AN: Just like the last chapter takes place right before my other fic Für Lucy, this chapter takes place immediately after it. You might wanna read that one for a bit of context before reading this short drabble.

The morning after they started dating, Schroeder walked to school alone.

Normally, he walked with Lucy after she stopped by his house for a short, early concert and some breakfast, but she had a Beta Club meeting to attend, so she had to get to school earlier than normal that day.

It wasn't a long walk at all. His house was on the same street as the high school. It was just the company he missed.

Everything felt strange. The morning sun looked the same as it always had, but the streets seemed a bit wider somehow. It was a good strange.

Even as he walked inside the front doors, the din of the student body seemed different. It was louder, and he noticed individual conversations. He was trying to pick out a specific voice, but he'd still never paid much attention to other people talking before.

And, as he rounded a corner, he heard exactly who he was looking for.

Lucy was about halfway down the hall, chattering with Violet and Patty at Violet's locker. She was animated; her hands were gesturing wildly, and she was getting sucked into her own story. Schroeder leaned a shoulder against the wall and listened for a moment.

"And then I slapped him clear across the face, and I said, 'How dare you! The absolute nerve!'" She applied a transatlantic accent to the part where she quoted herself. "And he took me in his arms in a fit of passion, and said, 'Kiss me, you damned fool!'"

Patty leaned forward. "Well, did you?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "She's making it up, Patty. There's no way that really happened."

"I'm telling you, it was just like one of those old romance films from the 40's."

"Sure."

"Believe me or don't, it makes no difference to me. I know I'm right."

Then, Patty noticed Schroeder, and pointed in his direction instead of waving. "He's right there!"

Lucy turned to look, and he gave her a half-wave in greeting. She beamed and waved back.

All her features stood out to him now that he was allowing himself to be attracted to them. Her upturned nose. The genetic worry lines at the corners of her blue eyes. Her round face that somehow managed to have an angry-looking jaw (most likely due to her crabby-looking resting face). Her bright pink grin, decorated with makeup stolen from her mother.

Everything about her, every little detail, was irrevocably Lucy. And Lucy was his girlfriend.

It still felt strange to think about her like that in such a direct way, but again, it was a good strange. It felt both comfortable and exciting all at once.

She abandoned Violet and Patty mid-conversation and headed toward him in something between a walk and a run. He smiled at her, which solidified the pace into a run, despite the eye roll that he attached to it.

She slowed down just enough to not knock him over when she got close enough to hug him. They stumbled for a few steps, and she kissed him good morning one they got their footing. Violet and Patty shrieked.

Lucy took both of his hands and rocked back and forth on her feet. "Hi."

"How was Beta Club?"

"Boring. Walk me to class?"

"We have the same first period."

"I know, that's why you're walking me."

"Lucky me," he said dryly.

Lucy closed her eyes and scrunched her nose up at him, and for the hundredth time this morning, Schroeder remembered that he was very fond of her.

He had the notion to kiss her on the nose for the very first time, but he held himself back for now. He didn't mind letting people know they were together, but he wanted to surprise her later when they were alone again.

Look at yourself, Schroeder, he thought. Lucy's your girlfriend for less than a day and you're already thinking like a lovesick fool.

She dragged him down the hallway and squeezed his hand, and he thought for a moment that maybe it'd be worth it to be a lovesick fool for her. She certainly was for him. He just didn't want anybody but her to see it.