Five Twenty-Eight

20.

The Christmas countdown came and went. One month became one week in the blink of an eye, and Elisa and Oliver held the spirit hostage in their apartment over a series of shopping trips that occurred every other day, despite the fact that they weren't going to be there to celebrate it.

After spending their first free Thanksgiving as an official couple in Philadelphia, Sam and Mary decided that they would spend a week of their Winter break (And escape to a more private setting for the remaining two weeks) in Florida with Mary's parents, and invited Elisa and Oliver along for the ride.

Oliver was ecstatic, naturally, loving Mary and her parents as well as his brother and missing them more than he could describe.

It helped that Elisa wanted to go home. After the past two months being so chaotic and unexplainably painful, a little slice of home and familiarity sounded nice, and as happy as he was for her, Oliver wasn't necessarily excited to be alone.

But a week with Sam and Mary sounded just right.

Snow fell hard on the first Saturday free of college stress for the four teenagers. Mary flew in as soon as she finished her last final on Friday afternoon, and Sam rolled in that morning.

They all curled up in the living room, the sounds of cars rushing by and wind singing through the trees keeping them company while they tried to make up for the memories of the last time they were all together.

In the past few weeks, their lives were turning around. Elisa started going back to work and fully intended on going back to therapy when she got back to New York, Oliver decided his routine needed something fresh and started applying for jobs around the city, Mary successfully snagged an internship for the Spring in San Jose, and Sam made the decision to study abroad at Bocconi University in Italy next Fall.

"Promise me you won't ditch us like Aaron did," Oliver said lightly, mindlessly sliding a bowl of popcorn across the coffee table to Mary, who sat on the floor, "I don't think I could handle that."

"Aaron stayed in Europe because he met Mia," Sam pointed out, "I fully intend on marrying-" He trailed off, tilting his head at Mary as she jammed handfuls of popcorn into her mouth, "That."

"Hey!" She tried to shout out at him, but the food in her mouth muffled, and almost choked, her.

Oliver snickered, crossing his ankles at the edge of the table when she pulled the bowl into her lap. "I'd kill to go to Italy again," He sighed, "Especially Milan— Sounds nostalgic. I envy you."

"Columbia has an Architecture program in Bologna," Elisa spoke up from the other side of Sam, shyly hugging her knees to her chest, "And Berlin— But you don't know German, do you?"

He leaned forward slightly to look at her, tilting his head. "I don't, but I'll bet good money that you do."

She smiled at him softly, shifting to hold her legs tight in one arm before she poked the other out. "Fork it over," She joked, "I could probably pick up a few words but I've only got French and Italian— And a tiny bit of Spanish."

He sighed softly, shaking his head. "I've overestimated you. You've let me down," He joked back, sadly taking her hand.

She scoffed softly, taking her hand back to smack the back of his. "Sei uno stronzo," She told him, rolling her eyes.

He gasped dramatically, taking his hand back to hold it to his chest. "You really are fluent," He raised his eyebrows.

"You couldn't come to that conclusion when we read The Decameron? Only when I call you an asshole?" She raised her eyebrows at him.