CRASH

My eyes fly open. I lie in the darkness of my room, listening for any kind of noise following the sound of my window being broken.

"Damn it!" A deep voice mutters, and several bumps into furniture are audible in the otherwise quiet night. I sit up very slowly, grab the baseball bat I keep hidden in my closet for emergencies just like these, and walk into the 'living room', if you can call it that. The dorm rooms that Stanford offers are very small and have an adjacent kitchen and living room (which basically means a stove/oven thingie, a fridge, a small counter and a microwave shoved against one wall which leaves space for a small couch and television on the opposite side) and a small bedroom with communal bathrooms down the hall. Still, I know I am lucky to have that much space for a dorm room

The person is still fumbling around in the dark, bumping into the small table next to the sofa and audibly knocking my pictures around. I sneak up behind the guy, taking in his tall and leanly muscular physique and curly mop of hair with my baseball bat raised and ready to swing. Then, right as I prepare to knock the burglar out, he finds the light switch on the wall and then turns around, looking satisfied for a small moment before he sees me.

"Woah!" he yells, ducking my baseball bat. "I come in peace!"

"Like hell." I snarl, noticing the fact that this guy is seriously cute. His hair is black and curly, and it makes me want to touch it to see if it really is as soft as it looks. He has a darker skin, like he's from southern Asia and has startling green eyes. He's taller than me and looks like he's about 6'1". Ignoring all that (and quite honestly failing to do so) I try to be like my best friend, Maren Elizabeth.

Maren has a dainty name, but she is the toughest and most badass person I know. She would've knocked out this guy regardless of his looks. "If you've come to steal something, you really should know better than to rob a student. I'd gladly look for any money with you."

"Wait." The guy says, leaning backwards to avoid being clubbed in the head by my bat. "Isn't this Washington Hall?"

"Of course not! This is Roosevelt Hall." I say, lowering my bat after realizing this guy isn't a threat. The story he tells me confirms my suspicions.

"Shit. I'm really sorry. I went out drinking with my friends, one of them got dumped by his girlfriend, although really he should've seen it coming, and I realized I forgot my key and just decided to go through the window."

I now notice the many cuts he has along his (quite muscular) forearms, left bare by the sleeves of is green button down he has rolled up. His jeans have protected his legs, but he picks a small shard of glass out of the sole of his left sneaker.

"Are you an axe murderer?" I ask, now leaning on my bat, my adrenaline quickly fading and leaving me with the drowsiness that comes along with being woken in the middle of the night.

"Have you ever heard of an axe murderer without an axe?" The guy raises his hands to show me they are axe-free.

"Are you a rapist?" I ask, still cautious.

The guy grins. "My father taught me to respect women."

I sigh. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up. I'm Marina, by the way." I offer my hand. The guy shakes it.

"Naveen." He answers.

"Follow me." I say, walking toward the kitchen for my first aid kit and the sink. "I'm still bringing the baseball bat, just in case." I call over my shoulder.

Naveen trails behind me. I grab the first aid kit and some cotton balls I keep near the kit out of one of the cabinets, and then point to the counter that is about four feet wide and say, "Sit."

Naveen obeys, using his arms to lift himself enough so he can rest his butt on the counter. Suddenly I'm very thankful I cleaned it just that morning.

"So, Marina, you get a lot of drunk guys crashing through your window in the middle of the night?" He grins at me while I busy myself with trying to open the kit. Somehow I always have a hard time trying to open it.

"Nah." I say, still struggling. "I'm a total rookie to dealing with drunk strangers. My friend Maren has a tendency to get drunk a lot though, and she always has crazy stories. I'm grateful for the people that take care of her, so I figured someone would be grateful to me tomorrow when you get home with this story."

Naveen laughs. "That's a good reason." Finally noticing I can't get the kit open, he takes it from me. Our fingers brush for a moment, and I blush. He opens it in one click.

"What?" I sputter. "That's not fair! How come you can open that in one try?"

Naveen grins. "You have to pull it down before pulling it back up."

I shake my head. "Amazing. I've had that kit for four years and here you come, crashing through my window, drunk, and you open it in one try. Unbelievable."

Naveen keeps on grinning. "What's the deal with all that grinning?" I say, blurting it out. "Do you become extra happy when you're drunk or something?"

