Dawn had just begun to streak the horizon with pinks and golds when Nico left the all-night Internet café. He held a packet of papers under his arm, neatly stapled. It had been difficult, but he had finally completed the application for the local community college. He wasn't sure if they would accept him, due to the fact that he hadn't graduated from high school, and he didn't have nearly enough money to pay for tuition, but he figured it was worth a shot.

Though he hadn't slept at all, he felt wide-awake. Energy was returning to him that he didn't know he still had—an energy that pulsed through his veins, waking the cells and whispering to every neuron in his brain: this is your chance. Despite the fact that his application was mediocre at best, he couldn't help but feel optimistic. Maybe this was the part in his life where things would finally start going right for him.

He stopped by the post office to buy a large envelope and tucked the application inside carefully before sealing it up.

This was his chance. He could feel it.

A month passed. Nico did what he always did: walk until his feet refused to take another step, only returning to his flat when absolutely necessary. He met with Jason, who was absolutely thrilled with this news.

"Jason, are you crying?" Nico asked, horrified, as Jason's eyes began to fill with a shimmering sheen of tears behind his glasses.

"I'm just happy for you, that's all," Jason said, smiling broadly and sniffling.

However, as the cold began to grip the city in an iron-gray glove, Nico's short-lived confidence began to falter. Doubt began to creep around the edges of his mind like the frost forming above his doorstep. What was he thinking, turning in an application to a university when he had done little to deserve a place there? There were countless other applicants that were undoubtedly better qualified and much better suited for a university education.

The cold did little to ease his dark thoughts. He had heard that it rarely snowed in London, but according to the locals, it seemed as if this year could be the year that changed that. The temperature just kept dropping, and with it, Nico's perceived sense of achievement. Of course. The one year he ended up in London and it was the coldest in history.

And then, it happened.

He arrived home after a long day of walking about, the tip of his nose bright pink and his fingers completely numb. He was in the process of attempting to force the key into the lock when his boot made contact with something nestled next to the door. He looked down, spotting a weathered brown envelope, stained by melting ice. He picked it up, his heart beating roughly against his chest—pounding out a rhythm of both excitement and anxiety.

Once inside his flat he ripped open the package, not bothering to stop and change out of his jacket and dirty shoes. He fumbled with the papers, cursing his cold fingers and his lack of adequate gloves and as an extension, all of London and its crummy weather.

The papers came free from the envelope at last.

Congratulations.

Nico's legs gave out as he skimmed the first line. He fell backward onto his bed, his eyes still latched on to that word. That word that was likely to change everything.

You have been accepted…

Nico closed his eyes and held the paper close to his chest, a strange emotion ripping through him. A few years ago he never would have expected to feel this way about getting into college, but under the circumstances, this was the best thing that had happened to him in a long, long time. These past two years he had been drifting, a mere shade of the Nico he used to be. He hadn't had a place to stay. No matter how far he travelled he had never been able to rest in one place. He had to be constantly moving, constantly trying to shake the dark memories that wouldn't ever truly leave him. He hadn't realized just how sad he had been until this happiness swept through him.

Come to the campus next Saturday, 9 am, for orientation…

Now this, this would definitely make Jason cry.