a flicker of hope.

Andy cocked an eyebrow, unable to help his amusement as she continued to babble on. Gigi. It fit her. It was always a G name. He liked this one. It went with her spunky, babbling, adorable personality. He looked over when the front desk lady shushed her then back at the small girl. Unable to help it, Andy let out a soft laugh and scrunched his nose up cutely. “You talk a lot, don’t you?” He already knew the answer to that question, it was clear in the fondness that painted his tone. “I promise you’re fine. You don’t owe me anything. I appreciate it though.”

Gianna’s cheeks turned pink, the boy’s laugh was...cute. Was she already getting sucked in by one of these (probably) frat boys? Ugh. “Sometimes I can’t shut up, it’s part of the Disaster brand,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “What apartment are you in? Let me at least push an elevator button for you, for the love of all that’s holy - or unholy, if you’re not into that kind of thing.” 

Andy’s tongue felt like it was too thick for his mouth and that his throat was moments away from closing up on itself. His chest was constricting violently and it was getting harder to breathe. He hadn’t anticipated her attending the same college. He knew that she had graduated. It hadn’t taken him long to find her when he was in high school himself. She went to a high school in the same city as him, but was on the opposite side of town. He kept tabs on her, but never intervened in her life. He had intended to move away and stay away. It was a lonely life, but not nearly as lonely as the one where he had been forced to live without her completely, not even being able to find her in the first place. The Fates had been angry, furious really, that he had succeeded in ending his life after losing her. That had been his punishment: a lifetime without her in it. So being able to keep tabs on her, but not be with her? That was a cakewalk compared to no life with her in it.

“Uh, no. It’s fine. Thanks.” He said quickly, snapping back to reality. He looked away from her and gathered his things into the boxes. Andy grabbed the boxes once more and was intent on getting away from her as quickly as possible. 

Gianna helped put back what she could of his things and gathered her own things, nervously looking up at him when she stood up, “It’s totally not fine, I’m always doing things like this, my friends call me Gigi, the Walking Disaster - which is stupid because it doesn’t even rhyme or anything, there’s no funny pun there, it’s just that I trip and fall sometimes and I ALMOST got hit by a car one time on my way to band practice,” she said, like it was no big deal. “God, okay, let me make this up to you, please? I’m just a lowly freshman scholarship kid, but I can help you unpack if you want me to, or anything else? Nothing gross, though, dude.” She knew at this point that she was talking entirely too much, but she couldn’t stop, this always happened to her, once she started, you had to put a hand over her mouth to shut her up. “Or not I mean I don’t wanna force anything on you or --” 

“Shhh!” The front desk lady glared at her and gestured to the “Quiet in the Lobby” sign. She sighed, lowering her voice, “Anything you want.” 

A new school year, the same routine. Andy heaved the boxes from his Jeep and headed toward his on campus apartment building. Junior year of college was likely not going to be that different from sophomore year. He liked it that way. He wanted to stay as detached from her as possible. There was always a constant ache lingering in his chest. He missed her. He always did. That wasn’t going to change, along with the unchanging outcome every time he couldn’t resist the pull to her. He was never sure how much time he’d get with her before she was torn from him once more. Even when he avoided her, had no contact whatsoever other than him discreetly keeping tabs on her, he still found she died young. He was just so tired of losing his soulmate. He was convinced that’s what she was to him. They always found each other in every lifetime they lived, no matter what. His heart was wary of another loss. So that’s why he was keeping the distance, to try to protect himself, but the strong connection and draw he had to her was unrelenting. He was going to stay as far away as he could, for the sake of both of them not getting hurt. 

The Fates seemed to have other plans. 

He was heading into the entrance of the apartment building on campus, his stack of boxes skewing his vision slightly. He felt someone collide into him, sending his boxes tumbling onto the floor of the entrance of the building.

“Shit!” He groaned and quickly scrambled to gather his things that were not scattered all over the lobby. “This is just great. Love it.” He muttered, looking up to see the culprit, only to freeze when his eyes met a familiar pair of brown ones. 

People called Gianna a prodigy all of her life, though she didn’t understand how learning to read before she entered Kindergarten was that impressive. It was just something she’d figured out - her adoptive parents sat her down with flash cards and groomed her from a clumsy toddler to a well spoken young child with a wit far beyond her years. This led to academic success throughout all of her years at school, and landed her now at Columbia, her number one choice. This was her first year at school and she was ready to take a bite out of the big apple - as corny as it sounded, and yeah, she knew it sounded pretty damn corny. 

She was moving into her new place on campus with arms full of boxes, she was to live in a small apartment that was included with her tuition. She stopped short in the lobby when her foot slid out of her flip-flop. Before she could catch herself, she was colliding with someone and things from both her boxes and the other person’s boxes went flying, “Oh no,” she grumbled, blushing when a bra landed on the hardwood of the lobby and moving to snatch that particular item up right quick.

