"There's only so many times I can put my heart back together"
"Why are you so sure I'll break it again?"
🖤🤍🖤
No one said university would be easy, but between assignments and relationships, it gets a little too messy.
Nicole doesn't do feelings...
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Andrew woke up to the smell of pancakes and something sweet burning. He found Alice panicking in his kitchen, running from one side to the other. She was taking advantage of his kindness as expected, extending her stay for longer than the time agreed upon, but he didn't complain yet.
"What are you doing?" he said in a raspy voice, taking the frying pan from her hands and turning the stove off.
"I was trying to make breakfast, but I'm not very good at it." She blushed, stepping aside to let him clean her mess.
"Clearly," he mumbled, taking the job himself.
Alice sat by the table, bringing her knees up and hugging them. He looked very upset, but no matter how embarrassed she was, the smile she carried on her lips didn't want to leave. She'd woken up with a jolt of happiness coursing through her, and nothing would ruin her day, not even burning pancakes.
"Why would you even try cooking?" he kept complaining as he fried the dough she had made. "What are you so happy about?"
She hid her head between her arms, shaking her head. "It's nothing."
He looked at her with a frown. She looked almost cute sitting like that, curled into a ball in her woollen pyjama. She was blushing, but he thought she should be ashamed of herself. It was easy to guess why she was happy.
"I didn't know Gio was nothing."
Her head snapped up, staring at him in confusion. "What?"
"You must be thrilled that you have him all to yourself now that Rita has gone back home for Christmas," he noted. "He was spending a lot of time with her this past week."
She bit her cheek, looking at the ground. Rita had invited Giovanni to a thousand different things while she was staying. Alice couldn't keep up with her. Every time she called, he was already busy and even if they invited her; she didn't feel at ease with the blonde. But how could she? Rita was the memory that she had already lost Andrew to Nicole and now she was going to lose Giovanni, too. Looking at her was remembering all the reasons she came to feel threated by Nicole.
"That's because he is in love with Nicole," she said, hoping it would strike a nerve. "He doesn't say it, but it's obvious in the way he looks at her. If he can't have her, he would always try his luck with Rita."
"And now both girls are gone. Poor guy," he joked, as if it didn't affect him at all. And it didn't, but Alice wanted him to be mad too. If she couldn't be sure of Giovanni's feelings, she could only hope to influence Andrew's jealousy into keeping Nicole away from him.
After a moment of silence, he added in a more serious tone, "I hope she's okay. I'm not sure she's ready to see her father again."
At that moment, several cities away, the sisters walked out of a train, engulfed in the crowd. They escaped the chaos of the train station, onto the street, and walked home arm in arm. The wheels of their suitcase ran on the limestone pavement, announcing their passage, along with many other students heading home for Christmas.
