The library grew steadily busier as the semester ramped toward a close, finals looming. Brennan waited for Cole in the storage room where the Blanket Guy Comfort Stash stuff was, busying himself with his journal, perched at a table with his legs kicked out in front of him.
The door threw itself open and Cole exploded into the room in a flurry.
“I’msosorry I’m late, god, I just had theworstinterview of my life for a job I don’t even want but my dad’s gonna bepissedbecause it was anepotisminterview and hepulled stringsfor me and Istillcouldn’t stick the landing.” Cole pushed hands through his hair, leaving it even wilder than usual, dropping his backpack to the ground and throwing off his coat. “I don’t even want the job! I’m sorry, listen to me ranting—”
“Hey, no,” Brennan said, jumping up to flutter around Cole for some way to help. He settled for putting both hands on Cole’s shoulders to still his pacing. “Slow down, are you okay?”
With Brennan square to him like this, Cole finally deflated. Then he blinked a few times, tilting his head to look up at Brennan, because Brennan had drawn closer than socially acceptable forjust friends.But they weren’t quite that anymore, and the realization must have dawned on Cole, too, because a blush crawled over his cheeks like a sunrise and some tension drained out of him.
“Hey,” Cole said, so soft where a moment ago he’d been a tornado.
“Hey,” Brennan said. “What’s going on?”
Cole pushed a hand through his hair again. “Not much. Except that I wasted two years on a business degree I can’t stand, I’m moving toward a future I don’t want, and I’m so terrified of the idea of graduating and dealing with reality that I’m letting it happen! And god, this must sound so, like, trivial, I know you have other problems that are way more important than my bullshit quarter-life crisis—”
“No, stop that. Tell me about your problems,” Brennan said. Cole nodded, and Brennan gently steered him toward the chairs at the table. Cole, naturally, swerved to sit on the floor, flopping back onto the shag rug instead of the perfectly good chairs. Brennan followed suit, sitting cross-legged a safe few inches to Cole’s side. As soon as Brennan settled, though, Cole scooted so their knees were nudging together, casually seeking him out in a way that was almost dizzying.
Brennan melted at the intimacy and said, “So then, what would you rather be doing?”
“What?” Cole’s expression was blank, uncomprehending.
“If you didn’t choose business, if you could do anything. What would you rather be doing?” Brennan asked.
Cole frowned. “I don’t know.” He reached for Brennan’s hand to fiddle with his fingers in lieu of a stim toy, which was unfairly endearing.
“I’ll be honest, I never pegged you for a business major, but I might be biased.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so this seemed like the responsible choice, I guess.… I like the library? Books, helping people, chatting—I’m good at it, but it’s not exactly a permanent position.” His frown deepened. “I just need to grow up. This is the path I’m on. It’s the right path, objectively speaking, and it makes sense, so—”
“Okay, but in a world without parents and responsibility and capitalism, what would you want to do? I mean anything. You could join the circus.”
Cole laughed, and the smile was a relief after the stormy brooding before it. “Yeah, that would really go with my ongoing theme of disappointing my parents.”
“I think parents try to find something to be disappointed about no matter what. Either way, it’s your life, not theirs.”
“I know. I know, you’re right, but it’s…”
“Not that easy?” Brennan finished.
“Yeah,” Cole said, soft and final, but he stopped playing with Brennan’s hand to lace their fingers together. Cole inhaled sharply and changed the subject. “What’s going on with the vampires, though? I saw about the students at Pike’s Point. I mean, are we safe?”
Brennan squeezed Cole’s hand instead of pulling away at the mention of the deaths, the reminder of Dom as a looming threat.
“I don’t know for sure,” Brennan admitted. “Dom went rogue and ditched her place. Sunny and Nellie say they’re handling it.”
“But?”
“To be safe, I warded your apartment,butI’m hoping I can check out the place where—”
“Whoa, hold on, you warded my apartment?”
“Just a few protective sigils from one of Nellie’s pamphlets.”
“What the hell, that’s so cool, and you did it without me?”
Brennan sputtered. “My bad, I forgot the vampire stuff gets you hot and bothered—”
“Shutup,” Cole said, laughing loud and bright, swatting at Brennan. “It’s objectively cool, first of all, and second, it’s not thevampire stuff,it’syou.”
