"I don't even think she wanted me to kiss her. Why am I such an idiot. Every. Single. Fucking. Day. Daveed, you should not give me this much of a leash, or else stuff like this happens. I scare off pretty girls. God. I'm moving back in with my mom. Good bye." Lin flopped onto Daveed's couch with a humph and spread a hand over his eyes in self-loathing defeat.

Lin knew Daveed hadn't been expecting to be woken up in the early morning hours by a knock on his door from himself, and probably wasn't super pumped about it, but when Lin mentioned he was having Brady problems, Lin saw Daveed's annoyance die out in an instant. Lin was acutely aware that Daveed had been trying to get him and Brady together since day one (as his personal mission). So when he finished filling in Daveed on what had happened between himself and Brady the night before, he could tell that Daveed saw no problem with the situation.

"Dude, bro. What the hell are you whining about? You finally made-out with the girl you're clearly in love with. Shouldn't you be...I don't know...happy?"

"I just…" Lin rubbed his face. He hadn't gotten much sleep after the fact, and even though his mind was wide awake with the thought of having kissed her, his eyes still suffered from the lack of sleep. "I'm not sure if she likes me that way. I feel like I forced it, I didn't think it through."

Lin watched Daveed walked across the room to the window. He opened the curtains to a piercing light. "You wanna know why you feel that way?"

"Why?" Lin replied, hoping that for once Daveed had some worthwhile advice.

"Because you're an idiot. That's why."

Lin sighed and made a mental note. Reminder: Daveed is of no use.

Daveed ignored Lin and continued. "Instead of trying to explain the reasons why you're an idiot, let's go for a walk to wake you up, and maybe the sense of it all, of how awesome this is, will shine down on you from the heavens." Lin leaned forward and pulled his dark gray beanie down over his eyes. Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I mean, she didn't slap me, so there's that. With this in mind, though still not wholly convinced, he moved his beanie back to its proper place, pushed his hands from his jean-covered-thighs and rose from the couch. "Alright. Let's go."

Lin had already replayed last night over and over in his head until he was dizzy. When she had wrapped his jacket around herself, when she'd fallen asleep resting against him, when he'd carried her down the stairs laughing, when she'd ran through the rain after him. When they'd kissed. Twice. Never had he seen a girl look so… beautiful. When she looked into his eyes, before he had walked away, he thought he was dreaming. He thought she wanted him too. But he wasn't sure. Having gone over the moment so many times he couldn't tell what had been real or what he had made up.

Now outside, Lin and Daveed walked down the sidewalk. Lin let his cohort take the lead since going for a stroll was his bright idea in the first place. Plus, he didn't really care which way they went, as long as he wasn't left alone with his thoughts driving him crazy.

It was turning out to be a nice day. Minimal cars (for New York City, that is) drove beneath a clear sky. There was a bit of a breeze, and Lin noticed goosebumps on his arms. He wondered why he hadn't grabbed a jacket, until he realized the reason. And that's how his thoughts came full circle, back to her, back to the girl wearing his jacket. The girl that he didn't know existed one second, but the next second was someone who instantly brightened his day. The girl who clearly didn't know the effect she had on him, who wasn't aware of her own stunning qualities. Lin was shaken from his thoughts when Daveed waved his hand in front of his face.

"Hey, Lin, you're scaring me, looking off into the abyss like that. Like you can see ghosts or some creepy shit."

Lin shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Ghosts don't scare me half as much as my own actions do."

Daveed chuckled. "If ghosts don't even scare you, then why does she?"

Lin looked down at his shoes. "I've never felt this way. About anyone. And she doesn't even give me a second glance."

"Look," said Daveed, lowering his voice, noting the change in mood. "As an observer, I'm telling you straight: Brady is crazy for you. Cra-zy. You can't see it because your self-esteem is sporadic. One minute you're Mr. Confident and the next you're shrugging your shoulders and chalking your worth up to a garbage can. That's why you're an idiot."

Lin couldn't help but feel a little truth in what his friend was saying. Daveed was never serious, so this must mean something, even if it only meant that Daveed was far too invested in Lin's love-life.

Lin looked up from the ground, trying to put in words how confused he felt, when he realized where they were walking to. I should have known, he thought.

Of course Daveed, the spawn of Satan himself, had not led them to a nice park or a quiet bookstore, but to a coffee shop. And no, it was not any old coffee place, but his coffee place. Where. Brady. Worked. Luckily, it was still a little ways off, so he had time to make a run for it.

Without saying a word, Lin spun on his heel and walked in the opposite direction. He made it a couple of steps before a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him back around. "Oh no you don't," Daveed said, now pushing Lin towards his very doom.

"Yes, yes I do," replied Lin, faking to the right and then spinning to the left. He barely made it a step this time before Daveed had him facing the coffee shop yet again. To Lin, Daveed reminded him of the mothers who could lift cars to save their children, except in this scenario Daveed was the mother, Lin was the car, and Daveed's need for Lin and Brady to be a couple was the child. Lin wondered how insane this dance they were doing looked to passerbys. "She might not even be in there," Daveed insisted, still steering him against his will.

"Yeah, but if she is, I'll look even more like a dork than I already do."

"Fine, fine. If she's inside, we won't go in. But if she isn't, we might as well get a large cup of coffee, sit for a while, see if she shows up…"

"No."

"Ok, a medium."

"No." Lin had his arms crossed now.

"A small?"

"No."

"Now you're just being absurd," Daveed said from behind him.

Lin was about to make another break for it when his gaze locked on something up ahead. He froze in his spot. Daveed stopped pushing him forward when he realized what had Lin's eyes transfixed. A block ahead was none other than Brady, walking straight towards them.

The first thing that ran through Lin's mind was terror. He absolutely could not face her. He wasn't ready to see the look of pity on her face. Luckily, after a second or two passed his fear died out, because she hadn't yet noticed them. She was looking down at her phone, earbuds in, the breeze lifting her loose hair. Lin couldn't help but think how pretty she looked. A couple more seconds had passed when a grin broke loose on his face at the sight of something else: Brady was wearing his jacket, the one from the night before. She slid her phone into one of its' pockets and tugged at one of its' sleeves as she turned to enter the coffee shop. Lin's smile grew until it couldn't anymore. My jacket, he thought. She's wearing my jacket.

Daveed patted Lin on the shoulder, catching onto why Lin was suddenly so happy. "That's your jacket you let her borrow, isn't it?" Lin nodded. "You can thank me later, you know, for bringing you here. It's a gift I have, doing the right thing at the right time."

Lin would've normally laughed at this absurd Daveed-esque statement, but his mind was otherwise occupied. She likes me. She has to, if she's still wearing it. I can't believe…

When he turned around to voice his thoughts to Daveed, he was no longer there. Clearly this meant Daveed wanted Lin to go into the coffee shop, but still Lin hesitated. For once, he didn't know the choreography to this dance and didn't know the next verse of this song.


Author's Note:

Sorry. For, ya know, not uploading anything. I have no excuses except for being a horrible person, but you all probably already knew that.

It's a short chapter, but better than no chapter, right?

Thanks to TheJubilations for encouraging me to write a chapter from Lin's perspective, you rock.

I'm seriously going to upload a larger, more action-packed chapter within the next three weeks (I'm giving myself a large time frame so as not disappoint). SERIOUSLY.

Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting, it means the world!