I Miss Home [open]

Gabe smiled back. "Yes. We'll become travel buddies!" he said, laughing softly. He liked that idea. Visiting somewhere alone was never any fun. "Maybe we could pool our money together someday and then we could buy tickets?" he suggested. It wasn't a bad idea, but they had just met. He didn't want to seem like he was pushing things.

The girl thought about it for a moment, her eyes shifting to the right as she tried to figure out if that could be possible. They were only in January. There was still plenty of time even before spring break to make some money for the trip. With a weak smile that was slowly growing stronger, she nodded her head. "That's a great idea! If we can get enough to go together, it will make the trip a lot more fun!" It certainly made her happy again to find someone that she could travel with, but then it suddenly dawned on her that she actually didn't know anything about this guy but here they were making plans about flying together. What was she thinking? "But we have to get to know each other first. I'm not flying with a stranger," she said playfully, her mood quickly lightening.

The Summer smiled back. "Of course. I'm not flying with strangers either, stranger." he replied back, winking. He was glad that she agreed that it was a good idea.

With a small laugh combined with a big grin, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and before pointing towards the building. It wasn't too close to them, but after standing around outside for so long, she was finally starting to get cold. "How about we go inside?" she suggested. "I don't know about you but I'm getting cold and hot tea is sounding really good right about now!" She wanted him to come along with her. Maybe once they were more comfortable, they could actually talk some more. Get to know each other a little better.

Gabe nodded. "That sounds like a great idea. I'm starting to shiver." he said. "Let's go!" He wanted to get to know Erin just as much as she wanted to get to know him. Even though they had just met he really enjoyed her company. And tea sounded really nice right now.

Without much thinking, she pulled one gloved hand out of her pocket and quickly grabbed his, pulling him along as she made her way towards the building, almost in a skip. She figured that the lounge was the perfect place to go. It had a TV, some snack machines, comfortable couches and she could grab easily make tea in the coffee maker placed in the room. It didn't take her long to get out of the cold air and into the building where the hot air blasted at her as the doors flew open. It felt absolutely amazing as she continued walking and pulling Gabriel with her, only stopping when they reached the lounge. She paused at the doorway, turning to the older boy with a grin. "I figured we could come to the lounge. It has everything we need and it's very warm! Does this work for you?" She felt kind of stupid for not asking that sooner, but where else were they going to go? She barely had any accommodations like the lounge in her room. Heck, Erin didn't even have a TV of her own, so that was out of the question.

Gabriel followed Erin as she pulled him along, smiling. Once they reached the building and the heat reached him he felt warm almost instantly. He continued to be pulled along until they reached the lounge. He'd never actually been there. "The lounge works for me. Do you want to make the tea or should I? he responded.

"Great!" she said as she pushed the door open and stepped inside the large but cozy room, only looking back when he had asked about who would make the tea. She blinked at him a couple of times, seemingly lost by the question before she shrugged. "You're the British one. You'd make better tea than me any day of the week!" Erin teased for a moment, finally moving past why she was upset in the first place. It felt nice to be cheerful again. It was even better to know she wasn't the only one that felt the way she did. "I'm just kidding. I can make it if you want. But if you complain about my tea, you can make it yourself!"

"Deal!" he said laughing. He was really enjoying spending time with Erin. It was almost like they had known each other for a long time.

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she chuckled and walked towards the counter on one side of the room. "Have a seat, get comfortable. This will take a few minutes..." She knew that she wasn't very skilled in the art of tea making, but she knew that she was better at it than most students on this campus. Before coming to Beata, Erin barely knew that iced tea existed. Sure, she'd heard about it but never experienced it. In one thought, it was terrible. It was watery and the ice in it took away the comfort while sipping it. It wasn't too much longer after that that she had heard about 'sweet' iced tea. She didn't even want to try to get near that. That sounded even worse than regular iced tea. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy it, though.

It didn't take too long for the tea to brew. She had found the ingredients in the cabinets, thankful that someone had supplied the with mostly real tea. It wasn't the loose-leaf stuff that she typically used. Instead it came in pre-made packets but she thought she got the hang of it. Pouring two cups, she grabbed them both and started heading in Gabe's direction. "It's ready!" she said.

"Will do." he said, flopping down on the couch. He patiently waited for the ginger girl to make the tea, thinking about finally being able to visit London again. When she said it was ready, he popped up and met her half way. "Brilliant!" he said, taking his cup.

Seeing how excited he was for it, the redhead couldn't help but smile as he took his cup. "It's Earl Grey tea. I hope you don't mind. It's not exactly my favorite, but it's pretty good!" she said as she fixed her grip on her own cup and walked towards the couch. Sitting down carefully, she looked at the tea with eager eyes, blowing on it a couple of times to cool it down, all the while having fun watching the steam swirl around in the air. Finally taking her first sip, she was slightly taken aback by it but readjusted quickly. It certainly wasn't the best. It was still watered down and somewhat tasteless but nothing compared to the iced tea she'd had previously. This hot tea was actually tolerable. "So..." she started. "Prepare yourself. It's not fantastic."

He followed Erin back to the couch and sat down. He took a quick sip. It really didn't taste as well as it usually did, but he didn't blame the girl. "You're fine. I blame the instant tea, rather than making it from scratch." he told her, smiling. He sighed and sat back. "It's weird. I don't think I've ever been to the lounge. Really comfortable, though. I should come here more often."

Erin nodded in agreement. This place was very comfortable when it wasn't being used by four other students. She was actually surprised to find it so empty at the moment. "I love it! It's my favorite place to be if you don't include being outside!" she laughed for a second before sipping her tea again. Even if it wasn't great, it still warmed her belly. However, she began to grow curious about how long he'd been here if he hadn't ever visited the lounge. "How long have you been at Beata?" she asked, voicing her thoughts. If they were going to get to know each other, might as well start now. Playing 20 questions was one of the best ways she knew how to do it.

Gabriel took another sip of his tea before answering. How long had it been since he arrived? He had to think for a minute since his time felt like forever yet at the same time it went by all to fast. "It's hard to remember... since September I believe?" he answered. "How long have you been here?"