Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The first thing Lucy noticed when she opened her eyes that morning was that her room looked empty.

Not completely, of course.

Her bed still sat beneath the window she’d spent countless rainy afternoons reading beside. Her desk remained tucked into the corner, though its usually-cluttered surface now held only a small lamp and a framed photo of herself, with her best friends Tim and Rachel, at senior prom just a few months ago. Even a couple of the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d begged her parents to stick on the ceiling when she was six were still there.

But it felt different. Quieter, too, in a way.

The walls that had once been covered with photographs, artwork, posters of her favorite singers, and color-coded calendars now looked strangely bare, interrupted only by a few tiny squares of paint that were a less-faded shade than the rest of the wall.

Nearly every important thing she owned had been packed away into twenty-something cardboard boxes currently taking over the living room downstairs.

Today was move-in day at her college.

Lucy rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. For the past eighteen years, every important moment of her life had started in this room.

First days of school.

Late-night study sessions.

Sleepovers with her friends.

The night she’d cried after failing her first test in 11th grade.

The afternoon she’d checked her college portal to see she had gotten accepted to her dream school.

It was strange knowing she’d gone to sleep here for the last time last night.

And that she had just woken up here for the last time this morning, too.

UCLA was only an hour away from home, but somehow it still felt worlds apart.

Once she officially moved into her dorm, she would never again be able to truly call this house she had grown up in, her home. Just a place she came every once in a while to visit her parents and to relish in the nostalgia of her childhood.

She’d spent months counting down the days until today would arrive. Dreaming about decorating her dorm, meeting new people, staying up far too late with Rachel, and finally getting a little taste of independence.

Now that the day had actually arrived… she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or throw up or possibly both.

A loud thud echoed from downstairs. Followed immediately by her mother’s booming voice yelling from the bottom of the stairs.

“Lucy! Are you awake yet?”

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, having been snapped back to reality. “…no,” she called out as she rubbed her eyes vigorously.

“Get ready and come down quick! We still have so much to do before we leave to settle you and Rachel into your dorm!”

Lucy frowned and let out a defeated sigh before swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

“I’m getting up now!” she yelled out in response in hopes of pleasing her mother.

“You should’ve been up ten minutes ago!”

Lucy couldn’t help smiling to herself despite her mother’s sour attitude. Some things apparently never changed.

By the time Lucy made her way downstairs, both of her parents were already dressed. Her father struggled to tape some of the last cardboard boxes shut while her mother stood in the middle of the living room with a clipboard.

Lucy blinked in surprise. “Is that a checklist?”

Her mother looked up, wiggling the clipboard up in the air. “It has every item you packed categorized by room.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything. For example, your socks are in the box labelled…” her mother took a second, eyes running down the paper checklist in her hand, “…ah, there! Under ‘Bedroom: Miscellaneous’”

Lucy looked toward her father for support with pleading eyes. He simply shrugged in response.

She laughed to herself quietly, shaking her head before walking into the kitchen.

The smell of her mother’s daily-morning coffee greeted her immediately.

Her mother had insisted on making breakfast before they left despite the fact that they needed to be on campus in less than three hours. A bowl of oatmeal sat waiting for her at the table.

“Eat while it’s hot,” her mother called out as both her and her father walked into the kitchen, joining her at their respective places of the dining table.

Lucy had barely taken two bites of her breakfast before a knock sounded at the front door. Her father checked his watch. “That’ll probably be Tim.”

Lucy looked up almost immediately and raised an eyebrow at her parents.

“Well? Go let him in.”

Lucy set her spoon down and walked towards the front door, pulling it open before he had a chance to knock again.

Tim stood on the porch wearing a faded gray T-shirt with gym shorts, hands tucked into his front pockets as he looked around waiting for the door to open. His truck idled quietly behind him in the driveway.

He not-so-subtly looked her up and down as she opened the door, a small grin tugging at one side of his mouth.

“Hey, you. You look kinda tired.”

Lucy crossed her arms, mock anger on her face. “Good morning to you too.”

“Nervous?”

“What makes you think that?”

“You forgot to brush your hair.”

Instinctively, Lucy reached up to smooth it down.

Tim smirked. “Gotcha.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” He stepped past her into the house before she could come up with a response.

Honestly… that was probably true. Not in the way he meant it, though.

She’d known Tim Bradford for over ten years now years. He’d lived just three houses down since third grade. He was the boy who’d begrudgingly taught her how to ride a bike when Lucy was too scared to take her training wheels off. The one who always carried the heaviest boxes whenever one of the neighborhood families moved. The one who quietly complained every single time someone asked him for help right before helping anyway.

Lucy wasn’t entirely sure when her innocent grade-school crush had turned into something much bigger.

Maybe somewhere between late-night study sessions during junior year and countless drives home after debate club competitions. Or maybe it’d happened so gradually she hadn’t even noticed, building a bit more day by day.

Either way, she’d gotten pretty good at pretending it wasn’t there. It was easier that way.

Tim disappeared into the living room with Lucy trailing behind, immediately picking up the largest box he could find.

He frowned. “What’d you put in this thing?”

Lucy looked over, reading the label on the side. “Uhhh… my books.”

“All of them?”

“I like to read.”

“You know there’s a library on campus, right?”

