“What are we going to tell Ashley and the others?”

  At my question, Non’s expression turned contemptive.

  “It’s going to be obvious that I can be out in the sunlight now.” He took a rge bite out of the piping fresh baguette in his hand. “We can’t hide that from them.”

  Putting aside the fact that I didn’t want to hide it from them—I mean, now we could actually go out as a group during the day!—I didn’t think it was viable. They would eventually see Non walking around campus in the mornings or afternoons, and then the questions would come.

  “Do you want to keep this from them?”

  “No,” he said. “We should tell them that they don’t need to accommodate me anymore.”

  In the middle of our stroll, I stopped and sat down on a nearby bench. Non followed suit without a word.

  “Yeah, good idea,” I said. “It’d be a lot easier when we’re arranging to meet up.”

  For a while, Non watched a crow in the red maple tree near us caw repeatedly. A few answering caws came from some distance away, but I couldn’t spot any other nearby crows.

  I had thought the conversation was over, at least for now, but then Non said, “What do you think about telling them what happened?”

  While I gave his question some thought, I slurped up the st of the unsweetened iced tea in my to-go cup.

  “Nope,” I said.

  As though he hadn’t expected that answer, he started, turning to stare at me. “No?”

  “No. Would they even believe us? Do you really want to share that with them?”

  There was no point. There was no evidence left—aside from his apparent ageless appearance—to back up the fact that Non had once been a vampire. I didn’t think we should put that on our friends.

  He shrugged, but his facial expression was one of pleasant surprise. “I don’t know why, but I thought that you would want to.”

  I tugged Non closer to pinch off some of his baguette. “I guess it would’ve been really convenient if they knew while you were still a vampire. How about we just tell them you’re no longer as photosensitive as you used to be? I don’t think they’ll ask for too many details.”

  “Alright, that’s a pn. Anyway, I’m going to the gym ter. Want to join me?”

  I squinted at him.

  “We just had brunch. Also, you’re almost about to finish a giant baguette.”

  Non’s lips curved into a self-satisfied smile. “That’s exactly why I need to hit the gym after this. I’ve been eating a lot tely.”

  He really was. I was honestly kind of impressed by the magnitude of his appetite. He had been trying all kinds of foods and beverages, often grabbing a second breakfast or a second lunch. Additionally, whenever I offered him a bite of whatever I had in my hands, he would never turn down at least the first bite.

  “What I mean is, aren’t you going to be too full to exercise?”

  “I’ll walk it off, then I’ll go.” His arm slipped around my waist. “So?”

  After some consideration, despite feeling a little too zy to exercise, I said, “Yeah, let’s go together. I’ve never seen you in the gym before. I want to see you flexing your muscles!”

  He ughed. “Sure.”

  We took a long stroll until Non decided he was no longer stuffed. Then we returned to our own respective dorms to change into clothes that were easier to move in.

  When we ter met outside the gym, I put my hands on my hips.

  “I said I wanted to see you flex your muscles! And you said sure!”

  Non looked down at his bck T-shirt—his casual outfits were all bck, but I had a feeling some new colors might soon be introduced into his wardrobe—and bck sweatpants.

  “Okay? I don’t see the problem?”

  The retively long sleeves of his T-shirt extended past his biceps, cutting off right before they met with his elbows.

  I narrowed my eyes. “The only muscles you’re showing are your forearm muscles! Of all days, why did you choose today to wear this shirt?”

  “Oh,” he said, realization dawning on his face. “Sorry, this was the st T-shirt in my wardrobe. I’m going to have to do my undry tonight.”

  “Oh no, you won’t have a shirt to wear tomorrow?”

  I always studiously did my undry every week, and ideally on the same day, so I was never faced with the situation of having barely anything to wear.

  “I still have some long-sleeved shirts and other shirts to wear,” he said. “Just no T-shirts. I was supposed to do my undry a few days ago, but … I was too busy.”

  I smiled helplessly. I could understand what he meant.

  For the past week since we’d returned to campus after winter break, Non had been visibly eager to explore everywhere and everything he could. He was no longer constrained by his inconvenient nocturnal body clock.

  He didn’t have to worry about the consequences of not sleeping during the day, so he would go for lunch with his cssmates if they invited him. The first time I received a text message from him saying that he was eating with them, the smile that came over me was so wide that it almost split my face apart. He’d sent a picture of his meal, a pte of beef stroganoff, along with the caption ‘so good’.

  During those periods where he didn’t have csses to attend, Non would just sit on the outdoor benches like a sunbathing cat. The only reason I knew this was because I would text him occasionally and ask what he was doing, and he would reply with a picture of himself bathed in sunlight, somewhere in the open air.

  The first time that happened, I ughed out loud. He could’ve just texted me, but it was obvious that he really wanted to show off his ability to bask in the sunlight now. Thanks to that, my phone gallery had five or six of those kinds of selfies from him.

  I knew it already, especially since I was always the one who had to initiate taking photos together if I wanted to have them, but Non was not someone who took selfies for himself.

  In every single one of them, some part of his face was out of frame, and he never smiled. Some of them were a little blurry, as though he’d moved right before pressing the shutter button. Those gave me a giggle.

  He would go for a jog in the early morning, around the time when the sun was just about to rise, and would even ask me the night before if I wanted to join him. I joined him once, but it was almost painful for me to crawl out of bed that early.

