for my friend on tumblr :)

"Here's your coffee, as promised." Amelia's tone is heavy with exhaustion, her blonde hair messy, a sign that she had just gotten out of bed. "It's black with a packet of sugar, as you like it." Mihai stares at Amelia, almost surprised to see her outside of his dorm. Four days into their pretend relationship, and she's still sticking to her side of the deal. "I'm gonna go back and crash."

Mihai takes the styrofoam cup from Amelia's hands and looks over his shoulder, to see Sigurd already dressed and staring at him. "You could just crash here until classes start for you," he says, as he steps aside. "I don't mind."

It's Amelia's turn to look surprised. Despite them faking a relationship in front of people, she had never actually stepped foot inside his dorm and he hadn't with hers. They've kissed a few times, held hands mostly and played it up more in front of her parents.

"There aren't any ghosts or anything?" He had admitted to her that he's into mythology and the supernatural, and she drew her own conclusions from that.

"Sigurd scares them off." Amelia smiles and stands on her tip-toes, pecking him on the cheek. Mihai swears his heart skips a beat at this action, and follows her inside. He shuts the door. Mihai kicks some clothes aside, and points to his bed by the window. "Excuse the mess, please. We haven't had time to clean." Amelia shrugs and hops up, examining the colorful afghan and pulls it over her lap. "My mom knitted that for me, said that I needed to bring something from home."

"That's sweet of her," Amelia says, as she lays down and pats the spot next to her. "Hey, come cuddle with me."

He debates it, almost staring at her longingly. He's tired, and Mihai likes to think she's warm and possibly even soft."I can't, gotta get ready and go." Amelia stares at him in the eyes, a coy smile on her face. "What?"

"Oh nothing," her eyes flicker up and down. It dawns on Mihai that he's not wearing a shirt, and he feels his face heat up. "You're quite cute without clothes on." That's a comment he hadn't expected from Amelia, regardless of they were actually dating or not, but for some reason the compliment means so much to him.

"I'm leaving." Sigurd announces, finally reminding the two of his presence. "See you in class, Mihai." Mihai gives a quick wave as he sets the cup of coffee down. Once the door is closed, Mihai turns back to Amelia.

"My parents want to meet you."

Amelia sits up, quirking a brow. "Through Skype?" Mihai shakes his head. "In person? Are they comin' to visit?"

"They're hoping, for break, you come to Sibiu with me." She certainly would be able to afford it, after all, her father is a doctor and her mother is a lawyer. And a trip to another country would be pretty cool, in her books.

"So what? We continue our pretend relationship until past summer break?"

"Yeah,"

"I'm down with it, if you are. So long as I don't have to keep bringing you coffee."

For some reason, Mihai feels relief at her words.

–

When Mihai gets back from his first class of the day, a math class, Amelia is passed out. He can't help but stare at her. The way her brows wrinkle together, how her hair falls into her face and her breathing is calm and even. With Amelia, there's never a downtime, she's always the type to be on the go and so seeing her like this, it's weird for him.

He thinks about crawling into bed with her, as he sets down his bag. They have an hour before classes start again, and a nap could help. The coffee Amelia brought him wasn't really enough to wake him up, but it did the trick for a good half an hour.

Mihai hoists himself onto his bed and curls up close to Amelia, leaving a small space between them, as best as he can on a twin sized mattress. Staring at Amelia, he dozes off.

When he wakes up, he's uncomfortably hot and his clothes are sticking to him but Amelia is latched onto him and his arm is over her. Mihai groans a little as he sits up, gently detaching the blonde from his body.

"You missed class." Sigurd says, offhandedly, from his spot at his desk. Mihai jumps a little at the unexpected voice. "An' the two of you looked so cute, I just could not bring myself t' wake either of you up."

That's a lie.

He sighs. "I guess one missed class won't kill me."

"You are serious about her." It's a simple stated fact, in monotone.

Mihai doesn't know. "Yeah, I think so." Sigurd says nothing more.