Lucy stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re the one who volunteered to help.”

“I absolutely did not. Your parents asked me to come help.”

Lucy laughed. “So you were forced.”

Tim sighed dramatically.

Before either could say another word, her mother rushed into the hallway. “Tim! Thank goodness you’re here.”

He offered her a polite smile. “Morning, Mrs. Chen.”

She noticed Tim straining to hold the heavy box. “I’m sorry honey. I told Lucy not to pack her books all in one box.”

Tim looked at Lucy with a teasing grin while Lucy pointedly looked at her mother. “Oh, come on!” she groaned.

Her mother continued as though Lucy hadn’t spoken.

“I know you would have listened if I had advised you how to pack your stuff a certain way.” Lucy’s mom let out a sharp laugh, throwing her head back like she had just told the funniest joke ever. “You’re much more practical than she is.”

Lucy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. There it was.

She’d been awake for less than an hour yet Tim had already somehow managed to earn more praise than she had all morning.

Not that she minded.

Well… maybe just a little.

—

Rachel had always been the sunshine of their little trio. Even after everything she’d been through.

Lucy spotted her through the living room window as she saw Rachel’s familiar silver sedan pulling into the driveway.

Rachel climbed out of the drivers seat wearing light-wash jeans shorts, an oversized UCLA sweatshirt she’d insisted on buying off of Amazon the second they’d committed to the school, and her signature smile that somehow managed to brighten an entire room.

It was smaller than it used to be. But it was still there.

Lucy hurried down the front steps before Rachel had even stepped onto the front porch. “You made it! Hey!” Lucy called out. Rachel laughed in response as Lucy wrapped her in a hug.

“Barely. I saw a cop car on the side of the road on my way here, panicked, and almost turned onto the highway.”

“Girl, you panic under every circumstance.” Lucy smiled while poking fun at her, holding on just a second longer.

For a moment, it almost felt like nothing had changed. Like they were meeting before school on a random Monday morning. Like they still had lockers and homework and football games to worry about.

Not dorm rooms. Not picking the right major-specific classes. Not college.

Not growing up.

Rachel pulled back, her smile softening. “You okay?”

Lucy nodded quickly. “Yeah. Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“I’m just…” She glanced toward the house behind her, at the boxes splayed across the room. “It’s weird.”

Rachel followed her gaze. “I know.”

Neither of them elaborated. They didn’t have to. Lucy and Rachel, since they had met, had always been in tune with each other’s emotions, moods, and unspoken words. They were best friends, after all.

“Need help?” Tim’s voice carried out from the house as he walked towards the girls.

Rachel turned, immediately grinning. “There he is!”

Tim wiped his hands on his t-shirt and gave a small smile back to Rachel. “Morning.”

Rachel stepped forward without hesitation, wrapping him in a quick hug. “Thanks for helping us.”

He shrugged. “I kinda got volunteered by Mr. and Mrs. Chen. So.”

Lucy snorted. “You make it sound like my parents held you at gunpoint.”

“I mean, they basically did. Have you even met your mother before? She’s scary as fuck.”

Rachel laughed, the sound lighter than Lucy had heard in weeks. “Well, thanks for facing your fears for us, then.”

Tim shook his head, smiling. “No problem, Rach.”

Lucy watched the interaction quietly, her eyes darting between the two of them. Tim had always been gentle with Rachel- especially these past few months.

After her dad died the semester before, something had shifted.

Both in Rachel, but also in their group dynamic. The three of them had spent nearly every day together since they had become friends at the start of high school. Movie nights, studying, thrifting, preparing for presentations, late night drives with nowhere particular to go, and everything in between.

Then winter had arrived. And one phone call had changed everything.

Lucy still remembered driving 20 miles over the speed limit to get to Rachel’s house that afternoon.

She remembered the ambulance wailing across the street.

Remembered Rachel sitting on the front porch steps getting soaked from the rain that was falling, staring at nothing in particular.

She hadn’t cried. She’d just looked lost, like a part of herself had died along with her dad. She’d looked nowhere in particular as she spoke in a monotone voice to Lucy, “He had a heart attack.”

Lucy swallowed around the memory. Things were definitely getting better. Not fixed- they probably never would be. But better.

And that had to count for something.

Rachel’s mother climbed slowly out of the passenger seat. She looked exhausted, like grief had made itself at home in her bones and decided it wasn’t leaving anytime soon. She smiled kindly as Lucy walked over.

“Hey, Mrs. Hall.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She pulled Lucy into a hug before stepping back. “You’ve gotten so tall.”

Lucy laughed. “I’ve been the same height since sophomore year.”

Mrs. Hall smiled faintly. “I know. But still.”

There was a pause, the kind of pause that hadn’t existed before this year. It was as if every conversation danced carefully around the absence of someone who should have been standing beside them.

Rachel cleared her throat. “We should probably help load all of Lucy’s stuff up before Mom starts crying.” Her smile faltered just enough for Lucy to notice.

Lucy reached over and squeezed her best friend’s hand. “We’ll make this quick.”

Mrs. Hall nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”

The front door opened once again. “Rachel!”

Mrs. Chen hurried outside, immediately enveloping Rachel in a hug.

“My goodness, look at you.”

Rachel laughed. “It’s only been six days since I last saw you.”

