Work Text:
six hours, three gas station coffees, and one very unfortunate group chat
The parking lot outside the twenty-four-hour diner smelled like gasoline, wet asphalt, and burnt coffee.
Which, Agatha thought grimly, was already a terrible sign.
Rain drizzled over the cracked pavement in thin silver lines while headlights flashed across puddles. Somewhere nearby, someone was blasting Taylor Swift loud enough to qualify as emotional warfare.
Sophie stood beside a massive rented SUV in six-inch boots completely unsuited for weather, holding her phone up dramatically.
“No, wait— everyone look candid,” she said, waving one perfectly manicured hand. “Like we’re accidentally hot.”
“You have been arranging this shot for twelve minutes,” Agatha replied, dragging her duffel bag toward the trunk. “Nothing about this is accidental.”
Sophie ignored her.
“Agatha, stand closer to me.”
“No.”
“You’re ruining the aesthetic.”
“My entire existence ruins your aesthetic.”
“That is objectively false. Your curls alone could get sponsorship deals.”
Agatha snorted and shoved her bag into the trunk.
She looked exhausted in the way only med students could look exhausted — dark circles under her eyes, giant hoodie, black leggings, combat boots. Her hair was a storm cloud of dark curls piled messily on top of her head with a pencil stabbed through it.
And despite Sophie’s constant complaints, people stared at her constantly.
Mostly because she looked like she could either save your life or key your car.
Sometimes both.
“Okay, but seriously,” Sophie muttered, lowering her phone. “Could you at least pretend not to hate this trip?”
“I don’t hate the trip.”
“You said and I quote: ‘I would rather be dissecting a cadaver.’”
“I stand by that.”
A new voice cut through the rain.
“Is this the Vienna wedding crew?”
Agatha turned.
And immediately understood why Sophie had spent the last week aggressively describing someone named Tedros in increasingly dramatic terms.
The guy looked like a sportswear commercial had gained consciousness.
Tall. Blond. Stupidly handsome. Duffel bag over one shoulder. Hockey jacket. Easy grin.
The kind of grin that suggested he’d never paid consequences taxes in his life.
Behind him came three other people.
A short girl with pink streaks in her hair carrying approximately six grocery bags full of snacks.
A tall goth girl in platform boots drinking iced coffee despite the freezing weather.
And another goth girl beside her with sharp eyeliner and the expression of someone legally banned from PTA meetings.
“Hi!” the snack girl said brightly. “I’m Dot.”
“Hester,” said the tall goth.
“Anadil,” said the other one.
Tedros pointed at himself dramatically.
“And I’m Tedros.”
“Unfortunately,” Hester added.
Tedros looked offended.
“That joke was funny the first eight times.”
“It gets funnier every time,” Anadil said.
Sophie immediately switched into social mode.
“Oh my god hi. Finally.” She air-kissed absolutely everyone. “I’m Sophie. This is Agatha. And Hort is—”
“I’m here!”
Something crashed violently behind the SUV.
Everyone turned.
Hort had somehow gotten one backpack strap caught around the side mirror while carrying a tray of coffees. One cup launched directly onto his own shoes.
There was a full second of silence.
Then Dot burst into laughter.
“Oh no.”
“I’m okay,” Hort announced, absolutely not okay.
Agatha walked over and untangled him from the car mirror while he muttered, “Cool cool cool cool cool.”
Tedros watched the interaction with visible amusement.
Then Agatha looked up.
And caught him staring at her.
Not subtle staring either.
Full eye contact.
Like he’d forgotten how humans worked.
Agatha narrowed her eyes slightly.
Tedros immediately looked away and pretended to inspect the rain.
Interesting.
“Okay!” Sophie clapped. “Road trip rules. No fighting, no murder, and no judging my playlist.”
“Your playlist is seventy percent breakup music,” Agatha said.
“Art reflects life.”
“You got dumped one time in 2022.”
“And it changed me.”
“Can we leave before I die here?” Hester asked.
—
The first hour was deceptively peaceful.
Dot passed snacks around like a suburban mom trying to prevent emotional collapse.
Hort kept trying to connect his phone to the aux and failing.
Sophie posted approximately fourteen Instagram stories before they even hit the highway.
Tedros drove with one hand lazily draped over the wheel like he was filming a car commercial.
Agatha sat in the passenger seat because Sophie claimed she got “carsick spiritually.”
Rain streaked across the windshield while indie music hummed softly through the speakers.
For ten whole minutes, nobody argued.
Then Sophie said, “Okay, icebreaker. Everyone say what they do.”
“Oh no,” Agatha muttered.
“Yes. We’re bonding.”
“We met forty minutes ago.”
“And already I sense tension and unresolved trauma.”
“That’s because Hort is breathing directly behind me,” Hester said.
“I have allergies!”
“You sound moist.”
“Why would you say that?”
Dot laughed so hard she snorted pretzels.
Sophie twisted around in her seat dramatically.
“I’ll start. I’m building my influencer career.”
Agatha leaned her head against the window.
“You have twelve thousand followers.”
“Twelve thousand loyal followers.”
“You made three hundred dollars last month.”
“Every empire starts somewhere.”
Tedros grinned.
“What kind of influencer?”
“Lifestyle. Fashion. Beauty. Aspirational content.”
“Aspirational to who?” Agatha asked.
“To people with taste.”
“Rude.”
Sophie flipped her off affectionately.
“What about you?” Tedros asked Agatha.
She shrugged.
“Harvard med.”
The entire car went quiet.
Even Anadil looked impressed, which honestly felt medically significant.
Tedros blinked.
“You’re in Harvard medical school?”
“Mmhm.”
“At twenty?”
“Unfortunately.”
