7.

Denver watched as she tossed and turned before finally opening her eyes. It was a little after 2 p.m. and she had been sleeping for over ten hours. During that time, he also went back to sleep and had time to run to the store for a new mirror. He had just finished making lunch when she saw woke up.

"I feel like shit," she groaned as she tried to sit up. She, however, leaned on her wounded hand and groaned in pain. "Damn it!"

"I guess that's what happens when you punch into some glass. And then proceed to sweep it with bare hands," he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Well someone's grumpy," she sighed, dangling her legs over the bed and standing up to drink the pills and water he pointed to.

"I'd like to know what happened," he said after a moment of silence.

"What happened to what?" she played dumb.

He rolled his eyes. "You. This morning. Explain why you would punch-"

"It was a dumb nightmare. That's it," she said as she sat back down and crossed her legs, busying herself by staring at the bandages.

"Are you sure?" he challenged, clasping his hands and leaning forward. "So who's Gio then?" He noticed how pale her face had become and he instantly knew she was keeping something from him. "Are you in any kind of trouble with this Gio person?"

"N-no. I'm not," she gulped the heavy lump in her throat and drank more water to avoid eye contact. She held the empty glass in her hand and ran her index finger back and forth on it to calm down.

"Who is he, then? He must be important if you keep muttering his name in your sleep."

She closed her eyes and scolded herself for being so careless. She didn't want to make the mistake of trusting someone to tell her past too, but she was also too tired to come up with a lie. She knew Denver wasn't going to let it go anytime soon. But could she trust him?

"I get it if you don't want to tell me. I won't push. But don't go around punching gl-"

"Giovanni is dead because of me." She watched as his mouth fell open and she regretted even uttering a word.

"What? You? I don't understand."

"I was basically the main suspect for his death. Many believe I drove him to the edge of suicide," she said, the words tasting bitter on her tongue.

He seemed to think for a second. "You blame yourself for his death?"

"Well, who else is responsible for it?" she asked, her eyes welling up with tears. "I was his girlfriend of ten months and yes, we had major clashes. Then on day one thing led to another a-and I-" she stopped herself from mentioning that she caught him cheating on her and the exchange of words thereafter. "I was the last person that saw him alive."

"Listen, I'm the worst person when it comes to these types of things," he said, giving her a sad smile. "But I'm sure he wouldn't want you to believe that he died because of you."

"Oh, you don't know him," she scoffed. "He would use anything to get back at me."

"For?"

"His best friend's death."

"Which you were also blamed for?" he said, unsure. She sighed, nodding to confirm his thoughts.

"You must probably think the worst of me right now."

"Eh, I still think you suck. Nothing much has changed," he said, successfully making her laugh.

"I appreciate you not pushing it too much," she said, giving him a friendly smile which he returned easily. "But you're one of the most aggravatingly annoying people I've met," she finished, patting his thigh as she got up.

"How about I help you forget Giovanni for a while?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, an idea already planted in her head.

"Go out with me tonight."

"Denver," she started, wanting to explain that she's not looking for a fling. He caught the look on her face and knew she was thinking of something totally different from what she had in mind.

"Kárri, no. No, no, no, no," he couldn't help but erupt in laughter. "I'm not thinking in that line. I don't want to sleep with you or anything."

She gave him an offended look, which made him laugh even more. "Well, I would, but that's not what I meant. Let's go to a club tonight. You need to get drunk and have fun."

She groaned. "I like being alive, thank you."

"Think of it as payback for treating you," he challenged, referring to her band-aid. She thought about it for a second before sighing and ultimately giving in. "Alright! Up top!" he cheered, giving her a high-five to her lesser injured hand.

***

When she walked into the club, a wave of immediate regret filled her stomach. She promised Denver she'd stay till midnight but here she was, already wanting to exit two seconds after stepping in.

She stood on her toes and pulled his arm down to talk in his ear, "I'll be the designated sober person tonight," she yelled into his ear over the music.

"Well, who did you think that was gonna be?" he retorted, his nose almost touching hers. "My phone is on. Call me if you need anything," he said, holding her eyes captive for a moment to make sure she got the hint.

She was about to respond when she saw his gaze look above her. She turned and saw a group of guys looking like they're impatiently waiting for him. So she nodded and gave him a shove in their direction. He still had his eyes on her by the time he reached his friends.

Left alone, she sighed, looking around for the bar or any remotely peaceful place to count down the hours. She grabbed a half a glass of some drink and like a loser, went to search for a hideout. There was a deserted pool table near the stairway. She smiled to herself as she settled under, pulling out her phone to check the time.

"This spot is taken," a voice said behind her. She shrieked, almost spilling her drink. She turned to the person who almost ruined her night and locked eyes with a guy who looked familiar.

"What are you doing here?"she hissed, upset that he caught her by surprise.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Escapism," she said, taking a drink and wincing at the strong alcohol. Luckily this was her only cup for the night.

"Misery," he responded after sipping his own drink. They both sighed as they finished their drinks and allowed the music echo to fill the silence.

"Usually it's social anxiety," she said suddenly, causing him to give her a confused look.

