You walked out of your last class of the day, content to have finished with lectures for the week. However, you were far from being done with school altogether. Now it was time to study and prepare for all of the tests you would be taking next week as midterms drew closer. Thankfully, you wouldn't be enduring it alone.
"Is that THE Mork Lee I see?" You yell when you're about ten feet from where Mark is standing in the courtyard. He looks up from his phone as he hears you and goes to wrap you in a hug.
"How was class?" He asks, taking your bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Dreadful as always." You laugh. "But I managed to actually pay attention for once and take notes. So maybe I won't bomb this test like last time." You say proudly.
"You mean you might actually pass a class? Wow, that's something you don't see every day." He laughs, running around to avoid the playful punches you throw at him.
"YAH! I wanna see you pass a class. Then you can talk shit!" You yell at him.
"Okay, okay. That's fair." He says returning to your side as you continue to walk towards him and Johnny's apartment. Every Friday for the past three years, you and Mark have met up at one of your apartments and had a study night. You spend most of the night helping and quizzing each other, with the occasional Netflix and food break. Sometimes Johnny would join, most nights he would be out with friends or his girlfriend. You finally walk through the door of Mark's apartment about fifteen minutes later and collapse on his couch.
"Where's Bean?" You ask. Usually, by the time you got here, Johnny would be in the middle of an intense battle of some video game.
"He's gone for the weekend. Left after classes to go spend the weekend with his girlfriend and her parents." He responds, chucking you a bottle of water from the fridge. You nod in acknowledgment while taking a drink. Mark disappears to his room as you pull out all of your study materials and set everything up. A short while later he returns, changed into sweats and a tshirt, carrying his books. He sets them on the table and walks over to where you're sitting on the stool at the counter. You make grabby hands and hug him as he gets in front of you. You sigh in contentment.
"Miss me much?" He laughs. You silently nod as he pets your head. You and Mark had been best friends for the past five years, but it felt like you've been friends since forever. You can't imagine not having him around anymore so the time before you met him feels like a whole other lifetime to you. This past week had been nothing but classes and being overscheduled at work due to being short-staffed lately, so you had barely gotten to see him. Could someone easily call you clingy towards your best friend? Yes, but neither of you minded. Could you possibly be harboring feelings for your best friend? Also yes, but that was a situation for you to face another day. All you knew was that he felt like home to you. He was your shelter in the storm, your peace in the chaos, your shoulder when you needed to cry, and was there for you through everything. You refused to let that go, so if that meant staying in the friend zone then so be it.
"Alright, cuddle time's over. Go change and then it's time to study." He said gently pulling you up from your stool.
"Fine." You pout and walk into his bedroom. You walk over to his dresser and open the drawer reserved for your stuff for when you stay over. You pull out a pair of your leggings and one of his hoodies you stole. You head into his bathroom and change. You take off your makeup from the day and take out your contacts, putting them in their case, and put on your glasses. Finally, you throw your hair up in a messy bun before walking back out to find Mark already tucked into his math book. You sit across from him and pull over your psychology book. After about an hour of studying you ask Mark to quiz you on vocabulary and then you quiz him on formulas and equations.
