Note that I am not really a coffee drinker, so I blame my troubles in writing this on the coffee. The coffee. Totally not procrastination, nope, no way, why would you think that? :)

I also apologize for my slight inability to write romance. I've never really tried it before.

Ray hated snow.

He hated it with a remarkable passion. The cold, white stuff never failed to get on his nerves. It reminded him of painful things- specifically, Norman, and the evening in their freshman year of college in which he had announced to Ray and his friend Emma his departure for a research project in a new experimental country called Lambda. It was governed by Peter Ratri, but the people there were being genetically altered and they needed Norman's brains to help them with something that had gone wrong. It was, potentially, a place he could never return from, which was why Ray was so angry that he was leaving- the last thing he wanted was for Norman to go on a basically suicidal mission. And that evening, the one where Norman announced his departure, it was snowing- the first snow of the season, in late November- and ever since watching Norman depart in the flurries, he had associated snow with bad memories.

Which was why he was so aggravated today, two years later (as a Junior now), as he walked around the Grace Field University campus. He had no classes today, so he was planning on going to the library to work on his essay for math. However, he stopped short when he caught a glimpse of a hooded figure in front of him… Ray could catch glimpses of snowy white hair under his hood, not unlike that of Norman's. He walked faster, trying to catch up to the hooded figure.

The figure must've heard him approaching, because he suddenly turned around, and that was when Ray recognized the thick white eyebrows and sky blue eyes. Yes, it was Norman. He was back, alive! Ray rejoiced as Norman recognized him. His hair had grown quite a bit over the last two years, and it was now close to covering both eyes instead of just one, but Norman didn't seem to notice. "...Ray?" he whispered.

"Hi, Norman," Ray replied, smiling as he tried not to cry.

The two boys ran forward and hugged tightly. "I'm back," Norman said quietly, his voice muffled in Ray's shoulder. It sounded like he was about to cry as well.

"I can see that," Ray laughed, rubbing his back gently. "It's been two years! And you couldn't even keep in touch with me?"

"Sorry," Norman apologized, his words still muffled in Ray's jacket. "Mr. Ratri was very strict in what we could do in Lambda. I didn't get to do much when I wasn't researching besides sitting in a room playing with a rubix cube, wondering how you guys were. Did you and Emma get into Mr. Minerva's class?"

"Yes," Ray answered. "Thanks for recommending us." Two years prior, Ray, Norman, and Emma had discovered a special course for gifted students led by Mr. Minerva. Ray had made elaborate plans to sacrifice his priorities to get Emma and Norman into the class. He decided that, to give Emma and Norman a better chance of getting in, he wouldn't apply for the class himself. Ray didn't find out until later, after he had decided that he wouldn't even try to get himself in so that he could get Emma and Norman spots in the class, but Norman had recommended them to Mr. Minerva to get them into the class while he researched in Lambda. "I still can't believe you managed to trick us like that, though."

He felt Norman's lips quirk up into a wry smile before he answered. "Uh-huh. Looks like I guessed right, then? I'd suspected something was afoot when you said 'I hope you two get in,' but I only really knew when I saw that you hadn't filled out the application papers."

"You looked in my drawers?" Ray narrowed his eyes, stopping his hand mid-rub.

"Sorry," Norman laughed.

Ray pulled apart from Norman. "So… do you want to get coffee or something?"

"Sure!" Norman's eyes sparkled, and Ray smirked, knowing that Norman had always had a soft spot for coffee. Specifically, the small coffee shop in the corner of their campus called "The Caffeinated Neverland" that they had discovered while touring the campus. Ray had been patronizing it whenever possible to keep it open, so that he could take Norman to it as much as he wanted when he came back. And now, he would finally get to do just that.

The two boys walked side by side in the snow, leaving perfect footprints in the light white substance. Ray shivered, despite having on a jacket and snow boots. This did not go unnoticed by Norman, who began taking off his scarf.

"What are you- Norman, no! That's yours! You wear it!"

Norman smirked and shook his head. "Nah," he said dismissively, proceeding to wrap the scarf around the other boy's neck. He then grabbed Ray's hand and rubbed it in an attempt to generate friction, and Ray marveled at how soft and warm his hands were. Ray had decided on art- specifically, oil painting- for his major, and his hands were always slightly calloused from holding and scraping the palette knives for hours on end. Norman's soft hands were a welcomed contrast.