“That’s insane.”
“Thank you.”
“No, like genuinely insane.”
“Also true.”
Tedros stared at her again.
Agatha noticed.
Again.
She looked back slowly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re doing the staring thing.”
“What staring thing?”
“The one where you stare.”
Hester leaned forward from the backseat.
“Oh my god, he’s flirting.”
Tedros nearly swerved.
“I am not—”
“You absolutely are,” Anadil said.
“It’s been one hour,” Agatha said flatly.
Tedros cleared his throat.
“I was just impressed.”
“By Harvard?”
“By the terrifying eye contact.”
“That’s fair.”
Dot pointed at Tedros.
“Your turn.”
He groaned dramatically.
“I play hockey.”
“That tracks,” Agatha said immediately.
Tedros looked offended.
“What does that mean?”
“You look like you’ve apologized to women by buying them frozen yogurt.”
Hester choked laughing.
Dot wheezed.
Even Sophie snorted.
Tedros stared at Agatha like he couldn’t decide whether to be insulted or fascinated.
“I don’t even like frozen yogurt.”
“See? Worse somehow.”
“Okay wow. You’re mean.”
“She likes you,” Sophie said.
Agatha whipped around.
“No I do not.”
“She’s nicer to people she hates.”
“That is deeply concerning,” Dot said.
Hort finally succeeded in connecting his phone.
The speakers immediately blasted early 2000s emo music at full volume.
Everyone screamed.
“WHY IS IT SO LOUD?” Sophie yelled.
“I DON’T KNOW.”
Tedros nearly drove into another lane laughing.
—
By hour three, the car smelled like fries and emotional instability.
Sophie had abandoned aesthetics entirely and sat cross-legged eating sour candy.
Dot distributed iced coffees like emergency medicine.
Hester and Anadil had begun rating random roadside attractions with brutal honesty.
“World’s Largest Corn Statue,” Hort read from a sign.
“Two out of ten,” Hester said.
“Would commit murder there,” Anadil added thoughtfully.
Agatha was half asleep against the window when Tedros suddenly asked, “So why medicine?”
She opened one eye.
“What?”
“You could’ve done anything.”
Agatha shrugged.
“I like fixing things.”
The answer came too fast. Too rehearsed.
Tedros noticed.
She could tell he noticed.
But surprisingly, he didn’t push.
“That’s kinda cool,” he said quietly.
The sincerity caught her off guard.
She glanced at him.
He was focused on the road now, fingers tapping absently against the steering wheel.
Golden sunlight had started bleeding through the clouds, catching in his hair.
Annoyingly cinematic.
Agatha looked away first.
Bad sign.
Very bad sign.
Sophie suddenly gasped.
“Oh my god.”
Everyone jumped.
“What?” Dot asked.
Sophie pointed dramatically at Agatha’s phone buzzing in the cupholder.
James Calling.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Agatha’s stomach tightened.
She stared at the screen for one long second before declining the call.
Nobody spoke.
Then Sophie said carefully, “You’re still not answering him?”
Agatha turned slowly.
“You really wanna ask me that while I’m driving?”
“You are not driving.”
“I could grab the wheel.”
“That felt threatening,” Hort whispered.
Tedros glanced between them, confused.
“Ex-boyfriend?” he asked.
Agatha groaned softly.
“Can we not?”
Sophie’s expression softened immediately.
Which meant this was serious.
“He’s just... persistent,” Sophie said.
“That’s one word for it.”
Dot tilted her head gently.
“How long were you together?”
Agatha stared out the window.
“Since we were fifteen.”
Even Hester looked surprised.
“Damn.”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?” Tedros asked before he could stop himself.
The car went quiet again.
Agatha crossed her arms.
“He wanted a version of me that doesn’t exist anymore.”
Nobody joked after that.
The road stretched endlessly ahead of them while the sky turned orange and gold.
For a while, all you could hear was music and tires humming against pavement.
Then Hort ruined the emotional moment completely by yelling—
“COW.”
Everyone looked.
A single cow stood in a random field beside the highway.
Dot burst out laughing.
“Oh my god.”
“THANK you,” Hort said defensively. “No one appreciates nature anymore.”
“That cow looked depressed,” Hester said.
“She understood this road trip,” Anadil agreed.
Tedros laughed so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
And against her better judgment—
Agatha laughed too.
Real laughter.
Not the polite kind.
Tedros looked over immediately like he’d discovered fire.
And for one brief, dangerous second—
Agatha forgot about James entirely.
—
Six hours in, they stopped at a gas station somewhere deep in Germany.
The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead while everyone stumbled out of the SUV looking half dead.
Dot immediately bought enough snacks to survive societal collapse.
Hester found a tiny porcelain frog in the gift shop and carried it around like a cursed artifact.
Sophie filmed a dramatic TikTok about “the horrors of road travel.”
Agatha stood outside near the pumps sipping terrible coffee and enjoying five entire seconds of silence.
Then Tedros appeared beside her.
Of course he did.
“You hate everyone,” he said conversationally.
“I don’t hate everyone.”
“You looked at a child in the last gas station like you were considering homicide.”
“The child coughed directly into my iced coffee.”
“Fair.”
Agatha glanced sideways at him.
Up close, he somehow looked worse.
Not ugly worse.
More dangerous worse.
Like sunlight and stupid decisions.
“You always this friendly?” she asked.
Tedros shrugged.
“You always this scary?”
“Yes.”
“I kinda like it.”
Agatha nearly inhaled coffee wrong.
She coughed violently.
Tedros looked delighted with himself.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I literally am not.”
“You literally are.”
Before Agatha could respond, Sophie leaned out the gas station doors dramatically.
“Lovebirds! We’re leaving!”
