I want to end winter

How much longing must fall like snow

Will that spring day come?

"Spring Day" by BTS

Chapter 2

Coconuts. She still smelled like coconuts after all these years. He easily enveloped her small frame in his arms and he held on, perhaps for a little too long, enjoying her familiar warmth and smell. The panic and anxiety that he had been experiencing for the last few hours, anticipating this moment, seemed to fade right away. He leaned back, his arms still encircling the small of her back.

"It's good to see you, Lara Jean."

She beamed at him and for a moment, Peter found it difficult to look at her, smiling at him so sweetly as if no time had passed at all.

"It's good to see you, too." She said softly. Peter had barely heard her but it helped that they were still intertwined. Finally, he removed his hands and took a small step back. She's not yours anymore, he reminded himself.

Before either could speak, Chris bounded over, interrupting what felt like a moment. "LJ, you made it!" She yelled, her voice clear above the noise.

Lara Jean hugged her tightly and wished her a happy birthday, quickly getting bombarded by questions from Chris, who was dragging her to the bar. Peter dutifully followed, amusement coloring his face as it seemed their relationship had not changed all.

His height was a benefit as he quickly got the attention of the bartender, ordering drinks all around and handing the bartender his card. "Keep it open, thanks."

"Thanks Peter." Chris said with a smirk, already sucking on the straw.

"Peter, what's your Venmo? I'll pay for my drink." Lara Jean whipped out her phone and started to protest why Peter pushed it away.

"My treat. It is Chris's birthday after all."

"Damn right." Chris agreed.

Lara Jean shifted her weight back and forth, debating if she wanted to argue with him. Peter studied her face closely, slightly bemused at how uncomfortable she was. "Okay, but just this one. Thanks Peter."

Peter winked at her and nodded in the direction of a quiet corner. Chris had already flitted off to greet another friend so Lara Jean followed him.

"So, tell me all about this promotion. Why Boston?" She relaxed into the lounge seat, her knees brushing up against his.

"My company is headquartered here so it was the next logical step. The DC office was great but it was time for a change of pace."

"You're at Bain, right?" Lara Jean raised an eyebrow. "Consulting, really? All about the money, now?" She teased.

Peter let out a small laugh and shrugged. "It's not really about the money for me. It's nice to be working on so many different projects in different industries, meeting new people. It's challenging for sure but I'm surprisingly good at it."

"How are your hours?"

"Insane." Peter answered honestly. "But, I do get my weekends so at least I have that."

Well, that confirmed it. He was probably too busy to date too. Lara Jean quickly brushed past that fleeting thought. She should no longer care about Peter Kavinsky's ability to date or not to date. That was not her business anymore.

They fell into easy conversation, catching up on all that they had missed in their lives. Lara Jean explained her dissertation project, researching Jane Austen's letters and late writings. It didn't surprise him at all that that topic would become her focus. She had always been a romantic. She talked about the class she was teaching on 19th century British Literature, a sophomore-level class.

"Isn't it weird that sophomores seem so young now?" Peter asked.

"It's actually alarming how young they seem now when honestly, it wasn't even that long ago for us!" Lara Jean exclaimed. "I can't keep up with the youths these days." She lamented.

And it was true. She was a teaching fellow for the class and had a great group of 8 students who were constantly trying to teach her the new, hip lingo. She's still not quite sure what a Tik-Tok is.

"You remember when we were sophomores?" Peter laughed lightly. "I barely knew what I wanted to major in."

"Yeah." Lara Jean said softly, thinking about what happened at the end of that year. It was hands down the most difficult period in her college experience. Not freshmen year, not making friends, not arriving at college not knowing a single person. It was the period leading up to their break-up and then dealing with the aftermath.

Peter watched her carefully, sensing that the mood had suddenly gotten serious. "I'm sorry, by the way. I never got a chance to apologize to you."

"For what?" Her brown eyes held genuine confusion.

"I should've treated you better." I should've fought for us harder, he thought. I should've found my way back to you. That was left unsaid.

"We were young, Peter. It was bad enough that college was stressful but managing a long distance relationship on top of that was just too much." She said and then quietly added. "I don't blame you."

"I don't blame you either." He smiled softly at her and she smiled back.

