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and carried them over to the sink.

"See you guys later, I guess. Don't forget," he said before heading upstairs to his bedroom and shutting the door. Once again, he laid down on his bed and sighed contently. His phone buzzed and he picked it up off of his nightstand. It was a text message from an unknown number.

Unknown (18:12) Hey stranger! Hope you slept well.

Unnamed (19:05) Good morning to you, too, Dimitriu.

He chuckled softly.

'Strange' referred to when they'd first met. They hadn't talked often since then. There was nothing particularly special about their encounters with one another; just two people meeting at a bar by chance. And yet, it had become something of an oddity to them both. Even though they didn't speak all that often outside of those times they ran into one another at work, it was a nice thing to be known to one another. Dimitri wondered if he'd see Claude tomorrow at work.

As the day went by, more messages kept coming through until finally he received a reply from Claude.

Demyx:

I told Balthus to tell everyone to take it easy for the rest of the weekend. It'll probably be good for everyone to take a break, especially if they're going to start making plans for your graduation.

Dimitri:

Okay. Thank you for telling them, Claude.

Demyx:

Anytime! See you tomorrow! :D

His smile grew wider as he read Claude's response. He was about to respond when the next notification popped up on his screen. It was another text message.

Claude:

Did you sleep okay?

He stared down at the message for a bit before replying.

Demyx:

Yeah. I had a really nice dream.

It was nice waking up next to Felix, and the smell of coffee helped to make it extra special. After finishing his shower and putting on his clothes (which were pretty similar to Dimitri's, though they weren't nearly as big), he stepped out of the bathroom, making his way to the kitchen.

Felix was already seated at the table, reading one of the books that they got from Gronder. The orange haired boy was sitting next to Edelgard, who was sipping away on a steaming mug of coffee. Everyone looked to be busy with their own things as well, save for Dimitri and Ashe, who were simply watching the two.

They glanced over to him and waved him over.

"Morning," he muttered quietly, sitting down between Felix and Byleth. He wrapped his arms around his legs which rested on the bench seat opposite to him.

"You look tired, sleepyhead," smiled Felix jokingly as he pointed towards the dark circles under Dimitri's eyes.

"I am. I've had a hard week so far. My classes and work seem to come in waves today. One minute, they seem really interesting to me. The next moment they seem to just drag along for hours," he responded looking down, trying to cover up his fatigue.

"That's what happens every single week. But hey, at least we'll all be graduating soon enough," added Byleth.

"How many months until graduation? Four, five maybe?" questioned Edelgard, taking another sip of her coffee.

"A little over four months," answered Felix.

"I bet I could make the entire class graduate with a little less than five years of high school. It'd be a shame to waste so much talent, especially when I'm sure you all have a lot of promise." She smirked as she finished her coffee.

Felix laughed out loud, "Are you kidding me? Do you see what happened last year? Those guys couldn't even make it past the entrance exam and they're already planning their future!"

"What are you talkin' 'bout, punk?!" growled Sylvain as he started getting angry over Felix's comment.

The pink haired boy just gave Sylvain a playful glare before continuing his remark, "You and I both know I could easily beat any of the boys that try and make it past the exam. Just wait till you guys graduate. You'd be amazed. You'd realize that all these idiots that you put your trust in were actually just playing mind games with you guys."

Dimitri frowned upon hearing what Felix said. How could Felix just insult his classmates like that? Sure, he had done a bit of that himself before he became a mercenary, but he didn't want anyone else to do it either. It wasn't fair to anyone. He wanted to say something, but he just sat there silently.

Sylvain and Annette soon realized their mistake in letting Felix rant and instead decided that they would attempt to change the subject, knowing that arguing with the blond wouldn't end well.

"Hey guys! Who wants waffles!?" shouted Annette.

"Me!! Me!! Me!!!" shouted several voices. Annette giggled and ran back into the kitchen where Dedue, Mercedes, and Flayn were waiting eagerly for their waffles.

Edelgard and Dimitri glanced across the table at each other.

"Do we wanna do something fun after this?" asked Dimitri.

"Definitely not," said Edelgard shaking her head. She stood and stretched before turning to him, "If we want to be free, we should go home. Get ready for tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Have fun," said the professor. She walked back behind the counter, grabbing Dimitri by the arm and pulling him up off of the chair.

"Edelgard, are you sure you-" began Dimitri, only to be interrupted by the older woman.

"Trust me. Go. Have fun. I love you."

With that, she gently pushed him out the front door and shut it behind herself. It was almost 10pm. The sun was starting to set. The sky was filled with reds and oranges and purples. Everything seemed so calm and tranquil. But it also reminded him of a certain someone he loved very dearly. A certain green eyed brunet with the most beautiful hair he'd ever seen.

Suddenly