The following Sunday morning, Sue found herself fighting to stay awake in the town Library. She had been there for a few hours already but was none the less struggling to make progress no matter how many times she re-read the whole chapter. She felt helpless at this stage, she didn't feel like the answers matched up to what was being expected in the assignment criteria. To complicate her further the events from last night still lingered there in her memory. She tried to keep it in the back of her head, she would rise above it.

She put the book down and rubbed her eyes again. She wondered if she should just leave for a bit and go get something warm from the café across the road. No, a part of her objected. What if Paulo showed up and couldn't find her? What would his reaction be like if he couldn't find her and thought he was set up? Could she risk making things as worse as they felt?

She picked up her phone and checked the time, it was just after eleven. There weren't any new messages. It was getting futile at this point, she didn't know why she bothered checking them, there was just not a chance in hell Paulo would bother showing up, not since last night.

Sue picked up the book again and tried to read the last paragraph she was last at, but was interrupted by a black device being pushed into her face. She grabbed at the arm and tried to push it away, but when her eyes went to the owner, she could only let it go and sink in her seat. Paulo didn't appear amused.

'Are you responsible for this?' He asked her.

Sue was perplexed, she didn't send him anything. She took the phone from his hand and read the conversation. It was between him and Amaya; the later tearing into the former; she wouldn't forgive him unless he reconciled with Sue. It was surprising to Sue, she never saw Amaya so demanding herself. Was she doing this for her? Her ears fell flat when she turned to Paulo, 'Sorry', she told him. 'I did speak to Amaya this morning, but I didn't think she'd send you anything like this.' She watched him put his bag on the floor and sit in the seat next to hers. She returned to the phone and flicked her thumb down, speed-reading through the logs. Something caught her eye, she could only read part of it before Paulo realised and snatched it out of her hands. She was going to interject but realised how much of a hypocrite it would have made her out to be from the other week. He wouldn't let her think about it too deeply.

'And?' He asked.

And? Sue wondered, what more is there left to say? She supposed there was just the one other thing; 'I miss Lucy too, you know.' She told him.

Paulo's expression softened. He pulled his bag up and bought out his books. It was not exactly the answer he was seeking himself, but he found solace in it, they wouldn't have to suffer alone. 'These book reports aren't going to write themselves, are they?' Sue nodded in agreement, they wouldn't.

They were quiet together for the first couple of hours, there was still an awkward atmosphere about them, the events of last night had not completely dissipated from either of their memories. The resulting admission they both missed their friend would work to their benefit somewhat; an idea they would come around knowing they both had hurt from it would inspire Paulo to try and cooperate a bit better than he had before. But Paulo had some misgivings about her he kept secret. They tried to work together constructively, even if Paulo had to push himself begrudgingly to.

It would have been easier on the two if they managed to pick the same book. It wasn't possible that Sue would have time to be able to cross-reference Paulo's work, or for Paulo to do the same with hers for completeness; there just wasn't as much time along with their other studies. They were at the mercy of getting it right the first time. Thankfully, Sue found herself able to concentrate since Paulo was in the same room, she could seat her worries in the back of her mind while he was here. She'd make this work, she had to.

The first revision of their reports was written up that mid-afternoon, Sue believed hers was under check even as her first draft. Paulo on the other hand, well…he just couldn't write a report worth a damn. He found himself sitting there taking Sue's lecture as she fine-combed through his own work. He'd be happier just passing. But Sue raked over the paper repeatedly until it matched up with the assessment criteria. She'd try to explain what he did wrong and ideas on how to make it better, at least she did well in this area. For the areas she couldn't fix, it was up to Paulo to tell her when happened in the book. She let Paulo write these in as she cross-referenced with what was said about the book online using her phone. The result was intriguing, Sue knew there couldn't be any doubt at this stage.

The library would close earlier on a Sunday. They had their drafts, they could work on improving further in their own time. Paulo had found he had missed an entire section worth of notes. He couldn't explain why he forgot to write down any notes about one of the chapters for the third time running, he shut up when he said it; that had slipped out. Sue would make a mental note of it.

Paulo put the last book of his in his bag and rest his head on his hand, it had been a long day. 'Learning how to do this kind of crap report is a lot like Algebra, what's the chance of ever needing to do this when you're an adult?' He whinged.

Sue wasn't exactly inclined to agree, she held onto the bright side of it, 'If you ever become a novelist or write a screenplay, it can help.'

He didn't want to agree to it initially, but it would explain how Sue was able to compose a play in the first place. Maybe there would be a point, he just didn't see a use yet. 'I suppose…' He replied It really had been a long day, he wondered how he'd spend the evening when he'd get home.

Sue mimicked the same action Paulo did, her hand supported her head off the table. 'I'm surprised you read that book several times already. I would've thought you'd only give that exception to comics.'

Paulo laughed at the idea. 'Only because I needed to.'

Sue wondered about it for a minute, 'That's a lie, isn't it?' She asked.

'What?'

'I mean you've read that book through for a third time, all your notes appear exactly as what happened in the book, apart from the chapter you didn't write anything about.' She told him. 'You keep forgetting to note things about that one chapter because you're that into the book! Why not just drop the act and admit it? There's nothing wrong with that.'

Paulo's ears flattened. Where did this come from suddenly? He couldn't have an interest in reading. 'What do you mean drop the act? Really, I'm only doing this because I have to!'