He's doing homework when Amelia wakes up, a few hours later, her hair a mess and eyes just barely open. She yawns, stretches and cracks her back. Mihai stares at her, entranced by the way the sunlight hits her tan skin, how she runs a hand through her hair and her lips upturn into smile when she sees him. It lights up her very features, and her big eyes seem to get bigger.

His heart skips a beat when she talks and he doesn't hear her.

"Huh?" Mihai's voice cracks, and he winces. How stupid.

Amelia draws in a breath. "Would you like to go shopping with me later on?"

–

Amelia hurries to her second class of the day, a physics class and finds that she's the second one to arrive. She sits at a table near the back and hopes that Mihai's best friend, Konstantin, actually comes to class instead of skips. The only reason they're pretending to be in a relationship is because her parents had been pressuring her to find a boyfriend, and when they had visited her campus some time ago, they had seen her talking to him and automatically assumed the two were together. In reality, Amelia was asking Mihai what she had missed in class since she had slept in after a night of partying.

Mihai was kind enough to go with it, and struck a deal with Amelia. He would pretend to be her boyfriend for a few weeks, and then they would break up. She wasn't counting on actually liking him. Yet, here she is, wanting to talk to Konstantin about him, to find out what kind of person he likes.

As she waits, she pulls out a comic book from her bag and begins reading. Time passes slowly, and she can feel someone staring at her and looks up. Konstantin stands there, looking a little shy and flustered, his cheeks dusted red.

"Hey!" She cheerfully greets. Amelia had forgotten her Bulgarian classmate is pretty shy, and unused to people approaching him. Now that she thinks about it, she wonders how Mihai and him even became friends, they're almost opposite in personality, though Mihai has his shy moments around strangers.

"Uh, hey." Carefully, he sets his bag down and sits next to her, tense. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can, actually!" She swears he pales a little. "Tell me what you can about Mihai." She doesn't even wait for him to respond.

Konstantin stares at her, taken aback. "Eh? What?"

"Mihai. What does he like? Dislike?"

"You're dating him," Konstantin says, after a long pause. "You should know these things already."

Amelia pouts a little. "Hey, it's a fresh relationship! You're his best friend, right?"

"Not really." Amelia's eyes widen, and she opens her mouth to say something, but Konstantin cuts her off. "We roomed together, and we are friends, but not best friends. You're better off talking to Sigurd or Alice."

"Alice would tell me to just talk to him, and Sigurd kinda freaks me out." Amelia looks around, as though Sigurd will appear out of nowhere. She sees that students have started to pile in. Lowering her voice, she continues, "I think he's a ghost."

"Better than thinking Mihai is a vampire, I guess."

"Do people assume that?"

"Didn't you?"

"For like, a week." Amelia admits and slumps down. "Can't you at least help me anyways? What kind of flowers does he like? Music? I want a better sense of my boyfriend." I want him to be my boyfriend, but she figures she shouldn't say that out loud.

Konstantin shrugs. "I know his ideal date would be going to the fair, or going to the cinema."

"What's his favorite food?"

"You can't go wrong with sarmale."

She sits up now, curious. "Sarmale?

"Cabbage rolls." Konstantin replies, looking down at the text book he had pulled out while speaking with her. He flips to the page that's written on the board. "He also has a big sweet tooth, so you can't go wrong with that."

"Thanks, man. That's all I needed to know."

"Why didn't you just ask him?"

"I want it to be a surprise. Now," she draws in a breath. "Do you know any Romanian?"

"No."

Amelia quickly thanks him as the professor enters, a few minutes late. She watches him put down his coffee cup, and walk to the white board. As he begins writing, Amelia just knows it's going to be a boring class.

–

After class, Konstantin quickly leaves before Amelia could thank him again and she rolls her eyes. He's shy, and a little awkward at social interaction, but she supposes it doesn't matter. She got some information. She had known about the sweets thing, since he's always got a sucker or some candy with him.