“Six days too long!”

Lucy stood off to the side, watching, as her mother fussed over Rachel’s hair.

“You’ve lost weight.”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you eating?”

“Mrs. Chen…”

“You know you can come over for dinner whenever you’d like.”

“I know.”

“You don’t even have to ask. Even in the middle of the week, even once you’ve fully moved into college, if it’s midterms week or something and you’re craving home-cooked food, just show up unannounced, I don’t care.”

Rachel’s eyes softened. “Thank you.”

Lucy couldn’t help smiling. Her parents had always treated Rachel like the second daughter they never had. Especially after everything she and her mom had been through recently.

It was something she’d never admit out loud, but… Lucy sometimes wished they looked at her with the same softness. Not because she doubted they loved her; she knew they did. She was their daughter, their only child, after all. They just had a pretty funny way of showing it.

Mrs. Chen finally turned toward her. “Lucy.”

“Yes?”

“Did you remember to pack your vitamins?”

Lucy blinked. “I think so.”

“You think so?”

Tim, who had walked back into the house and was now carrying out two boxes toward his truck bed, muttered just loudly enough for Lucy to hear as he passed behind her “Wrong answer.”

Lucy spun around and shot him a look. She then turned back around to her mother. “I packed them.”

Mrs. Chen crossed her arms. “Did you though?”

Lucy hesitated. “I mean, probably. If not I could just go to some store near my dorm and buy some, y’know.”

Tim sighed dramatically before setting the boxes down in his car. “I’ll go check.”

“I can check myself, thank you very much..”

“You’ll look for like five seconds, get too lazy to look more, then decide they’re gone forever.”

“That’s so not true.”

“It so is.”

“No it’s not! Rachel, back me up here!”

Rachel said nothing, though, simply laughed so hard she had to lean against the porch railing.

Lucy glared at both of them. “I don’t like either of you.”

Tim walked toward the front door again, already shaking his head. “No, but you definitely need me.”

Lucy watched him disappear back inside the house. Despite the teasing, despite the constant eye rolls, despite how often he complained and pulled her leg, he always came back.

Always.

And for reasons she couldn’t quite explain, the thought made her heart feel just a little bit lighter.

—

Tim was right- the vitamins had somehow ended up in one of the kitchen boxes.

Lucy refused to acknowledge that fact, though. He would give her hell about it, and she’d quite literally stick her head into an active fireplace than admit it to him.

“They were packed though,” she insisted as Tim walked back outside, her trailing two steps behind, tossing the orange container towards her.

“You packed them with Tupperware containers, come on!”

“I had a system.”

“Oh yeah? What was it?”

“Think about it, like, my Tupperware collection are all plastic containers and so is my vitamin bottle. I did it on purpose.” Lucy tightened the cap before dropping it back into the box she’d actually meant to pack it in, with all her other health-related essentials.

The corner of Tim’s mouth twitched as he rolled his eyes a little.

It wasn’t quite a smile- Tim Bradford rarely smiled. At least, not the wide, carefree kind. His smiles were smaller and quieter, the kind you almost missed if you weren’t paying attention. Lucy had spent enough years paying attention to notice every single one, though.

—

Nearly twenty minutes later, the last cardboard box was tucked into the back of Tim’s truck.

Lucy stood at the end of the driveway with her hands resting on her hips. Her entire life somehow fit into a truck’s bed.

It felt wrong the more she thought about it. Every box represented a piece of home.

The books she’d collected since elementary school. The blanket her grandmother had crocheted for her before she’d died five years ago. The stuffed animal rabbit she’d insisted on bringing despite Rachel teasing her relentlessly about it.

It all looked so temporary. As though someone had picked her entire life up and decided it belonged somewhere else now.

“You ready?” Lucy’s father appeared beside her.

She looked over at him. He wasn’t usually sentimental, rather, more on the reserved and serious side. That was just who her dad was.

Yet there was something different in his expression today. A softness she didn’t see very often.

Lucy nodded. “I think so.”

He slipped an arm around her back, settled his hand on her shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze before patting it twice and dropping his arm back to his side. “You’ll do great,” he said softly.

Three simple words.

They shouldn’t have affected her as much as they did. But they hit her in the square of her chest. She leaned her head briefly against his arm, finding comfort in that small, intimate moment.

“I’ll only be one car drive away.”

“I know.”

“We’ll see each other all the time, I’ll make sure to come visit and stuff.”

“I know.”

“But…” She didn’t quite know how to finish the sentence.

Her father smiled gently, finishing for her. “It won’t ever quite be the same.”

Lucy looked down at the driveway. “No, yeah, it won’t.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, as quickly as the moment had appeared, it disappeared. Mrs. Chen locked the front door and walked towards the driveway where everyone was standing.

“Everyone!” She clapped her hands twice. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss our move-in time.”

Lucy smiled to herself. There was her mother.

—

The drive to campus felt shorter than it ever had before.

Lucy rode in Tim’s car.

Not because she’d planned to. Simply because her mother had decided that there wasn’t enough room in the SUV, plus she thought Lucy should sit in the car all her stuff was in.

“Take her,” Mrs. Chen had told Tim before climbing into the passenger seat of their car beside Lucy’s father.

