College wasn’t exactly what Lip had thought. When asked about it, the young boy would have talked about parties, drugs and even people to have sex with. So when he started the classes, it was way harder than expected.

Ron, his roommate, was practically glued to his laptop and made way too much noises with his girlfriend, Amanda. It was annoying when all Lip did was study, work or try to take care of his family from where he was.

The only thing that was good in this shitty situation was the fact that you, working in the cafeteria with him, understood what he was going through. He had found a friend in you at you guys first meeting; it felt liberating to be able to talk to someone.

But after a while, he realized that he had took a liking to you — one he couldn’t tell you about but also couldn’t ignore. It felt like wherever you were, Lip gravitated toward you and needed to be close.

So often, he would find himself in your room when he needed to vent his frustration out, needed help or just wanted to see you.

But for once, he thought it would be better to get out of the college area, pulling you with him in his travel to the beach. It was cold; winter had made its way to Chicago and it was teeth chattering but none of you seemed to care. Waves crashed on the sand as you kept silent.

Hands were in your sweatshirt but it didn’t seem enough to keep you warm and Lip realized that while giving you a side glance.

“You cold? Fuck, sorry— I didn’t think about that, should have let you take your jacket.” he told you, running a hand through his blond hair. He unzipped his own jacket and extended it toward you. “Come on, put it on.“