“You made it!” his face cracked into a wide grin. It’d been months since she’d seen him, the last time being when he’d gone home for a school break.
“Hey Bubbles.” She grinned when he snorted at the silly nickname she’d come up with when they were only 15.
“I missed you,” Zane said, quickly pulling her into a hug.
“I missed you too.” She smiled.
“Happy to be away from home yet?” he asked.
She tried not to roll her eyes, “Gods, I’ve been happy about that for weeks, and I hadn’t even left yet.”
He laughed, “well you’re here now. You can avoid your family indefinitely”
“Hmm” she hummed happily, “and I can spend more time with you… without my mother glaring at us from the kitchen.”
“Also true,” Zane grinned.












