Courtney and I made our way out of the school after our study session had ended and the two of us decided it was time to head to Lois' cafe shop. I was glad that I would be returning to that place with a slightly better mood.

"Are you sure you're okay with coming here?" I asked her, as the two of us walked in through the main entrance.

"I'm perfectly okay with being here, Phoebe. This is my favourite cafe spot in town. Besides, I'm here with you, aren't I?" she reminded me.

I simply gave a nod of my head at her kind words.

Lois made her way over to us and her eyes looked between us with curiosity. Eventually, she smiled.

"I take it you two are back on good terms again?" she asked.

"We're all good, Lois," Courtney confirmed for me.

It was a relief to hear her say that, honestly.

"I'm glad. See! I told you that if you kept at it, you would be able to get through to her again," Lois said to me, with a sweet smile.

"Yeah. You really don't give up, do you?" Courtney asked me, as her eyes locked on mine for a moment and I thought that I might blush again.

Fortunately, I didn't before Lois placed lattes down in front of us. Then, I could just blame the heat in my cheeks on the warmth of my latte.

"How's school been going?" Lois asked the two of us.

"Eh, it's been alright," Courtney replied.

"Yeah, it's been fine," I said.

"It's kind of hard when I have to deal with this rather irritating girl all day but it's all good," Courtney said, as she directed a playful wink my way.

I smirked but looked back down towards my latte so I could take a sip of it, disguising the fact that somehow, some way, Courtney still made me nervous. I supposed that was something that wasn't going to change any time soon.

"Did you finish school, Lois?" I asked her.

"I go from time to time but...it's boring," Lois said, "I'm going to be a cafe manager and write lesbian poetry on the side. Why exactly do I need to know Pythagoras' theorem?" she asked.

Courtney released a soft laugh.

"You never know when you're going to need to find out the length of the hypotenuse, Lois," Courtney said.

"Well, you've always been smarter than me," Lois said.

"Did you just...did the person who is usually so arrogant about their knowledge just say that I'm smarter?" Courtney asked, as her eyes sparkled with astonishment.

Lois gave a slight shake of her head in amusement, before making her way back over to the main cash register.

In the meantime, Courtney and I were soon joined by Oliver.

"I really hope I'm not third-wheeling, here. I can promise you that Kian is going to be here soon enough, give him some time. His legs are slow. He sustained an injury in football," Oliver explained. "See, this is why I've been spending most of my time with other fellow intellectuals in the library recently."

Oliver had always been a fairly knowledgeable person. I was sure that he was helping out the other library goers with no problems.

"You know, we're going to be leaving school soon and I want to focus on my future," he said.

"Me too," Courtney said, after she had finished a sip of her latte. "I think I already know what I want to be a part of it," she added, as her gaze met my own.

"Really?" I asked.

"Are you two back together?" Kian asked with excitement evident in his voice, as he made his way over to the three of us.

"Yeah! Are you?" Emmy added, as she also joined us.

"We might be," Courtney said.

"Yeah, we are," I confirmed.

"Yay!" Emmy said with a grin, as she leant in to give me a hug.

Something like jealousy seemed to flicker in Courtney's eyes for a moment, as she leant back in her chair and adjusted the collar of her leather jacket, but it quickly faded.

"When did this happen?" Emmy asked her.

"Earlier today," Courtney said, as she met Emmy's gaze.

"That's adorable! I was busy earlier today. I had to meet with Miss Mack. She gave me some extra time on the last assignment because..." Emmy trailed off, as a slightly anxious expression seemed to come over her face.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"I need a second," Emmy said.

Courtney gave me a look but I couldn't simply let Emmy be alone, especially not when she seemed to be so upset.

I stood up from the table and followed Emmy out of the cafe.

"Hey," I greeted her.

"Hi," she replied.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

Emmy gave a slight shake of her head.

"I'm not okay but...it's nice to be out in the fresh air. I keep getting the feeling that Courtney doesn't like me," she said.

I gave a shake of my head this time around.

"Don't be silly," I said.

"No, Phoebe. The way she looks at me...it's as though she wants to rip my head off and I'm honestly not surprised, especially not when I account for the fact that you said what you did in the cafe. Sorry for reminding you. I know it's a little bit of a touchy subject," she said.

"Just a bit," I whispered, "What's going on with you, Emmy? I'm here for you. I love you. You can talk to me."

"My nana is really, really sick, Phoebs," she stated.

I swallowed then.

I hadn't exactly been expecting that.

"She's been sick for a while but the doctors really don't think she has long left at all anymore," Emmy stated.

I exhaled in slight defeat.

"I'm so sorry, Ems," I said.

Emmy turned to me with an appreciative expression. I wished that there was more that I could do. I tended to want to give my friends all that I could to help them but this was one situation where I couldn't do that.

"I'm so glad you're here," she told me.

"Always," I said, as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

The sky began to darken but I knew that I wasn't about to go anywhere.