As Amelia walks back to her dorm, she gets a text from Mihai, stating that he's getting a late lunch and inviting her to join him. She quickly responds with a i'll be there, and changes her direction.

Upon arriving, Amelia looks around for Mihai and spots him in the corner with another student. She straightens her back and heads over there, wondering if she's interrupting an important conversation. "Hey, lover." She says as she puts her book bag down, and nods towards the student. He's tall, with silvery blond hair and eyes that could pass off as red. She's seen him hanging around Matthew.

At first, Mihai looks baffled by her words but smiles. "Hey. I was just helping Gilbert out with his French. He was just leaving." Mihai stresses each word, and gives Gilbert a pointed stare. It dawns on her why he asked Mihai for help.

"Didn't know you could speak French." She says as Gilbert walks away.

"Also German, and some Russian."

"We got a linguist on our hands."

"Don't you know any languages?"

She shakes her head as she sits down. "I know a little Spanish from taking it in high school, and can remember basic words for Latin when I took one class my senior year. I needed the credit to graduate."

Mihai licks his lips, and looks down at his French text book. "I could teach you sometime, if you want."

"Mattie tried teaching me French. I sounded awful."

He smiles, and Amelia feels her heart flutter. Mihai has such a sweet smile, it's so shy. It's not like he's passive, but much like Konstantin, he's shy. Mihai speaks quietly, and almost passively. But most of all, Amelia finds his accent to be the cutest thing in the world. "It takes time getting used to." He takes a sip of the soda that's in front of him.

"My Spanish teacher was a bitch." Mihai chokes at her words, nearly spitting out the drink. "I'm serious. She'd dock us if we didn't roll our 'R's, would always rant about this or that. It was awful."

Mihai swallows, and coughs. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be. Did ya need somethin'?"

He opens his mouth, as if wanting to say something and closes it again. Just wanted to be with you. He decides it's best not to say that."Eh, no reason. We leave tomorrow to visit your parents."

"Are you ready for that three hour drive and a weekend away from this place?"

"More than you know."

Amelia scratches her cheek. "Your friends don't really like me."

"I thought you and Alice dated?"

She shakes her head. "We kissed at a party once. I thought her accent was cute." Not as cute as yours. Amelia licks her lips and reaches out, patting him on the head. His hair is soft, and she doesn't want to stop touching him. "Though I can see why one would mistake that as a relationship, we would look pretty cute together!"

"Yeah, sure." Mihai ducks out from under her touch, scowling a little.

"What?"

"Nothing." He's not the jealous type, really, but yet, her words stung. "I should focus on this."

"Do you want me to leave?" Amelia is uncertain, her voice quieter. She's sure she said something wrong.

"No!" That comes out too quickly, and too high pitched. Mihai winces. "Uh, sorry. No, you can stay. I just uh, homework is frustrating me. And I am nervous about tomorrow."

Amelia makes an 'o' face. She nods. "Yeah, I can understand why. My dad's a bit intimidatin'. Don't worry though, everything will work out just fine!"

Mihai mumbles something, and the conversation stops there. He can't help but feel jealous of Alice now. Sure, Amelia's kissed him a few times to keep up public appearances but yet, they weren't genuine. And now, Amelia's expressed interest in Alice, he's sure there will eventually be a relationship between the two. But their personalities are such a mismatch. Amelia is too outgoing, too wild for Alice's more stern, tamed personality.

He slouches and Amelia runs her fingers through his hair. Mihai doesn't stop her, and welcomes the touch.

–

"Amelia."

She groans, and rolls over. There's a sigh.

"Amelia."

"Go away." She swats the hand off of her.

"Amelia, get up. Your boyfriend is patiently waiting for you." Amelia cracks an eye open, staring at the poster of one of her favorite bands. Boyfriend? "It's rude to make him wait." Oh yeah. With a little groan, Amelia gets up and hops out of bed. Alice huffs, and places her hands on her hips. "It's about time." She admonishes.

