Alex had instructed me to go to Gabby’s dorm building at three to be there in time to surprise her when she got back from lab. So I did. When I got there Alex was already standing by the entrance of the building. “Gabby should be here any minute,” he said without looking up at me as I walked towards him. “I didn’t tell her you were here. I thought she may like the surprise.”

“I didn’t know Gabby liked surprises.”

“She usually doesn’t.”

“Oh.”

“Oppa?” Both Alex and I turned at the sound of Gabby’s voice. Since she had just come from lab she was in her chef’s uniform. It could not by any stretch of the imagination be called flattering on her. The jacket was too big so that it swallowed her small frame. The checkered pants made her otherwise subtle curves voluminous. Her hair was a complicated weaving of braids at the nape of her neck instead of at the usual place at the back of her head. Probably so that she could fit that hat that was in her hand over her head. It could not be considered an attractive outfit but somehow she looked endearing in it. Alex closed the distance between them and took her knife kit from her. Relieved of the heavy burden she straightened her posture. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

By the time I realized she was addressing me Alex had already began to answer. “I thought Paul might like to meet him so I invited him along.”

A smile broke over Gabby’s face. “I didn’t even consider that. I’m sure he would love it.” She turned back to me. “Alex probably told you. Paul is my—”

“Shouldn’t he be here soon? You should hurry up and get ready,” Alex interrupted.

“Oh right!” She unlocked the door and led us inside. After climbing the stairs to her floor she then unlocked that door and then led us down the hall where her room finally was. No wonder Gabby has such great legs; she has to climb a bunch of stairs all the time in order to get to her room. She unlocked the door to her room but instead of opening the door she stood in front of it. “Would you guys mind so terribly waiting out here until I change? It won’t take long. I don’t want to start my weekend in this mess of an uniform.”

“Aww Gabby does this mean you don’t trust me?” Alex whined. “Come on, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Gabby blushed. “Only cause you looked when you weren’t supposed to, you rude child.” She ducked in through the door, closing it behind her, and turned the lock with a click.

I turned to Alex and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. “The story differs depending on who you ask. But it was interesting because Gabby has this really strange shaped birthmark on her—”

The door opened again with a loud squeak cutting off what Alex was about to say. “That’s enough of that, mister,” threatened Gabby. She had changed into her usual attire of a dress rather quickly. In the room you could see different parts of her uniform strewn all over the place. “Please come in,” she invited opening the door wider. “Please excuse the mess,” she said as she started to gather the uniform and stuff it into a hamper. Alex plopped down on her bed. You could tell this was a usual routine for them. Seeing a chair that wasn’t pilled with clothes I moved it so it was facing the others instead of the desk. Gabby grabbed a duffle bag from her closet and began throwing stuff around the room into it. “Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to pack beforehand.” She paused at her desk for a moment to put on her watch and jewelry that she wasn’t allowed to wear in lab. “That feels so much better,” she said, adjusting her necklace. “It always feels so weird when I’m not wearing them.” She stood next to her bag looking around the room, frowning. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“Church shoes,” Alex piped up.

“Thank you.” Gabby fetched the named item and put them in the bag before zipping it up.

“What are you going to bring back for me?” Alex asked.

“You know that I don’t know what to cook until I get in the kitchen.”

“Last time she brought back cookies, lasagna, and shepherd’s pie. There’s nothing like a home cooked meal made with love among countless meals of cafeteria food,” Alex said, rubbing his hand over his stomach.

“You bake shepherds?” I asked, confused,

“Oh no. It’s called that because it the shepherds would make it, usually with lamb from their flock,” Gabby explained. “We don’t condone eating people.”

“And lamb is so much cheaper,” Alex added. “Are you going to do something to your hair?”

Gabby’s hand flew to the back of her head. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Well, for one it looks like you’ve been slaving over a hot stove for five hours.”

“That’s because I have been slaving over a hot stove for five hours,” Gabby pouted, rushing over to her mirror. She stared at her reflection intently and rearranged some of the pins holding her hair up. She gave up with a sigh. “Oh well. He’s seen me first thing in the morning; me with messy hair shouldn’t be anything all that surprising.”

Alex sat up from his spot on the bed and peered out the window. “He’s here.”

Gabby jumped up and ran over to the window to confirm what he said. She plopped down on her bed, a pair of high heels in hand and put them on. Alex grabbed her duffel bag and picked up her backpack. Gabby fluttered back and forth a bit around the room doing some last minute tidying before stopping in front of me. “You wanna meet him?”

