Honestly, Nathan’s not sure how he finds himself sitting across Jordan. All he remembers is getting into Jordan's car and looking up at the moon as it follows them through the cloudless sky.

They’re at a ramen place not too far from the university. Apparently, Jordan goes here when he’s too lazy to make some food on his own but Nathan’s never even seen this place. Well, to be honest, he rarely strays far from the university’s compound and he’s much too busy to bike anywhere this far. Trying to delay conversation for as long as he can, Nathan surveys the establishment. He wouldn’t exactly call it a restaurant, the place only has a few tables and there’s only one chef (a middle-aged man who looks Lucian) but he’s not complaining; he rarely goes out to eat anyway. He finally works up the courage to look at Jordan, appreciating the fact that he brought him here but he’s not going to admit that to his face, at least not now.

“Eos to Nathan, you there?” Jordan asks, interrupting his thoughts.

He quickly averts his eyes, “Uh... yeah... yep, I'm here.” Nathan responds, covering his blush.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Nathan answers, unconsciously grinning. He swiftly moves his hand to cover it.

“Good, I thought I was going to have to talk to myself this whole time,” Jordan teases, noticing the other's smile.

“What are you having?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having, I guess.”

“Wow, lazy much?"

Nathan rolls his eyes but he can’t help laughing. Is this really happening? He’s actually eating dinner with his crush? Seems like something that could only happen in one of those rom-coms...

“Can we have 2 bowls of tonkotsu ramen?” Jordan asks the waitress, waving his hand to get her attention.

She gets up from her chair behind the counter, “Sure thing! I’ll tell him to get it ready right away,” the waitress says, pointing her head towards the chef.

Jordan turns back towards Nathan, “You haven’t been here, have you?”

“Uh... I don’t go too far from my apartment if I’m honest. I don’t have a car…” Nathan replies, slightly blushing.

“I guess it’s good that I’m here to take you to new places,” Jordan says while laughing. Nathan can’t help but smile, things almost felt normal.

Almost. Almost except for the fact that he saw Accordo’s queen collapse with his own eyes earlier in the day. Almost except for the fact that he sees their dinner as a date rather than two friends (Can he even regard Jordan as one?) hanging out. Almost except for the fact that he’s somehow more nervous than when he was taking his final exams last year. How can Jordan make him more nervous than the most difficult of exams? How can he make him more nervous than when he was waiting for his acceptance letters? He doesn't stop to consider that he might be overthinking this but he’s much too inexperienced to know any better. After all, he’s never been in a relationship before.

“How are things?” Jordan asks, interrupting Nathan’s thoughts once again.

“Oh, um… things are fine."

After a few seconds of silence, he tries getting Nathan to talk again, “That incident earlier today was pretty crazy, huh?”

The students who witnessed the queen collapse aren’t allowed to talk about it explicitly under strict orders of the Accordoan Royal Family. Another minute passes with only the sound of people milling outside interrupting the silence.

Nathan finally breaks it, “It scares me for some reason… but I don't know why..."

Jordan nods, examining Nathan carefully. He seems more exhausted than when Jordan met him at the café earlier in the day; his hair’s even more ruffled than it usually is and Jordan swears that his eyes seem less alert.

Nathan catches Jordan’s eyes on him and immediately blushes, “Is there something on my face?”

"Nah... you just look tired," Jordan comments, forcing a laugh. Nathan doesn't answer.

It’s obvious to Nathan that Jordan absolutely hates silence when he suddenly asks, “So, why’d you run out of the lecture hall earlier today?”

Nathan’s face reddens as he tries to say something but his voice refuses to function. He looks away from Jordan for a few seconds before regaining his composure and replying, “I forgot I had another class to get to, sorry.”

“Oh, okay.”

Nathan relaxes when he sees that Jordan seems to buy the reason. He could never tell Jordan the true reason he’s acting weirdly in front of him: he’s afraid of making things… awkward.

Thankfully, the waitress delivers their bowls of ramen but before she returns behind the counter, she comments, “You guys are a cute couple.”

Well, that's one way of making things awkward. Nathan blushes for perhaps the hundredth time today (even the Astrals can’t understand this boy’s blushing problems) but manages to correct her, “We’re not actually a couple.”

“Oh! Sorry!” This time it was the waitress’ time to blush as she hurriedly returns behind the counter.

“You know that’s the second time people have called us a couple, right?” Jordan smirks. When he sees Nathan blushing and almost spitting out his ramen, he laughs so loud that he catches stares from people outside the restaurant.

“I can tell this is going to be a long night…” Nathan declares, somehow managing to successfully swallow the spoonful of ramen.

“At least you have me right here, bae.” He's clearly having too much fun tormenting Nathan. Nathan shakes his head but fails at trying to hide his cheerful grin. He suddenly feels warm inside, something that he had not felt since his mother’s passing. Is Jordan really the one?

By the end of their meal, Nathan’s nervousness has practically disappeared and a newfound excitement replaces it. They decide to go to a park near to Nathan’s apartment before they would have to part ways. Jordan challenges Nathan to a race and the pair run around the park like a bunch of little kids without a care in the world. It’s a good thing that no one is at the park, they would have definitely called the police. When they finish their “race” (more like aimlessly running around), they wearily plop down on a bench.

“I think this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Nathan admits.

“Me too,” Jordan agrees, smiling.

Jordan checks his watch: 11:56 PM. “It’s almost midnight,” he says with a little pout.

“Well, we always have tomorrow… and the day after that… and the day after-” Nathan woozily remarks, before being interrupted by Jordan, “I get it!” he screams while laughing.

“Are you drunk?” they both ask at the same time.

They share a few laughs before Jordan confesses, “Well, I might've bought a bottle when you weren't looking…”

“Same!” Nathan yells, much too noisily in a neighborhood where nearly everyone is fast asleep. They fall into a fit of laughter again, this time lasting longer than the last.

Finally, after several minutes of wildly laughing, Nathan abruptly stops. Jordan follows Nathan’s cue and asks, “Everything okay?”

“I… I like you, Jordan.” Nathan blurts out, obviously not thinking straight.

“I’m pretty sure you’re too drunk to be making any confessions,” Jordan notes, evidently the soberer of the two.

He laughs awkwardly before Nathan confirms, “I’m serious!”

They sit in silence for a few minutes as Jordan tries to process what Nathan just said. Finally, he stands up, “I… I have to go, it’s getting late. Bye.”

Jordan walks to his car, parked only a few meters away. Nathan watches him drive away, the hum of the car’s engine getting softer and softer as the sound bounces off the various buildings in the area. He stays sitting on the bench for a few more minutes, trying to collect his thoughts.

The faint sound of someone crying is muffled by the university’s clock tower signaling the arrival of midnight.