Kaitlyn took a deep breath, quickly evaluating the situation. She was sitting on the bed next to Elliot, the keyboard laying across both of their laps. The ginger had looked up in surprise at Heather's dramatic arrival but seemed relatively unruffled. Meanwhile, the blonde was eyeing him like a hawk staring down prey.

  This is fine. Everything is fine.

  She knew from experience that Heather found Elliot attractive. Honestly, she couldn't really blame her. He was pretty hot. Even more than that, the guy exuded a cool confidence that was hard to fake. Despite that, a situation like this usually wasn't hard to avoid. Every other time that Heather and Elliot had met, it was either at the concert—where there was some level of separation between the audience and the performers—or in a situation where Esme was around to play defense. But now…

  Esme's not here to ward her off. Which means she's totally going to try and make a pass at Elliot. I'd bet money on it.

  Flashbacks to Alex's bad endings raced through her mind. Memories of that Heather, the Heather who would sink her teeth into a guy and never let go, wrestled with the far more plentiful memories of her friend, roommate, and business partner. At this point, she knew better than anyone that the girl wasn't a bad person by any means. She was just… enthusiastic. A ball of energy and ambition that would sweep anyone in her vicinity along with her plans if they weren't careful.

  And given what she knew about Elliot's endings, that could be disastrous.

  It's even worse because it's not like the Alex situation. Not exactly. I'm not even going for a romance ending this time, so it's not like I can really "stake my claim" on him like that. I mean, I could try, but… She grimaced inwardly. I doubt it would work so well. If there's one thing that I've learned over all this time, it's that I'm a terrible liar.

  Maybe she could talk to Heather in private and convince the girl to not pursue Elliot. But even that was a shaky proposition. Without a compelling reason—such as him being taken—it would be a hard sell. Besides, she got the sense that "he doesn't want to date right now" would just serve as a challenge to the blonde, not a deterrent.

  A feeling of calm settled over her. No matter how she looked at it, the options weren't great. But there was one possible way forward. If she wanted to keep him out of Heather's grasp and avoid another possible bad ending, then she'd have to take matters into her own hands.

  With that in mind, she quickly took stock of the current scene. The sudden realization of just how close she was sitting to the ginger brought a bit of color to her cheeks, but she forced the embarrassment down. No. It's ok. This is actually a good thing. It'll help throw Heather off the scent. I've gotta take advantage of it.

  The best she could hope was that she could convincingly toe the line between truth and fiction, stopping anything before it got started. Otherwise, if Heather caught on that Elliot was single… it was game over.

  All of this ran through her mind in a matter of seconds as she stared down her roommate. The blonde seemed to fill that corner of the room, walling off their escape.

  "This is Elliot," Kaitlyn rushed to answer before Elliot could. "We're… labmates."

  The statement was true. And on the surface, it would seem innocent enough. But she'd learned more than a little from the popular girl's handbook of tactics. That final word was laced with enough emphasis to leave an unspoken question in any discerning listener's mind. And Heather was nothing if not discerning.

  "Labmates, huh…?" The blonde's eyes flicked over to Kaitlyn's expression for a moment as she attempted to read her intent. The calculating glint behind them was unmistakable. "Nice to meetcha, Elliot! I'm Heather!"

  The ginger nodded. "Nice to meet you, too."

  She half hoped that Heather would leave things at that, but they had no such luck. Instead, her gaze alighted on the keyboard. "Ooh! You play piano, too?"

  "That's right."

  "Omigosh, that's sooo cool! I wanna hear you play! Kaitlyn always wears earbuds when she practices, so I like, never get to hear it!"

  Elliot spared her a sidelong look. "That's awfully considerate of you."

  She just shrugged. "I just didn't want to bother everyone else. When I started out, I barely wanted to hear myself play. I couldn't imagine anyone else would, either."

  "Psssh, you're way too humble, girl!" Heather rolled her eyes dramatically. "If you're half as good at that as you are at cooking, then people would be paying you to play for them! Like, seriously!"

  Kaitlyn blushed a bit. "It's not humility. I really was pretty bad."

