Covert Affairs

Brother?

Tyler and I have made it an unspoken habit to walk to class together at some point in the day. Whether it's him dragging my tired ass out of the Grand Hall for our first class or me forcing him to go to Culture & Assimilation since it's his least favorite class. Either way, at some point in the day it's just the two of us. It's a moment of solitude and separation. It's also something I hate that I look forward to every day.

We all remember how poorly it went the last time I had a crush on my Cov' Ops partner. But did it really go that badly? I mean Jerry and I are best friends now. However, the smart thing to do would be to stop this before it gets out of hand. Stop it before it's too late and there's no turning back. I really should just write him off as a distraction, just simple attraction and nothing else. If I tell myself that, then it's fine. There's no feelings involved, it can't even be classified as a crush, I just think he's cute. But we all know I'd be lying to myself. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to stay away from him, there's this undeniable pull between us that I feel even when he's not around. And I feel like it's already too late to turn back with him.

So I'm not going to try anymore. I'm going to allow us to be friends without thinking too much about it. I'm going to allow myself to selfishly steal these little moments of solitude where no one else can bother us. These walks to class, or those moments he catches me alone in the reading room, or silent study sessions in the library. I will take those lingering glances, the heat when our bodies are so close that I can feel him even though we're not touching. I will take any moment I can get with him and not have to think about the implications because he's going to be leaving at the end of the year. There's a countdown on our time as partners and I don't want to waste a second of pushing him away anymore. I want to be selfish and take what I can while I can.

"Favorite Spy tool?" Tyler asked, pulling me from my thoughts. We were playing a spy version of 20 questions. The casual graze of his arm brushing up against mine reminded me of how close we were. And suddenly I had the aching desire to reach out and grab his hand, but I withheld for obvious reasons.

"Shoe Dagger." I replied, shoving those thoughts from my mind.

"Underwater Jetpack." He answered smiling, seemingly not taking any notice to how distracted I was a few moments ago.

"Why?" I asked with a light chuckle. .

"Because it's a jetpack that can be used underwater. That's literally the coolest thing in the world!" He said, smirking.

"I'm not that impressed. Besides, I'm one for practicality over flashiness." I shrugged.

"No way!" He replied furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yes way! It's multifunctional and discreet. A shoe with a serious bite. I can look cute and be dangerous at the same time!" I said smiling.

"You do that on your own already, you don't need the help of a shoe." He winked.

"Shut up!" I pushed him away to hide the creeping blush threatening to come up.

"Aww, are you blushing Snow?" He teased, poking my cheek.

"No!" I turned away from him quickly and tried to redirect the conversation. "It's my turn... Favorite assassinated president?" I asked.

"3 letters... JFK." He smiled. " He established the Peace Corps, he stopped a war, and made new civil rights. He's the best."

"Abraham Lincoln. Don't think I really have to explain that one." I smiled victoriously. His face fell as he knew he lost.

"Ok. You win this one." He said, pushing me.

"Of course I did."

"I really should've seen that one coming considering the book you recommended to me on the first night we met." He added, glancing over at me.