Naveen laughs this time. "Nah. I just decided one day that I'm going to focus on things that make me happy instead of dwelling on things that make me unhappy. It works to keep my spirit high in these shitty times of broke-ness and stress."

I smile. "That is a great philosophy."

Naveen smiles. "So, Marina, what do you want to do when you get out of here?"

I smile. "Go to medical school. I love the idea that I can save lives by becoming a doctor, you know? It saved my sister's life once." I stay silent, lost in memories.

"Tell me the whole story, Marina. You can't just say that and then stay quiet." Naveen nudges me with his elbow, jarring me back to real life. I never really told anyone this story, except for Maren, but there's something about his eyes that tugs the story right out of me. They tug many words out of me, actually, and I realize that I feel extremely comfortable talking to him.

"It happened back when we were in Spain on vacation, about six years ago. I was fifteen and she was eight. We were playing near a lake that had a dock, and she got stuck under there somehow. I dived under to get her after I realized that she was under there for too long, but she was already unconscious. I took her up to the shore quickly, and started doing CPR. I had had a mandatory lesson at school about it not that long before, and luckily I remembered enough to bring her back." I draw a shaky breath. "It was the worst two minutes of my life."

I look back up at Naveen. "What's your sister's name?" he asks quietly.

"Ella." I reply. "She's fifteen now, and it scares me how quickly she's growing up. Sometimes she's really mature, but other times she still begs me to watch The Little Mermaid with her." I smile, remembering being curled up on the couch and singing along with all of the songs. Naveen smiles too. "She sounds really nice."

I nod. "She is." We fall into silence as I start cleaning his forearms. Naveen hisses quietly when the cotton ball soaked in cleaning alcohol touches the wounds that are still bleeding slightly. "This will only sting for a bit." I say.

"What about you?" I ask, trying to make him talk so it distracts him. "What do you want to be when you get out of here?"

"Happy." He replies. "I want to be happy."

"That is so cliché." I tell him with a small smile, and he laughs. "Yeah, I guess it is. But I'm studying Economics. My dad wants me to take over the family business of producing toys."

"What's your dad like, if you don't mind me asking such a question?" I say.

"He's different now. His name is Reynolds. I was born in India, and that's where the business was at first. When I was about seven, my mother got raped and afterward she got murdered." I gasp. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry."

Naveen nods. "I didn't understand much at the time. All I knew was that my mom was gone and we were moving halfway across the globe to Santa Barbara. I got adjusted to life here, until my dad met Lola. He loved her. Still does, actually. She cheated on him with about ten different guys. Now my dad is more distant and barely spends time with me. I couldn't wait until college came around, when I could really start my own life, if that makes sense."

I nodded, finishing up on the cuts on his forearms. "It does. Now, do you have any more cuts anywhere?"

Naveen nodded. "There are some on the top of my arms, I think, and also one on my chest."

"Uhm, okay." I say. "You're gonna have to take off your shirt, then."

"Well, if you wanted me to take off my shirt you should've just said that!" he says, jumping off the counter and unbuttoning his shirt.

"I just did!" I say, despite my face heating up.

"Oh, so you want me to take off my shirt?" He says, already halfway done with unbuttoning.

"Only for medical reasons!" I protest, although it's a bit of a lie. When he finally shrugs off his shirt, I gasp because of two reasons: 1) Naveen has the most toned and well defined chest and set of abs I have ever seen, and 2) there is a huge cut running diagonally across that wonderful chest.

"Holy crap, Naveen." I say. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" I take a new cotton ball and soak it in alcohol. "This is gonna hurt." I warn him. He nods. "I know."

Despite the warning, I can see his face scrunch up in pain when I make contact with his skin. His handsome features are screwed up and his bunchy eyebrows pinch together. He squeezes his eyes shut. "Shit." He says. "That hurts."

I nod. "I know, I know. Tell me about your friends. You said one of them got dumped?"

"Yeah," he says, clearly happy to have a distraction. I try to focus on his deep voice instead of how wonderful his muscles feel under my fingertips. "Stanley got dumped. His girlfriend broke up with him by sending him a text. He dragged us all down to the club, and we got a tiny little bit drunk." He holds his thumb and index finger half an inch apart to show how not-drunk he is. I do notice that he seems to be sobering up a bit.

"Stanley is huge and got a football scholarship. He's always enthusiastic about smashing stuff. He has this immense love for the game Risk, which I can't understand. Then there's John. He's quiet, but he keeps us in check, and thankfully he shoots down our crazy ideas with logic, otherwise I would've needed a nurse like you more often."

