Kate!!! <3

Okay, so I’m just gonna apologize in advance for Imogen b/c she’s not a huge fan of Alice’s haha. I mean, I think part of her really likes Alice, but most of her doesn’t b/c she’s just so incredibly!!! jealous!!!! of her and she’s also scared that she’s going to end up losing Milo completely to Alice. I think she looks at Alice and sees someone who has her life together and who is beautiful and kind and she just can’t compete with that??? Why would Milo choose Imogen when he could have Alice? 

And she doesn’t wanna see him w/ someone else ~romantically but she certainly doesn’t wanna lose him as a friend, too, and I think she’s also afraid of that, if Milo x Alice became a thing, so yeah ... 

The one perk that Gin had found that had come from quitting her job with the GMFT was that she rarely saw Alice Lark anymore. Of course, it meant that she didn’t see Milo nearly as often either (that was partly her fault, as she tended to avoid him because of Alice). Still, Alice was more easily evaded these days and it made it easy to pretend that Alice didn’t exist at all. Bingley was small, but Gin could manage to go days (if not weeks) without seeing her stupid face. 

Today, Gin decided to stop by Fulton’s Outdoor Emporium. Truth be told, she was in the mood for some company and since her only friend (Milo) wasn’t exactly an appealing option, she decided to say hello to Warner. 

They weren’t exactly close anymore, given the break-up, but it had ended on good terms and she could always trust Warner to be up for a friendly chat, if she wanted one. He was always kind to her (sometimes too kind - it was part of the reason she’d had to break up with him). But today she was weirdly in the mood for one of his awkward conversations. 

She was surprised (although should she really have been?) to see Alice Lark, instead of Warner Fulton. “God, is there a reason you are here?” 

Her eyes flicked to the nametag pinned to her sweater to where Alice was sitting, behind the counter. Was she actually working here now? 

Of fucking course she was. 

God, she’d forgotten how it was so obvious that Warner was in love with her, too. And he’d gone and given her a job (after he had said to Gin that she could come to him about openings in a few months if she was still out of a job. Apparently, Alice was hirable on the spot). 

“So when are you planning to move back to Idaho or Indiana or wherever the fuck you came from?” Gin asked, crossing her arms. She’d been wanting to drive Alice out of town since she got here, but she realized then that Alice just might be the one to drive Gin away.

It had taken quite a lot of convincing, but after a few weeks of persistent pestering, Milo Cross has agreed to leave Bingley and accompany Alice Lark to Boston for the day. 

“You’ve really never been to Boston?” Alice asked as they walked out of the library. Alice had been working on a rather extensive project and needed information from a book the library in downtown Boston possessed but was unable to lend out.

“Nope,” Milo replied, grinning ear to ear at Alice. It was clear he was pleased to be out of the library, where he’d had been forced to maintain relative silence for the few hours she’d been there. Alice had tried to convince him to go out on his own, but he’d insisted on staying with her.

“Not even on school trips or anything?” Alice persisted. Milo shook his head.

“Aunt Alma wasn’t keen on road trips. Besides, there’s no reason to leave Bingley. I’ve got everything I need right there,” Milo explained. Alice paused to think of something Bingley might not have she could impress Milo with that.

“Have you ever been to an aquarium?” Alice asked. Milo frowned, shaking his head. “Then for once, Milo Cross, let me take you on the adventure!”

Within the hour, the pair were standing surrounded by gallons of water and hundreds of fish. Alice was observing Milo, however, as he stared up as a school of sunfish swam above them.

“How does it keep it all in there?” he asked, looking back to Alice. “The water and all?”

“Magic,” Alice replied with a wink. “…Or perhaps engineering. I’m a literature student– I really couldn’t say.”

“It is sort of magical, the whole thing,” Milo admitted, looking up again. He reached out his hand, managing to find Alice’s. She looked over at him and smiled. 

“And to think, you’d never have seen any of it if you hadn’t left Bingley,” Alice commented. It seemed as if the moment he heard the name of his beloved town, something clicked in the young man’s head.

“Speaking of, we should probably head back, yeah?” he pulled Alice in the direction of the exit, though she protested.

“But we’ve barely seen any of it!”

“Its getting so late and is such a drive back home.”

“Its barely even dark, Milo!”

“Yes, but its that time of year when the roads might freeze and think how tragic it would be if we ended up dead in a ditch somewhere?”

“Milo, you’ve being ridic-”

“Alice,” he cut her off, his face a bit more serious than she’d ever seen it. “Can’t we just please go home?”