  "Suuuure," Heather drawled, returning her attention to Elliot. She leaned forward, cupping one hand around her mouth in a stage whisper. "Is she always like this with you, too?"

  Elliot chuckled. "Not really. I guess I've been seeing the things you are good at, huh?"

  "Oh, there's no shortage of those, trust me." Heather set her backpack on her desk with a solid thump before settling into her chair. "So! Are you, like, a bio major too?"

  Just like that, Heather inserted herself into their hangout. Kaitlyn wouldn't have minded in any other situation. They were good friends, as Heather had made sure to emphasize in her opening salvo, and this was partially her dorm. But right now, it was less than ideal.

  Kaitlyn's only real options were for Heather to leave—which didn't seem likely anytime soon—or leaving themselves. The latter would be easier, but only just. Between her physical positioning and ability to always keep a conversation rolling, Heather could make it quite difficult to extract themselves without seeming rude.

  Maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe she's just genuinely curious.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Unfortunately, Kaitlyn wasn't nearly naive enough to believe that. Even though they all remained involved in the conversation, the blonde consistently managed to bring topics back around to focus on Elliot or one of his purported interests. It was subtle enough that Kaitlyn might not have noticed, were she not paying attention. Besides, the idea that she wasn't gunning for the hot redheaded guy was simply too good to be true.

  The conversation continued on, Kaitlyn doing her best to deflect attention away from Elliot as she ran through options in her mind. The guy seemed evasive and a bit more tense than usual—understandable, given the situation. Getting out of here would be best, but accomplishing that was another story. None of the trio had classes soon, so that excuse wouldn't work. They had been about to go to Cappy's for dinner, but now…

  …If I say that out loud, it's as good as inviting her along. Even if she's already eaten—which I don't think she has—she'll totally come with just to talk to Elliot longer.

  "Soooo," Heather drew the word out, eyes flicking back and forth between them. "You're labmates, huh?"

  Kaitlyn nodded. This was as good of an opportunity as she was likely to get. If Heather was confirming that detail, then it meant she wasn't completely confident about the situation—just as she'd hoped.

  Sorry about this, Elliot. I really hope you forgive me. I just really don't want to see you get stuck in another bad ending.

  "Yup. Well, that's how we met each other, at least. Now…" Kaitlyn shot him a meaningful look. "Well, now we've got plenty of other reasons to spend time together."

  Before she could talk herself out of it, Kaitlyn leaned against the ginger, laying her head against his shoulder. She saw a brief look of surprise flash through Elliot's eyes before being stifled. Then, to her complete astonishment, he reached his arm around her waist and smiled. "Mmm. That's one way you could put it."

  She tried not to let her own shock betray itself in her face. It took every fiber of her being to keep her body language relaxed. Across the room, she saw Heather's eyes widen in astonishment. To her credit, it was only a moment before she managed to collect herself. "Omigosh, that totally makes sense! Do you guys, like, have any classes together…?"

  After Kaitlyn's maneuver, the conversation's tone shifted quite significantly. Rather than focusing on Elliot specifically, Heather's questions began to focus around the relationship between him and Kaitlyn. She did her best to remain evasive for the most part. There was no telling whether the girl would be able to see through her act otherwise. Still, Elliot seemed content to let her take the lead and play along with the implied closeness she touched on.

  "Oh! I like, totally lost track of time!" The blonde quickly stood from her chair. "I'm meeting some friends over at Cappy's for dinner! Do you two, like, wanna come along?"

  Kaitlyn straightened, putting in a conscious effort to move slowly and not look as though she were recoiling from a live electrical wire. "Not this time. Thanks, though. Hope you have fun."

  "Psssh, of course! You too, girl!" Her last words were punctuated with a knowing look as they flicked between the pair. "Don't have too much fun now, you hear?"

  With that, the girl swept out of the room just as suddenly as she'd entered. Her quick footsteps faded down the hall before disappearing entirely, leaving the pair in silence once more. They both let out long, relieved breaths, slumping where they sat.