Alex snorted and grabbed Gabby’s hand to pull her towards the door. “As if he actually has a choice. Paul always manages to meet everyone in your life. Come along or else he’ll scold me for keeping you. He’s already going to pick on me for not being shaved; I don’t need more things added to the list.” He tossed the duffel bag to me. “Make yourself look useful or he’ll pick on you too for not properly doting on Gabby.” I shouldered the bag and followed them out the door.

Alex still had a hold of Gabby’s hand all the way down the stairs but let go of it to open the door to outside the dorms where Paul was waiting.

“Hey, there kiddo!” The greeting came from someone I definitely wasn’t expecting. There was a tall man with hair as white as the small dog he was holding. This was Paul? He must have been at least 70.

“Grampy!” Gabby cried as she ran up and hugged him. That explained things a bit better. I turned to glare at Alex. Had he purposefully misled me about the familiar relationship? From the smirk on his face directed at me it seemed likely. Gabby pulled away from her grandfather and directed his attention in my direction. “Grampy, I’d like to introduce you to Seunghyun Choi. He’s a new transfer student from Korea. Seunghyun, this is my grandfather Paul Chapman.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” I said shaking his hand and giving a little bow over it.

“Pleasure is all mine. I hope my Gabriella has been nice to you; she’s such a bully,” he said with a glint in his eye.

“Grampy,” Gabby faked pouted.

“Last time I brought her home she made me eat an actual meal before she let me near the strawberry shortcake. There were vegetables,” he whispered conspiratorially.

“There was strawberry shortcake?” Alex demanded. “You didn’t bring me any of that.”

“That’s because he ate it all,” said Gabby.

Paul his lips. “Mmm, I love me some strawberry shortcake made by an angel.” The small dog in his arms whined. “You ready to go, kiddo? Fluffy wants to go home and get his dinner.” He went to take the book bag from Alex but stopped to poke Alex in the face. “You didn’t shave. She’s doesn’t like that.” He rubbed his hand against his own cheek. “I shaved today, Gabriella. Just for you.”

“Oh how lovely,” she said as she went up to give her grandfather a kiss on the cheek. “Now I won’t get prickled when I give you a kiss.” Gabby smiled up at him.

Gabby came next to me and took the duffel bag from me. “Thanks for carrying it for me.”

“If I shave does that mean I get a kiss too?” I asked, half teasingly, half seriously.

“Ooh, look, oppa’s got a sense of humor,” she teased back. My heart gave a leap in my chest as she smiled up at me like that. I was tempted to bend down and give her a kiss myself, and not on her cheek. She held out her hand. I looked down at it and back up at her confused. “Your phone,” she explained. “I was gonna put my number in it so you could text me but if you would rather not that’s fine.” Her smile dissipated as she explained and started lowering her hand. I kicked myself for being so slow on the uptake. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to her. She quickly entered her number, the smile back in place on her face. “Done and done,” Gabby said as she handed it back.

Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him for his goodbye. There’s gotta be more there than just friends. A friend doesn’t yank another friend all over the place. “What about me?”

Gabby put her hands on Alex’s shoulders, ready to impart some great wisdom. “Don’t drink too much or party too hard. If you die of alcohol poisoning I will show everyone your collection at the funeral.”

“Now that sounds like a happening of a funeral,” Alex joked.

“I’ll text you when I get back Sunday.”

“See you then.”

Her grandfather loaded the bags into the car and Alex opened her door for her. She thanked him and then looked back at me. “Same warning goes to you too. No dying while I’m away.”

“Only since you say so.”

She smiled and got into the car. As her grandfather drove off she waved back at me and Alex.

Alex and I waved back. Through my grin I murmured “hope that was the last time you planned on humor at my expense because it won’t happen again.”

His smile didn’t waver. “We’ll just see about that.”

A/N

Guys guys guys I'm sooooo very sorry it's taken me over a month to update. My family moved to the other side of the east coast and then after that move I moved out west! There wasn't really any time to write but hopefully I should have more regular updates now.
Thanks for sticking with me! Comments are always very much appreciated; they keep me warm during the not so cold summer nights whether they be really nice praise that makes me blush or constructive critism that helps me improve my writing. I don't usually respond cause I don't really know how. I mean come on, I'm in myy room writing fanfiction instead of being out in the world. Obviously, social interaction isn't my forte.