The next couple weeks were absolutely hectic. It seemed that college really was beginning now, for it seemed that everyone enrolled in the university was swamped with homework. The cafeteria was no longer the cheerful, carefree location of the university, for people even brought work with them to eat. There were even rumors that the students acting in the upcoming play, Pride and Prejudice used their theater time to actually study for tests. There were no invites to go out to a local restaurant and Mathias' party schedule which hung on his door had been turned around, with red bold words written on the back,

"Seriously behind on the info,

Don't worry, soon we'll limbo!"

My days began to become very boring; most days I attended classes, and when finished, would mostly do my homework. On the days that I didn't have classes, I was busy either completing homework or sleeping, since I had become so sleep deprived. Not just my dorm, but the entire dorm hallway became deathly silent after class hours had ended. However, once in a while, a loud scream could be heard somewhere in the dorms, which signified that someone was overwhelmed with homework.

To my curiosity, Toris seemed to disappear after his classes. He always would come back to the room around 8 or 9 PM, and would work into the early hours of the morning. Once or twice I asked him where he was, or what he was doing, but he always gave a light laugh and would say, "Oh, it's nothing! Don't worry about it." My curiosity still remained, but I didn't want to force him to tell me.

The woodshop class basically became our study hall. I used that time to complete my physics work, and to study for any upcoming tests, as did Emil and Lukas. Mathias, on the other hand, worked non-stop on his wood creation, only pausing for breaks to answer a question or two from his humongous history book.

"Remember, we have a big history quiz tomorrow," Lukas would say once in a while. "You really could use a break and study, Mat."

"I can study later. Right now, I have the tools, the time, and the vision of my masterpiece," Mathias would respond every time. "And I know you're trying to make me study so that I don't work on my snowman."

Berwald spent his woodshop class much like Mathias; however, instead of hopping back and forth between the two activities, he would spend the entire class doing only one. Some days he spent entirely on homework, and on others, he would continually cut pieces of wood then sand them.

However, every single day of the class, before he began working, he would ask me, "G't 'n 'dea y't?"

When I sheepishly shook my head no, he would nod, head back to his desk, then start his work. I once asked for an idea from him, and he responded, "If ya m'ke s'methin' j'st c'use ya need ta, it has n' m'aning to ya. Th'nk of s'methin sp'cial th't is 'mportant."

Well. That statement certainly made me look at woodshop differently. For some reason, I began to think of woodshop as not a class, but somewhat as a haven. Yes, there were some kooky people who were enrolled in it, but for some strange reason, I believed that we all…belonged there. We all had our differences, but none of that mattered. I restrained myself from saying anything about my thoughts on our friendships, for I didn't want to make it awkward for anyone.

It was during the middle of October that something broke me out of the hectic madness that I had been trapped in for the past couple weeks. It had been a lazy autumn day, with a constant breeze that swirled the falling leaves around your feet wherever you walked. The days had begun steadily to decline in temperature, and more and more jackets were making appearances on the students on the campus.

I had gotten out of my physics class a bit earlier than usual, and had walked into woodshop, expecting it to be empty. However, I was wrong.

Standing at a work desk with his back turned back to me was none other than Berwald. From where I stood, I could tell that he was working on something very delicate, although I couldn't exactly see because of his tall stature. Intrigued, I walked into the classroom. "Hello Berwald!"

I must've spooked him, for he jumped and turned around with both eyebrows raised, which created an expression I had never seen on him before. He still blocked whatever he had been working on, however.

"H' T'no." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "'ut a bit e'rly?"

I nodded while setting my backpack down on my usual spot. "Yeah. My physics class ended a little earlier than usual." I craned my neck to the side, in hopes of seeing what Berwald had been doing before I had walked in. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you working on?"

"…n'thin'."

I laughed. "Are you sure? I saw you working on something."

Defeated, Berwald nodded, and then stared at his shoes. He raised his head, with a light blush appearing on his pointed expression, probably because of embarrassment. "Ya w'nt t' see?"

I nodded while smiling and made my way towards the work table, which Berwald was still hiding from my sight. "Pr'mise n't t' l'ugh?"

Looking up at him, I nodded. "I promise."

With a nod and a quiet sigh, he stepped to the side. On top of the work table, in plain sight, was a quaint, classic dog house. The whole of it was painted white, but it had a charming yellow trimming and a black roof perched atop. It looked so well-done that I could've mistaken it as one done by a professional.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, getting a closer look at Berwald's creation. "You did all of this?" I asked, turning to face him.

He nodded slowly. "Mhm," he murmured slowly, while scratching the back of his neck.

Intrigued, I made my way slowly around the masterwork. "How long have you been working on this? I've never seen it before!"

"'bout tw' 'r three weeks. I w'rk 'n it b'fore 'nyone c'mes ta cl'ss."

