The plot thickens! After this chapter, there should only be two more to go. Tell me what you think.

Takuya didn't do too much while he waited for the coming time. After he got too nervous to play the guitar, he slowly paced his apartment. When he tired of that, he reclined on his bed and stared at the wall. He ran lines and scenarios over and over in his head , trying to decide just what he was going to say to her and how she would react. Though he very much wanted to tell her everything, how deeply he felt for her, he was just as deeply convinced that it would end badly. He never thought his confidence could run so low. In fact, he used to have the opposite problem. He used to be a fearless leader who didn't feel the need to consider being in a situation that was too much for him to handle. And even after he got a much needed attitude adjustment, he never ran short on belief in his abilities. And back in those days, when he was first considering his feelings for Zoe, he always felt that there was a decent chance that she felt the same. He was still a little nervous about it, and not quite as sure about his feelings as he was now, so he never really brought it up with her. But by the time he would have finally confessed, his parents got divorced, and his whole world fell apart.

He still put on an air of self-assurance, few people suspected his own insecurities. Or so he had thought. The revelation that, in addition to his mom, Zoe herself was worried about him brought Takuya a ray of hope, while also making him feel slightly self conscious. Had his ruse proved completely pointless? Was anyone fooled? But these thoughts were not in the forefront of his mind. No, he was busy repeating in his mind that Zoe cared enough to be worried about him. He was frantically trying to force himself to believe that this meant she had feelings for him. This was very flawed logic, he knew, but it was logic he held onto none the less, because it was all that would be able to give him the courage it would take to confess.

Takuya suddenly heard the sounds of All That Remains' Become The Catalyst coming from his phone's tinny speaker, signifying a text message. He hastily reached his phone to read it

"Sounds like a plan. How about we meet at my dorm room?" He felt butterflies in his stomach. He'd been to her dorm before, but he felt that inviting him there must be a good sign. He sent her a confirmation text and closed his eyes, the stress causing him to go into a deep sleep.

Several hours later, Takuya snapped into consciousness, and painfully scanned around his room. Where there was once sunlight coming in from his windows, now he only saw night.

What time is it? He thought lazily. He glanced over at his clock, which now read 7:30.

Damn, I slept for hours. What was I doing before I laid down? I remember sending a text message and then - The memories flooded back in an instant. He almost laughed to himself. I guess its time to stop being such a coward. Its likely I'll be rejected, but this is the best course of action.

Takuya slowly rose from his bed, and realized that he was quite hungry. He slipped back into his vans and passively walked toward the mini kitchen. He found nothing but a few cereal bars and a couple of Coke cans.

Ah, lunch. He mused to himself. I guess its more like supper. The walk to her dorm will only take about 20 minutes , so I'm good on time. He grabbed two bars and a can and proceeded to eat.

When the time finally came to leave, he put on a red denim jacket and walked towards the door. From a table near the door, he grabbed his green baseball cap and affixed his trademark pair of goggles to the back of it and wore it with its bill facing his back. As he exited his room, he found that it was very cold outside, and it had even begun to snow lightly.

Hope I don't freeze to death before I get there. He thought grimly, and started walking at a brisk pace. He wasn't looking forward to what came next, but at the same time he was never a big fan of the cold, and he felt the snow might pick up soon. At this speed, he made it to the campus in under 10 minutes and made it to Zoe's dorm in another 2.

Heh. Early. He thought, and then gave the door a few good knocks. He found himself hoping that Zoe's roommate hadn't moved back in yet.

"Coming!" A chipper voice said. The door opened summarily, revealing Zoe. "Oh, Hi Takuya! You're here a bit early." She had traded her chinos for a pair of bright red daisy dukes and was no longer wearing any footwear.

Not making it any easier to say this too her. He thought. But in order to keep her from seeing how nervous he was, he warmly greeted.

"Hi, Zoe. I guess I got kinda bored waiting around in my apartment, and the cold weather just made me walk faster..." He wasn't entirely sure that this last sentence made even a bit of sense, but Zoe got the jist of it.

"Well, please come in." She beckoned. "You'll excuse the mess, I'm not entirely done unpacking ." Takuya took the offer thankfully and stepped inside her rather large dorm room.

"Wow Zoe, I always forget how big your dorm is. Its even got its own bathroom!" Almost as soon as he said this, he heard a flush ring out from behind the bathroom door.

"Heh, has your roommate moved back in yet?" Takuya questioned

"No, she's not back from home yet." She replied.

As if to answer the unspoken question of who was in the bathroom, the door opened reaveling Koji.

"Huh." Takuya muttered, most of the color draining from his face.

"Hey" Koji said to Takuya. A blunt greeting, but not said in an unfriendly manner. Still, Koji could sense that Takuya wasn't all that happy to see him.

"Say Takuya, you said you had something to tell me?" Zoe asked innocently, breaking the tension.

"Uh. Y-yeah. I was- I mean I. Uh." He stuttered. "I forgot what it was. Give me a second."

Smooth move, goggle head. He mentally chastised

"Well, if you think of it, be sure to let me know!" Zoe replied, apparently not noticing a huge sigh of relief from Takuya. "Incidentally, I think me and Koji have something to tell you."

These words turned Takuya's heart to ice. He knew exactly what was coming.

Koji then began to speak, doing his best to smile, as he saw his friend wasn't looking so well. "I guess we do. Takuya, I want you to be the first to know. Zoe and I are-"

"NO!" Takuya blurted out, hot tears suddenly streaming down his face. He began heaving cries, while trying to talk. " Its.. Its not fair. Don't do this to me! You can't." Stress pent up in him for years was coming out now.

"Takuya, whats wrong?" Zoe asked, entirely confused and deeply worried.

"He was going to say it, but I already knew it. You two are dating!" The words wretched from him

"Hey man, I think you're jumping to conclu-" Koji tried to say.

"No! Don't patronize me!"

"Takuya!" Zoe said in a mixture of concern and annoyance. "You're freaking me out here!"

Takuya walked right right up to her and looked into her eyes and found a moment of clarity in his sobs. "Don't you get it Zoe? Can't you see? I love you! I always have! But now you're dating him and I'm all alone!" Zoe blushed at this sudden declaration of love and was about to say something when Takuya gave a hefty, pained shout and ran out of the room, back towards his apartment, leaving a very bewildered Zoe and Koji.

"Takuya, wait!" Zoe said with futile energy. After she said that, the room when silent for a at least two minutes before Koji decided to finally break the silence.

"That dumbass." He said, but it was almost a mutter

"Che cazzo?" Zoe said in disbelief. (Due to spending a good deal of time in Italy, she spoke fluent Italian, and it sometimes crept out )

"I can't believe how wrong he took that. I didn't even get a chance to finish." He said shaking his head.
Zoe fell silent for a short moment , and looked to the ground. "I-I'm going after him" she declared, after searching herself for the right thing to do. " Don't try to stop me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Koji said nonchalantly. "I'll be on my way, I guess I can lock up for you." Zoe nodded a thank you his way. "Oh, and Zoe? Don't go too hard on him." He gave wry smile.

With that, Zoe slipped on her chucks and ran off into the cold after Takuya