Sue sighed, then lent back in her chair before counting it off her fingers; 'You're not dating. You work sometimes. Surely you do something else that'd be fun.' She told him. 'You're interested in this stuff, you wouldn't have asked about the game otherwise.'

'Well, yeah; it's a video game… who wouldn't want to kill things?' It wasn't convincing, after all, there were other games.

'And the roleplaying part?' She pressed.

Almost instant; 'Absolutely and horrifyingly nerdy.'

She was completely taken aback, 'I can't believe it, you're a hypocrite!'

'Don't call me a hypocrite when you can't even handle the idea of going out on a date!'

Her hand went straight to her face. 'What are you talking about?! We both agreed to it not being a date! Was it supposed to be one!?' She squinted her eyes at him as she continued; 'Let's not forget an important fact, Paulo; you're the one who invited me to the movie, not the other way around. You were that wrapped up into it, you probably didn't even notice me get up from my seat.'

'Of course I did.'

'How many times then?'

'Once.'

'Twice.' She corrected.

'What, when?!'

'Before the climax. See, you didn't even notice!' She sat back in her seat. 'Ask Amaya if you don't even believe me.'

No. No, he won't admit it, a serious interest in the same nerdy shit that Sue enjoyed? You must be joking. 'How couldn't I? The ending was getting good. But I wasn't completely wrapped up in it, I at least noticed your hand getting very close to mine at least near the end.'

She blushed at the accusation, 'You were hogging the arm-rest!'

'Really? It was there for a good minute until you moved it yourself, explain that.' She went bright red, her eyes trailed away from Paulo's and back again.

'You even timed it? God you're inconsolable!'

He'd do anything to get away from it at this point. 'Seriously, if you wanted to hold hands and make out during the boring bits you only needed to let me know.'

She groaned and rolled her eyes. 'I am not that easy Paulo, it will take a lot more than sweet-talking for me to consider it a date, let alone with you.'

'I could only imagine what a frigid bitches' idea of romance would be.' He muttered

Sue grit her teeth, it was as flat as she could make it; 'Leave me alone.'

'Why won't you leave me alone?'

'Because you're the idiot who was crying on the floor of the Math class begging someone to help him, because he was too wrapped up in a fantasy of his own instead of looking at the bigger picture until it was too late.'

'If I knew you'd be on my case twenty-four-seven I'd have wished you never bothered turning around.' He snapped back. 'Hell, I half expected you to not return when you disappeared during the movie!'

They were hateful words, all through it. Sue had tried to be strong dealing with such an… ignoramus! She tried her best to put his words behind her as best she could, but her heart couldn't take any more of the pain, they were just too spiteful. Why did things have to be like this? Why did he have to say such awful things to her? She thought she was close to a discovery about him, but like he had been back at her house, Paulo was too defensive to try and accept his own feelings. She was certain of it; he enjoyed reading, he might enjoy other things that she liked too. But she'd never be able to find out, Paulo was just unable to talk to her about them.

She was furious that this is how he truly felt about her, after all this time. She wanted to scream at him, she really felt like she could just punch him in the face. She could match the furore of a certain white cat he held strong convictions for, would he relent under it if it was much more forceful? She thought it was what worked back in the classroom, but, it's happening like it did before!

Sue felt her anger subside amidst a realisation; was it a mistake? What if the real problem in this whole equation was her? She had lost her temper at him a few times over the month, what if the damage was done? What if it was done earlier? Was Paulo unable to come to terms with himself because of her? She wanted to tell him it was not what he thought it was. But she couldn't find the strength, it seeped out of her.

Sue dropped the persona. She'd failed him.

'Is that really how you feel about me?' She asked him, there was a short croak at the end, her heart started to falter. 'Why would you think I'd do such an awful thing yesterday? I wouldn't—. I only meant to try and help.'

Paulo couldn't find the means to reply, he just sort of…froze, like a doll that needed to be wound up. Sue took that in as quickly as she could. She had put up with a lot of shit from him for as long as she would have known him. She'd always find it in her to let it go, but this was the final straw. She could deal with the crap she got from him about the play, Fine, she'd admit it; it was rushed, flawed entirely. She poured her life into it to fix a bond between two friends. She thought it was perfect as-is, but it needed work. She was better than before now. Had he only gone to her house for his own entertainment? It hurt her inside, she tried to make things right, but this was too much to bear. She tried; she really, really tried.

Paulo could only watch her as she went for her bag and pulled it over her shoulder, she looked at him for a second before she disappeared out the front door.

Paulo only felt his strength begin to return to him as soon as she was out of sight, even then he couldn't bring himself to run after her. He could only concern himself with the immense hole forming in his conscience, it screamed murder at him along with a sleuth of other horrible-horrible things. He didn't know what overcame him, he didn't mean to say what he did, he just—, he just didn't want to—, oh god, this, this was not a good feeling. Where the fuck did that even come from? As soon as it slipped out it was like all the life in his body just evaporated. He was amazed that nobody even investigated the—

He looked around from where he sat. Oh, no, they heard them both; there were a lot of odd looks. How utterly embarrassing, for a second time even. Should he just go home too? There was no way he knew he could fix this.

He picked up his bag and charged after her, something compelled him to try.