  "Well. That was… unexpected." Kaitlyn laughed nervously, scooting away from Elliot the instant the sound had vanished. Her face felt like it was on fire. "Oh gosh. Sorry about all that. Maybe I totally overreacted, but—"

  "Hey, it's ok," Elliot raised his hands in a soothing gesture. His eyes glinted with a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Really. I went along with it, didn't I?"

  "Yeah, I know," she shook her head in disbelief. "I honestly didn't expect you to do that. I mean, I'm glad you did, because otherwise I would've probably died from embarrassment on the spot instead of doing it now. I hope you know I didn't mean anything by it—"

  "Breathe, Kate. Geez, you're talking almost as fast as your roommate was." He cracked a small smile at that. "I get it. Really. It was pretty obvious that you were trying to help. And besides, your roommate seems like… a lot."

  She breathed out loudly. "Yeah. That's one way to put it. She's amazing, and I love her to pieces, but she can be a bit… aggressive when it comes to guys."

  "Yeah, I could tell. I've seen her type before. They're not the type to give up easily." He shuddered slightly.

  "Exactly! Believe me, she's not a bad person, but… well, I felt responsible for making sure you didn't get wrapped up in all of that. I've seen her eat guys alive before, and it's not exactly pretty."

  The guy leaned back on the bed with a sigh. "I can imagine. I don't particularly feel like becoming some chick's newest project, either, so… thanks. And seriously, don't worry about it. You were just trying to be a good friend. No way I'll begrudge you that."

  Kaitlyn relaxed, a weight lifting from her shoulders. Elliot's intentional use of the word "friend" didn't escape her notice. In truth, it reassured her. It meant that they really were on the same page regarding all of this. She hadn't messed things up too badly. Not yet, at least.

  She nodded, her expression relaxing into a more genuine smile. "No problem. It was the least I could do. But hey, at least I know that the cool-guy persona you put on isn't just an act. You really took that in stride."

  Elliot chuckled. "Yeah, well, it's not my first rodeo. And besides, I figured going along with it might mess with you just as much as it messed with her."

  "Hey!" Kaitlyn objected. "Rude! How do you know I wasn't being genuine, there?"

  He just rolled his eyes. "Come on. Who in their right mind would confess like that? I know you've got confidence, but you're not an idiot, Kate."

  As she opened her mouth to respond, her stomach grumbled loudly once again. Kaitlyn looked down with a stricken expression as Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Ready to head out?"

  "Yeah, but…" She rubbed her face and groaned in annoyance. "No way we can go to Cappy's now. I don't want to run into Heather again, not after all that."

  My heart couldn't take another run-in like that. It feels like I just finished running a 5k…

  "Hmmm. Good point," he agreed. "Somewhere else, then. Have you tried the pizza place by the edge of campus?"

  Kaitlyn perked up immediately. "Oh! Manny's? Yeah, that's a great idea. Want to invite Esme along too?"

  "Sure. I'll see if she's free."

  After getting everything put away, the pair headed down the hall and to the elevator. Heather's unexpected appearance had made Kaitlyn momentarily forget about her hunger. But now, after somehow managing to navigate that situation unscathed, she felt both ravenous and mentally drained.

  Geez. You know, for all that talk about this being a rest loop, I probably could have just let things play out. But… She snuck a glance over at Elliot. He stood with his hands in his pockets, casually waiting beside her. That really would feel like a step too far. Getting Elliot's bad ending once was one thing, but I don't want to just let bad stuff happen to him, even if it's convenient. That's when I'll know I'm getting too jaded and cynical.

  Seeing everyone she cared about forget her over and over had undoubtedly taken a toll on her over the years. At this point, some part of her feared that she might not be capable of having a real relationship. Not without worrying that it would go up in smoke at any moment. But even with all of this, she still took pride in managing to see the people around her as just that—people. The instant she lost that, she wasn't sure if she'd ever recover.

  As they waited, Kaitlyn felt her pocket buzz. Pulling her phone out revealed a new text from her roommate.

  Heather: OMG nice catch girl!!! <3<3<3

  The elevator dinged as she practically slumped with relief. Thank goodness. Crisis officially averted.