her hand tighter, as if he’s trying to be sure it’s real.
(It is, Aryn thinks. It is real, and it’s probably going to be the death of me.)
“Let me walk you back, at least,” Vexx murmurs, and Aryn finds herself lost in those green eyes of his, slowly sinking into a burgeoning feeling, an incoming take-over.
And in the wake of a perfect day, spent with an even more perfect man - she cannot find it in herself to say no.
✧✧✧
Nova’s in her 6PM tutorial for Modern East Asian Literature when her phone buzzes with a text where it’s placed on her desk. Eyeing it, she smiles fondly when she sees Aryn’s name light up her screen, and as she reaches for her phone to open the message she wonders what it could be.
Maybe another picture of a stray cat again, she speculates, swiping right on the notification. Or maybe she had some good lunch —
It takes a moment for Nova to register the images that Aryn’s sent her. The first is of two hands, Aryn’s smaller one twined with a larger one - a man’s. The next one is of Aryn proudly showing off a half-eaten strawberry ice cream cone.
Went out for a while today, her accompanying text reads. Meet you for dinner at the dorms later!!!
Nova freezes, staring at the pictures again. There’s only one person that could be the guy in the photo, and that was Vexx Serif, the same guy who helped Aryn smuggle a kitten into their goddamn dorm room. She’s sure she can feel her blood pressure spike dangerously high, and Nova rubs a hand tiredly over her face, already knowing that she was going to have to demand a lengthy, detailed explanation from Aryn.
“Oh my God,” she mutters under her breath. “Oh my fucking God.”