Agatha almost choked again.
Tedros grinned.
And somewhere deep in her chest, something complicated began unfolding quietly.
one motel room, zero dignity, and a truly catastrophic bathroom incident
By the time they reached the motel, everyone looked emotionally taxidermied.
The giant neon VACANCY sign flickered violently in the middle of nowhere like the opening shot of a horror movie. Rain hammered against the windshield again, turning the parking lot into reflective black glass.
Agatha stared at the building.
“No.”
Tedros parked the SUV.
“What do you mean no?”
“I mean this is how people die in documentaries.”
Hester leaned forward between the seats.
“I actually think this place improves if you assume several murders happened here.”
“That is not comforting,” Dot said.
“It is to me.”
The motel looked aggressively haunted.
Half the lights were out. One vending machine buzzed ominously. There was a fake plastic palm tree lying sideways in the parking lot like it had given up.
Sophie slowly lowered her sunglasses despite it being midnight.
“Oh my god.”
“What now?” Agatha asked.
“There’s no way this place has good lighting.”
“You say that like it’s the greatest tragedy here.”
Tedros grabbed the room keys from the front desk ten minutes later with the expression of a man returning from war.
“So,” he said carefully.
“No,” Agatha replied instantly.
“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say.”
“I can feel it spiritually.”
Tedros scratched the back of his neck.
“They only have one room left.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then:
“You’re joking,” Sophie said.
“I tried flirting with the receptionist.”
“Did it work?”
“No. Apparently she’s immune to hockey players.”
“That’s devastating,” Hester deadpanned.
Dot blinked slowly.
“How many beds?”
Tedros looked away.
“…Two.”
The group erupted instantly.
“TWO?” Sophie shrieked.
“There are eight of us!”
“I can count, Sophie!”
“Actually,” Anadil said calmly, “this is the ideal setup for psychological warfare.”
Hort looked like he was seconds from cardiac arrest.
Agatha pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I’m going back onto the highway and letting a truck hit me.”
“You’re being dramatic,” Sophie said.
“We are literally adults.”
“Adults with unresolved tension,” Hester corrected.
Tedros coughed into his fist.
Agatha ignored him aggressively.
—
The room somehow looked worse inside.
Two double beds.
One suspicious carpet.
A tiny bathroom.
One flickering lamp that made everyone look haunted.
Dot immediately claimed a corner of the floor and started distributing blankets with the competence of a military commander.
“Okay,” she announced. “We organize this peacefully.”
“We could stack people vertically,” Anadil suggested.
“We could leave Hort outside,” Hester added.
“WHAT DID I DO?”
Sophie pointed dramatically.
“I refuse to sleep on the floor because my spine is emotionally delicate.”
“Your spine is fine,” Agatha said.
“No it’s not. I carry this group socially.”
Tedros tossed his bag onto one bed.
“I can take the floor.”
“No,” Dot said immediately. “You’re like six foot four.”
“Six three.”
“Still unfortunate.”
After ten painful minutes of arguing, the arrangement somehow became:
Bed one: Sophie, Dot, Hester
Bed two: Agatha and Tedros
Floor: Hort, Anadil, and Reena, who had arrived halfway through the argument carrying energy drinks and somehow immediately accepted chaos as her natural habitat.
Agatha stared at the bed assignment like it personally offended her bloodline.
“No.”
Tedros looked equally alarmed.
“To be clear,” he said quickly, “I can sleep on the floor.”
“No, you can’t,” Dot replied. “You’re built like a moose.”
“Thank you?”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
Sophie grinned like Satan in designer boots.
“Oh this is going to be FUN.”
Agatha pointed at her.
“If you say one word tonight, I will smother you with a motel pillow.”
“Threatening violence already. Romance is alive.”
Tedros was trying very hard not to smile.
Which somehow made it worse.
—
The bathroom schedule alone nearly caused societal collapse.
Hester took seventeen minutes because “eyeliner is architecture.”
Hort accidentally locked himself out wearing only one sock.
Dot burned microwave popcorn somehow despite there being no microwave.
And Sophie spent twenty-five minutes filming skincare content under a lamp that made her look like she was being interrogated by the FBI.
By the time Agatha finally escaped to brush her teeth, she looked one inconvenience away from becoming a cryptid.
She leaned over the sink, curls falling everywhere, oversized shirt slipping off one shoulder.
The bathroom door creaked open.
Tedros froze instantly.
Agatha looked up slowly through the mirror.
“Oh my god,” Tedros said.
“Seriously?” she deadpanned around her toothbrush.
“I didn’t know you were in here.”
“You saw the light on.”
“I thought it was haunted.”
“That’s somehow worse.”
Tedros leaned against the doorway awkwardly.
Up close in soft motel lighting, he looked unfairly attractive in a sleepy, disheveled way. Hoodie sleeves pushed up. Hair messy. Golden retriever energy reduced by exhaustion.
Annoying.
“You always this mean before bed?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Goodnight to you too then.”
Agatha rolled her eyes.
“Goodnight, hockey boy.”
Tedros grinned.
And for some deeply cursed reason—
she felt butterflies.
Actual butterflies.
Disgusting.
—
Sleeping arrangements turned catastrophic immediately.
Hort snored like industrial machinery.
Sophie sleep-talked.
Anadil apparently hissed when startled.
And Tedros—
Tedros radiated heat like a human furnace.
Agatha lay stiffly on the far edge of the mattress staring at the ceiling.
This is ridiculous, she thought.
It’s just a guy.
A very attractive guy.
A very attractive stupid guy.
Who smelled annoyingly good.
Who kept unconsciously moving closer in his sleep.
Agatha glared at the darkness.
