𝐔𝐏𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 - 𝖠𝖫𝟥

𝟎.𝟎.𝟏 - 𝖲𝖺𝖽 𝖦𝗂𝗋𝗅

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𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

Jocelyn laid across Arvid's bed, the soft fabric of his navy blue comforter crumpling beneath her as she absentmindedly scrolled through her phone. The subtle hum of Arvid mumbling in a mix of Swedish and an Indian language filled the room, his attention glued to the laptop on his lap. He was typing away, his fingers moving with a kind of determined precision. The desk light illuminated his face, making his features look sharper as he concentrated on whatever assignment he was working on. Jocelyn had no idea what he was saying-honestly, she didn't even realize Arvid could speak more than one language when they first met. But here he was, lost in his schoolwork, flipping between languages like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She stared at him for a moment, her head resting on the pillow, brown hair fanned out. The room smelled faintly of something clean, like linen with a hint of cedarwood. It was comfortable in here, even though they hadn't been friends for very long. But Arvid had that kind of easy-going energy about him that made her feel like she'd known him forever. She supposed that was the thing about moving around all the time-you learned to latch onto people who felt like home.

But right now, Jocelyn didn't feel at home. She felt...off.

"Arvid, are you almost done?" she asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Arvid didn't look up. He just waved his hand in the air, still murmuring something in Swedish that she couldn't understand, but the tone was clear enough: Almost. She sighed, pushing herself up on her elbows, watching him for a second longer before flopping back down dramatically.

"I still don't get how you can understand all that," she said, more to herself than to him. "It sounds like a different planet in here."

Arvid chuckled softly, still focused, but he replied in English this time. "Swedish and Hindi. My mom's Indian, remember? She made sure I learned. And Swedish is... well, Swedish."

"Makes no sense to me," Jocelyn muttered, flipping her phone over so the screen pressed against her chest.

She waited for him to finish, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind wandered to cheer practice, to the tumble passes she'd been doing lately, and the excitement of being in a new gym with SSX. But it was hard to shake the weird heaviness that had settled in her chest.

Arvid finally closed his laptop with a soft click, letting out a relieved sigh. "Done," he announced.

"Finally," she groaned. She rolled over onto her stomach and watched him as he set the laptop on his desk and plopped down next to her on the bed. He sat close enough that their knees touched, and she could feel the warmth from his body. It was oddly comforting, but there was that weird tightness in her chest again.

He must have noticed something was up because he nudged her with his elbow. "You okay? You've been kinda quiet since you came over."

Jocelyn sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them. She didn't meet his gaze, just stared at the wall across from them. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... you're leaving tomorrow."

Arvid leaned back against the headboard, stretching out his legs in front of him. "It's just a race weekend. I'll be back in like, three days."

She knew that. She knew it was only three days. But for some reason, it felt like more than that. Maybe it was the fact that she was in a new place, with new people, and Arvid was the only person she really felt connected to here. And now, he was going to be gone.