I smile. "They sound great." I say, finishing up with cleaning the wound on his chest. I move on to the small cuts on his upper arms.

Naveen nods. "They are. I feel like I can really count on them, you know? Like they're friends for life. But tell me more about this friend of yours, Maren."

I grin. "Her full name's Maren Elizabeth, but you shouldn't let that fool you. She is the strongest person I know, both physically and mentally. She plays soccer and trains every day or something. I guess she's a bit like your friend Stanley. She comes up with the crazy shit; I try to keep her safe." I finish cleaning the wounds on his arms. "There, done. Now I have to figure out a way to bandage this one." I say, gesturing to his chest. "It's not deep, but it's long." I end up sticking a bunch of Band-Aids in a row on his chest. This makes me smile when I step back to look at my handiwork.

"Looks great." I say, suppressing a smile. Naveen grins back. "I agree. The way the one at the top is halfway covered in blood adds a little je-ne-sais-quoi."

"Oh, hush. You jump through my window and I fix you up and here you sit complaining about my beautiful row of Band-Aids." I smile.

Naveen's face turns serious. "I really sorry about that. I'll get it fixed for you."

I nod. "That would be nice." I fill a glass of water for him, and make him drink it. Then I go to my closet and fish out my biggest shirt I can find. I settle for the XL red hoodie I bought at Disneyland a couple of years earlier. I thought the color went well with my dark brown, shoulder-length hair.

"You should see if this fits you." I say to Naveen when I go back into the living room where he's sitting on the couch.

"Thanks." He says, pulling it on. I kind of regretted handing him the hoodie because it meant hiding his wonderful upper body. It doesn't fit him completely, riding up a bit when he raises his arms, but considering how different my thin frame is from his muscular one, it fits better than anything else I've got.

"You can crash in my bed if you want. I'll take the couch." I say, pointing toward the bedroom.

"Oh, no. No no no no no. I've destroyed your window and made a mess out of your apartment, I am not also going to take up your bed. No chance in hell. You should sleep there." Naveen shakes his head adamantly.

"Uhm, okay." I say lamely. "Let me just get you a blanket and a pillow, then." I grab a blanket and pillow from my bedroom closet, where I keep it for impromptu sleep overs. I guess this qualifies as that.

"Here you go." I say, handing them to him.

"Thank you." Naveen says, arranging them on the couch and then laying down in them. "Thank you for everything. Seriously. I really appreciate it. Why the hell you decided to take care of a drunk guy, I will never know, but thank you."

I sit on the arm rest near his feet. They stick out from under the blanket, almost like in a cartoon. I shrug. "I don't really know why, either, to be honest. I guess I just needed a guinea pig for my doctoring skills." I grin.

Naveen laughs. Then as it fades into a smile, he says, "You know what? I like you, Marina." He says my name like he's rolling it around in his mouth, savoring it. "You're quiet, but cool. You remind me of this friend I had back in India. His name was Devdan. He was a very enlightened and spiritual old man, and taught me a lot. You've got the same kind of feeling as him."

"Uhm, thanks?" I say, because I'm not sure how to react to being compared to an old man. Naveen realizes this too right after I say it.

"No, not the old man part, but the calm energy you've got around you. You make me feel comfortable. And you're a hell of a lot prettier than he is."

I smile and blush. "Thanks. Now, go get some sleep."

"Goodnight, Marina." Naveen smiles.

"Goodnight, Naveen." I say over my shoulder, walking toward my bedroom.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When I wake up, I hear a chorus of groaning.

"Uuuurrrrggggghhhhhh." I smirk a bit. I know it's a bit weird but it reminds me of when Maren wakes up with a hangover. I get up slowly, stretch, and open my door and lean against the doorframe.

"Don't you just love hangovers?" I ask Naveen. He groans again. I laugh a bit, and pour him a glass of water and grab an aspirin. He drinks it eagerly.

"Argh." Naveen says for the final time. "Did that all happen?" Then he turns his head toward the mess of glass that I had swept into the corner. I drew the curtains, but it did little to stop the cold. Even in the beginning of September, when it was still quite warm, the wind blew in. I was a bit cold a night in my shorts and tank top. Looking back on it, I was very glad I was too lazy to take off my bra last night and had decided to put on shorts instead of sleeping without any pants like I usually did. Otherwise our encounter would have been a bit more awkward.

