As Derek and I walked down the stairs, we didn't go unnoticed by the curious duo of Brooks and Tyler. Tyler's eyebrows shoot up as Brooks' jaw drops.

I see Derek shake his head and rolls his eyes. "Drop the eyebrows and close the mouth morons." Derek teases and they both glare at him. I just chuckle at the two boys' expressions. "We are going to breakfast." As Derek says that, both boys' eyes light up.

"Breakfast!" Tyler exclaims. "We are coming."

Derek shoots Tyler a look.

I smile and interrupt before Derek can decline them. "You guys can come." I say and Derek and I receive excited hoots and hollers from Brooks and Tyler. Boys and their food am I right?

Derek made sure I sat in the front seat and made Tyler and Brooks sit in the back, which they just teased Derek about letting his girlfriend get all the perks. That word again. We never talked about labels but I kind of just assumed we were exclusive. At least, well, I hope so. I've never been one to love labels and need to establish them. But with Derek, that topic might be a smart one to bring up. I've heard things about him in the past and I just hope this is not all some big trick.

We pull up to the diner that's close to campus and Brooks tells the lady how many, to where she takes us to a booth. This diner is very popular amongst our college students, as it's right down the street from campus and it's pretty affordable too. I bet this place loves all the attention it gets with starving college kids coming in and out everyday.

I've only been here a few times with Daphne and another few times with my study group friends. Crap. I have a meeting with them today.

We slide into the booth and as I go to sit next to Derek, Brooks beats me to it and Tyler insists on me sitting next to him. I shake my head in amusement and watch Derek as he kicks Tyler under the table.

"Ouch, hey what the hell!" Tyler cries out and we all laugh at his pained expression.

A waiter comes over and hands us our menus and I browse the options. I look up at Derek remembering my plans for today. I kicked him lightly to get his attention and his eyes shot to me. "I need to be in the English building at three today. After this could we go to your house, get my stuff, and is it okay if you drive me back?" I ask cautiously. I'm not sure why I feel so guilty when I ask people for things. Maybe it's just me.

Derek nods, without a second thought and I smile to thank him. Once the waiter returns and takes our orders we just wait for the food to arrive.

A few minutes later, Stacey, the girl that was all over Derek at the bonfire, walks over from a table to the far left of us, leaving behind Gia and Julia who I recognize from one of my classes. I cast my eyes to the table, not really understanding my sudden self consciousness.

"Hello, boys." Stacey says in a flirty voice.

Brooks seems to be doing the same thing as me and just seems uninterested. Tyler looks up and as always he smiles and says hello. I look up at Derek who watches her with uninterest as well.

Stacey doesn't seem to notice my presence and just looks at each boy like she runs the place. Her blonde hair, brown eyes, and nice body make her probably every boy's dream. I never let girls like her bother me though. I would never want to be known as someone who only gets people's attention for their looks.

"Hey Derek," Stacey calls out. Derek looks up, still holding an expression of uninterest. "You left me so early at the party, I thought we were on the way to rekindling after our summer sessions." She says in a seducing voice.

My shoulders tense. I'm not sure I like where this is going.

"Nope," Derek says, annoyance laces his tone. "Not interested."

"Huh funny you say that, moved on to goody two shoes, I see." She laughs. I feel myself wanting to shrink away into the booth. "But when she won't put out, you know where to find me."

I audibly gasped and then she notices me. "Stacey, just shut the fu-" Derek starts but she stops him.

"Didn't know you were actually going with it." She says in disgust. "That must be some kind of joke."

Brooks and Tyler's frowns are present and they glare up at Stacey. "Stacey, why don't you fuck off." Brooks grunts out.

Stacey scoffs. She glares in my direction but gives me a look of something I can't place. Like she knows something I don't.

Tears prick my eyes and I fight them away. I can't let her get to me. She's just some stupid girl. "Excuse me," I say to Tyler who gets up so I can get out of the booth.

I rush off to the bathroom and thankfully no one is in here. As I kind of expected, Derek rushes in a second later. Examining my tear stained eyes.

"Hey," he says calmly and gets close to me. His hand caresses my cheek and he pushes the hair back behind my ears. "Stacy's a bitch, don't listen to her." He says in disgust. I can tell he doesn't like her but it doesn't help that she mentioned a past with him.

I am still trying to calm myself down so I don't comment on it. "I don't know why I'm letting her get to me." I huff and I wipe my eyes.

"Ash," he says and I look into his eyes. "I don't want her. She's just some stupid girl who thinks she can get anything she wants. I want you."

My heart swells. I want you. Replaying it in my head, my chest tightens with a feeling of awe. I smile at him. He smiles back and pecks me on the lips. "Now let's eat some food." I nod and we return to the table.

Tyler and Brooks have since moved to sit on the same side of the booth so Derek and I slide in opposite of them. They both give me sad smiles but I wave it off and ask them how they think their season is going. They jump in the talking about which team sucks and which teams are assholes and which teams are good enough to beat them. Derek mostly stays silent as Tyler and Brooks animatedly talk about hockey. His hand rests on my knee and it's a nice reassurance.

TTTTTTTTT

After breakfast and after we stop by the boys house, Derek drives me back to campus so I can make it to my study group. I haven't seen them in about two weeks so I think it will be nice to do something normal.

I walk in and they all greet me. I smile and greet back as we dive into some homework and study time. As the semester is starting to get in it's two final months, my first semester as a college student is almost coming to a close.

Josh and Kambria are seated in front of me with another one of my friends Jacklyn to my right. "So Ash?" Jacklyn asks eagerly.

I look at her. "Yes?" I ask, curiously.

She sneaks a look at Josh and Kambria who hold the same suspicion. "I heard you are dating Derek." She says.

I open my mouth and then close it. Opening it again I say, "Um well, I guess so, something like that."

Kambria scrunches her face. "You aren't dating?" She asks.

I shrug. "Well we haven't exactly talked about it but we seem to be on the same page about each other."

The three nod and go silent again. "We missed you last week." Jacklyn says, frowning.

I frown too, remembering my conversation with Josh last week before poetry class. "I know, I'm sorry, I will definitely make it every other time. I just don't know what happened that day."

Josh slits his eyes at me. I don't bother getting into it with Josh again. Like I've said before, Josh is... well he's kind of a jealous, know it all guy. He is well... gay, which is not a problem at all but he gets a little worked up when it comes to dating. He currently has a boyfriend named, Alex, who I've met a few times. I wouldn't dare bring up Derek on my own today because I know he'd chew me out about how dating a hockey player is like dating the devil. Kambria once told me he was bullied by an athlete so I cut him some slack and don't bring anything on the topic of boys up when I'm around him.

Our study session goes well and we talk about everything we need to. It's nice to have them to do work with. Daphne is a political science major so most of the time we can't totally work off of eachother. I met Josh, Kambria, and Jacklyn after a group project and Kambria came up with the idea of a study group. It has really saved me these last few months.

The walk back to my dorm is nice and crisp. I'm interrupted by the nice cold air by my phone buzzing.

Derek: It's one of my teammates Dillion's birthday tonight. We are going to this sports bar. You wanna come?

I bite my lip. It's been a long few days. Going to a bar does not sound that exciting. I text him back.

Me: I'm not sure, I'm kind of tired and run down. Maybe another time?

He texts back right away.

Derek: that's alright, talk to you soon k?

I give a small smile down at my phone.

Me: Sounds good :)