After walking for a little while longer, occasionally brushing shoulders, they arrived at the coffee shop. The sign had fancy font with letters that bobbed up and down, and the two "f"s in "caffeinated" were adorned with drawings of coffee beans and tea bags. Norman bounced up and down excitedly at the sight, for he had not been here in a very long time and was looking forward to getting what had quickly become his favorite drink two years prior.

The two walked through the door and up to the counter, at which there was standing a girl slightly younger than them (who, apparently, was named Helen) with shoulder-length blonde braids and an all-white uniform. "What would you two like?" she asked.

Ray knew what Norman wanted, so he ordered for both of them. "I'll have the Paradise Latte and the Grace Field Special, please."

"And can I have a name for your order?"

"Ray."

"Thank you," Helen smiled kindly. "Your order will be ready shortly."

Norman gestured to a table, and Ray walked over to it and sat down with him, taking off his jacket and exposing the gray fleece he had on underneath. They were silent for a moment before Norman spoke.

"God, it's been so long since I've talked to you last… how are you and Emma? Anything spark there yet?" Norman asked, elbowing Ray playfully in the ribs.

"You know I don't like her that way. She's one of my best friends, and that's all she'll ever be," came Ray's relatively deadpan response, and Norman found himself chuckling… with a sigh of relief?

Norman laughed, and Ray took this opportunity to ask him questions. "What about you? How are you doing? Are you okay? Are you sick or anything?"

Norman snorted. "No, I'm fine. There was a little bit of pneumonia going around-"

"Seriously, I have no idea how you can say that so nonchalantly-"

"And it was FINE, Ray, I barely even caught a cold." Norman knew how overly concerned his friend could get. Honestly, it was kind of cute. He wondered how he had survived two years without him and Emma.

"And you're not just saying that to not worry me?" Ray asked, the corners of his mouth turning down suspiciously.

Norman sighed. "No, Ray. I'm really fine." He hoped Ray could see through his lies- he had, in fact, caught the Lambda sickness. It still gave him nightmares.

Ray sighed, seeming to realize that any further interrogation would get him nowhere. "All right. You're off the hook for now," he huffed, folding his hands on the table.

The two were silent for a moment before Norman spoke again. "You know, Ray… I really missed you." His mind flitted back to the many instances where Ray had occupied his thoughts back in Lambda. He would wonder how Ray was doing, if he had succeeded in Emma's plan to get in and not missed out on the opportunity, and if he had, was he having fun? Norman wished very much that he was there with his best friends, and sometimes he found himself shedding a tear or two. But each time, he would gather up all the strength he could muster and convince himself that this- what he was doing- was for the greater good, and he could go back home proud afterwards.

That was when Norman felt arms being wrapped around him yet again. He stiffened, surprised, when he saw that Ray was hugging him tightly. To his shock, there were tears dripping down his face. "Emma and I missed you too," he whispered, his voice slightly frail, and Norman blushed as the embrace tightened. He tried to ignore the stares of other customers, but it was very hard to do so- until he returned the embrace, and the two friends were just sitting there in each others' arms, now unaware of the customers staring and whispering.

"I have an order for Ray ready," a voice called out, and Ray jolted up hastily, wiped the tears from his eyes with his fleece, and shuffled over to the counter, where the server was holding two drinks. He took them, offering a quiet thanks to the employee, and made his way back to their table.

Norman snatched the Paradise Latte greedily and took a long sip. When he finally took the drink down from his mouth, he had a milk moustache. A fond smirk blossomed on Ray's face, and he suddenly experienced a strong urge to wipe it off. Before he thought about what he was doing, Ray reached out and wiped the milk off with his thumb.

Norman looked at him, surprised, a shade of scarlet steadily creeping across his face, and that was when Ray realized what he had done. His own face suddenly mirrored the colors of Norman's, and he hastily wiped his thumb off on his napkin. "Y-you had a milk mustache… from your drink… and I…"

"Ah," Norman squeaked, stumbling over his words. "Thanks. I-I didn't realize."

"Y-you're welcome," Ray replied, refusing to meet Norman's eyes. He was coming to a frightening realization, and he needed to be by himself, now. His eyes wandered around the store until he found a simple wooden clock propped up on the wall. "Gee, would you look at the time? I really need to get home, I still need to study for Mr. Minerva's test and write my biology essay! I should really go now, but I'm sure Emma would love to see you! I'll text her and tell her you got back!" He grabbed his drink, shoved on his jacket, and ran out the door with a final "Bye!"

He left an extremely confused and embarrassed boy sitting at the table, but Ray didn't care. He needed time to reflect, because… because…

How had he not noticed before just how handsome Norman was?!