Seeing the glass everywhere, Naveen turns his head back to me. "I am so sorry. I'll get that fixed for you."

I nod. "That would be nice. Who do you even call to repair a window?" I wonder out loud. "That's what so shit about our education. I give you five examples of a non-defining clause or a sentence in future continuous tense but I didn't have a clue how you're supposed to pay taxes or set up a bank account or who to call to repair a window."

Naveen nods. "I'll go down to the administration, see what they can do."

I nod too. "That sounds like a good idea. Until then, breakfast?" I say, opening the fridge and bending over to see what I have left. "Let's see… I've got a yoghurt that is—"I check the date "expired. I have a questionable looking carton of noodles and a pizza from last night that is now cold. Shall
I just reheat the pizza?" I ask, straightening up and looking back at Naveen, who has sat up in the meantime and was looking at the fridge as well, but his cheeks were a bit red. I shrugged it off.

"Uhm, yeah, sure, pizza is fine. Is it vegetarian, though?" he asks. "I'm a vegetarian."

"It's bell peppers and onions."

"Fantastic." He grins. I take two slices and place them in my microwave.

As it's heating up, Naveen clears his throat. "Uh," he begins, "When I get drunk, I don't really have a stop button for what I'm saying, so yeah, sorry about my blabbering from last night."

I smile. It's cute how he thinks that was an inconvenience. "That's okay. You got me to talk too, and I wasn't even drunk. Normally I don't say that much, actually."

Naveen smiles too. We just sit there, smiling at each other stupidly for a few seconds until the microwave dings. I take the pizza out, and hand one slice to Naveen.

"Even when you have a broken window and a hungover stranger on your couch, we will always have pizza." He says, and I laugh.

We talk some more during our breakfast about our classes and our professors, and Naveen makes me laugh with impressions of his professors. After a while, my pizza is gone and so is his.

"Coffee?" Naveen says. "I feel like coffee. What about you?"

I smile. "That sounds great."

We get out of my dorm hall and onto campus after I've changed into jeans and a t-shirt quickly. We walk towards the nearest Starbucks, chatting about all sorts of things along the way.

"Favorite movie?" Naveen asks me, his hand brushing against mine.

"The Internship, Now You See Me, or Pitch Perfect. I can't choose. Favorite month?"

"July. The beginning of the vacation. Favorite breed of dogs?" he asks me.

"What kind of a question is that?" I ask him.

"My kind of question. Now come on, what's your favorite?"

"Uhm, labradoodles. I love the name and they're just so adorable. I love curls." I say, my eyes flicking up toward his hair. "What's your favorite kind?"

"Pugs. Just because, well, they're pugs." I laugh.

"What's your favorite… vacation destination?" I ask him

"That rhymes! But I would have to say India. Just because that's where my roots are, ya know?"

"Yeah." I say. "My dad was from Spain. That's why I have a Spanish name. Marina means 'of the sea'. We went there for vacation a lot, to visit family and everything."

"Marina of the sea. I like that." Naveen says, smiling.

I blush a bit, but my face burns even more when he holds the door to the Starbucks open for me. "Thanks." I say lamely.

We order our drinks and take a seat between other students milling around.

"So, what's your favorite… memory?" Naveen asks me.

"Wow, we're going from dog breeds to memories?" I laugh.

"Yeah, pretty much." He answers.

"Uhm, let's see… I don't really know. But I do remember one time I really, truly felt happy was when I spent the night at my friend Emma's house back when I was twelve or something. It was pouring down, but it was still warm since it was summer. She wanted to go outside to play in the rain, but at first I thought she was crazy. Eventually, she convinced me to put on rubber boots and we went outside and danced in the rain, splashing each other and laughing. I felt so carefree. It felt great to, I don't know, let go, I guess. To just forget about your worries."

Naveen starts humming the Hakuna Matata song under his breath. I punch him in the arm, but I still have a smile on my face.

"What about you? What's your favorite memory?" I ask him.