“Absolutely not,” she whispered.
Five minutes later she woke up half asleep because something warm had wrapped around her waist.
Her eyes blinked open slowly.
Tedros.
Still asleep.
One arm around her.
Face buried against her shoulder.
Agatha froze.
Her first instinct was to shove him off the bed.
Her second instinct was unfortunately much weaker.
Because sleepy Tedros looked weirdly soft.
Relaxed.
Not cocky or loud or flirting.
Just warm.
His hair fell into his eyes slightly. His breathing was slow and even against her neck.
Agatha stared at him in horror.
Her heart was beating way too fast.
This is how women die in romance novels, she thought.
And somehow—
despite every rational thought in her body—
she drifted back asleep too.
Still tangled together.
—
At 6:14 AM, Agatha woke up first.
The room was silent except for Hort softly snoring on the floor like a congested walrus.
Morning light spilled weakly through the curtains.
Tedros was still asleep beside her.
One arm still around her waist.
Agatha carefully stared at the ceiling.
Okay.
Fine.
Objectively speaking?
This was… nice.
Which was deeply unfortunate.
Tedros shifted slightly in his sleep, pulling her closer unconsciously.
Agatha stopped breathing.
His face was now buried directly into her curls.
There was no way she was surviving this road trip.
Absolutely none.
Carefully — very carefully — she untangled herself and escaped toward the bathroom before her dignity completely dissolved.
The motel shower was approximately one emotional step above prison plumbing, but at least it was hot.
Steam filled the tiny bathroom while Agatha stood under the water trying to process her life choices.
Tedros smells good.
No.
No no no.
Unacceptable thought.
She scrubbed shampoo through her curls aggressively.
Outside the bathroom, muffled voices slowly began waking up.
Hort: “Why is the floor sticky?”
Hester: “Builds character.”
Dot: “Does anyone want mini muffins?”
Then—
the bathroom door opened.
Agatha looked up instantly.
Tedros stood there half asleep in gray sweatpants and absolutely nothing else.
Both of them froze.
There was one full second of catastrophic silence.
Then Tedros’s eyes widened in complete horror.
Agatha made direct eye contact with him through the shower glass.
“...Hi,” Tedros said weakly.
Agatha stared at him.
Water dripped down her shoulders.
Tedros stared back for one mortifying second too long before realizing—
“Oh my god—SORRY—”
He slammed the door shut so hard the wall shook.
Outside the bathroom came immediate screaming.
“WHAT HAPPENED?” Sophie yelled.
“TEDROS WALKED IN ON AGATHA SHOWERING,” Hester announced instantly like a sports commentator.
The entire room exploded.
Dot shrieked laughing.
Hort fell off the floor mattress.
Reena screamed, “NO WAY.”
Agatha closed her eyes under the shower spray.
I am going to commit murder, she thought peacefully.
Outside, Tedros sounded like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
“I DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS IN THERE.”
“Traumatizing,” Anadil said.
“Did you at least see anything good?” Hester asked.
“HESTER,” Dot gasped.
“What? We’re all thinking it.”
Agatha emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later wrapped in enough emotional hostility to power several cities.
Everyone went silent immediately.
Tedros looked up from his coffee.
Their eyes met.
He looked genuinely panicked.
“Agatha—”
“If you speak,” she said calmly, “I will drive this car into a river.”
Hort immediately stood.
“I support women’s rights.”
“And women’s wrongs,” Reena added.
Tedros buried his face in his hands.
“I’m so sorry.”
The worst part?
He actually sounded sincere.
Which made it harder to stay angry.
Agatha grabbed her hoodie.
“It’s fine.”
“It absolutely is not fine,” Tedros groaned.
Sophie looked between them with horrifying delight.
“Oh this is delicious.”
“Die,” Agatha replied.
—
Two hours later they were back in the SUV.
The awkwardness lasted approximately twelve minutes before chaos reclaimed its natural balance.
Dot introduced road trip games.
Hester and Anadil invented increasingly concerning hypothetical scenarios.
Reena started rating everyone’s emotional issues numerically.
And somehow, despite everything—
Agatha found herself laughing again.
A lot.
Especially at Tedros.
Which became a problem quickly.
Because Tedros looked at her like every sarcastic comment out of her mouth was personally fascinating.
And Agatha—
Agatha was beginning to realize she liked being looked at that way.
austria, emotional destruction, and several extremely bad decisions
Austria looked fake.
That was the first thing Agatha thought as the SUV curved through the mountain roads at sunset.
The hills rolled endlessly in deep green waves beneath streaks of gold light. Tiny villages sat tucked between forests like someone had handcrafted them for a Pinterest board. Church bells echoed faintly through the valleys.
Even Sophie had gone quiet.
And Sophie never went quiet.
“Oh my god,” she whispered finally, pressing her face dramatically against the window. “I’m entering my European era.”
“You’ve had seven eras this year,” Hester said.
“Growth is not linear.”
Tedros slowed the SUV slightly as they passed a lake that reflected the mountains like glass.
Agatha watched the scenery silently from the passenger seat.
It felt strange being somewhere this beautiful after two straight days of chaos and gas station coffee and accidental emotional intimacy.
Her phone buzzed again.
James.
She stared at the screen for a long moment.
Then turned it face down.
Tedros noticed immediately.
He didn’t say anything.
But his jaw tightened slightly before he looked back at the road.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
—
Dovey and Leonora’s wedding venue was somehow even more insane.
A giant lakeside hotel tucked against the mountains with white stone balconies overflowing with flowers.
There were fairy lights hanging everywhere.
String music floated through the air.
People in expensive outfits wandered around holding champagne glasses like rich Europeans in perfume commercials.