"I would've guessed it to be the cool spider webs," he pointed out smoothly. Her eyes widened as images of spiders crawling on her skin and hair flashed on her mind. She cringed and got up so fast that she hit her head against the table.

She then fell back down on his lap, not giving it a single thought as she quickly crawled out from under the table, dusting herself off of any crawling enemies. She heard him laugh behind her but she just gave him an eye-roll as she brushed her hair.

"Well, that was graceful," he grinned, tossing the cup in the bin nearby.

"Ah, yes, princess behaviour," she smiled, doing the same.

"Looked like queen shit to me."

She looked up at him and saw that he had a small smile on his very inviting lips. She cleared her throat. "Want a drink?"

***

"I'm telling you, that bruise was not pretty," she whined as he continued to laugh at her story. "I've had to live through that embarrassment all of elementary school."

"I'm sorry. You just seem to be doing the most around guys under tables," he said between laughter.

"Remind me to never tell you about myself again," she said, speed-walking but didn't get that far before he caught up to her.

"And why would I self-sabotage good story times?" he asked as he walked backwards in front of her.

"Fuck off," she chuckled, moving him out of her way. He walked by her side with his hands in his pockets. After a while of comfortable silence, she finally asked the question that was on her mind all evening. "Where do I know you from?"

"I knew you didn't recognize me," he chuckled, looking down for a few seconds before meeting her waiting eyes again.

"We share three of our lectures."

"Oh, sorry about that," she said softly, feeling like she hurt his feelings by not remembering who he was. But then again, why was she supposed to know him?

"Nah, don't be. We never spoke anyway. Though, I always noticed you in every lecture hall," he added, a shy smile on his handsome face. She was charmed by his personality, and it didn't help that he had a strikingly gorgeous face and jawline to go with it.

"Why didn't you ever come to talk to me?" she asked, turning to face him. Though lecture halls were filled with students from all over the world, she reckoned she would have remembered him if he made the move and talked to her.

"You always seemed busy or something. Either typing on your laptop or scribbling something in your journal. If not, you would be with Denver. If not, you'd be working on some report. I caught a glimpse of the Integrated Design Studio report. And if not that, you would be sitting in the cafeteria with earphones in," he said with a smile, making her blush.

He noticed all that?

"I guess you naturally have this 'don't mess with me' aura which doesn't make it easy to approach you," he added with a soft chuckle.

"What's your name?" she asked, smiling. She was smiling so much her cheeks were hurting but she couldn't control herself.

"Zeke Pierre."

"Well, Zeke, for what it's worth, I'm sure I would have enjoyed your company. I am right now," she said honestly, taking his hand in hers and linking their fingers as they carried on walking in the street.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say," he pretended to be hurt, rolling his eyes and brushing her shoulder with his. She shot him a toothy grin.

"I should probably find out where Denver is," she sighed, pulling her phone out of her pocket with her other hand and felt his hand slip from the one he held.

"How long have you guys been together?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, no," she shook her head and flailed her hands. "We just share the same apartment."

"Oh, what's that situation like?"

"Heavenly," she said sarcastically, dialling Denver's number. "I was pretty sure he hated me last week."

"Why would anyone hate you?" he asked with a smile.

She shrugged. "I always have different views on stuff." She was about to explain when the line was picked up and she heard some shuffling.

"Hi! Karri, my favourite person, where are you?!" he yelled in the phone, making her wince and remove it from her ear. Hearing the background noise was confirmation that he was still at the club, she she cut the call.

"I was thinking of how fun it would be if we were room mates," he said as they walked to the club. She chuckled, thinking back to the times when Denver would not have agreed with her being 'fun'.

"I'm not fun. I'm more of the mom in the relationship. He gets to have fun and I look after him and make sure the place is in one piece."

Once they reached the club entrance, they showed their IDs and walked in. He took hold of her hand and led her through the crowd, their eyes searching around for Denver who was on the pool table chugging beer through a tube that came form god knows where. As they neared the table, his eyes shot to her and he pointed.

"Karri, it's you! Everybody, here's my favourite person right now! I missed y-"

"Okay buddy, let's go," she interrupted him, tugging him by the hand and motioning him to climb down. Then she put one arm around her shoulder and saw Zeke take his other arm. They carried him outside and into to the car they came with.

She then gave Zeke the keys and directed him to their place. Once inside the complex, she searched for her keys and hurried to open the door, flipping the lights on and making way for Zeke to drag Denver in. He had already passed out during the ride.

"He doesn't look too heavy for you," Karri teased when she opened Denver's bedroom door and they dossed him on the bed. She took his shoes and jersey off, then Zeke pulled Denver's jeans off so that he could sleep comfortably.

"He'll be feeling great tomorrow," Zeke laughed as they closed the bedroom door. She then opened her bedroom and went to her closet for a change of clothes.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" she offered as she walked out in a large t-shirt and spandex tights. She plugged in the kettle and got two mugs. "You may switch the television on for Netflix."

She heard him say something along the lines of 'cool'. After preparing their drinks, she went to go join him on the couch. She, however, wasn't prepared for what she saw.