"I remember the last Holi I celebrated with my mother. Holi is the celebration with all the colors. We believe it is to celebrate that Pralada, who was devoted to Vishnu, stood up to his father, Hiranyakashipu, who thought he was the surpreme god, which made Hiranyakashipu mad. His sister, Holika, tried to burn him on a pyre while she was standing next to him wearing a protective veil. The veil flew over to Prahlada to protect him while Holika burned. Vishnu killed Hiranyakashipu and we celebrate the victory of good over evil, colors, and love. Holi is the celebrated the day after Holika got burnt at the pyre. So anyway, the last Holi I celebrated with my mom is one of my best memories. We threw colored powdres at each other and laughed and goofed around. I remember Reynolds picking me up afterwards, when the crowds started to leave, and putting me on his shoulders. I saw a whole mass of people, and everyone was multicolored. It was just amazing to see that."

I smiled. It was great to hear him talk about his background. "That sounds incredible." I say.

Just then, our names got called for our drinks. "Be right back." Naveen winks at me.

Right after he got the drinks, a huge, and I mean huge guy walks inside. He's about 6'9", with buff arms and a muscular chest pushing out against a tight white shirt. Long, dark hair falls into his eyes. Naveen doesn't notice him as he turned around right before the guy walked in.

The huge guy does notice Naveen, though. "Naveen?" he calls out in a loud voice. "There you are!"
he says making his way toward us once Naveen turned around. "We were wondering where you had run off to last night."

Then, he notices me. "Well, who is this?" he says, suddenly using a different voice as if he was trying to hit on me.

"I'm Marina." I say, shaking his hand.

"Of the sea." Naveen says. "I sort of crashed through her window last night because I confused our dorm halls. She took care of me and even let me crash on her couch."

"Well, well, well, Nurse Marina, eh? I'm Stanley."

"Oh, you're the one who.. aahhh." I say, remembering what Naveen had told me last night about his friend Stanley who had gotten dumped.

"Yes, the one who got dumped by text message. But that's nothing a few drinks can't solve. A problem a few drinks can create, are certain friends who keep on talking when they get drunk and don't know when to shut up." He says, glaring at Naveen. Then he leans toward me. "You know, once he got drunk and told the entire bar about the time he thought his teacher was me, so he started talking to him about how he—"

"Okay, that's enough story times for today." Naveen interrupts. He turns toward Stanley. "You know, I'd offer to get you a drink too, but I'm not sure if I can trust you not to tell anymore embarrassing stories."

"It's okay; I promise I won't tell any more embarrassing stories." Stanley says. "Now go get me a double espresso."

Naveen gives him one more distrustful look and then goes to get his drink. Stanley immediately turns back towards me and says, "So, as I was saying, he thought his teacher was me and he told him some story of how he got drunk, and this was before we were 21, so once the teacher turned around and he realized that it wasn't me, he got in trouble. His grade got lowered a full letter because this professor is a really uptight bastard and he was forced to perform in the reproduction of Peter Pan that this professor was directing, and he had to wear tights. Here, I've got a photo." He pulls out his phone while I'm pleasantly surprised by how welcoming he was. He shows me the photo, and I burst out laughing. Naveen was wearing green tights with a brown tunic and looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there as he got photographed in the middle of prancing around a cardboard tree that was part of the décor.

Naveen arrives right at that moment. I try to stop laughing, but when I see his face and get reminded of the photo, a small giggle escapes. Naveen sighs while Stanley grins. "You showed her the photo, didn't you?"

Stanley keeps on grinning. "The sole reason I keep photo's like that is so that I can embarrass you in front of your girlfriends." He gestures towards me.

My face burns. "Uhm, we're not, I mean, I'm not—"

"Sure." Stanley waves it away. "So, tell me about yourself, Marina." He says, and I'm grateful for the subject change.

We talk between the three of us for about an hour more, and I'm surprised by how easily I can talk to Stanley and how easily he accepts me. Eventually, Naveen looks down and frowns at his watch.

"My next class starts in fifteen minutes, and it's on the other side of campus. I should get going."

"Okay." Stanley says. "See you later bro." they give each other that let-me-pull-you-against-me-roughly-then-hit-you-on-the-back hug thing that guys do that I never really understood. I wave awkwardly while he flashes me a smile. "See you later."

I watch him go, and right before he walks out he the door, he turns around and gives me a last smile. I smile back.

THEN HE WALKS ACROSS THE STREET AND GETS HIT BY A BUS AND DIES

Just kidding sorry that was really mean forgive me im a horrible person

Naveen walks back toward where we came from, arms swinging by his side with a slight spring in his step.

