"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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The thick rain of January soaked through Giovanni's woollen cardigan and licked the skin of his face and neck, making him shiver. His hands shook, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or his nerves.
Everything had felt wrong as soon as he stepped foot into the dead grass around the house. The flowers he purchased on his way no longer seemed beautiful, his clothes no longer seemed to fit him, and his carefully combed hair was wet and stuck to his forehead. Maybe it was for the best. He didn't want to look like he was desperate. His mind was swirling with a thousand questions as he waited. Maybe he should have warned he was coming. Maybe she wasn't home. Or maybe she had returned to her romance with Andrew. Maybe she just didn't want to see him.
"Holy crap, you're soaked!" said Alice upon opening the front door of Andrew's house.
"A-Am I?" he stuttered. "I didn't notice."
Alice pushed him off the rain, offering the shelter of the house's ceiling. She closed the door behind him and stood in front of him. He was used to her in large clothes. It was strange to see her in pyjama and a blanket draped across her shoulders.
"Let me get you a towel," she said, walking away from him. "And maybe some of Andrew's clothes."
"Oh, no!" he almost screamed after her. "He's clothes are all Gucci or whatever. He'll hate me if I ruin them!"
Giovanni wasn't sure a guy like Andrew would notice if a shirt was missing. He probably had a thousand of them and could easily buy another. Plus, maybe he already hated him. From the little he saw of Andrew, he didn't seem to express feelings very well. The only people he seemed to like were Nicole and some waiters.
He took his shoes off, only to find out his socks hadn't survived either. Maybe he could blow-dry his clothes in the bathroom. The flowers were undeniably ruined, so he just hid them behind the jackets hanging in the hall.
"Okay, I got sweatpants and a hoodie." She came down with the clothes in hand. He was pretty sure he'd never seen Andrew wear a hoodie.
"Yeah, um, do you have a blow dryer?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Let me show you the bathroom."
Once inside the ground floor's bathroom, Giovanni stripped off his wet clothes and tried to dry himself with a towel. He was very conscious of Alice's presence just outside the door and tried to do everything as quick as possible. He changed to a pair of grey sweatpants and a hoodie that made him look even skinnier before trying to blow dry his own clothes.
I look like a clown. He thought as he found his reflection in the mirror. Andrew was taller and leaner than he was, but the way his clothes looked baggy on Giovanni's lanky body was enough to make him feel small and frail.
"Are you okay in there?" Alice asked. "Do you need any help?"
"No, I'm okay! I'm coming out now."
He hoped she wouldn't realise how stupid he looked and let her lead him into the living room where she had been watching a film just before he rang. She pulled her knees to her chin and hugged her legs, looking at him through the thin curtain of colourful hair.