I stopped, and looked up at him. "Why haven't you worked on it while in class? It's amazing!"

A ghost of a smile graced his features, and his blush darkened just a hint. "'ts k'nd 'f a s'cret."

I blinked. "Why is a dog house secret? Is it a gift for someone?"

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Mm..sorta." He looked as if he would continue, but was interrupted by the three other students walking into the room, who also took notice of the endearing dog house. The class went along normally for about twenty minutes, until…

"Hm. Who are you texting, Emil?" Lukas' cool voice broke through the silence.

"N-no one!" Emil spun around, facing Lukas and thus clutching his phone to his chest. "And even if I did tell you who, you couldn't stop me."

"So you…are texting someone?"

"Yes." From the corner of my eye, I could see Emil staring back at Lukas with a smug expression.

"Hmm." Lukas narrowed his eyes, and then, in a much serious tone, asked, "Who's Leon?"

Immediately Emil's smug expression disappeared, and was replaced with wide eyes and a red blush. "I-I… NO ONE!"

With the same humorless look, Lukas wordlessly reached his hand out. "Phone. Now."

Still blushing, Emil drew back from his half-brother. "No! It's mine! And you don't need to go through my messages!"

"Then tell me who Leon is and what he is to you."

"How do you really know that Leon IS a guy?!"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid enough to believe that Leon is supposed to be a girl's name? You hurt me, brother."

"What if it was short for…uh…Leona!"

At this point, I had to bite my lip from bursting into laughter. I noticed that Mathias had but his sander down and was discretely filming the two brothers.

"Just hand over the phone and then I'll stop asking."

Suddenly, Emil smirked, and exaggeratedly locked his iPhone. "Well. What are you going to do now? Even if I gave you my phone, you would never the password. Plus—"

"I figured it out yesterday. It's 'Lukas You Will Never Find This Out Cause You're Stupid'."

Emil's jaw literally dropped. "How…how…?" he managed to get out.

Rolling his eyes, Lukas said, "It wasn't that hard. Now, where were we?" He reached his hand out again.

With a speed I didn't know he possessed, Emil picked up his backpack and raced out the classroom, with his phone still in his grasp. Lukas, seemingly flabbergasted, stood still for a moment, and then dashed after him. Mathias, still recording the two brothers, hurried after them calling, "Wait up! WAIT UP!"

Berwald and I were (once again) the only two left in the classroom. We slowly looked at each other, and I promptly dissolved into laughter. I thought I was the only one laughing at first, but through my hysteric giggles, I could hear his soft chuckles. Once I had regained my composure, I straightened.

"Well…it looks like woodshop has ended for today. The other three don't seem to be coming back."

Berwald nodded and began packing up his tools. I did the same, then asked, "So, are you just going back to your dorm and doing homework like me?"

To my surprise, he shook his head. "I…" he trailed off. He looked as if he was having a mental battle in his head with what he wanted to say, judging from his thoughtful expression. "I 'ctually…" He paused again, then continued, "W'uld it j'st be b'tter if I sh'wed ya 'nstead?"

I tilted my head. "Showed me? Show me what?"

"Can ya keep a s'cret?"

A secret? Berwald wanted to share a secret with me? We had gotten dinner together and had talked around three times and now he wanted to tell me a secret of his?

I nodded. "Of course, Berwald," I replied truthfully.

Looking a bit relieved, Berwald grunted and hoisted the dog house into his hands. "Ready?"

I gathered up mine and Berwald's backpacks and looked up. "Ready!" I exclaimed as we left the classroom. We stopped at our dorms first, to drop off our backpacks, and then I followed Berwald to wherever he might go. I assumed that we were going off campus, so that Berwald could give the gift to whomever, but instead of heading in the direction of the parking lot, he began walking through the campus. Though I was extremely confused, I still followed.

To my utter confusion, he took a turn and headed to the Cottages on campus. The Cottages were somewhat like miniature houses. Around 6-8 people would share the house, and the only difference between a cottage and a dorm was the fact that only people with the same gender could share a single cottage. In the dorms, students were separated by grades; however, in a single cottage, there could be freshmen and seniors living together.

I had the choice to pick going to stay at a cottage, but I had turned it down, since living in a dorm was a little cheaper.

He passed by the Cottages all the way through, until he came to a lone gazebo, which I hadn't even known was there. It stood in the middle of a park, with a few benches around it. Lights strung the gazebo, and a white fence was built all the way around it; except for an opening, so that people could get in and out of it. Bushes with blue flower buds encircled it, and birds chirped in the sky.

"I didn't even know there was a gazebo here! Is it new?"

He shook his head. "I'm r'ally not s're. I b'lieve that people tend ta f'rget 'bout it, s'nce its so far 'way from the main buildin's on the c'mpus. I th'nk people c'me here ta read 'r study."