Lara Jean thought she really should've been more social with others at the party but it was so easy to talk to Peter. He still had that same charm and conversation came easy with him. It was nearly two hours later when she finally looked at her watch.

"Oh my god. It's so late!"

"It's not even midnight yet, Covey."

"Midnight is late to me! I've barely slept this week." She grumbled.

She was so cute. No, Peter thought to herself. He can't think things like that.

"Want to get out of here? Maybe a little snack?"

Lara Jean raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting some midnight munchies, Peter Kavinsky?"

Peter nodded. "What do you think? Tacos? Pizza? Grilled cheese?"

She exclaimed excitedly, actually clapping her hands together to his bemusement. "Grilled cheese, please! There's this great place just a couple blocks down."

Lara Jean gathered her belongings and said her to goodbyes to her friends that she had basically ignored for most of the night. While she said her goodbyes, Peter did the same with Gabe and closed out his tab. Lara Jean bit her lip guiltily as she approached Chris. "Do you hate me? Am I the worst?"

Chris just hugged her and whispered in her ear. "I need a play-by-play. Text me everything when you get back home."

They barely made it to the grilled cheese shop before it closed. Lara Jean bounded down the streets, running as fast as her legs would take her. She was slightly annoyed that as always, Peter was able to outrun her so easily. He wasn't even winded!

They ordered quickly and walked across the street with their sandwiches, sitting in a building's outside courtyard.

Lara Jean eagerly unwrapped her grilled cheese and took a big bite. She moaned in delight. "This is so good."

Peter shifted uncomfortably next to her, trying his best to ignore just exactly what that moan did to him. He bit into his sandwich. "Not bad, Covey. Still find it a little ridiculous that they close at midnight on a Saturday though."

"Welcome to Boston!" Lara Jean crowed. "Where everything closes before 10PM and bars close at 2AM."

"I'm starting to think I made the wrong choice moving here."

They were walking down the street, their bodies gravitating toward each other naturally. Peter had insisted that he walk Lara Jean home since the buses had stopped running. He had suggested an Uber but she huffed at that suggestion. "It's only like a 20 minute walk!"

This was a lie. 30 minutes later, they were still walking down the same street.

"Covey, I'm starting to think we're walking to another city."

"It's literally like another two blocks!" Lara Jean pointed at a random building a few blocks away. "See – there!"

She missed this – their bantering and teasing. It was easy. This was how it should've been. She skipped the last few steps to her door. "This is me."

Peter grabbed her hand gently, rubbing small circles into her palm. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "I told you it's going to be really boring for you though. Bring a book. I need to read like 300 pages for class."

She still wasn't sure why this was how he wanted to spend a Sunday afternoon. On the walk back, he had asked her about her plans and she answered honestly. Sundays were her days to hunker down on work whether that be hours of reading, writing, or revising. She was planning on sitting outside in the grass in the park next to her apartment, basking in the sun as it was supposed to be unusually warm tomorrow but chained to her books nonetheless. She thought it was curious that he had basically invited himself but he probably just didn't have many friends yet in town.

"See you tomorrow, Peter." She murmured, leaning forward to brush a kiss on his cheek.

"Bye Covey."

When Lara Jean got back to her apartment, she flopped onto her couch and took her phone out, texting Chris.

Lara Jean: "I'm back home."

Her response was almost instantaneous.

Chris: "Lara Jean Song-Covey, it is almost 2AM and you're finally texting me?!"

Chris: "HOW DID IT GO?!"

Lara Jean giggled.

Lara Jean: "It was fine. It was really nice to catch up. We got some food and just talked."

Lara Jean: "Only talked."

Chris: "Booooooooooooooooo."

Chris: "Please bone him. It's been over a year since you last had sex."

Lara Jean: "It was a mistake to tell you that."

Lara Jean: "I'm not boning him, thank you very much. We are just friends."

Chris: "OKAYYYYY."

Chris: "Complete bullshit."

Lara Jean: "It is not! Tonight was completely innocent. It was just nice to have my friend back."

Chris: "You mean your sex friend."

Lara Jean: "I'm going to stop texting you now."

Chris: "Uh huh. But are you going to see him tomorrow?"

Lara Jean: "Shut up."

Chris: "So, that's a yes?"

No response.

Chris: "Definitely yes."