At least ten minutes go by and the three meet each other at the great place called IKEA, the most boring place in Tobias' opinion but one of best places in Lianna's opinion, so he would only go for her.
"So what are you two looking for again?" The girl swings her satchel-like purse around her chest, making sure it doesn't bump and or hit anyone around her before grabbing Juneau's leash again.
"Desks." The shorter boy answers, making the other nod in knowing exactly where those are. She starts to lead the way, making them go up the escalator to the display floor which was the entire second floor. "Why is Juneau here?"
"Emotional support animal, and also to accommodate his separation anxiety, so I take him everywhere."
"Is he actually a registered service animal?"
"Yep."
"Do you come here often?" Tobias asks, changing the subject as he casually brushes his hand against hers as he reaches up to look at something.
"Sometimes when Marce or Jacky or Lulu's in town, but mostly Marce since she shares the same enjoyment as I do coming here." She starts to reach out for his hand but stops herself and plays it off as trying to reach something else.
"That seems like fun, I always find this place extremely boring."
"That's understandable. Colt, did you find anything?"
"Well, I found a little pot for Nella and her plants, so I'll probably get it. But nothing desk wise since we aren't anywhere near there."
"So why even need me when you know your way around the store?" Colt gives a signaling glance to the girl by shifting his gaze ever so slightly towards the boy which she immediately got, her face burning with slight embarrassment. "Oh."
"Anyways, I'm gonna meet you guys there, I wanna go check out some other things really quick." The boy goes off in some direction, going away from the two who both looked dumbfounded towards him.
"Did he really try to smoothly leave us alone so we could have a romantic moment or what?"
"Surprising that you know that troupe."
"I've read one or two of your books before so I know."
"Of course." The girl chuckles, holding her hand out to the boy.
"What do you want? To hold hands?"
"What does it look like?"
"Well we're certainly not going to dance around an IKEA, so yeah, I'll go with that first guess." He takes her hand, intertwining their fingers which gives them both a jolt of calmness over them. Both of them remember the times where they would swing their arms, fingers intertwined while they joked around and told stories as they walked around town, such sweet moments to bring back.
The two of them continue to walk around, Juneau going behind them and sitting with them whenever they stop to talk or look at something. Many people looked at the three of them, slightly interested in why the service dog was there but disregarded it when seeing the physical appearance of the girl. They moved from section to section rather slowly as they got caught up in old times and catching up. Some stories included talking about their past lives within the eight year gap that they talked to each other, their feelings regarding one another, and of course, memes because why not, everyone loves memes.
"So you think we should do this?"
"Do what?"
"Get back into a relationship." Lianna fidgets with her fingers again and the dog's leash, even though the one is still intertwined with the boy's. The thought was on her mind all throughout the time that Tobias and Colton had moved in since Friday, it was currently Monday and she feels that she should say it. She's still been in love with the boy for eight years and he's shared that same love for the same amount of years. So maybe they should get a do-over, a redo button on their relationship and start all over.
"Well, if you're comfortable with it then I am too. I still think we can make this work, it was just, we were stressed at the time, exams were still new and I was too busy over the summer with marching band, work, family, and friends. I don't think I could've fit you into my schedule well."
"Yeah and the only thing I had going for me over that summer was friends, family, my birthday, and writing, so it isn't your fault at all. You still grew up too fast and look where that got you, you got to go to a college and get to be in the marching band at televised football games while learning to do computer science."
"Uhm... But at least you got to be at the same college as me."
"That's only because I got a full ride off of a contest I entered after telling our English nine teacher about it in my senior year."
"True but I went to the competition and heard what you wrote, it was amazing. I also could tell that you would have won from how your voice was configured with the way you were trying to put the words." The girl smiles, stopping and pulling the boy aside to not be seen from public view as she looks up at him.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, now why did we stop?"