I take a sip from my drink. "So," Stanley says. "Have you guys made out yet?"

I almost do a spit take. "No!" I yell, gaining the attention of a few people around us. "I mean, no, we just talked a lot yesterday." I say in in a quieter voice. "Plus, it's not like he would."

"Bullshit." Stanley declares. "You obviously did something right last night, because he was staring at you like you were Virgin Mary reborn, and he's not even Christian. And you were making googly eyes at him the entire time." Before I can protest again, he continues talking. "I don't know how much he's told you last night, and it's not my place to tell you, but the kid's been through a lot already so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't break his heart. I'm not sure how much more he can take before he gets overwhelmed by the sad experiences." Then, he stands up. "I've gotta go too. It was nice meeting you, Marina."

And then he's gone.

I leave soon after that too, stilling mulling over Stanley's words.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The next few days, I panic. Because I forgot to give Naveen my number. I now I have absolutely no hope of reaching him in any way, and I really want to see him for reasons I didn't want to admit to myself, and I am scared I am going to end up living alone my entire life with 27 cats.

On the third day, when Maren and I am hanging out in my apartment watching Pretty Little Liars while she makes little comments on how idiotic they're being, I'm distant. I know I am. Finally, she pauses the tv and turns to me.

"Okay, spill. Who's the guy."

"Wha—what?" I say, my voice unusually high at the end. "There is no guy."

"Don't lie to me, Marina. You're staring into space with a smile on your face. Spill."

I smile. "His name is Naveen. Tall, dark curls, green eyes, darker skin, best jawline I have ever seen. Obviously plays some kind of sport. He's the one that broke through my window a couple of days ago." I'd given her a vague story, not wanting to tell her about Naveen just yet. The window had been fixed since then.

"So?" Maren asked. "Have you seen him since then?"

I bit my lip. "Well, that's the problem. I kind of forgot to give him my number."

Maren jumps off the couch and leans over me. "What?!" she yells. "Marina Esperanza Paula Carolina Alvarez, you mean to tell me that you have met a guy that makes you smile for three days straight even though you haven't even seen him in said three days, and he sounds absolutely dreamy, by the way, and you forgot to give him your phone number?"

"Uhm, yeah?" I squeak.

"What am I going to do with you?" She throws her hands up, her grey eyes cast toward the ceiling as if she's praying.

Then, someone knocks on the door. Maren's eyes grow wide. "If that's him, I will never stop saying that my Hogwarts letter just got lost in the mail."

I walk toward the door, smoothing my hair down, which makes Maren snicker. I glare at her.

I open the door, and lo and behold, Naveen stands there, grinning.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey." I say back, strangely shy. "How did you find my dorm?"

"Well, I realized that I had no way of reaching you, but then I remembered which hall you lived in, and then it was simply a matter of asking one of your neighbours which room you lived in.

"Ah." I say. "So you do know how to knock."

He grins even wider. "Did they repair the window?"

"Oh, yeah, they came yesterday." I step aside to let him in, but then I remember that Maren is standing there.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Maren, this is Naveen. Naveen, Maren Elizabeth." They shake hands, and suddenly I am worried. Maren is stunning. High cheekbones, long, sleek black hair, grey eyes and a slim figure is definitely not considered unattractive. I'm worried that Naveen might see this and figure out that she's better. She's more confident. She's more fun. She's generally just more than me. This all occurs to me within a split second.

"Do you want something to drink?" I ask Naveen.

"Just water, please."

I get him a glass of water, and when I turn back around, Naveen and Maren are already laughing together about something I didn't really hear.

For the next fifteen minutes, they chat about a lot, while I just sit there, useless and awkward, sipping my soda. Finally, Naveen stands up.

"Well, I should go. I'm gonna meet up with the guys later tonight." He says. Then, directly toward me, he says, "Could I have your number? It would make my life a hell of a lot easier next time I try to meet up with you."

Next time, I think, he wants there to be a next time.

"Of course." I say, trying to sound nonchalant (even though it probably didn't work very well).

I punch in my number into his phone while he puts his number in my phone. I try to ignore Maren wiggling her eyebrows at me from behind him.

"Well, see you later." He says, standing up and walking out.

As soon as the door is closed, Maren says, "I approve. He is fantastic for you."

Instantly, I feel guilty. I shouldn't have felt jealous of her. Instead, I smile. "Thanks."

