Freddie stumbled out of the candy aisle with the jelly beans still in hand, unsure what the hell he was supposed to do about them.

Peering back over his shoulder, he found that the girl had left, disappearing into the opposite direction. He looked back down at the jelly beans. Would it be rude to put them back? He didn't even like jelly beans that much—well, they were alright and he ate them sometimes, but they weren't his favorite snack by a long shot. And it wasn't like the girl would see it if he returned them to the shelf, probably, but it still felt wrong somehow. Or should he run after her and hand the bag back to her? He was pretty sure she'd been meaning to get one for herself, or else her friend, and now she'd run off without one. Did that mean she would come back? Hell no. He'd had enough uncomfortable interactions for the day, thanks a million.

Jelly beans still in hand, he ran off through the store, searching for Theo. Where had the bastard disappeared to, anyway? He was pretty sure this whole…thing…wouldn't have happened with him around.

"There you are," said a voice behind him, and he spun in his place to glare at a grinning Theo. "Where'd you go, man, I searched the entire—huh." His eyes landed on the jelly beans. "The marshmallows look different today."

"Very funny," Freddie replied, taking the opportunity to shove the bag into his hands. "Some girl just gave me these and left! What do I do with them?"

Taking the jelly beans, Theo studied the bag with a newfound curiosity in his face. "So you got these for free?"

"Not exactly," Freddie admitted. "Long story."

Theo looked him up and down. "Spill the tea!"

"I said it's a long story!"

"And it sounds like a funny story. Spill, man," Theo retorted. "Don't keep all the fun to yourself!"

Freddie sighed, but he caved. Of course he did; in the end, he always wound up telling Theo everything anyway. Playing with the hair tie on his wrist, he gave a quick rundown of the encounter in the candy aisle, trying hard to glare when Theo predictably burst out laughing.

"You laugh all you want," he whisper-shouted, his gaze darting over their surroundings, thankfully not spotting any signs of the girl in question. "It was fucking awkward! What do you even say in that situation?"

"Pretty much anything," Theo replied, patting his shoulder. "Literally anything. Poor Freddie, did you forget how to talk to girls again?"

Freddie punched him in the arm. "You tell me what would've fixed this," he shot back. "She was standing there roasting me! What could I have said that wouldn't have made it horribly awkward?"

Theo pondered that for a while, then he grinned. "Good point," he said. "That was pretty awkward, man." Strolling past him, he reached for the shopping cart and carried on through the aisles. "Was she at least cute?"

Furrowing his brow, Freddie tried to remember absolutely anything about the girl aside from their one-sided conversation and came up blank. In the moment, her appearance had been the last thing he'd paid attention to between his growing confusion and panic.

Shrugging, he fell into stride beside Theo. "Why is that always the first thing you ask?" he said. "I don't remember!"

"What do you mean, you don't remember?" Theo tilted his head down, regarding him with mock disappointment. "Geez, man. This is exactly why you're terminally single."

"Oh, and you get so many dates," Freddie retorted at once.

"Ain't nobody got time for dates." Theo wiggled the shopping cart, nearly crashing it into a display and avoiding a collision at the last moment. "Music's my full-time bitch right now."

"More like, you're her full-time bitch," Freddie remarked.

"If I'm her bitch then you're her pet, my guy." Theo smirked, then he grinned, and Freddie sighed and grinned back. Moments later they were both laughing, leaning against each other in the soda aisle.

"What was that?" Freddie burst out, wiping tears from his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Who's a good boy?"

"Stop that!"

Laughing and squabbling, they made their way through the store, the stress slowly fading from Freddie's bones. Today's encounter had been awkward, but in the long run, he realized, it wouldn't matter. He'd never seen that girl before. And more likely than not, he would never see her again either. Certainly not in a setting where he'd have to talk to her.

And with time, he didn't doubt that it would become no more than a background note.

~ ~ ~

Shaking her head, Clara paused in the next aisle over, wondering where to go from here. Literally.

She could go back, grabbing the jelly beans after all, since Giselle had been pretty clear about wanting them. Of course, that also meant potentially running back into the guy from a moment ago, and that was something she'd really rather avoid. She had embarrassed herself enough for the day, thank you very much.

Sighing, she brushed her hair out of her face, letting her hand linger against her head. Not a great situation all around. Either the mortifying ordeal of returning for the jelly beans, or the equally mortifying ordeal of having to explain to Giselle why she had come back without them.

…Telling Giselle it was.