He finally stopped and placed the dog house practically right beside a bush encircling the gazebo. Judging from the direction where we had just come from, it would've been impossible to see.

"So…what do we do now?" I asked him, as we sat down on a nearby bench.

"Now, w' wait." Berwald gave two, short, loud whistles, which echoed through the still atmosphere.

And, absolutely nothing happened. I looked around, expecting to see a person, a dog, anything, but nothing came into view. I was about to ask him what he was expecting, when a bush began to rustle to our left. I jumped, and to my surprise, emerged a light-grey puppy, with brown legs. I gasped in a mixture of surprise and delight as the puppy began bounding over to Berwald, who was smiling faintly.

"Is this your secret?" I asked him, as the puppy began running circles around the bench, yipping all the way.

"Mmm. Ya aren't 'llowed ta h've pets on c'mpus," he responded, as he reached into his pocket. His hand emerged with half of a sandwich, which was plastic-wrapped, and immediately began breaking it up and feeding it to the dog.

"Oh. Okay." I said. "So, how long have you been feeding it?"

"F'r 'bout tw' weeks. I came h're 'ne day to eat lunch, but n'xt thing I know," he patted the dog's head, then continued, "she c'mes 'long."

I smiled and held out my hand to the puppy. She immediately began licking my hand, and I patted her head. "So you kind of became her owner?"

He nodded. "She doesn't h've a c'llar. F'gured she's just a str'y."

I smiled and nodded towards the dog house. "So you built a dog house for her?"

"Mhm."

"Have you named her?"

"No."

As soon as Berwald finished feeding her his sandwich, I stood up. "Well, we can't have her all dirty in her new clean doghouse."

Berwald raised an eyebrow at me. "What're ya sayin'?"

"I'm saying that we give her a bath!"

"How're we gonna do that? We can't take a dog in the d'rms."

"I can…I'll hide her under my jacket! Nobody will know! Also, we probably won't run into any people, since they'll probably all be doing homework."

Berwald thought this over, and then nodded. "'kay."

Smiling at him, I scooped up the puppy and with a bit of difficulty, pulled my jacket over her. "So, should we just leave the dog house here? We could bring her back after her bath.

"S'unds 'lright."

"We can wash her in my dorm, since Toris probably won't be there."

"Toris?" Berwald asked as we began walking back.

"Oh, that's right! He's my roommate; I don't think you've properly met him." There was a bark and a bit of squirming, and the dog's head popped out the top of my jacket. I laughed and replied, "Okay, but as soon as we enter the building, you're hiding!"

We soon made it to the building, and after I had hid the puppy back in my jacket, we made our way inside. As expected, there practically wasn't a student in sight, not even in the dorm hallway.

Soon, I was unlocking my dorm room. Opening the door, I exclaimed, "Thank goodness no one's here!" and looked up at Berwald.

However, his expression differed from my thankful one. He looked as if he had just come upon the most horrifying thing on the planet. I turned my back to the room and fully faced him, saying, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for the mess! I should've cleaned up…" I trailed off, realizing that he wasn't even looking at me. I slowly turned around, and the image that greeted me probably gave me an expression much like Berwald's.

To be frank, Toris was making out with someone in the kitchen. The stranger had chin-length blonde hair, but their back to us, so I couldn't identify who it was. Apparently they somehow hadn't heard us come in, for they continued their activities, seemingly without a care in the world. I coughed loudly once, and Toris whipped his head around, his eyes going wide.

"Tino! I…I…uh…," he began. "This isn't what it looks like! This kinda…just…happened."

"Excuse me?!"

The blonde pushed their way out of Toris' arms and I realized that it was Feliks, who lived just a couple doors down. "This is exactly what it, like, looks like!"

A look of dread appeared on Toris' face. "That's not what I meant!"

"Just shut it already, Toris. I know what you meant." He pushed through me and Berwald, and opened the door. He looked back once more at Toris, and suddenly appeared sorrowful. "If you're embarrassed by me, let me know. I wouldn't blame you." Without another word, he shut the door, and you could hear rapid footsteps echoing through the dead-silent corridor.

Berwald and I looked at Toris, who was still in the same position we found him in, apparently shocked by the turn of events. A moment later, he dashed out the door, shutting it behind him.
The room was silent for a couple seconds, until it was broken by a muffled yip. A light gray head once again popped out of my jacket. Trying to lighten the atmosphere, I looked up at Berwald. "I think she wants her bath now."

Unfortunately, we hadn't thought everything through. Neither Berwald or I had any dog soap, so we just decided to use dish soap instead, and wash her in the kitchen sink. I volunteered to wash her, and Berwald stood by, not really knowing what to do. The dirt gradually came off her coat, and when I had finished, I wrapped a light blue towel around her, and dried her off.