Hort stepped out of the SUV and stared upward.
“If I died here,” he said softly, “I’d accept it.”
“You say that everywhere,” Reena replied.
The hotel doors burst open.
And suddenly Dovey was sprinting directly toward them.
“Oh my stars, you made it!”
Dovey looked exactly the same as always — warm smile, bright eyes, chaotic energy wrapped in elegance. She hugged Sophie first, then Agatha so tightly Agatha almost dropped her bag.
“You all look exhausted,” Dovey said happily.
“We’ve suffered,” Hester replied.
Leonora appeared behind her in a sharp black suit, somehow looking both glamorous and vaguely threatening.
“You’re late,” she said.
“It built character,” Tedros answered.
Leonora looked him up and down.
“Hm. You’re blond.”
Tedros blinked.
“…Thanks?”
“She means she approves,” Dovey translated brightly.
“I do not,” Leonora replied immediately.
“You literally do.”
“Fine. A little.”
Sophie grabbed Dovey’s hands dramatically.
“We need details. We need gossip. We need alcohol.”
“That,” Leonora said, “can be arranged.”
—
The bachelor and bachelorette split happened after dinner.
Which was how Agatha somehow ended up wandering through Salzburg at midnight with Sophie, Hester, Dot, and Dovey while slightly drunk women screamed karaoke in the distance.
Austria at night was unfairly beautiful.
The streets glowed gold beneath old lanterns. Music spilled from crowded bars. The cold mountain air smelled faintly like smoke and rain and wine.
Dovey looped her arm through Agatha’s.
“You’ve been thinking too much.”
Agatha snorted softly.
“That obvious?”
“To people who love you? Yes.”
Sophie pointed aggressively while walking in heels clearly designed by Satan.
“She does this thing where she stares into the middle distance like a Victorian widow.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
Dot handed Agatha a warm pastry from a street vendor.
“Eat. Emotional crises are worse on an empty stomach.”
Agatha accepted it automatically.
And for a moment—
walking through glowing Austrian streets with her friends laughing around her—
she felt strangely okay.
Until Sophie said:
“So. Tedros.”
Agatha nearly inhaled powdered sugar.
“No.”
“You slept cuddling.”
“We did not.”
“You literally did,” Hester said.
“You looked like a Hallmark movie.”
“It was involuntary.”
“Your face is red,” Dot observed gently.
“It is cold outside.”
“Your ears are red too.”
Agatha glared at all of them.
Dovey smiled knowingly.
“Oh dear.”
“There is no ‘oh dear,’” Agatha said immediately. “He’s ridiculous.”
“Mhm.”
“He walked into the bathroom while I was naked.”
“That’s one way to build intimacy,” Hester muttered.
Agatha buried her face in her hands.
“This trip is cursed.”
But secretly—
very secretly—
she could still remember the way Tedros looked at her afterward.
Mortified.
Gentle.
Like he cared far too much whether she was upset with him.
And unfortunately that feeling had lodged itself somewhere dangerous inside her chest.
—
Meanwhile, across town—
Tedros was losing his mind.
“Okay,” Reena announced, sipping vodka soda. “You’re down catastrophically.”
Tedros nearly choked on his drink.
“What?”
Anadil looked bored.
“You stare at Agatha like she personally invented sunlight.”
Hort nodded sadly.
“It’s honestly beautiful.”
Tedros groaned.
“Oh my god.”
Leonora smirked from across the booth.
“She doesn’t make it easy.”
“No, she does not.”
“And yet,” Reena said, “you continue.”
Tedros leaned back in his chair.
The bar around them buzzed with music and warm light and too many people dancing badly.
But all he could think about was Agatha.
Agatha laughing in the car.
Agatha half asleep beside him.
Agatha glaring at him while dripping wet from the shower and somehow still looking terrifyingly beautiful.
He’d met her less than three days ago.
Which was the most insane part.
“You know what your problem is?” Leonora said.
Tedros sighed.
“This should be good.”
“You like women who challenge you.”
“That sounds fake.”
“No,” Anadil said. “It sounds psychologically expensive.”
Hort looked deeply emotional already.
“She’s just so cool.”
Tedros rubbed his face.
“She thinks I’m stupid.”
“You are stupid,” Reena said.
“Thanks.”
“But she likes you anyway.”
Tedros stared down at his drink quietly.
Because that was the thing.
Sometimes when Agatha looked at him—
really looked at him—
there was something there.
Something sharp and nervous and almost soft.
And it made him feel completely insane.
—
At around three in the morning, both groups accidentally ended up at the same underground bar near the river.
The place was chaos.
Music thundered through dim red lights while drunk tourists screamed lyrics in three different languages. Someone was crowd-surfing badly near the back.
Sophie immediately shrieked when she spotted Tedros’s group.
“Oh my god THERE YOU ARE.”
Dot collided into Hort hard enough to nearly kill him.
Leonora stole Dovey’s drink.
And across the room—
Tedros saw Agatha.
Black jeans. Dark curls loose around her shoulders. Oversized leather jacket slipping slightly down one arm.
She looked flushed from alcohol and cold air and laughing.
And Tedros genuinely forgot how breathing worked.
Then Agatha smiled at him.
Not sarcastic.
Not guarded.
Just warm.
Tedros’s heart actually stuttered.
“Oh,” Reena whispered beside him. “You’re cooked.”
Before he could respond—
some random guy approached Agatha near the bar.
Tall. Dark hair. European accent.
Tedros immediately hated him on sight.
The guy leaned closer to say something over the music.
Agatha laughed.
Tedros’s jaw tightened.
“Oh no,” Hort whispered.
“She’s doing it on purpose,” Anadil observed.
“Doing what?” Tedros snapped.