"Mm, just to do something I've been waiting eight years to do again." Lianna stands on her toes, creasing her converse as she gives the boy a peck on the lips, her nervousness when it came to kissing in public still made him smile as he held her by her waist, giving her an actual kiss for at least five seconds.
"So, do you think you have your answer to your earlier question?"
"But we'll start off slow."
"Define slow."
"The basics, small kisses, holding hands, small talks, those types of things in every hopeless romantic's dreams."
"So nothing hardcore."
"Nope, that means you can't make out with me yet." The boy frowns, feeling some form of sorrow in him from that, but he'll still appreciate the kisses the girl is comfortable with giving. She still was really good at kissing and he still loves them every time he gets them.
"Alright, but... I don't think we should tell the whole world right now. And Juno here seems to be the only one that knows." The girl chuckles, bending down slightly to scratch the dog's ears.
"Yeah, that would be great."
"And you're not going to run your mouth are you?" She shakes her head. The look in her eye said that she'll try but there were no guarantees and the boy saw that and knew that she would at least tell Jacky and Marce and he would probably tell Colton and Riyu.
"Hopefully I won't, anyways, we need to go find Colton because god knows where he went."
"Can I at least have a hug first?" Lianna looks up at the other, grinning before she engulfs him in one of her more softer hugs rather than her bear hugs she was used to giving everyone.
The three go off to try and find the boy again, going a little bit past the desk display area but get called back by the boy's voice.
"Lianna! You tryna leave me?"
"What- no, we are not trying to leave you, I just got caught up in--"
"It's okay, don't go off on a ramble, but Tobias, look at this one, it's pretty neat huh. Would definitely serve my three monitors well." Tobias looks at the desk, it would serve its purpose along with they could put the LED strip lights behind it to look even cooler. But from the price of it, it seems like Colton would have to work a little more at his job to get it.
"I think you should have the choice in mind, did you look at the price by chance?" In typical Colton fashion, he did not. The shorter boy grabbed the tag that displayed the price on it, and the whole desk came to a price of a whopping nine hundred fifty dollars, which to him was a bit too much. But it was his dream desk.
"Dang..."
"So you saw the pricing?"
"Yep, it's a bit too much for me, so lets see what other ones are around here."
"If you guys can't find one, I can probably see if my parents still have their twin desks and I can put them in the extra room where my studio is."
"Oh, then why did we come here if you had the desk still."
"I said they might still have the desks, but if you find something else then I can lend in some of my personal money." Colton puts a hand to his chin, deep in thought of what he should do. Tobias looks at the girl and puts a hand on her shoulder which makes her jolt forward a bit from the touch.
"You don't have to do this Lia." He whispers, "I can lend the money, you have to get food for Juneau and other things."
"Yes but being a freelancer and helping with the mentally insane brings in a stable income system so I can lend that extra money."
"Can you two stop bickering over who can help me pay for the desk? We're pretty popular YouTubers, I can pay for the desk out of pocket." The two of them look at the other, small glances and expressionless conversations were exchanged before looking directly at the boy in front of them.
"Okay then, so then that leaves Tobi to get a desk." Both Tobias and Colton nod, following the girl around as they look at the different desks that were scattered around the area. Lianna stops in front of one of the desks, virtually the same desk that she has, just a newer model of it that had new tweaks and design. The English and Music Majors stop behind her, confused as to why she stopped in front of that specific desk.
"Why did you stop?"
"Just seeing the new model of my desk and seeing if things have changed. That's all. Did you find a desk that you like at all?"
"Yeah, I found one back here but I didn't want to stop you, you looked like you were happy looking around."
"My god you are a simp."
"Colt you're not helping." The girl chuckles, putting a hand in front of her face, trying to cover the slight coughs that she got. Juneau looks up at her, slightly whining to see the state that she's in, bonking his head against her leg, he makes her feel a bit calmer.
