Kalmin flopped against Mira the second he got home. He buried his face into her sweater, sighing loudly and smelling like cinnamon and peppermint. Immediately, Mira ran her fingers through his curly hair.

“What’s up?” She said nonchalantly, scrolling through her phone with her other hand.

“Freshmen.”

“Oooh, what’s it now? Too rowdy?”

“I think one’s bullying another.”

“Who do I need to fuck up?” Deimos called from the kitchen. He was sliding a frozen pizza into the oven.

Kalmin laughed. “Nikola and Theo. I’m going to deal with them, don’t worry.”

“Nikola and Theo,” Mira repeated sarcastically.

“Wasn’t Nikola the one who gave you that big purple bruise on your shoulder last Friday?” Deimos questioned, padding over to slide beside Mira and also run his fingers through his hair.

“Yes he was.”

“I’m gonna fight him,” Mira bluntly stated. “Lemme attem.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull punches on him,” he sighed. Groggily, he inched himself forward to rest his cheek on Mira’s shoulder. “Either way, I don’t wanna think about that now.”

“Tired?”

“Very.”

“Gonna eat?”

“I will, I just wanna cuddle until the pizza is cooked.”

“I like that idea,” Deimos chuckled, resting his head on Mira’s other shoulder.

“I’m living with two big dogs,” she commented.

“Woof,” Kalmin joked.

Deimos kissed her neck and wrapped an arm around Kalmin.

The three of them almost completely dozed off if it wasn’t for the oven timer.

With a hop, Mira got off the ladder and excitedly showed off her sculpture.

“Ta-da!” She sang, doing jazz hands.

The piece was made out of painted wood of various thicknesses layered upon each other to fully form a feminine body. It was abstract in a way, and the viewer couldn’t really understand the piece until they stood in front of it. Mira liked it because of the bright and poppy colours she used, as well the butch in her was proud because she had been cooped up in the woodworking room using various saws for hours throughout the past two weeks. (Deimos kept sneezing whenever she came home, complaining how she was covered in sawdust)

Dede, Simon, Frank and her professor stood in front of the piece, admiring it for a moment.

“This is awesome,” Frank commented.

“Ditto,” Simon added.

“I’ll have to agree,” her prof finished. She turned to her. “You’re always going up and beyond with these projects, what are you planning to do after school?”

Mira paused, her joy cut short almost instantly. Nervously, she gnawed on her lip.

“Well, I’m prepared for anything, really,” she began slowly. “Working in a gallery would be great, being a curator would be cool too, but I’m also very open to the commercialized side of art like working with design or animation studios n’ such.”

Her professor nodded slowly, humming.

“I see, I just wanted to ask you because one of my previous colleagues works with this indie animation studio in the city, and she’ll be retiring soon, in four years or so, and they want to bring another artist onto the team. She was a more versatile member so she did a lot more of the visual development side, and they’d be looking to hire someone to train around the time you graduate,” she replied. “Your grades are top notch and you’re very versatile in any medium, I’d be willing to tell him about you.”

Mira blinked at her, a little shocked.

“T-That’d be…amazing,” she blurted out. “Yes, oh god, yeah, I’d love to get her email!”

Her prof grinned. “I’ll give it to you after class.”

“Thank you so much!” She chirped.

* * * 

Mira jumped the last third steps with a resounding thud. It was late, almost nine in the evening, with all classes in the Visual Arts building done and over with. However, because it was ramping up to finals season, lots of students were still mingling about, be it artists like her who looked like they haven’t slept in days, or students from other programs that sought solace in the VA building because of the great couches they had and lack of students crawling about. A kid was passed out from studying at one of the tables, and another was wrapped in a blanket with their third cup of coffee. Mira could relate. The tiredness hadn’t seeped in yet, but that was because she was stuck in that limbo week before Finals. Soon she’ll get slammed with final projects that will consume her every thought for the rest of the year.

So, fun times. God, does she ever love school.

She was just ready for Finals to be done so she can just lie in bed and make out with her boyfriends. Maybe get festive and have mind-blowing New Years sex. Or Christmas day sex. Or just sex in general. They haven’t done it in a while. But then again, a while to her was a week or so. Maybe she was just kind of a sex maniac, which was ok because Kalmin definitely was. Mira was surprised by how energetic he was most nights even though half his day was just exercising at the gym or on ice.