“Making you spiral.”
“I am not spiraling.”
“You look one inconvenience away from starting a duel.”
Across the room, the stranger said something else.
Agatha tilted her head slightly.
Then—
to Tedros’s absolute horror—
she kissed him.
Not a tiny kiss either.
A full drunken bar kiss.
Tedros went completely still.
Something hot and ugly twisted suddenly in his chest.
Jealousy.
Violent jealousy.
“Well,” Reena said. “This seems healthy.”
Tedros was already moving.
He crossed the bar before logic could catch up with him.
Agatha pulled away from the stranger first, blinking slightly in surprise as Tedros appeared in front of her.
The guy looked annoyed.
Tedros ignored him completely.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked Agatha.
Her expression shifted instantly.
“Oh,” she said softly.
The stranger took one look at the tension between them and wisely disappeared.
Music pounded around them.
People danced and shouted and spilled drinks everywhere.
But suddenly it felt strangely quiet.
Agatha crossed her arms.
“You look angry.”
Tedros laughed once incredulously.
“You’re kissing random guys now?”
“You literally met me three days ago.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Agatha’s eyes flashed.
“And what exactly are you upset about?”
Tedros stepped closer before he could stop himself.
“You know what.”
For one dangerous second neither of them moved.
Then Agatha said quietly:
“You’re jealous.”
Tedros looked at her.
Really looked at her.
At the challenge in her eyes.
At the slight nervousness underneath it.
At the way her lips still looked kiss-swollen.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
Agatha’s breath caught slightly.
And that—
that was the thing that destroyed both of them.
Because suddenly Tedros realized she wasn’t unaffected either.
Not even close.
The music blurred into noise.
Agatha stared at him for one long second before muttering:
“You’re an idiot.”
Then she grabbed his jacket and kissed him.
Hard.
Tedros immediately kissed her back like he was dying from it.
The entire world disappeared.
The kiss was messy and desperate and full of three straight days of unresolved tension finally snapping apart.
Agatha shoved him backward into the wall beside the bar.
Tedros laughed breathlessly against her mouth.
“Oh my god.”
“Shut up.”
He kissed her again instantly.
Her hands tangled in his hair.
His hands slid around her waist.
And somewhere behind them—
Sophie screamed:
“FINALLY.”
Hester started clapping.
Dot looked emotional.
Hort looked like he was witnessing divine intervention.
Neither Agatha nor Tedros cared.
Because at some point between the mountains and the motel and the terrible gas station coffee—
they’d fallen into something unavoidable.
And by the time they stumbled out of the bar together at four in the morning—
still kissing, still laughing, still completely gone for each other—
there was absolutely no going back.
the morning after, emotional warfare, and one extremely inconvenient love confession
Agatha woke up to sunlight directly attacking her eyeballs.
For one blissful second, she had no idea where she was.
Then several things hit her at once.
Austria.
Wedding.
Bar.
Tedros.
Oh no.
Her eyes snapped open.
The hotel room was unfamiliar — huge windows overlooking the lake, discarded clothes everywhere, somebody’s jacket hanging off a lamp dramatically.
And beside her—
Tedros was asleep.
One arm around her waist.
Face buried into the pillow.
Shirtless.
Agatha immediately covered her face with both hands.
“Oh my god.”
Tedros shifted slightly at the sound of her voice.
Then slowly opened one eye.
There was a full second where neither of them spoke.
Then Tedros smiled lazily.
And somehow that made everything worse.
“Morning,” he mumbled.
Agatha stared at him in horror.
“You’re smiling.”
“Yeah?”
“You should not be smiling.”
Tedros blinked slowly.
“Why?”
“Because this is deeply humiliating.”
“What part?”
Agatha made a vague distressed gesture at literally everything.
“The… us part.”
Tedros pushed himself upright against the headboard, hair completely wrecked, looking unfairly good for someone awake at ten in the morning after heavy drinking.
“You regret it?”
The question came quieter than she expected.
And that—
that made her chest tighten painfully.
Because Tedros wasn’t joking now.
He actually cared about the answer.
Agatha looked away first.
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you’re doing the panic thing.”
“I don’t do a panic thing.”
“You absolutely do.”
She groaned and buried her face in the blanket.
Tedros laughed softly.
And God.
That laugh was becoming a problem.
A catastrophic problem.
Because it made her feel warm in places she was absolutely not prepared to discuss psychologically.
Last night had been—
Agatha closed her eyes briefly.
The making out against the alley wall.
Tedros kissing her like he’d been trying not to for days.
The walk back through cold Austrian streets while they kept stopping every five seconds to kiss again.
Ending up in his room somehow.
Laughing.
Talking.
Kissing.
More kissing.
A genuinely irresponsible amount of kissing.
And then…
Well.
Now they were here.
“You’re thinking too loud,” Tedros said gently.
Agatha peeked at him through her curls.
“You don’t seem stressed at all.”
Tedros shrugged.
“I like you.”
The simple honesty of it nearly short-circuited her brain.
No games.
No weirdness.
Just: I like you.
Like it was obvious.
Like it wasn’t terrifying.
Agatha looked down at the blanket.
“That seems medically concerning.”
Tedros grinned immediately.
“There she is.”
“Don’t get used to this.”
“To what?”
“This.” She waved vaguely between them again. “Whatever this is.”
Tedros leaned closer slightly.
“Feels pretty good to me.”
Agatha’s heart betrayed her immediately by beating faster.
Traitor.
Absolute traitor.
Before she could respond—
someone started violently banging on the hotel door.
“IF YOU TWO ARE ALIVE,” Sophie yelled from outside, “WE’RE LATE FOR BRUNCH.”
Agatha closed her eyes.