"I'm back," she said casually a moment later, joining her back at the shopping cart. "And guess what I didn't bring."

Giselle let out a gasp that was only slightly exaggerated. "Were they out of jelly beans?"

"Not out, exactly," Clara replied, wincing slightly as she spoke. "More like, I had to leave without them."

"…Explain."

Clara shrugged, then summed up the encounter as briefly and casually as possible. "And that's what you get for dressing like a box of Skittles," she concluded, cracking a grin. "Now some guy in this store probably thinks I was trying to bully him and making you up."

Beside her, Giselle was doubled over laughing, putting all her weight on the shopping cart handle. "God, I wish I could've seen that!" she exclaimed. "I can feel the awkwardness from here!"

"Then you can imagine how I feel," Clara replied, making a face. "I just hope I never have to talk to that guy again in my life." She buried her hands in her pockets. "Or see him at all, actually."

Giselle straightened up again, wiping her eyes. "Did he look like he was from your campus?"

Thinking back, Clara tried to recall the image of the poor guy and shrugged. "I haven't seen him on campus before," she mused at length. "Who knows what he's doing. But he did look a bit…"

Ripped skinny jeans. Leather jacket…had he been wearing a band T-shirt? She was almost sure now, but she might be misremembering.

"A bit what?" Giselle brought her back from her thoughts.

It took Clara a second to remember what she had been about to say. "A bit like he might be from yours," she said, referring to the nearby performing arts school Giselle attended. "And no, I'm not describing him to you. Knowing you, you'd seek him out just for laughs."

Giselle clutched her chest. "I would never!"

"Oh really?"

"I'd just be a bit curious," Giselle admitted, pouting. "But I wouldn't be weird about it, I promise."

"Says the actress? No offense, but it's your job to be weird."

"Okay, nerd," Giselle replied, stepping away from the shopping cart and blowing her a kiss. "Be right back with the jelly beans you didn't get."

Clara flipped her off, but she smiled and rolled her eyes. Part of her idly worried about bumping into the guy again now that she was alone, but nothing happened. Of course not. After all, how likely were they to cross paths again if they never had before today?

Well, thank goodness. If she ever had to face him again, she didn't know what she would do.

But as things were, she doubted she'd even remember this encounter a week or a month from now.

~ ~ ~

"You're up late again," Giselle remarked later that night, unceremoniously poking her head over Clara's shoulder. Clara was folded up in her desk chair again, her laptop on her knees, but this time the thing she was working on was not an assignment. More of a pet project, really.

"Pot, kettle, much?" Clara retorted, nudging her in the side. "I'm busy, you better have an excuse too."

"Just got up for some water," Giselle answered around a yawn, resting her head against Clara's shoulder and draping herself across her back. "Hmm—whatcha working on?"

Smiling, Clara tilted the screen to give her a better view. "Guess," she said. "You like it?"

Giselle leaned closer, then her eyes widened, suddenly awake. "Is that our poster?" she burst out. "Clay, it looks amazing already!"

"You think?" Clara ran a hand through her hair. "It's still a prototype, you know. I'm not done with it yet."

"Come on, it doesn't have to be perfect. You're doing it for free," Giselle replied, leaning down on her again. "And it's just a dumb improv show—"

"It's your improv show," Clara corrected her, "so it's not dumb to me. And," she added, slightly miffed, "how many times do I need to tell you I have standards, Giselle?"

Giselle sighed, but she got up. "I know, I know," she said, messing up Clara's hair. "But don't stay up too late again."

"I won't," Clara promised, already turning her focus back on the work on her laptop.

Just until it was done. And not a second longer.

The question was just how long that would take.

~ ~ ~

It was a bright and clear morning, but Freddie was not in a mood to enjoy it.

"Look at this," he told Theo, motioning to the overcrowded bulletin board where someone had already covered up their band's flyer with something new. "Of course no one comes to our shows. We're invisible! Just another stupid band in a board full of stupid bands that all want to make it!"

Theo didn't look fazed. In fact, he barely looked impressed by his speech; he'd heard some variation of it at least a dozen times before, Freddie knew. "For now," he said.

"For how long?" Freddie shot back. "We've been living the same bullshit for years now like it's Groundhog Day! Might as well stop advertising ourselves at all, it wouldn't change a—"

He trailed off. His gaze caught on something. In the middle of all the nondescript flyers and posters, one stood out at once.

"That," he said quietly, stepping closer. "That right here is exactly what we need."