Mira blushed remembering their last night together, and how “enthusiastic" Kalmin was. New Years sex was definitely happening. Maybe Christmas too if they can sneak away from their friends without making it obvious that they were going to fuck. Which was hard for Mira, because she can’t control her emotions. Before they even make it to their apartment, she’d be all over them.

Sighing and blushing at the naughty fantasies that would occur, Mira wandered through the halls to find the vending machine near the photography studio. However, to her surprise, she noticed someone at the end of the hall staring up at her “A Summer Romance” photo. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his Adidas branded clothing, gym bag, pierced ears and buzz cut. His dark eyes stared up at the photo like it held the world’s answers, and honestly, Mira felt a little flattered to stop this athlete dead in his tracks with her art piece.

Quietly, she snagged a chocolate bar and a bag of popcorn from the vending machine, and then passed him to the stairwell leading outside. From the bottom of the steps, Mira could see he was still staring up at the photo, looking at Kalmin pretty intensely.

“Moving in with the two of them, huh,” Gabriel repeated slowly.

“In my opinion, I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Annie chirped.

“You’re already living there, so yeah, to save money, good idea,” Sophie added.

“We’ll still need someone to move in with us to save rent,” Raven pointed out.

Mira sighed and rested her cheek on the table. It was nice and cold, compared to the uncomfortably warm air of the family diner. It’s been a while since all her roommates had sat down and had a dinner together. Raven and Renee were busy as junior beauticians, Annie hung out at her boyfriend’s place studying more often than not, Dani was holed up at her studio job or in her room gaming, and Sophie was usually woodworking with her girlfriend. They were all artists in different fields, obsessed with their work. Having Gabriel there was just a plus.

“Actually, Rika was thinking about moving out of her place,” Sophie commented slowly. “She could live with us.”

Mira shot up and looked at her with big, hopeful eyes. Her roommates and ex-boyfriend exchanged skeptical looks.

Raven sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Talk to Rika about it. I’m ok with that. When do you plan to move out, Mira?”

She worried her lip. “Deimos said he’d be tight on money next year, so I’d say around January or February. Kalmin said that we could look around places in May and move in the summer. Deimos said he’d try to strike a deal with his landlord since he would still have two years left on his previous apartment contract.”

“Fuck, this is serious,” Dani commented, genuinely astonished.

“Are you ready to move in with them? I mean, you’re going to learn everything about those two,” Gabriel pointed out.

Mira blinked and slowly nodded. “I…I think I am,” she said calmly. She smiled. “I love them.”

“You…can fall out of love though,” Sophie said softly. “You need to think about this seriously. The honeymoon period won’t stay forever.”

Mira stared at her for a moment. “I…know,” she muttered. “But I am coming up on my year anniversary of meeting Deimos in a month, and I feel even before we got into a relationship, we were good friends and if we do break up, he’d still be a fantastic roommate.”

“Mira, he was pining for you hard,” Gabriel deadpanned. “Many times when we banged, he’d moan out your name.”

Hotly, Mira blushed and her roommates gave him stink eye.

“I didn’t need to know that,” Raven hissed.

“None of us did,” Annie whispered.

“Me, especially, being your Local Lesbian Buddy,” Sophie finished off.

“Ditto,” Dani coughed nervously.

“W-Well at least we know he cares about me?” Mira squeaked out.

“We’re getting off this subject, now,” Raven waved off instantly. “Ok, it seems that everything somehow is lining up in your favour, Mira. I’m pretty sure everyone is ok with you venturing off into adulthood with your two boyfriends, I’ll probably miss you a bunch, but with Deimos and Kalmin you’ve never been happier, and there’s no other people I’d trust to keep you safe.”

“Ditto,” Annie chirped.

“Same,” Sophie added.

“Aaron is going to flip his shit knowing you three are going to move in together next year,” Gabriel commented. “I’m happy for you, dude.”

Mira smiled. “Now that I think about it, when did you get together with Aaron?”