“Maybe if we stay silent she’ll leave.”
“She absolutely won’t,” Tedros said.
The banging intensified.
Then Hester’s voice appeared:
“We can literally hear emotional repression in there.”
“GO AWAY,” Agatha shouted.
“SO THAT’S A YES,” Reena yelled.
Tedros buried his face into the pillow laughing.
Agatha considered jumping directly into the Austrian lake.
—
Brunch was hell.
Not because of the food.
The food was incredible.
Fresh pastries. Coffee. Fruit. Tiny fancy European eggs.
The problem was everyone else.
Sophie looked one smug comment away from spiritual enlightenment.
Dot kept smiling at Agatha in an aggressively supportive way.
Hester and Anadil exchanged silent goth telepathy every time Tedros touched Agatha accidentally.
And Hort—
Hort looked like he’d watched a season finale cliffhanger.
“No one say anything,” Agatha warned immediately while sitting down.
“Say what?” Sophie asked innocently.
“You know what.”
Tedros sat beside her carrying coffee.
Their knees bumped under the table.
Agatha became hyperaware of her entire nervous system.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Reena sipped orange juice.
“So,” she said casually. “How was everyone’s night?”
Agatha pointed at her without looking up from her coffee.
“I will kill you first.”
Tedros laughed into his cup.
That was another problem now too.
Everything he did suddenly felt distracting.
His smile.
His voice.
The way he looked at her when she spoke.
Like he was constantly trying not to grin.
Dovey arrived halfway through brunch glowing with pre-wedding happiness.
“You all survived!”
“Debatable,” Hester replied.
Leonora sat beside her elegantly.
Then immediately narrowed her eyes at Agatha and Tedros.
“…Oh,” she said.
Agatha nearly choked on coffee.
“What does that mean?”
Leonora smirked.
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It usually is,” Dovey admitted cheerfully.
Tedros looked deeply entertained by Agatha’s suffering.
Which honestly felt rude considering he was the reason for it.
—
The wedding itself was beautiful.
Painfully beautiful.
The ceremony took place outside beside the lake just before sunset.
Mountains towered around them while golden light reflected across the water. White flowers lined the aisle. Soft violin music drifted through the cold evening air.
Even Hester looked emotional.
“Disgusting,” she whispered quietly while wiping her eye.
Dovey walked down the aisle smiling so brightly it physically hurt to look at her.
Leonora stared at her like the rest of the world had stopped existing.
And suddenly—
unexpectedly—
Agatha felt something ache inside her chest.
Not sadness exactly.
Something softer.
Something terrifying.
Tedros noticed her expression immediately.
“You okay?”
Agatha nodded too fast.
“Fine.”
“You’re doing the thing again.”
“What thing?”
“The emotional shutdown thing.”
Agatha looked away toward the lake.
“I’m literally watching two people get married.”
“And?”
“And it’s weird.”
Tedros was quiet for a moment.
Then softly:
“You don’t think people stay?”
The question caught her completely off guard.
Agatha looked at him.
Really looked at him.
Tedros sat there in a black suit with messy blond hair and warm eyes and the kindest expression she’d ever seen directed at her.
And suddenly James flashed through her mind.
Seven years.
Seven years of trying to force herself into somebody easier.
Softer.
Less difficult.
Less intense.
James had loved her.
But sometimes it felt like he loved her despite who she was instead of because of it.
Tedros, somehow, liked every sharp edge immediately.
Which was terrifying.
Because it made her want things.
Dangerous things.
Before she could answer—
someone behind them said:
“Agatha.”
Her entire body went still.
She knew that voice instantly.
Slowly, she turned around.
James stood near the edge of the reception crowd slightly out of breath, like he’d rushed there.
Tedros’s expression changed immediately.
Agatha felt cold all at once.
“What are you doing here?” she asked quietly.
James looked nervous.
Actually nervous.
“I needed to talk to you.”
Sophie, sitting nearby, looked ready to commit homicide.
Tedros stayed very still beside Agatha.
James glanced at him briefly.
Then back at her.
“I know you stopped answering my calls.”
“You think?”
“I deserved that.”
Agatha crossed her arms tightly.
The reception music continued softly around them while guests laughed nearby completely unaware that her nervous system was actively imploding.
James stepped closer.
“I just… I needed to tell you I made a mistake.”
Agatha closed her eyes briefly.
No.
No no no.
Not here.
Not now.
“I love you,” James said.
Tedros looked away immediately.
And somehow that hurt worse than hearing the words themselves.
Because Tedros actually believed it.
He thought she still loved James too.
Agatha’s chest tightened painfully.
James kept talking.
“I know things got hard but we can fix this. We’ve been together forever, Aggie. You know us. You know me.”
Aggie.
God.
She hated hearing that name now.
Because suddenly it felt like an old version of herself standing in front of her.
One she didn’t fit anymore.
Agatha looked at James carefully.
Really carefully.
And for the first time—
there was nothing there.
No pull.
No longing.
No grief.
Just guilt.
And relief.
“Oh,” she whispered softly.
James frowned slightly.
Agatha stepped backward.
“I have to go.”
Then she turned and walked away before anyone could stop her.
—
Cold air hit her lungs sharply outside the venue.
Agatha moved fast down toward the lakeside dock, heels clicking unevenly against the wood.
Her chest hurt.
Not because of James.
That was the shocking part.
It hurt because she’d spent months mourning something that apparently ended long before she admitted it.
Behind her—
footsteps.
Tedros.
Of course.
Agatha stopped at the edge of the dock without turning around.
For a second neither of them spoke.
The lake reflected moonlight in shattered silver pieces beneath the mountains.
Finally Tedros said quietly:
“I thought you still loved him.”
