I Like Me Better when I'm With You (COMPLETED)

Don't know where it leads, don't know if you know

Notes: Chapter title is from a million other things by pronoun

***

"Okay. That's it. I'm done for the day!" Drew exclaimed as she closed her laptop.

From the chair where he was sitting, Nico chuckled. "And by done, do you mean you have finished, or you're just...so done with it?"

Drew waved her hand dismissively. "The essay is due next week anyway. And I had enough stuff scribbled down for a draft," she said, and started putting her books in into her backpack.

Nico hummed as he spun his pen between his fingers.

"You know," he said. "You look like you could use some coffee."

Drew groaned lightly. "Yeah, coffee sounds nice, actually."

Nico's heart fluttered a bit. "Want to grab some? At The Oracle?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Like, now?"

"Yeah, now is good. Is it still open?" Nico asked, half-hoping that he didn't sound too excited. He closed his notebook, ready to gather his own stuff when Drew huffed and shook her head.

"Sorry, Nico. But I have to be somewhere else in like... an hour," Drew said, glancing at her left wrist to check her watch.

Nico shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, okay then."

He leaned back in his chair. His shoulders slumped down as a strange pang of vague disappointment hit him inside.

Drew slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Neeks."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't call me that."

Drew chuckled lightly. "Whatever. Bye, di Angelo."

Drew closed the door of the group study room, and Nico looked down back to the textbook in front of him. For a while, he tried to read the lines in the book, absently tapping his chin with the pen in his hand.

Fifteen minutes later, he realized that he was just staring at the sentences without really reading it. Somehow he just could not make himself focus on the assignment. Nico sighed, and rubbed his left eye with the heel of his hand. He checked the time on his phone. It was already 6.45. Probably he should just go back to his apartment.

As he stuffed his things into his backpack, he wondered whether The Oracle was still open. Considering that it's a coffee shop that was located near campus, Nico guessed that its opening hours would be until quite late at night.

Not that he was expecting it to still open, though. Not that he actually wanted to go there, anyway. It's just... The coffee shop was on his way back to his apartment and who knew, maybe-

Nico blinked, then shook his head a little to stop his own train of thought. Standing up from the chair, he put on his jacket. He turned off the lamp, then walked out the group study room, and closed the door behind him.

***

Nico shifted his weight to the ball of his feet as he stood in front of The Oracle. That coffee shop was in fact, was not closed yet. It was not really crowded. From the window, Nico could see some people with their drink, sitting under the warm orange lights. Some people sat by themselves, working with their laptop or reading something, and there were also some others who were sitting in a small group of 2 or 3 other people.

Nico ran a hand over his head. Probably it was already a bit late to have coffee at this hour. And it was not like he had planned to stay up late tonight.