Langour ・❥・Joost Klein・❥・

15.

Exiting the arts building, Fenne's eyes took a sweep of the surrounding campus. Students walked in all directions as they piled out of their class and joined the thin crowd on the pathways.

Fenne looked over heads while on her toes, searching for the face that had said would be present after her class.

Her heart leapt once she spotted the beautiful grin and prominent dimple. She lowered from her toes and walked across the pathway. Dodging other students, Fenne made it the other side where Joost waited with his arms out wide.

With an uncontrollable smile, Fenne ran into his chest and squeezed his middle. Joost hugged her shoulders and cupped the back of her head with his palm. He kissed her hair and when she pulled her face from his jumper, Joost pecked her lips in an intimate greeting.

'How was class?' he asked without letting Fenne step out of his embrace. Their noses touched and Fenne peered through his hair to see his cresent eyes.

'Boring. I'm so close to finishing now that I barely listen anymore.'

They turned to head off-campus with Joost's arm snug around Fenne's shoulders. She linked her fingers with his that hung by her head. Joost was itching for a cigarette, but had to wait until they were outside of the university's area before he could smoke. In preparation, he rummaged around in his sweatpant pocket for his lighter and pack.

'When's your graduation?' he asked, slipping a cigarette from the pack and sticking it behind his ear.

'February next year.'

Joost hummed. As soon as they stepped into the streets of the city, he pulled the cigarette from his ear and put it between his lips. Fenne couldn't look away as he lit the end and did it all without pulling his arm from around her shoulders. Inhaling once, Joost took the stick between his two, slender fingers and moved it down by his side.

'Actually, I wanted to ask you something...' Fenne started, and he looked down at her while exhaling.

'Hm?'

She wrinkled her nose and reached up to wipe at its tip. Joost thought that he had exhaled in her direction and made sure to turn away the next time. But Fenne was used to the smell and took a moment to think over her words.

'I want you to come to the ceremony. I can buy up to four guest tickets,' she started.

'I'd love to come, baby,' Joost said, calling her the nickname in English. If Fenne wasn't so nervous, she would have cooed in adoration.

The first of many worries fell from the pile weighing on her shoulders. Fenne nodded in acknowledgement and took a deep breath.

It was a big moment, one that some relationships fell apart afterward. Every boyfriend feared it and Fenne hoped that Joost would be open-minded. There was nothing that told her that he wouldn't be, but the voice in her head that doubted every thought or action did its best to ruin her day.

'Hanna's going to come, since she's graduating in the next ceremony,' Fenne said, glancing down to the pavement before looking back to an inquistive Joost. 'And my parents...'

'Ah... I see.'

Fenne bit her lip at the change in the man's tone. He took an extra long drag and used his bent thumb to rub at his eyebrow. They stopped at some traffic lights while cars and bikes roared past.

Joost was silent and Fenne was on edge. She ducked out from underneath Joost's arm to look at him properly. She analysed his expression and noticed that his cigarette was nearing its end. The worry for his brewing reaction ruined her to the point of wanting to leap out into oncoming traffic.