Lucy had opened her mouth to argue, while Tim had simply unlocked the passenger door. “C’mon, get in,” he had called out to her.

Now she sat beside him in comfortable silence as familiar quiet neighborhoods slowly gave way to busier roads.

Tim’s playlist, on shuffle, hummed quietly in the background. He had one hand rested lazily against the steering wheel, the other dangling out of the open window.

Lucy looked her own window, then broke the silence.

“Last night, my mom told me that she slipped ten dollars into every bag I packed. She called it ‘emergency money’ or something.”

Tim chuckled softly. “Typical Mrs. Chen behavior. She has a strange way of looking out for you.”

Lucy scoffed in response. “I know, I just wished she showed it in more normal ways.”

Tim hummed in agreement.

Another quiet then settled between them. It wasn’t awkward though- it never was. That was one thing Lucy had always appreciated about Tim. Silence wasn’t something either of them felt obligated to fill, and they were both comfortable enough with each other that they were okay with those quiet moments where the conversation lulled and paused.

She glanced toward him, clearing her throat. “So. You excited for the first day next week?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s just college. I’ll go to class, I’ll study, I’ll probably spend a lot of time in the gym. Just like high school. There’s nothing wowing about it.”

Lucy laughed. “You are unbelievably boring.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She smiled in response. “Okay, fine, you’re dependable.”

Tim looked over briefly before returning his eyes to the road. “That’s one way of saying it.”

Lucy frowned. “What? What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

He was quiet for a second. “My dad always says dependable is what people call you when they can’t think of anything interesting.”

Lucy stared at him. “That’s ridiculous.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Lucy made a noise of disagreement and looked hard at something out in the distance, leaning her head on the window and pulling her legs up to her chest. Tim had opened up to her a few times in the past about some of the horrible things his dad had done to him in his childhood, physically and mentally abusing him. Everytime his name was brought up, Lucy felt like her blood would boil over.

He glanced over like he knew exactly what she was thinking, then looked back onto the road. Conversations like these were hard and he really wasn’t in the mood for it now.

“Tim…” Lucy spoke softly to get his attention. She waited until he looked at her again.

“I’ve known you for over ten years now-“

“Unfortunately.” Tim cut in trying to change the topic.

She ignored him anyways. “You’re dependable because people trust you.”

He didn’t respond.

“You always show up. You always help. Always. And I really appreciate that about you. Okay?” Lucy reached out and placed her hand lightly on Tim’s shoulder, rubbing in small, slow circles. His fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around the steering wheel in response. “You remember things everyone else forgets. And it makes you so special.”

The silence stretched in the car for a minute, the only sound filling the space being the rev of cars driving alongside them and a random pop song in the background.

“My dad definitely doesn’t see it that way.” Tim finally scoffed.

Lucy looked back out the window. “Well… I do.”

Tim said nothing in response, only turned his head to look at the back of Lucy’s head, watching her watch the trees outside go by. It awed him how she always knew the exact right thing to say.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive.

—

UCLA’s entrance came into view just a few minutes later. Brick buildings stretched across the campus, dotted with hundreds of students carrying boxes, bags, mini fridges, lamps, rugs, and everything in between. Volunteers wearing matching t-shirts waved brightly from every sidewalk with giant signs, inviting the incoming freshmen in to officially start their college experience.

Lucy felt her stomach flip. This was it.

No more imagining, no more watching college vlogs on TikTok and pretending it was her, no more crossing the days off the calendar that had hung above her desk. College was officially beginning.

She looked over at Tim. He was already pulling his truck into the unloading line, completely unfazed by the chaos surrounding them. Lucy smiled. Somehow, seeing Tim so calm and composed made her feel a little less nervous about all of this.

The campus somehow felt bigger than the last time Lucy was here for her accepted students orientation. The sheer number of people was slightly overwhelming. Families crowded every sidewalk and walkway, weaving between cars with armfuls of bedding and laundry baskets overflowing with clothes. The volunteers, somehow spotted in every direction Lucy looked, directed traffic with exaggerated enthusiasm.

Everyone seemed to be moving somewhere with a pep in their step and a clear purpose. Everyone except Lucy.

She remained seated in Tim’s truck for another few seconds, taking it all in through the windshield. A new chapter in her life was really, truly starting now. There would be no more walking back home after a long day of high school. No more familiar hallways. No more teachers she’d known for years. No more of looking around the school cafeteria and instantly spotting dozens of people she recognized.

While finishing up with packing up her childhood bedroom yesterday morning, she’d realized something. For nearly eighteen years, every version of herself, every important memory and experience, had existed within a fifteen mile radius. The little girl who cried on her first day of kindergarten, the awkward middle schooler with braces and uneven bangs, the high schooler who spent far too many nights stressing over college applications.

All of those versions of Lucy still existed back home.

This version, the college student Lucy Chen, though? She hadn’t met her yet. But she was damn sure excited to get to know her.

A gentle knock against the passenger window startled her from her thoughts. Tim stood outside the truck, staring at her through the window. “You planning on just living in there or something?”

Lucy blinked before laughing softly. “Sorry. I was just reminiscing about how our high school days are officially behind us now.”

Tim replied with fake judgement in his voice. “Why you’re getting all nostalgic like we didn’t just graduate high school two months ago is beyond me.”

