The ticking of the clock on the wall was beginning to drive Cayden insane. He knew he shouldn't have left so early, but he couldn't help it. As soon as Maddie had proposed the idea of meeting up for the first time in what felt like an eternity, he had been too anxious to sit still and do anything else. He continued to stand up, watching numerous people come in and be seated, bouncing his leg up and down to keep himself calm on the inside. He looked up as he heard the door open once more.

“Maddie!” he cheered as he quickly ran up to her.

She smiled widely and leapt into the hug he offered, she giggled as she did so. He gently lowered her back to the ground and she smirked.

“Early as usual huh, Cadie?” She teased.

Of course, I couldn’t sit still knowing you were back in town.

“Early bird gets the worm, eh?” He shrugged, donning his own smirk.

She giggled once more at his comment and he couldn’t help but smile at hearing her laugh again. It had been so long since he had heard it last, and it felt soothing to hear it ring in his head. Her laugh made him chuckle too.

“Is this your friend you were waiting for sir?”

Cayden was jolted out of his thoughts, as the hostess spoke. He put a quick smile back on his face and straightened himself a little.

“Oh yes! Of course.” He stammered.

You need to pay attention, you cannot start daydreaming when you need to pay attention.

“Wow, got a table and everything reserved just for me, huh?” Maddie snickered, jabbing her elbow playfully into his side.

“Well,” he smirked, “Early bird gets the worm, right?”

She laughed again as they followed the hostess to their table. He pulled out her chair.

“Oooo, how gentlemanly of you, Cadie.” She joked, before becoming sincere, “Thank you.”

Cayden felt a little embarrassed as she sat down, and pulled herself close to the table. He sat himself down, his head buzzing with more thoughts than he could keep track of. He grabbed ahold of the menu, but wasn’t really reading it. His mind was too preoccupied to concentrate on anything around him. 

“Are you listening, Cayden?”

Cayden looked up, startled, but quickly relaxed himself. “Oh, uh, sorry. I must’ve drifted off.” He nervously chuckled. She frowned a little.

There you go genius.

“Are you okay, Cayden?” Maddie asked, her brow was furrowed, “You don’t usually drift off this much.”

“Oh, no! I’m fine, really. I’ve just had a hard time focusing on anything today.” He smiled to reassure her, but it wasn’t a truly sincere smile. She didn’t seem to notice however, and simply chuckled at his absent-mindedness.

Change the subject. CHANGE THE SUBJECT. CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

“Well, how is college?” He asked, he was genuinely curious.

“Oh,” she said, sounding rather dejected, “It’s alright, I guess.”

Now he could feel his brow furrowing. 

“You guess?” He prompted.

“Well, it’s not bad. It’s just not what I expected, I suppose.” She shrugged, it was obvious that she wasn’t being entirely sincere.

Cayden’s face twisted into a look of suspicion. But before he could continue his interrogation, the waitress approached. She asked for the drinks and Maddie very clearly perked up upon the discontinuation of the conversation. As she left, Maddie looked back over at Cayden.

“Cayden,” She snorted, barely being able to contain her smile.

“What?” he asked, trying to sound curious, but could feel his agitation seeping through.

“You’re an open book,” she chuckled, “What’s bothering you?”

“I’m more curious as to what’s bothering you.” he countered.

“Avoiding the subject isn’t going to stop me from asking, Cadie.” she smirked, her eyes glimmered with deviousness.

“Avoiding the subject? Me? Never!” He proclaimed, putting his hand on his chest with an exasperated expression.

Maddie laughed like how you would expect a horse to laugh in that moment. She clearly didn’t care about that, as she calmed down her smile had gracefully returned to her face once more.

“I missed you Cayden.” she smiled as she rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

“I missed you too Maddie.” he smiled as he felt his heart swell up with happiness.

Still, she’s avoiding talking about college. Something’s clearly wrong and I need to fix it.

Determined to find the root of the problem, he decided to speak up. Before he could however, the waitress had returned with their drinks and then took their orders. As she trotted off, Cayden set the trap.

“But, really Maddie, what didn’t college live up to?” he asked, a more serious tone spilling into his words.

Maddie sighed loudly, clearly not wanting to talk about it but even she knew there was no way to distract him after admitting something was wrong. 

“Well, I just didn’t realize how hard it would be living on my own, so far away from everyone.” She admitted, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand with a somber expression.

Cayden’s brow furrowed with confusion, “But I thought you wanted to get out of Ohio more than anything else?” he asked, picking and choosing his words carefully.

“I did,” she whined, “I really did, Virginia isn’t bad or anything, but it’s not home. I have friends there, sure, but I can’t talk to them like I can talk to you or Amy. They don’t even really know me but act like they do.”

Cayden could tell she was being honest, but also knew there was more to it than just that, “Is it just those people? Or is there something else?” he prodded.

“No, it’s also the classes.” She grumbled, obviously getting annoyed just thinking about it, “The professors I have, have like no interest in actually teaching. They just lecture for an hour or two, but then don’t explain anything. I’m starting to wonder if I was actually smart, or if I was just smart here.” 

Maddie’s face had very quickly become sullen and somber, she took a sip of her water with her eyes downcasted.

 “Maddie.” He claimed sternly, she looked up at him, “You are smart. You just don’t learn like how they expect you to, you’re more of a visual learner, not an auditory learner.” He asserted.

