EIGHTY-TWO

                                    

                                          
❝AND NOW THERE'S SOMETHING IN YOUR WAY❞
SHAWN MENDES, AFTERTASTE



By the cusp of Monday afternoon, Valentina was famished and quite frankly, exhausted. Her morning consisted of a lack of sleep with worries for the eldest Snow and her health, any details had been spared, leaving Valentina in a pit of knowing nothing and endless anxiety after the distractions from studying and spending the day with Clemensia had died out.
Following her sleepless night was a long and stressful lecture by Professor Wilkins. With Halloween exactly one week away, things during her courses were ramping up with the winter break fast approaching, Valentina was feeling the heat. Yet another crucial essay being assigned when her mind was just nowhere in sight.
At least, with promises from Coriolanus, Valentina would have some answers. For now - until the blond Snow finds the redhead - she will settle for the black hole of anxiety and create an essay outline for her new assignment, her time being used wisely and not wastefully, a thing she hated to do. To her, there was nothing worse than wasted time. It was just another reason to forget about the most recent summer - all the time spent drinking, avoiding her life and having a pity party could only be described as misused with a lack of care. Some would argue that with everything said and done, her reaction was valid. So what if she spent a few weeks of her life drowning in nothing but selfish sorrows?  They'd tell her it was okay to not distract her mind from a turmoil and she would try to listen - she owed them that for scaring them in the lifeless state she had become - but it would be met with deafening ears, their attempts pitiful as they flew by her stubborn head.
To Valentina, it only punished herself. She had lost out on weeks worth of summer reading, leaving her to an intensive period during her first weeks of University to catch up. Luckily, Valentina had perfected her studying methods, cramping in as much as possible during her years of education at the Academy to battle Coriolanus. It felt like years ago, the race to have better grades, but in reality, it was nothing but a mere four months. 
Glancing over the half completed outline, Valentina felt a presence beside her, the familiar scent of roses and immediately snapped her attention to the blond boy who was now sitting beside her on the bench she was occupying. "Coryo!" Valentina gleed, wrapping her arms around his neck in a way that showed him love as she squeezed him. "How is Grandma'am?"
"She's stable but it was quite a scare." Coryo admitted, holding Valentina just as tightly, even if it had only been two days since they last saw one another. The redhead hummed, taking in the warmth from her lover against the chilling air of autumnal weather, hearing the tiredness in his voice he attempted to hide. "She might not be able to do much but she is still a Snow nonetheless."
Ignoring his weak attempt at humour and concealing his true worries of losing yet another family member, Valentina pulled away from the sweet embrace, bringing a hand to his cheek, not ready to break their physical link to one another before the rush of classes begins once again. "What happened?" Her voice questions softly, taking in his physical appearance for the first time since Saturday.
Unlike his usual cold smirk and eyes full of mischief he often held around his redheaded lover, his face fell flat, eyes tired and small bags beginning to form from the lack of sleep he received over the past night and day spent at the hospital. The noticeable differences were small and if not for Valentina's trained eye to notice the slightest shift to her boyfriend, she would be like anyone else at the University; seeing nothing different with the boy who held his head high and showed no weakness.