Your Hoodie still smells like me - The Morning After

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Episode 20 — Your Hoodie Still Smells Like Me

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“The Morning After”

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The Winter Creative Challenge mixer ended with exactly three things:

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1. Rowan causing problems.

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2. Noah losing his phone.

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3. Eli and Kai making terrible decisions.

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Again.

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—

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The party had moved from the student center to Noah's off-campus apartment.

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Music played softly in the background while people sat around talking, playing games, and celebrating the end of another stressful week.

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Eli was tired.

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Kai was tired.

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And both of them were tired of pretending not to care.

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Unfortunately, neither of them knew how to fix that.

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So they did what many stressed university students do.

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They drank more than they should have.

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Not enough to completely lose control.

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Enough to lower their defenses.

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Which was somehow worse.

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—

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By midnight, most people had left.

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The apartment was quieter now.

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Rowan was asleep on the couch.

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Noah was arguing with Min Jun about pizza toppings.

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Damien had already gone home.

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And Eli was sitting on the floor beside the sofa staring at absolutely nothing.

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Kai sat nearby.

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For once, neither of them were trying to make the other jealous.

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They just looked exhausted.

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"You look ridiculous," Eli muttered.

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Kai glanced over.

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"So do you."

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"Fair."

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For some reason, that made both of them laugh.

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The first genuine laugh they'd shared in days.

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—

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An hour later, Noah announced there weren't enough rides back to campus until morning.

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Which created another problem.

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Sleeping arrangements.

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A very annoying problem.

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"Okay," Noah said. "People can take the couch, guest room, floor, whatever."

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Rowan pointed without opening his eyes.

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"Put the exes together."

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Everyone ignored him.

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Mostly because he was accidentally making sense.

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There simply wasn't enough space.

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—

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Eventually, Eli ended up in one of the spare rooms.

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A small room.

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One bed.

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One blanket.

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One problem.

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Kai appeared in the doorway a few minutes later.

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Silence.

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Both stared at the bed.

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Then at each other.

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Then at the bed again.

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"Noah is the worst," Eli decided.

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Kai nodded.

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"Agreed."

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—

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The room lights were off except for a small lamp near the window.

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Neither of them spoke much.

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The exhaustion finally catching up.

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For a while they simply lay on opposite sides of the mattress.

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Carefully.

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Awkwardly.

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Like the bed had a border between countries.

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Then Eli rolled over.

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The blanket immediately shifted away.

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"Seriously?"

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Kai laughed quietly.

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"You're stealing it."

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"It's cold."

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"You've stolen blankets since high school."

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"Because you're a blanket thief."

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Kai looked offended.

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"I'm literally not."

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"You are."

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A familiar argument.

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A comfortable one.

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The kind they used to have all the time.

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Eventually the conversation faded.

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The room grew quiet.

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Outside, rain tapped softly against the window.

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For the first time in weeks, neither of them were arguing.

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Neither were trying to make each other jealous.

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They were just...

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there.

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Together.

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And somehow that felt easier than everything else.

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—

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The next morning, sunlight slipped through the curtains.

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Eli woke first.

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For a moment he didn't know where he was.

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Then he realized.

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Noah's apartment.

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The competition.

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The party.

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And—

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Kai.

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Still asleep beside him.

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One arm loosely draped over the blanket between them.

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Peaceful for once.

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Not angry.

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Not jealous.

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Not guarded.

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Just Kai.

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Eli stared for a second longer than necessary.

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Then sighed quietly.

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Because despite everything—

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all the confusion,

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all the mixed signals,

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all the unresolved feelings—

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one truth remained painfully obvious.

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He still loved him.

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And judging by everything that had happened lately—

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Kai probably wasn't over him either.

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The question was no longer whether they cared.

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The question was whether either of them would finally stop running from it.50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEAt0ai4fm

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