She smiled softly and looked back down at her drink, “Thanks.” she whispered.

“I’m being serious, Maddie.” he proclaimed, “If you’re really struggling, I’ll try to help as much as I can.”

Wait a minute, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE’S--

Maddie laughed, “You want to help me with art? Are you really Cayden? You can’t draw to save your life! You’ve always hated it!” she snorted.

“I still do.” he groaned, having flashbacks to high school art and Mrs. Villareal, “But I’d still be willing to try, even if it has nothing to do with what my major happens to be.” 

“Oh really? You decided on your major? What is it?” Maddie was practically falling out of her seat. She was so excited.

“Oh,” he said surprised by her sudden excitement, “I decided to major in Aerospace Engineering.”

“Oh. My. God.” Maddie gasped, “YOU WANNA GO INTO SPACE?!” she had shot up from her chair and shrieked in pure awe.

Everyone in the small restaurant turned to look at her, noticing this she immediately became beet red and apologized to everyone before sinking back down into her chair. Cayden was trying so hard to hold in his laughter, that his stomach was crying out in agony. He kept his hand over his mouth to try and prevent his laughter from escaping. It was a hard fought battle, but he lost and began to quietly laugh as hard as physically possible. This sight also started to give Maddie sympathy laughs, which did seem to help with her embarrassment, if only slightly.

As he calmed down, he answered her question slowly, “I am not going to space,” he started, “But I will be making the technology to get people into space. Also like Mars rovers and stuff like that.”

“That’s still so fascinating though!” she chirped in response, “It’s much better than studying art history all day.” she rolled her eyes as she finished her statement.

“I’m not too sure about that,” He countered, “Art is very fascinating, I’d love to study it, especially since I can’t make any.”

Maddie laughed again at that comment. Just as she had finished laughing, the waitress came back to them, their food on the tray she was carrying. Honestly, Cayden hadn’t thought much about the food. He had been having such a great time reconnecting with Maddie, he had almost completely forgotten about their food. But now that he had the savoury smell of the steak in front  of him, he felt as though he could eat everything in sight. 

***

The rest of dinner having flown by, Cayden could hardly believe how late it had gotten. He couldn’t help but gaze up at the night sky as he held the door open for Maddie so they could leave. Seeing Cayden gaze up, Maddie looked up as well.

“Oh wow.” she muttered.

“What?” he prompted, seeing the shock on her face.

“No, I just forgot how pretty the night sky was here.” She mused as a cold breeze blew by, she shivered and glared accusingly at the passing wind, “I definitely did not forget how cold it is here though. And I have like, three coats, on.”

‘Welcome back to winter in Ohio.” He teased, “But seriously, are you cold? I’ll give you my coat.”

Maddie looked surprised at his offer. “Oh no, it’s okay Cayden, I’m fine. I wouldn’t want to take your coat, I have to leave for Virginia first thing in the morning.”

Cayden could feel a stab of sadness in his heart as she mentioned that. This was the first time he had seen her in a year and for her to be leaving so soon was, at the very least, devastating for him.

“Oh, well it’s fine.” He mumbled, “It’s an old coat, plus it would be something to--” he cut himself off before he finished, not wanting to accidentally spill his guts out all over the parking lot.

“Be something to what?” Maddie prodded, an extremely curious look plastered on her face.

“N-nothing, here just take it.” Cayden stammered, as he took off his over coat and draped it over her, “You know I’m practically immune to the cold.” he joked nervously.

“That is true.” Maddie affirmed, “But I don’t believe it was nothing.” she smirked.

Cayden sighed, “You’re not going to let go until I say it, are you?” he groaned.

“Exactly,” she smirked evilly.

I have to choose my words very carefully.

“Well, since you’re leaving so soon, I figured my coat would be something for you to remember me by.” He admitted, “Like when you miss home.”

“Awww, Cayden that’s so sweet.” Maddie smiled, “I mean I feel bad for taking your coat, but I really appreciate the thought.”

The two looked over as a car pulled up into the parking lot. Maddie sighed, her face tainted with disappointment.

“Oh,” she whispered, “That’s my dad. I guess I got to go, Cayden.”

Cayden could suddenly feel a wave of anxiety wash over him. 

She has to leave? Already? But, I- I can’t just let her disappear again! She just came back to me-

Maddie went in and hugged him, “Bye Cayden.” she sighed, “I’ll see you again soon, I promise.”

Her face fell as she saw his, his internal conflict very visible on his face. Cayden desperately tried to hold it all back, the tears, the ugly cry, the overwhelming sadness, all of it. 

“Cayden?” she asked, looking extremely concerned, “Are you okay? Please don’t cry, spring break is soon I’ll be back before you even know I’m gone!” she smiled, trying to cheer him up.

“I- I know.” he said, cursing himself as his voice cracked, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll see you during spring break.” he smiled, trying to relieve her worries.

It didn’t work.

“Cayden.” she said firmly, “I’m coming back. Please don’t you worry about that.”

Maddie had to leave as her dad’s car honked impatiently. She hugged him one last time, and said goodbye one last time. 

“See you later Cadie!” she called out, “Love you!” She smiled happily.

He waved goodbye, and muttered to himself, “yeah...love you too.”