"All done!" I announced, as she licked my nose. I set her down on the floor, and she immediately began hopping around my legs, showing off her new, clean coat. "She's completely white! I had thought her coat was grey at first!"

"Must'a just been all th' d'rt," Berwald murmured, as he fed her part of a granola bar.

I sat down at the table, Berwald following suit. Realizing that I was hungry, and Berwald might be too, I asked, "Coffee?"

Berwald nodded and smiled faintly. "No cream, ple'se."

The coffee was soon created, and I literally had just placed Berwald's coffee on the table, when we were interrupted with a high, "Yip!"

The puppy apparently wanted to go back outside.

I hid her underneath my jacket yet again, and with Berwald holding both of our coffees, made the trek back to the dog house, next to the gazebo.

The sun had already set, and the sky was darkening every minute. Not a single star or even the moon made an appearance that night, but the region where the gazebo sat didn't need them. Park lamps that dotted the sidewalk glimmered with a bright glow, and the twinkle lights which strung the gazebo were fully on, which created a cheerful atmosphere.

We made our way over to the bench where we had sat earlier, and I set the dog down. She 'woofed' happily, and after noticing her new dog house, came up, sniffed it, and promptly entered her new abode and curled up in there. I suddenly turned to Berwald. "She needs a name!"

Berwald agreed with a grunt, and narrowed his eyes. "How 'bout…Susan?"

"Susan? No. She needs a unique name!" I rested my chin on my fist and stared at her. "I've got it! What about…Sardine Picnic?"

I was met with a disbelieving, bewildered look on Berwald's face. "No," he said, chuckling lightly. "I'm thinkin' 'bout Charlotte."

"Hmm…nope. That's too normal! What about…" I went from staring from the dog to the blue blossoms beside her. "What about…Go For it! Bomber!"

He shook his head.

"What about Flower Tomato?"

"Flower Tomato."

"Yep!"

"'bsolutely not. I'm not paintin' that on her h'use. I could settle f'r Flower th'ugh."

"What about another word that means Flower?"

"Like Blossom? Or in 'nother l'nguage?"

I gasped in excitement. "Oh! Definitely other language!" I paused for a moment. "But…what language?"

"Let's go thr'ugh a list and d'cide."

I blinked. "Oh. Okay." I pulled out my iPhone and got a list of 'flower' in other languages. "Hmm…lets see…there's Květ in Czech!" I glanced at him and was greeted by a repulsive expression. "Never mind! There's Fleur in French!"

A head shake.

"Fiore in Italian!"

"Nah."

"Blume in German!"

"S'rry."

I was getting desperate. "What about…Hana in Japanese?"

This time, there was a positive reaction. "That s'unds good."

I nodded and smiled. "I think so too." I looked over to the puppy, who was fast asleep in her home. "She looks like a Hana."

I sighed and looked up at the sky. Out of nowhere, I asked, "Berwald?"

He grunted and turned towards me.

"What are you studying to become?"

"I…want to b'come a c'rpenter."

I turned towards him, smiling faintly. "Really? Why is that?"

He glanced at the gazebo. "Creatin' things are s'methin' I've 'lways enjoyed. You can take a b'ring, plain, piece of wood, and turn it into s'mething b'autiful with just a bit of 'magination." He turned to face me again. "What 'bout you?"

"I uh…I want to become an artist. A painter, specifically."

"Why's that?"

I paused, and thought it over. Finally, I murmured, "I think that sometimes, paintings can say words that people can't. People can fill their art with all sorts of emotions that words can't carry. Pictures can say a thousand words and can speak for itself."

"You s'und like a poet, not an 'rtist," he mumbled softly.

I laughed gently. "So do you." I looked up at the completely dark sky. "We should get back to our dorms. It's getting late."

"Mhm." We made our way into the building, exchanging words here and there. I found myself in front of my dorm. Looking up at him, I said, "This was nice, Berwald. I enjoyed it."

He nodded. "So did I."

I pulled my key out. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Mhm."

I opened my door and looked towards him. "Goodnight, Berwald. Thank you."

"You're w'lcome. G'night, Tino."

I smiled one last time at him, and shut the door. After closing it, I leaned against it, and smiled, although I had no idea why.


A/N

Tino, you are in loooooooooove - that's why you're smiling (duh).

And Toris, dude, you don't say that in front of the dude you're currently makin' out with. Big no no.

Sorry this update was later than usual! I'm working on a thirty hour project and looking at colleges and it is kickin' my butt.

As always, thank you so much for reading! If you'd like, comment a character (introduce or unintroduced - it doesn't matter!) in the reviews, and I'll try my best to fit them in there somewhere!

Feel free to leave a review - I'm open to criticism and ideas, and any review left will brighten my entire day!

Continued in the next chapter..