"And Marina?"

"Yeah?"

"My Hogwarts letter just got lost in the mail."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

For the next few weeks, Naveen and I hang out at least three times a week. I met his other friends and he met mine. Stanley and Maren got along fantastically, wiggling their eyebrows at us from behind our backs and making little comments which make the other snicker.

On a particularly rainy evening, I'm sitting on the couch eating noodles while watching Captain America, curled up in my most comfortable pair of jeans and the oversized red hoodie I had lended Naveen. I had been reluctant to wash it, because then it would stop smelling of him.

dorm since he met Maren.

"Hey." He grins.

"Uhm, hi?" I say. "Why are you dripping wet?" It's true. His hair's dripping, his clothes are soaked, but he still has that grin on his face that I like more than I admit to myself.

"Swimming practice. And the rain, of course."

"That explains the muscles." I mutter, thinking of The Night Of The Broken Window and when he had taken off his shirt.

"What?" He asks, confusion on his face.

"Nothing. I didn't know you swim."

Naveen shrugs. "Never came up, I guess. But now, we're going outside."

"What?" I say. "Now? But it's raining!"

"Exactly. Let's go dancing in the rain."

He's still grinning at me, and then I realize. The last time I remember being truly happy. Dancing in the rain.

And then I laugh and say, "You are absolutely crazy."

But I put my shoes on and follow him outside.

We end up in the middle of a big square, the downpouring rain making it hard to see anything. I hold on to Naveen's hand to be able to follow him, and I don't mind. I don't mind at all. His hand is big and warm and seems to fit perfectly around mine.

Then he stops and bows down. "May I have this dance?"

I laugh and play along, curtsying and holding an imaginary ball gown skirt. "Of course."

Naveen starts to fox trot, which I was totally not expecting, but I go along with it, laughing. We switch to ballet, with horrible leaps and off-balance pirouettes. Then we do the wave. Then somehow, we end up doing the tango. Or the salsa. I can't remember which one it is. Our chests are pressed together, one of our arms are outstretched and connected by our hands, and we each face the same side, taking dramatic steps in the direction we're looking at.

When we switch direction the first time, I smile at Naveen. He grins back. The second time, We slow down a bit.

"I used to do this with Ella." I say, still dancing. We reach the point where we switched direction the last time and stop completely, our bodies still pressed together, the rain still coming down hard.

"I like this dance better." I admit, looking at his eyes.

"Why is that?" He asks me. I notice his eyes flickering toward my lips, and I can feel that he's so close. So, so close.

"Because I get to do this." I say. I grab his collar, feeling bold for the first time in a long time, and pull him down to me. Our lips meet, and his are warm despite the cold. He tastes vaguely like chocolate.

When I pull away, his eyes are unfocused. I bite my lip, waiting for his reaction, thinking that maybe I misread him. Maybe I shouldn't have kissed him. Then, (finally) he smiles and leans down, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"This is such a cliché." He murmurs against my lips.

And then we're kissing again, and all I can think is that I don't want this moment to stop. I try to remember every single detail. The way his lips move against mine, the feeling of his warmth, the rain pouring down around us.

We break apart, and grin at each other. Then we might have kissed a few more times.

"Let's get back inside before we get sick." Naveen whispers and I nod.

We get back to Roosevelt Hall, leaving trails of water behind us. When we arrive at my room, I fumble with my keys. When I manage to open the door, I turn back to Naveen.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he says, still with that everlasting grin on his face.

"Yeah." I smile. I wrap my arms around his neck once more, and kiss him again. A deep, lingering kiss. The kind that promises a next time.

"Okay." He grins, and pecks me on the lips once more. "See you later!"

And then he's gone.

Once he's out of earshot, but I'm still watching him go, the door on the opposite side of the hallway opens. Vanessa, whom I've talked to a couple of times, pokes her head out and says, "Finally. The sexual tension between you two was killing me."

I smile a bit. "Me too."

Ta-da! My very first Lorien Legacies fic. This was fun to make.

And aaaaaaaah RO7 in three days omfg I'm dying. I checked amazon and it said that it would take 18 to 24 business days and it made me really mad because holy fuck that's long and I really don't know if I can hold out that long.

So anyway I hoping you enjoy this and yeah see you later maybe

Byyyeeee

LSG/Alex/ whatever you want to call me just please not Ali Baba I've heard that too many times