Last night, Amelia had made it a point to learn memorize a few Romanian phrases. Maybe, just maybe she can make her feelings a reality. Maybe she should have asked Konstantin if Mihai prefers making the first move or if he wants his future partner to do so. Would he know that information? Realizing her mistake, she curses under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Amelia grumbles as she grabs a pair of jeans, and a pink tank top. She yanks them on. "Anything else, mother?" Alice ignores her. Amelia grabs her bathroom container, and slips out into the hall, where Mihai is waiting. "Hey, I gotta brush my teeth and then we'll get going."

"Sounds good."

"You can wait in my room, or I can go down and get you when I'm done." She only lives on the floor above him, and admittedly, she's surprised he's early. Maybe Sigurd forced him awake.

"I'll wait out here." It hurts to see Alice at the moment, having figured that there may be feelings between the two girls. He dreads what will happen after their fake break up, now that he's actually developed feelings for Amelia. He sighs and sits down on the floor, watching as Amelia walks away. Her hips sway just slightly, and staring is all he can convince himself to do.

I want to kiss her.

The drive to her parents' is quiet and long. Mihai finds himself staring out the window more than talking to Amelia.

"So," Amelia says, after two hours into the drive. She breaks the perfect silence. "What's botherin' ya?"

"Nothing."

"You've been quiet since yesterday, 's kinda weird."

"I'm just-" Mihai draws in a deep breath, wondering what he should say. This is a pretend relationship, he has no right to be jealous. Yet, it stings so much. "I'm just tired."

"You can nap if you want. I'll wake you when we get there."

So Mihai tries, resting his head against the window and closes his eyes. It doesn't take long before he gives up. He sits up, shifting a little and feels a pounding in the back of his head. "Uh, actually, I do need to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" Amelia keeps her gaze on the road.

"Do you like Alice?" Please say no.

Amelia nearly swerves at his question. "Wh-what?" She sputters, surprised. "Do I like Alice? Yeah, she's pretty cool. Kinda stuck up though."

"But you kissed her." He's not sure if he's asking, or stating but it's out there and there's no going back.

"Yeah. At a party, because of a dare. Are you jealous?"

Mihai looks out the window, watching the hills pass by. He spots a few cows, and a couple of horses. Montana is a beautiful state, he decides. "I don't know."

Amelia only heaves a sigh, and the two fall silent.

The rest of the drive felt slow, and Amelia had turned on some music. When they arrive, Mihai quickly gets out of the car.

"I'll get our luggage, you can go in."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Amelia smiles a little, her mood lifted as she gets out of the car and heads inside. Mihai sighs, opens the back doors and pulls out their bags. He looks at the house, feeling as though it's looming over him. He can hear Amelia inside, but not sure what she's saying. He hoists Amelia's over his shoulder, and carries the other in his hand.

He's greeted by both of her parents, very enthusiastically, and barking. He looks down to see a golden retriever, its fur becoming gray, standing there and wagging its tail. "Well, hi there!" he greets, excited to see an animal. He misses his cat, he realizes. "What's your name?" Mihai asks as he sets the bag down to pet the dog, and receives a few licks on his face. His fur is so soft, and Mihai has to stop himself from burying his face into his fur.

"Washington!" Amelia replies cheerily. "I've missed him so, so much."

"What a cute name."

Amelia nods as she picks up her bag. "C'mon, I'll show you the room you'll be staying in." So Mihai follows her, with Washington at his side. He follows her through the house and up the stairs. "Mom's working on lunch, so you're welcome to take a nap or we can go hiking or somethin'."

"A nap would be perfect."

Amelia wrinkles her nose, as if thinking. That's another thing Mihai finds himself loving about Amelia, how she makes faces when she thinks. She's so easy to ready, her expressions are always so honest. "Want me to join you?"

"No, that's okay."

She shrugs. "Suit yourself."

–

"I hope you like what mom's making." Amelia says later that evening, as they sit on the porch swing. After Mihai's nap and a short lunch outside, they had gone hiking and brought Washington with them. Afterwards, Amelia brought Mihai into the nearby small town for him to see and ended up bringing him to her old high school. They had returned an hour before dinner just to sit outside.