"Nah," Lianna coughs, holding her breath for a few seconds before inhaling deeply. "I think Colt's right. You are kind of a simp." Tobias frowns from what she said, but even more at her cough fit, she didn't seem sick so maybe it just was something with the air being humid and even after eight years she still hadn't gotten used to it. "Anyways, remember the name of the desk so come on, let's go downstairs and get the supplies."
The quad headed through the rest of the display floor, racing each other down the steps until they ended up in the storage room, where all of the supplies for building are even though the psych major would be last. Lianna still has her sleeve over her mouth so she wouldn't cough even more than she already has. In the past few years she has had some type of breathing problems but she chalked it up to being a bit unhealthy and has been working towards getting better, though she also thought it had something to do with the conditions she already has.
Colton splits off from the three, knowing where the supplies for his desk is while Tobias forgot what the desk even looked like which made the girl smile more, fighting the urge to both hack up some flehm and some laughter.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just have coughing fits sometimes, it's alright."
"You sure?"
"Yep, I just need some time to calm down, that's all. Now I found the desk, can you help me grab the board for it?"
"Sure." The pair gather all of the objects and parts needed to build the desk, meeting back up with Colton near the check out where the English major had found a cart to put all of his things on.
"Hey guys, wanna use the cart?"
"Yeah, thank you in advance."
"You're welcome, now lets see if I can max out my card for the month."
"I doubt you can, it's just a little over a thousand dollars."
"Yeah, I might have to talk to the bank about it."
"I doubt it." All three of them join the line of others to check out with others being close to them which made the girl a lot more uncomfortable than she should be. But, when they got to the self checkout split the girl took a sigh of relief, seeing as the two fought over who would have the scanner to scan their items.
As the two fought over who scanned what the psych major started to get lost in her mind, thinking back to how the two would always play-fight with one another back in their freshman year. One of the times is when they were hanging out on a giant hill in this local park that everyone always went to.
It was a sunny day in April, the girl had made the poor decision to wear something fancy with a bright white top rather than shorts and one of her darker t-shirts. Tobias on the other hand was wearing his jacket and some dark blue jeans, however he discarded the jacket once he started to overheat so he had a off-white top on which Lianna loved a lot for no apparent reason. They were acting like children, messing around in dirt, breaking rocks with more rocks, and using sticks as swords, anything you would find in an old timey 90's movie.
The duo just took a break from everything and had fun for the day. Lianna remembers how they both tumbled down the hill after he tackled her and he frantically made sure she was already knowing that something as stupid as this could do something to her shoulder, making it come out of place for a bit before going back in. She also remembered putting on his jacket that he discarded, him telling her that she looked pretty in it and that she wasn't going to steal it when she already had her own.
Such stupid yet amazing memories still stayed with the girl, they made her sleep well at night, they made her happier when she was sad, but she never really faced the consequences that happened once they broke up for the first time. She kept him with her the entire time, only crying when she knew that she couldn't talk to him anymore and was telling herself to leave him alone.
But now, he is back, he has the same feelings that she does, and she feels that she can confront those feelings from eight years ago now just with him around and getting this do-over she feels like she got rewarded with. She looks up at the boy one last time as he tries to push the board into the back of their truck, smiling slightly from how lucky she got.
"Tobi."
"Yes?"
"Text me when you guys get home, I need to go back to get Marcy."
"Okay." The boy glances at the other boy who was already in the truck before looking back at the girl, taking a step forward and leaning over her, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before smiling at her. "I love you."
Lianna stands there, frozen in place. He chuckles, putting a hand on her head before stroking a bit of her hair. "Sorry, too early?"
"No, no, I love you too, now go, shoo, I'll see you at home."
"Alright, again, I love you."
"Love you too." Before the boy could turn around she takes a step forward and kisses him on the lips for at least two seconds, after she returns to her original height, breaking the kiss. "Bye Tobi."
"Bye Lia." The two part ways, each going to their cars, both going two different ways, but their love for each other is meeting up at the same place.
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