“Shut up, you’re heartless, Tim!” Lucy responded.

He laughed as he opened her door, before offering a hand. “For real now. You coming?”

Lucy looked at his hand for a moment before taking it, using it to step down from the truck and onto the concrete. The gesture lasted only a second; just long enough to help her get out of the truck. It was probably even short enough that Tim probably didn’t think anything of it.

She definitely did, though.

—

The unloading process quickly became organized chaos. Tim and Lucy met up with her parents, as well as Rachel and her mom, who had both parked near Tim’s truck. They finally made their way to Lucy and Rachel’s dorm building after a lot of confusion and asking others around them for directions.

Once inside, within two minutes, Mrs. Chen somehow located the resident assistant assigned to their floor. Within five, she’d learned his hometown, major, how long it had taken him to move in his first year, and whether he’d called his own parents after he’d finished moving in.

Lucy wasn’t entirely sure how her mother ever managed to collect so much information from complete strangers.

“Room 318?” the RA smiled, checking his clipboard.

“That’s us,” Rachel answered.

“Perfect. Elevator’s around the corner. Check in at the desk over there,” he pointed down the hall from where they were standing, “to get your room keycards and welcome packets. Also, please make sure you move your car once you’re done unloading to avoid bottlenecking traffic.”

“We will! Thanks, honey!” Mrs. Chen answered before either girl had a chance to.

The RA smiled politely, turning towards Lucy and Rachel before walking off to the next group of people who had walked into the building. “Welcome to UCLA, guys!”

Lucy watched him disappear into the crowd.

“Nice.” Tim muttered from his spot behind the girls.

Rachel looked back. “What?”

“We’ve been here for three minutes max and your mom has already made more friends than we’ve managed to.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Vanessa is definitely a unique person.”

Tim and Rachel held back their laughter as Lucy exhaled deeply and walked towards the front desk to check in. They followed shortly behind her, and the parents trailed at the back.

“Last name?” The lady at the desk asked in a monotone voice. Lucy responded, “Chen.” She was then handed two manila envelopes, one for herself and one for Rachel, presumably containing their room key cards and other necessities for the first few days on campus. Before Lucy could ask what to do next, the lady wordlessly pointed down the hall towards where the elevators were.

Lucy and Rachel crowded into the small elevator. Tim then called out to the group, “I think you both should go check out the room while me and the parents start grabbing some of your stuff and bring it up.”

Lucy smiled and nodded in response. “Good idea, thanks.”

Tim knowingly nodded back. He figured the girls would need a moment to soak in the room, and it was best to do it just the two of them alone, especially without any overbearing parents hovering over them.

He led the way as the parents filed behind, walking out the building towards their cars. Lucy and Rachel watched as the elevators closed and slowly rose up the floors.

Once they reached the third floor, Lucy and Rachel walked out the elevator, turning left and walking down to the end of the hallway to get to their room.

Lucy looked back at Rachel, grabbing her hand and taking a deep breath. She finally unlocked the room with the key card the front desk lady had given to her, after a moment’s hesitation.

Lucy stepped inside first.

It was… definitely small. Smaller than the photos online had made it seem.

Two lofted beds with two desks sitting under, two wardrobes, a sink in the corner behind the door, and one large window overlooking the courtyard below.

Nothing fancy or even particularly memorable. Yet somehow, Lucy felt like it was theirs now.

Rachel walked in behind her before setting her backpack down in the middle of the room. “This is weird,” she pondered out loud.

Lucy nodded in response. “Yeah.”

“We actually live here now.” Rachel looked around slowly. “No parents.”

Lucy smiled. “No parents.”

Rachel followed, “No curfew!”

Lucy laughed. “My parents are definitely still giving me one. They’ll be tracking my every move on Life360.”

Rachel smiled, but it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. “I guess my mom can’t really give me a curfew anymore.”

The room fell quiet; neither of them knew what more to say. Lucy just reached over and gently bumped Rachel’s shoulder with her own. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

Rachel nodded. “I know.”

Their small moment was interrupted as Tim, Lucy’s parents, and Rachel’s mom barged into the room, carrying boxes of the girls’ things.

As they all took turns bringing in the last of their things from their cars, boxes and bags quickly began filling every available inch of the room’s floor.

Tim carried nearly all of the heavy ones without being asked. Lucy noticed he always reached for the awkward boxes first- the ones everyone else avoided, too, like the mini-fridge, the microwave, and that giant box filled with all of Lucy’s books.

It honestly didn’t surprise her. She’d watched Tim do the same thing for years, no matter the event: neighborhood cookouts, church fundraisers, helping elderly neighbors upkeep their front yards before anyone even asked.

It wasn’t something he got recognition for, yet he always helped. He didn’t want the recognition anyway. If anything, Tim seemed almost uncomfortable whenever someone thanked him, like he genuinely didn’t understand why helping people deserved praise.

Now that she thought about it, maybe that was what she’d always admired most about him. Not one grand gesture; instead, hundreds of little ones.

The kind nobody else noticed, the kind she always did.

Speaking of Tim, Lucy had no idea about his rooming situation- specifically what building he was in, when he was moving in, nothing at all. She’d been so preoccupied about her own moving in that she had never asked him. And of course, he had never offered the information either. Typical Tim.

