4

OOPS forget what I just said.... this may take a while hehe 

The morning sun poured through the kitchen windows as Sophie shuffled in, hair messily tied up and a half-eaten granola bar in one hand. Biana was already sitting at the bench, sipping a smoothie and scrolling through her tablet.

"You've got Science of Human Behaviour at nine, right?" Biana asked without looking up.

Sophie groaned and dropped her bag onto the floor. "Why do you say that like it's a yoga class? That lecture hall is a dungeon."

Biana smirked. "Ooh, don't be so grumpy. They're starting the group projects today."

Sophie blinked. "Already? But it's week three."

"Exactly. Welcome to college."

She sighed and grabbed a banana from the bowl. "Please, please let me get someone tolerable this time. Last term, my partner thought communication meant DMing me memes."

"You love memes," Biana pointed out.

"Not when they're about rats wearing sunglasses and we're supposed to be writing about trauma bonding."

"Fair," Biana grinned. "Maybe you'll get someone cute this time."

Sophie gave her a sharp look.

Biana wiggled her eyebrows and sang, "Keeeeefe."

"Shut up."

The lecture hall buzzed with sleepy conversation and shuffling papers. Professor Tiergan stood at the front, his glasses perched on his nose and a clipboard in hand.

"Alright, everyone. We're kicking off your term-long paired research assignment today. You'll spend most of your practical classes together, so I suggest learning to like your partner." He smiled slightly. "I've already made the pairings. No swaps. No complaints."

Sophie braced herself.

"Vacker and Heks" the professor called out,

"Redek and Song."

Sophie leaned forward.

"Foster and Sencen."

She blinked. ...Sencen?

A voice from just behind her whispered, "That's you and me, then."

She turned and locked eyes with Keefe, who looked just as stunned.

"Oh."

Keefe slid into the seat beside her with a grin. "Guess the universe likes to throw us together."

Sophie tried not to smile. "I was hoping for someone low-maintenance."

Keefe grinned. "I can be chill. I'm great at trust exercises. Unless it's the ones where I fall backwards and someone's supposed to catch me. I panic."

Sophie laughed before she could stop herself. "We'll see if I catch you, then."

By mid-morning, the pair had been relocated to one of the break-out labs and handed a giant folder of instructions.

PROJECT: Building Emotional Resilience Through TrustPartner-Based Activities, Reflections, and Research – 40% of Final GradeDuration: 6 weeks

Keefe let out a low whistle. "Six weeks of this? Better start planning our wedding."

Sophie elbowed him lightly. "You're so dramatic."

The first activity? "Shared disclosures." A structured conversation where they had to take turns answering oddly personal prompts, like "What moment in your life changed your view of yourself?" and "What's something you've never told anyone?"

Keefe glanced at the paper, then at her. "We can skip some if it's weird."

"No," Sophie said, surprising even herself. "Let's just do it. Rip the band-aid."

They sat on opposite ends of the lab bench, the sunlight making dust float in the air between them.

Keefe went first.

"My moment?" He paused. "Honestly? When my parents split. I didn't think it'd hit me that hard, but it made me second guess everything I thought I understood about people."

Sophie nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

She hesitated, then answered her own. "Mine was when I broke up with Fitz. It wasn't just losing him. It was like... finally admitting I'd lost myself first."

Their eyes met across the bench. Something settled in the space between them.

Not romance.Not yet.But something real.

The rest of the day blurred—more questions, scribbling ideas on paper, discussions that somehow stayed focused but kept veering into comfortable tangents.

They ate lunch on the steps outside the hall, shoulder to shoulder, finishing each other's sentences without trying.

By 4 p.m., their notebooks were filled, their voices hoarse from talking, and their nerves strangely settled.

"I'm not hating this," Keefe said as they packed up.

"Me neither," Sophie admitted.

As they stepped outside into the fading afternoon light, Keefe looked sideways at her.

"Wanna walk back together?"

Sophie smiled softly.

"Yeah. I do."

Well?? What'd you thinkkkk??? Please gimme some feedbackkk ♡♡♡♡♡