Retrouvaille (Nick & Charlie)

01

01

Roam on, my love,

down life's long road

we will be lost and found

a thousand times before

we meet again.

(Atticus)

Charlie was about to give up.

Numbers with no end, mixed with strange looking characters. Symbols that made little sense. Words that he had to re-read over and over as he kept failing to comprehend them. The pages of the book blurred before his eyes, came into focus, and disappeared again when he averted his gaze. A deep sigh escaped from within his chest.

"You really are a dramatic bitch." The voice, drenched in friendly teasing and mockery, snapped him out of his tormenting thoughts. He rolled his eyes.

"Thanks to you, I'm surviving on four hours of sleep today. I'm too tired for this shit." His mellow voice revealed that he wasn't really holding it against the other.

Quite the opposite, actually. He was eternally grateful to him for the distraction from the daunting mountain of uni assignments. Charlie sometimes tended somewhat toward excessive perfection. His roommate did well to forcefully break him out of his isolation from his studies every now and then.

"You look like someone from the Walking Dead." Tao offered him a provocative smile before Charlie rose from his much-too-hard wooden seat.

"Thanks a lot, Karen." It was an inside joke that could infuriate Tao if the timing was just right. Since his black, thick hair had grown so long it reached below his chin, he was sporting the infamous 'Karen haircut,' according to Charlie. "I know you're trying to hide the Karen within you by wearing that beanie of yours, but it doesn't work."

"Fuck off." The two grinned tiredly at each other.

"Can you both shut the fuck up? Some people here aren't undisciplined losers like you and are trying to focus." Charlie's eyes wandered to a playfully glaring Isaac.

"Please, Isaac. I watched you secretly read some dumb anime fanfiction on your phone for the past half hour." Nodding, Tao agreed with Charlie and got up from the solid table, which was surrounded by bookshelves in the middle of the huge university library.

The dusty scent of old books and burnt coffee lingered in the air. Now and then a muffled whisper flew through the silence. The sounds of turning pages, moving pens, and soft footsteps filled the room.

Charlie loved the library.

Many times, his wanderings led him here, to this place. On his own or accompanied by his idiot friends. Here he had the feeling not to be alone with his sometimes-overflowing stress. No, many others made themselves comfortable here, just like him, from day to day and spent their time despairing of homework, exam preparations and research.

It was an unspoken encouragement, a friendly nod and compassionate smile from strangers as they passed by, signaling: 'I'm just as overworked as you are, but we'll get through it!'

"Let's take a break and get some fresh air in the park. Otherwise, I'll end up tearing my book to shreds out of sheer frustration."

Tao's suggestion sounded more than tempting. Just what the three of them needed after nearly six hours of miserably poring over books and solving equations. Charlie stretched his arms toward the ceiling, yawning. His legs felt rusty and stiff after sitting for so long. He should change his position more often in the future.