“Tim!” Lucy called out.

Tim looked up from where he was wrestling the mini-fridge into the corner across the room from her.

“Are you moving in today, too?”

Tim shook his head. “No, my move in’s tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, nice. What building are you in, though?”Lucy responded.

“I’m in the same building as you, actually. I’m on the fourth floor though,” answered Tim.

Lucy spoke, “Ugh. I wish we were all moving in today.”

Tim just shrugged his shoulders in response. “Yeah. But my floor’s scheduled for tomorrow.”

She frowned. “Oh. That’s dumb.”

“It’s one day,” he replied

“I was gonna help you move in and stuff!” Lucy whined.

Tim laughed a quiet, breathy laugh. “You?”

“What does that mean?” Lucy crossed her arms and looked straight at Tim.

“You probably weigh less than some of my boxes. I’m good, I can move in myself.”

Lucy frowned. “I’m serious. You helped me. So let me help you too.”

Tim shook his head in response. “I don’t need help. I got it.”

Lucy opened her mouth and closed it again. There it was. Tim fucking Bradford. Always ready to carry someone else’s weight, but never willing to let anyone carry his.

She’d known him long enough to recognize the serious look on his face- his mind was already made up; he definitely wouldn’t be taking her up on the offer to help.

Still, she wasn’t entirely convinced she planned on listening.

Mrs. Chen emerged from the hallway carrying another shopping bag, breaking Lucy’s train of thought. “Lucy.”

Lucy looked over. “What?”

“Where do you want these snacks?” her mother asked pointedly.

Lucy laughed. “I don’t know.”

“You have to know.”

“I’ve been in this room for a total of ten minutes. I still need to gather myself, mom, please.”

Mrs. Chen looked genuinely concerned. “You should have a snack drawer.”

Rachel leaned over toward Lucy, whispering in her ear. “Empty nest syndrome.”

Lucy bit back a smile. “Yeah, it has to be.”

Her mother pointed toward the empty dresser underneath Lucy’s bed, sitting next to the tiny desk. “Top drawer for snacks. It’ll be perfect.” She then rushed over and started filling the drawer, lining them with plastic bins and organizing a million different kinds of snacks for the girls.

Lucy exchanged a look with Rachel. Neither of them argued. Maybe, just maybe… a snack drawer wasn’t that bad of an idea.

—

The moment eventually came. It wasn’t marked by someone announcing that it was time to leave, no sudden shift that made everything feel final. Instead, it crept in through small actions.

The last box being emptied out, the last check of the room, the last time Mrs. Chen adjusted something that didn’t really need adjusting.

Lucy noticed it first when her mother paused in the middle of straightening out the bedding she had straightened out three times already. Her hands lingered on the edge of the comforter for a second too long. Then she stepped back.

And that’s exactly how Lucy realized.

Her parents moved to stand in the middle of the dorm room like they didn’t quite know where to put themselves anymore.

Her father was the first to speak. “You’ve got everything?”

Lucy nodded quickly. “Yup, I think so.”

Her mother sighed, “Well, that’s not very reassuring, but okay.”

Rachel let out a soft laugh from where she sat cross-legged on top of her bed, but even she seemed quieter now.

Mrs. Chen stepped forward and pulled Lucy into a hug before she could overthink it. It wasn’t a quick hug, not the kind she gave in passing at home when she was rushing between tasks. This one lingered.

Lucy stood still for a moment before wrapping her arms around her mother properly. She hadn’t realized how tightly she was holding on until she felt her mother exhale.

“You’re going to be fine,” Mrs. Chen said quietly.

Lucy nodded against her shoulder. “I will.” But her voice wasn’t as steady as she wanted it to be.

When they pulled apart, Mrs. Chen immediately smoothed a piece of Lucy’s hair back into place. Then paused, and stared at Lucy’s face, like she was trying to memorize the way she looked in a way she hadn’t needed to before.

“I’ll call you tonight,” she said.

“I’ll call you first,” Lucy replied automatically.

Her mother gave a small, approving nod. “Good.”

Her father stepped forward next. He didn’t say anything at first, just looked at her for a long moment, eyes getting misty. Lucy wasn’t used to that kind of silence from him.

Finally, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know I’ve said this before, but honey, I’m so proud of you. You’ll do amazing out here.”

Lucy blinked quickly, looking everywhere but at her parents before she let her emotions show too much. “Thanks, Dad.”

He squeezed her shoulder twice before letting go. And that was it.

Somehow, that was all it took for her chest to tighten.

On the other side of the room, Rachel’s goodbye happened differently.

Her mother had been standing near the doorway for a while, looking small, like she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to leave first or last.

Rachel stood up slowly and walked towards her. “Mom…” Her voice wasn’t quite steady.

Mrs. Hall stepped forward immediately, pulling her into a tight hug that looked like it had been held in for days.

Rachel closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of their bodies and breathing in deep to smell the familiar scent of her mom one more time.

Lucy looked away instinctively, giving them a moment in as much privacy as this tiny dorm room would allow. But she could still hear it.

“I’m going to be okay,” Rachel whispered.

Her mother shook her head slightly. “I know you will.” She paused for a moment, taking in a shallow breath through her nose. “I just don’t know how to leave you here.”