Gabriel blinked at her, and after a beat of silence, barked out a laugh.

“I actually think we share anniversaries,” he joked. “We fucked in a broom closet on the night of the Muse showcase.”

Once again, Mira’s roommates grimaced at the thought. Mira burst out laughing and held out her fist. Gabriel bumped it, both sex maniacs snickering to themselves.

“You both are actually disgusting,” Raven hissed.

“No hate, appreciate,” Mira rhymed sarcastically.

“Let’s just have one big orgy to celebrate our anniversaries,” Gabriel joked.

Sophie gagged and Annie was cry-laughing.

“I’m kicking you out now if you keep this up,” Raven threatened.

Playfully, Mira raised her hands in defeat.

“Just jokes,” she giggled. “I’m honestly so grateful you guys would let me do this.”

“It’s your life, you can do whatever you want,” Raven pointed out. She smiled at her warmly. “We’re here for support.”

Mira grinned at her. “You seriously need to date.”

She shrugged. “Haven’t found the special someone.”

“At least use Bumble or Tinder sometime, dude. Put yourself out there, find a cute girl! God, you’re so perfect, I’m actually angry no one has gotten together with you.”

Raven laughed heartedly. “Love you too, babe.”

“Always.” Mira winked.

“I’m calling your boyfriends if you keep flirting with Raven,” Annie hissed.

Mira flashed a wicked smile and Raven rolled her eyes.

“I could never beat two beautiful sport boys,” Raven pointed out. “Have you seen their abs?”

“Oooh, are you saying you’ve checked them out, Raven?” Annie sneered.

“Well, no shit, they’re gorgeous.”

“Ten seconds ago you were threatening to dump Mira on the street because we were making orgy jokes and now you want in with the fun,” Gabriel complained.

“I’m not going to bang them, Mira’s got that covered- anyone can see they’re very hot,” Raven hissed. “It’s ok to admit that.”

Gabriel chuckled and leaned back, wrapping an arm around her. “I think you really need to get laid.”

“Don’t make this about me,” Raven barked. “We’re talking about Mira right now.”

“And subjects change, and I think Gabriel has a plan,” Mira joked.

“New Years- we go clubbing,” Gabriel declared. “Raven finds the love of her life and thanks me a year later when it’s their anniversary.”

“Gonna make a damn novel about this?” Annie snorted.

Raven snickered. “Gabriel takes pictures, he doesn’t write.”

“I do poetry on the side,” he argued.

“Fantastic,” Raven deadpanned. “A poem series about my love life.” She pushed her curly hair out of her face. “And just to let you know, I’m not going to find the love of my life in the club, I’m going to find a one-night stand. I wanna fall in love in a cafe or a bookstore or something where the two of us aren’t drunk.”

Annie and Sophie, “aww-ed.”

“You’re so vanilla,” Gabriel teased. “Falling in love in a bookstore? So cliche.”

“I don’t care for your opinion, you fucked in a broom closet,” she hissed.

Mira barked a laugh. Raven glanced at her.

“If Kalmin could fall in love and confess his love for Deimos and Mira in an art gallery, then anything is possible,” she pointed out.

“I also met Deimos by puking in his car, so anything is possible,” Mira added.

Everyone laughed.

“Daniel and I met in Theatre in high school,” Annie further added.

“And Rika and I met on Tinder,” Sophie finished.

“Anything is possible, Raven, you just gotta look,” Gabriel cheered.

“I hate all of you,” Raven whined.

“I love you,” Mira chuckled. She smiled warmly at her friends. “I’m gonna miss this. You guys are seriously my family.”

Her roommates and ex-boyfriend grinned at her.

“You’re not going to lose us, we’ll always keep in touch,” Annie pointed out.

“I guess you’re right,” Mira shrugged. “Still, thank you for all being amazing for these two, almost three, years.”

“Let’s hold a huge moving away party for you next year,” Gabriel chirped. “As well as a welcome party for Rika.”

“It’ll be a damn banger,” Annie whooped. “I’ll pull out my sick DJ skills.”

“Or it can be a cute get-together,” Sophie argued.

“It’s gonna be a banger,” Gabriel finalized.

Mira laughed out loud. She seriously loved this lot.