“I’m so sorry, oh my God, My sandal just completely ran away from my foot? Let me help you,” she said, taking no real notice of the boy himself. 

“Eliza is a little annoying.” Tyler cocked an eyebrow and a grin spread across his lips when he saw the small smile pulling at Marley’s lips. “I’m sure we can escape her for a few minutes.” His smile dropped as she went on worrying about her mother. “I’m sure she’ll be okay, Marley. If Sue of all people can take precautions when it comes to a hurricane then I’m sure a better off apartment complex in Brooklyn.” He moved his hand to rest on her back and rubbed it up and down her back. “I can do that.” He laughed and gave her a small smile before hugging her in a comforting manner.

Marley smiled slightly as she let herself press against him, she could smell his neck and it made her body almost ache with the familiarity of it. “Remember that night the power went out, and we were at your place and we...well, there were candles and...you know exactly what we did,” she said, a flush in her cheeks. “It was so cold, but your bed was warm, and I felt safe even through the chaos. I miss feeling safe,” she said, looking away from him. 

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Tyler said quietly in return, able to tell she was upset by the quivering of her bottom lip and the way she kept her voice down to an almost whisper. “You can’t be worried about Eliza. She’s fine, being loud and annoying as ever.” He cracked a small teasing grin, taking in her face and a frown overtaking his own face. “Is it your mom you’re worried about? I’m sure she’ll be fine, Marls.” He said gently, finally giving in and gently grabbing her hand.

“Eliza’s not annoying,” Marley tried to protest, the small smile at the corner of her lips betraying her. “I mean, she will be if she sees us together right now.” Marley swallowed hard and let out a shaky exhale, “She’s just all alone in Brooklyn, anything could happen, who knows if the super of her building is taking the right precautions, and my phone doesn’t work down here,” she sighed. She looked down at her hand in his, not taking it away, but simply placing it behind her so that if Eliza were to look in their direction, it wouldn’t be the first thing she saw, “Don’t grab my ass,” Marley joked.

There was someone in particular that Tyler was worried about more so than his own well being during this hurricane. His eyes scanned over the filled basement until he spotted brunette across the room and he moved around the people in his way, muttering ‘excuse me’ repeatedly before finally standing before her. “Hi.” He said gently, wanting to grab her hand but stopping himself to not cross any boundaries as they were trying to fix things, but it didn’t make the urge any less present. “Stupid question, I know, but are you okay? I wanted to check on you.” His cheeks heated up in a faint blush, “I, uh, worry about you. I know you’re a grown woman who can handle herself and all, but I still worry. And I’m rambling so I’m going to just shut up now.” He nodded curtly and went quiet, staring down at Marley instead to wait for her response.

Marley’s bottom lip quivered, “’m fine, it’s not that bad,” she said quietly, only it was that bad. She couldn’t help but wonder if the storm would be reaching New York where her mom was, and that thought made her incredibly anxious. She bit her lip to keep her nerves from betraying her - the last thing she wanted was his comfort. Well, no it wasn’t, but it was the last thing she could allow herself to give into. 

“Same thing, yeah.” Tyler sighed, dragging his hand down his face tiredly. “It’s definitely been a work in process for far too long. I don’t know if I’ll be finishing it anytime soon with how this writer’s block is going for me.” He admitted with a small shrug of his shoulder then he laughed at Marley’s implication. “God, no. No offense, but your sister scares me. Last time I saw her was at here and she glared at me hard enough that I just left without getting any coffee before my shift.”

Marley nodded, “Yeah she...wasn’t too excited about me meeting you,” she admitted. “You um, you look good, Ty,” she told him, and she wasn’t lying, although she wish she had been. It probably would feel good to touch him right about now, but no. That was a definite no. “I mean...don’t doubt yourself. You know how I feel about giving up.” 

Tyler went to reply, but paused upon Marley quickly interrupting herself. He stayed quiet, letting her continue on and couldn’t help his little smile. “A B isn’t the end of the world, Marley. You still pretty damn good considering it was supposed to be just a fun elective. You were more than likely the smartest one in that room.” He chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m okay, I suppose. Still radio silence on my parents end except for the occasional ‘Have you changed your mind? Okay, bye.’ text from my mom. The book store is fine. The writing is at a standstill. I can’t figure out where I want to go to next after ending the chapter I just finished so it’s just sitting in my laptop files untouched for about two weeks now. Other than that? I’m peachy keen.” He said in a flat tone then huffed out a laugh. 

“Are you still working on the same thing?” Marley asked, remembering long nights up with him, reading his drafts, giving him gentle encouragement, writing her notes in the margins. It definitely wasn’t what she’d done with most boyfriends - well, boys who were friends who she slept with, but she’d liked sharing the creative process with him. In some ways, that had been more intimate than the sex, “You sound tired, have you been talking to my sister?” she joked, her chest still feeling tight, the awkward tension not quite subsiding.