Rachel let out a shaky breath that sounded almost like a laugh. “You don’t really have a choice. Plus, my brother would destroy the house if you left home alone for more than 24 hours, you know how 16-year-olds are.”

Her mother pulled back just enough to look at her, a slight smile in her eyes. “I know. But still.”

And for a moment, neither of them moved. It felt like letting go required something neither of them was ready to give.

Eventually, Rachel nodded once, stepping out of the embrace. “Call me when you get home. Love you, mom.”

Her mother smiled faintly, squeezing Rachel’s hand. “I will. I love you too.” Then she walked out the room and left.

And now the room felt quieter again.

Mrs. Chen was the last one to speak. She was standing near the door now, her purse already slung over her shoulder, eyes still scanning the room like she was mentally checking everything one final time. “Make sure you eat properly,” she said immediately.

Lucy closed her eyes in exasperation for a second. “Mom…”

“I’m serious,” her mother interjected. “Don’t just eat snacks,” she continued. “Actual meals. You have plenty of meal swipes at the dining hall to last all semester.”

“I will,” Lucy curtly nodded.

“And don’t forget to-”

“Mom. Please.” Lucy interrupted gently.

Mrs. Chen stopped. For a moment, she just looked at her daughter. Then she exhaled.

“Okay,” she said finally, softer now. “Okay.”

She paused for a moment, just observing Lucy’s face like she was trying to memorize it, then stepped forward and hugged her one last time.

“I love you,” she whispered into Lucy’s hair.

Lucy smiled slightly in response. “I love you too.”

When Mrs. Chen pulled away, she hesitated again, looking like she wanted to say more but couldn’t quite find the words for it.

Finally, she turned toward the door, Mr. Chen following in her trail.

And then they was gone; the door closed shut behind them with a soft click.

For a few seconds, no one spoke, no one moved. Not Lucy. Not Rachel. Not even Tim, who had been leaning against the far wall quietly observing everything without interrupting.

The hallway outside carried faint echoes of other families doing the same thing: goodbyes, instructions, laughter trying to disguise something inexplicable underneath it.

Rachel sank back onto her bed slowly, not sure what to say next, how to fill the gap of silence. “Okay,” she said quietly.

Lucy nodded once in response. “Yup. Yup.”

Tim pushed off the wall and walked to the middle of the room. “Soooo. Parents are gone now.”

Rachel looked at him with a look of sarcasm on her face. “Wow. How observant.”

He ignored her. “We should probably-”

“Do NOT say mingle,” Lucy interrupted immediately. She really did not have the mental capacity to go make new friends in her dorm; she needed time to relax and settle into her own room first.

Tim paused. “Mingle.”

Lucy groaned and threw one of the pillows off her bed at him. It hit his shoulder, but he didn’t even flinch, instead just smirked at her.

That little moment, something about it, small and steady, kept the room from feeling completely empty. It reminded her of just a few months ago, when they were still in high school, just enjoying life and not having a care in the world.

She was ready to explore this new chapter, but she would definitely grieve her past self.

But then she looked over and Tim and Rachel, bickering about something small per usual. She smiled slightly.

She could count on it: some things would never change. She knew she’d always have her two best friends by her side, through thick and thin, the good and the bad, and all the ups and downs she was sure college would bring about.

—

A few hours later, the girls had settled into their room just a bit more. Tim had just left about an hour ago, after they had Doordash-ed some pizza and ate lying on the floor while talking about anything and everything- just like old times.

Lucy lay on top of her bed, propped slightly against the wall, phone pressed to her ear as her mother’s voice filled the space between her and the ceiling.

Rachel was doing the same on the other side of the room.

Two separate conversations. Two separate lives still tethered to their homes, even as everything around them was living proof that they were somewhere new, somewhere else now.

Lucy watched the faint glow of the hallway light slip beneath their door, even more visible with their room’s lights dimmed down low.

People around them were still moving, still talking, still existing somewhere just outside of this small, temporary world they had created for themselves.

Eventually, her mother’s voice softened. Not that she had run out of things to say- but it was getting late and both of their voices were dragging slightly, threatening that they could fall asleep any moment.

“Call me tomorrow,” Mrs. Chen said again just like she had before leaving the dorm that morning.

“I will,” Lucy replied softly, like she had earlier. Like she would every time.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.”

And then the call ended with a soft click.

Across the room, Rachel hung up a moment later. “Okay,” she said into the space, staring at her ceiling. “My mom cried twice and then told me to make sure I eat from all the food groups at each meal.”

Lucy smiled faintly. “Makes sense. She is a nutritionist, after all.”

Rachel laughed softly. “Yeah.”

Lucy then turned her phone face-down on the nightstand next to her bed and stared up at the ceiling, yellowing from age with cracks running between the corners.

For a while, neither of them spoke. All that could be heard were distant sounds out in the hallway, past their closed door. Signs of life continuing as usual, even though theirs had shifted into something less familiar.

Rachel shifted on her bed after a few minutes. “So,” she said eventually.

Lucy hummed in response.

“I have a question.”

“Go for it.”

Rachel hesitated, which was unusual for her. That girl always spoke before thinking, saying whatever was on her mind at the moment. So that alone made Lucy glance over.