  If I was in css while he had his lunch break, he would head to the college town by himself to check out the shops and restaurants they had. Sometimes I would even receive multiple pictures from him, like an apple pie or a triple scoop ice-cream he’d bought to try. I was beginning to learn that he had a huge sweet tooth.

  He was actually starting to tan from all that exposure to sunlight, which gave his previously pale skin a healthy glow. I was so happy for him.

  I could tell that there were so many things he wanted to do and try.

  “At least you were busy doing stuff you wanted to do,” I said, nudging him. “That’s good!”

  We entered the gym, upon which I followed Non to the free weights section. I had never been in a gym before—prior to befriending Non, I avoided exercise like the pgue. After we started going to the forest together, cardio by way of running had been my exercise staple for increasing and maintaining stamina.

  The most I ever did in the way of training my physical strength was practicing on the climbing wall in the gym, which was solely for the sake of climbing up and over the brick wall separating our school and the forest.

  Unsure of what to do, I stood aside and observed as he picked up a couple of dumbbells. Then I followed him to a spot a little further away. With one in each hand, Non began doing bicep curls, lifting them towards his shoulders then lowering them again. The muscles in his forearms flexed as they went through the motions, making me wonder what Non would look like if he became really muscur.

  Probably because I was simply standing there, staring at him, he gnced over at me less than a couple of minutes ter.

  “What are you doing?”

  I could just go to the treadmill to do some jogging, but to be honest, the reason I came here was to watch Non working out. He never had to work out when we were in high school! It was kind of interesting watching him being a normal person.

  “I’ll do some running soon,” I said. “You’re okay with me watching, right?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said. “I’m just going to do my own thing, though.”

  I gestured at him with both hands. “Please, go ahead. I’m just curious.”

  He gave me an odd look but eventually continued his exercise. After watching him go through a couple of different muscle-building exercises, including push ups with dumbbells, I got bored and made my way to the nearest treadmill and gave it a quick wipe down.

  Unsure of how to use it, I fiddled with the buttons. Once I managed to start up the machine, I began running at a sustainable pace.

  After about twenty minutes, I stopped using it and went to check on Non. He was sitting at a chest press machine, moving the handles away from his body with his hands and then back again.

  He gnced up as I approached, and I gave him a small wave.

  “Hi,” he grunted.

  Non’s forehead was damp with sweat, causing his bck hair to stick to it in a way that I’d never seen before. It was kind of attractive.

  “Hi.” I crouched down before him. “Can you teach me how to use this? I don’t want to just run on the treadmill for two hours.”

  “I don’t think we’re going to be here for two hours,” he said, “but sure. Let me finish up and I’ll show you how.”

  When he was done, he guided me through maintaining my posture and operating the machine. Once he felt that I was doing well enough on my own, he told me to look for him if I needed help with anything before going to an elliptical machine. Each time I finished with my workout, I followed him to the different stations and got him to teach me something new.

  “I’m done here,” I said to him twenty minutes ter, trying not to colpse from the exhaustion sweeping through me. “I’ll just … wait for you at a café nearby or something.”

  He stopped the treadmill he had been running on and hopped off it.

  “Nah, I’m done too. Let’s go.”

  I gave him a weak smile, feeling the gratitude practically emanate from my every pore. “Okay.”

  Refreshed by the shower I’d just taken, I stepped out of the girls’ locker room to see Non already waiting for me.

  “So … how was it?” Non asked, gesturing his hand towards my gym bag. “Want to come with me again next time?”

  “Tiring.” I handed my gym bag to him and kissed him on the cheek. “But I learned a lot of stuff today. I’ll totally come with you again, though!”

  Although I hadn’t said anything, I thought Non was really attractive to watch when he was working those machines like he knew what he was doing. That look of careful concentration on his face was something I just couldn’t get enough of. It wasn’t quite the same intense expression he had on when he was doing his school assignments, so it was something new for me to witness. I just hoped nobody caught me staring at him like a creep while we were at the gym.

  “Good.” With a light grab of my hand, Non pulled me closer to him as we walked.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Back to your dorm. Didn’t you want to take a nap?”

  Startled, I looked up at him. “How did you know?”

  I hadn’t said anything about that.

  “Your face tells me everything.” He released my hand to tap me on the nose.

  I covered it with both my hands. “Hey!”

  Clearly in a very good mood, he stuck just the slightest bit of his tongue out at me. I gaped at him. He rarely ever did that to me—and never did that to anyone else—so it surprised me whenever it happened.

  “Payback!” I decred, reaching up and patting his nose with my entire hand.

  It ended up being an ungraceful caress over half of his face, but he deserved it!

  However, Non didn’t seem to care. He didn’t even react to it.

  I was kind of pleased that he could tell that I wanted to sleep, though.

  “Are you saying you can read all my facial expressions?”

  “Yep.”

  “All of them?”

  “Everything.”

  He slung his free arm around my neck and drew me into his side, pressing me against the warmth of his torso.

  I loved it when he did this. Not only was he incredibly comfortable to lean against, I also felt super warm inside walking like this with him.

  “Then tell me what I’m thinking now!” I tilted my head up to peer hard at him.

  He ruffled my hair.

  “I said I can read your face, not that I can read your mind.”

  “That’s such a cop out! Okay, fine, then what does my face say?”

  “It says that … you’re grumpy because I didn’t try to read your mind.”

  I ughed. “Cop out!”