Mountains sit in the background, faded in the sky. He thinks it's beautiful. "She's a good cook." Not as good as my mom, though. "So I'm sure I will."

Amelia opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted when her younger brother, Alfred, pokes his head out to inform them that dinner is ready. They head inside. Mihai is taken aback by what Amelia's mom had made.

"Is that-" He starts, feeling a little flustered.

"Sarmale? Yeah. I asked Konstantin what food you'd like, and he said that I couldn't go wrong with that." Amelia blushes. "I hope it's okay."

Mihai gives her a bright smile. "More than!" He could kiss her right there, but with her father watching, he's not sure if he wants to. "Thank you." Amelia shrugs, a little flustered herself.

"Well sit down and dish up!" Her mother calls from the kitchen, and they do so. There's a certain welcoming warmth that the Jones family has, that Mihai quickly eats up. The way her parents are, so welcoming and inviting and her little brother is nice and curious, though a little dense with his geography. Admittedly, Mihai got a little irked with Alfred when he refers to Romania as Russia on accident a few times but he figures it's forgivable.

After dinner, Mihai heads outside for a smoke and Washington, as usual, is at his heels. He leans against the porch railings, and looks out at the scenery before him. He knows he's being stupid, in being jealous of Alice, but yet, he can't help it. There's no evidence that Amelia really likes her, and had even called her stuck up. The sinking feeling is just there, and he hates it. He hates how Amelia has no problem kissing and snuggling her friends, how casual she is with him. They're not even together, and he's jealous.

"Hey."

Mihai jumps and looks over shoulder to see Amelia standing there. "Hey."

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." God he hopes they're not gonna have their so called break up now.

"About earlier. Are you jealous?" Mihai doesn't know how to answer that and Amelia sighs. "I guess I'll take that as a yes." She's standing next to him now. "I don't like her, Mihai. It was just a stupid kiss, at a stupid party. Sure, I used to have a crush on her but not anymore."

"Are you sure?"

Amelia smiles. "Positive. I like someone else, anyways. He's kinda quiet, a little moody." He feels his heart sink. "I don't know. I didn't intend on liking him much, outside of something platonic, but it just sort of happened." She taps her fingers against the white railing, and hums lowly. "I doubt he'll ever like me back anyways."

"What makes you think that?" Those words hurt to hear.

"I dunno. We barely spoke for the semester, and only just started to a lot recently. I learned I was right in my feelings, that he's very nice. Sweet. Handsome." She draws in a deep breath and looks at him straight in the eyes. "T-te iubesc!"

Mihai stares at her with wide eyes. Did she just say what he thinks she said? "Wh-what? Could you repeat that, please and a little slower?"

"Te iubesc." She says it more boldly, still badly pronounced.

"Really?"

Amelia nods, seriously. "I love you. A lot. I want to try this for real."

Mihai smiles and steps closer to her, putting out his cigarette and lets it drop. He draws her in for a kiss, lightly pressing their lips together. Amelia kisses right back, her arms going over his shoulders while his are around her waist. They remain like that until the door slides open and someone clears their throat.

"There's a fire tonight." Her mother says, a little annoyed. "Keep it to your room, Amelia."

"Yes, mom." Amelia links her fingers with Mihai's. "We'll keep that in mind. So we'll be upstairs. Call us when it's ready."

Mihai's heart pounds in his chest from the kiss. It had felt different somehow, more genuine, more with want. It lasted longer than their usual kisses. She leads him inside and up to her room, where she closes the door and falls back onto her bed.

He joins her.

"We're a thing now."

"Yeah."

"Truly wonderful." Amelia is filled with glee and she sits up, and rolls over so she's on top of him. "I want another kiss."

So Mihai kisses her again, this time deeper and she giggles as he kisses her neck too. Finally, they settle, laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"Together." Their fingers curl together.

Together.