“What? What happened?”

Rachel let out a small breath, like she was laughing at herself before she even started speaking. “Don’t judge. But. Do you think Tim is cute?”

Lucy blinked. “Uhhh… what?”

Rachel rolled onto her side to face her. “I mean, objectively speaking. Isn’t his face all symmetrical and shit? Like he’s nice to look at.”

Lucy sat up slightly. “I- um- why are we talking about this?”

“Because he spent literally the entire day with us carrying all of our stuff even though he probably had plenty of things to do to prep for his own move-in tomorrow morning.”

Lucy looked down at her hands. “See, the thing is, I’m not sure that qualifies as criteria for ‘cute.’”

“I don’t know! It kinda is.”

Lucy shook her head, biting back a smile.

Rachel continued. “He’s just… I don’t know. Annoying, but in a way that makes sense? Like he acts like he hates everything but he still shows up for everyone anyway, with that adorable little frown of his.”

Lucy didn’t respond. She was still processing what was coming out of Rachel’s mouth.

Then, Rachel rolled over onto her back again and stared at the ceiling. Her voice softened a tiny bit. “But also after everything with my dad last year…he was there for me a lot. He’d show up at my house randomly with enough takeout for the whole family, he’d text my mom and ask if she wanted any help around the house, and he’d always ask me if I was okay even though he knew the answer already. I mean, how could I not find him attractive?”

Lucy’s chest tightened just a little at the reminder, but she stayed quiet. Rachel continued, slower, more intentional with her words now.

“He’s definitely not, like, emotionally intelligent or whatever. Like he doesn’t say the right thing most of the time. But he always shows up. Even when it’s awkward, even when he clearly doesn’t know what to do with himself.” A small laugh slipped out of her mouth. “And I don’t know. I guess I just noticed it more today for some reason, and it got me thinking about how he’s really been such a rock for me these past few months.”

Lucy stayed still, just staring and processing. Rachel turned her head back again to look at Lucy.

“I think I might like him. Really, really, like him.” The words landed gently and smoothly.

Rachel smiled to herself, almost embarrassed in a way, then backtracked. “I mean, I don’t know. It’s stupid. It’s probably just like a crush because he helped us move in and looked kind of… I don’t know… hot lifting boxes.” She covered her face briefly with her hands and squealed a tiny bit.

A small laugh-scoff combo escaped from Lucy’s mouth before she could even control it. “Wow.”

Rachel peeked at her through her fingers. “What?”

“No, I just-“ Lucy shrugged lightly, swallowing to get her emotions in check. “That’s surprising to hear.”

“Is it really that surprising?” Rachel huffed a little.

Lucy swallowed. “No, no, I’m sorry. It’s not like that. I just didn’t expect it.”

Rachel nodded slowly. “Yeah, me neither.”She paused for a second, letting the room sit in silence. “Don’t make it weird.”

“I’m not!” Lucy responded back.

“You’re definitely making it weird,” said Rachel.

Lucy smiled faintly, laying down and getting snug under the covers. She turned onto her side to mirror Rachel. “I’m not making it weird. Promise.”

Rachel stared at her for a moment, searching her eyes for unspoken words, before visibly relaxing again. “Okay,” she said finally. “Good.”

And just like that, the topic drifted away from Rachel’s little confession, to nothing in particular: gossip about their high school peers, classes they hadn’t started yet, and random things that didn’t matter but filled their conversation anyway.

Eventually, Rachel’s voice grew quieter and slower. Tired.

Lucy answered less and less until there wasn’t much to answer at all. At some point, Rachel’s breathing evened out. She was asleep now.

The room fell into silence again. Lucy didn’t move to go to sleep, though. She stayed lying on her side, eyes open in the dim light, staring at the wall opposite her bed.

Rachel’s words from earlier replayed softly in her mind, popping up at random intervals.

Cute. Annoying. He shows up. He cares. He’s there.

Lucy swallowed quietly in the darkness. Rachel was just noticing him, just beginning to see the pieces of him that had always been there in plain sight. The pieces that most people would see first: the obvious ones, the easy-to-observe ones. Lucy knew those too, of course she did.

But they weren’t what stayed with her. What stayed with her were the smaller things.

The things that never announced themselves. The way he always took the heaviest box from the stack without being asked. The way he remembered things, small details, that other people didn’t think would matter. The way he stood quietly in rooms where other people would’ve left because it became awkward.

The way he stayed. Always stayed. No matter what.

Lucy turned to the other side, now facing the wall closest to her, pulling the blanket closer to her chest in the process.

Rachel liked him now because she was just starting to see him.

Lucy, though, had known him for years. Too many years for it to still feel like something new.

Her eyes drifted slightly, unfocused in the dark, threatening to drift off into sleep. She wondered, definitely not for the first time, when exactly it had started- not the moment she noticed him.

But the moment she stopped being able to imagine not noticing him. Her chest tightened faintly at the thought.

Across the room, Rachel shifted in her sleep. Lucy closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again.

Tomorrow would be a new day, another beginning, another step forward into whatever this feeling was shifting into.

For now, though, Lucy chose to stay still, to focus on listening to the quiet.

And something within her was thinking, against her will, that Rachel was only just beginning to fall for him.

But Lucy had been falling for years.