Agatha laughed once.
But it sounded awful.
“I thought I did too.”
Tedros stayed silent.
Agatha turned toward him finally.
And something inside her cracked open completely.
“I don’t,” she said helplessly. “I don’t love him anymore.”
Tedros looked stunned.
Agatha’s voice started shaking.
“I think I just loved who we used to be and I kept trying to force myself backwards because it was easier than admitting everything changed.”
Her eyes burned suddenly.
Oh no.
No no no.
She was not crying in Austria over a hockey player.
Absolutely not.
But once the tears started they wouldn’t stop.
Agatha laughed shakily at herself.
“This is embarrassing.”
Tedros stepped closer immediately.
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes it is. I’m literally having a psychological breakdown beside a lake.”
“You’re allowed.”
Agatha wiped angrily at her face.
“I hate crying.”
“I know.”
“And you—” she pointed at him emotionally “—you make everything worse.”
Tedros blinked.
“Me?”
“Yes, you!”
“How?”
“Because I like you!”
The words exploded out of her before she could stop them.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Agatha stared at him in horror.
“Well,” she whispered. “That was unfortunate.”
Tedros looked completely stunned.
And suddenly Agatha started rambling because her brain had abandoned her entirely.
“I mean obviously you know that now which is horrible because I wasn’t planning on saying it like this and honestly I don’t even know when it happened because at first I thought you were just kind of stupid—”
Tedros started laughing softly.
“—and arrogant,” Agatha continued desperately, “and then suddenly you were being nice to me which was suspicious—”
“Suspicious?”
“Yes! Nobody this attractive should be emotionally available, it’s unnatural—”
Tedros kissed her.
Directly in the middle of her spiraling.
Agatha made a surprised sound against his mouth as his hands gently framed her face.
The kiss felt completely different from the night before.
Softer.
Certain.
Tedros rested his forehead against hers afterward.
“I like you too,” he said quietly.
Agatha stared at him.
Then narrowed her eyes suspiciously through leftover tears.
“You better not ruin my life.”
Tedros grinned.
“No promises.”
And despite everything—
Agatha laughed.
the ride home, emotional stability (sort of), and several crimes against public decency
The drive back somehow felt completely different.
Maybe it was because the tension was finally gone.
Or maybe it was because Tedros and Agatha had become physically incapable of existing normally around each other.
Either way, by hour two, the entire group was deeply exhausted by them.
“Okay,” Hester said from the backseat, “if you two flirt one more time, I’m opening the car door.”
“We are not flirting,” Agatha replied immediately.
Tedros looked over from the driver’s seat.
“Babe, you stole my hoodie six hours ago.”
Agatha froze.
The entire SUV went silent.
Tedros froze too.
Sophie’s jaw dropped dramatically.
Dot made a tiny emotional squeaking noise.
And Reena whispered:
“Oh he’s gone gone.”
Tedros blinked.
“…Did I say babe out loud?”
“Yes,” eight people answered instantly.
Agatha stared out the window so aggressively it looked painful.
Her ears turned bright red beneath her curls.
Hort looked genuinely moved.
“That was beautiful.”
“I hate all of you,” Agatha muttered.
Tedros grinned for the next forty-five minutes straight.
—
Road trip energy deteriorated rapidly after that.
The SUV became a lawless wasteland of snack wrappers, tangled chargers, and emotional instability.
Dot kept feeding everyone homemade pastries from culinary school containers “for morale.”
Hester and Anadil had begun ranking European gas stations based entirely on “murder vibes.”
Reena was making playlists with titles like:
songs to commit tax fraud to.
And Sophie—
Sophie had transformed into a full-time relationship commentator.
“Oh my god,” she whispered loudly while watching Tedros hand Agatha an iced coffee. “Look at them.”
“We are literally sitting here,” Agatha said.
Tedros looked delighted.
“She remembered your coffee order,” Sophie continued emotionally. “That’s basically marriage.”
“It’s oat milk,” Agatha replied. “Not a blood oath.”
“But he looked at you while ordering it.”
“People generally look at each other during conversations, Sophie.”
“No, no. That was yearning.”
Tedros nearly drove off the road laughing.
Agatha crossed her arms harder.
Which unfortunately only made Tedros glance at her with that stupid soft expression again.
The one that now caused actual problems inside her ribcage.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
—
At some point in southern Germany, they stopped at a fuel station surrounded by mountains and cold wind.
Everyone stumbled out half dead from sitting too long.
Dot and Reena immediately went hunting for snacks.
Hort accidentally walked into a glass door.
Hester filmed it for “historical preservation.”
And Agatha stood near the side of the building sipping coffee while the sunset turned everything gold and orange.
“You disappeared.”
She looked over.
Tedros walked toward her wearing a dark hoodie and that same lazy smile that was becoming genuinely dangerous to her wellbeing.
“I needed air,” Agatha said.
Tedros leaned beside her against the wall.
For a second neither of them spoke.
Wind moved softly through Agatha’s curls.
Tedros reached out automatically and untangled one strand caught on her jacket zipper.
The tiny gesture hit way harder than it should’ve.
Agatha looked at him carefully.
“You’re being weirdly nice to me.”
Tedros looked offended.
“I’m always nice to you.”
“You flirt by irritating me.”
“That is being nice.”
Agatha snorted softly.
Tedros watched her for a second before saying quietly:
“You know I meant it, right?”
Agatha blinked.
“What?”
“The lake thing.”
Oh.
Her chest tightened slightly.
Tedros stepped a little closer.
“I know this is all kinda chaotic,” he said, “but I really do like you.”
Agatha looked down at her coffee cup.
Nobody had ever liked her this openly before.
Not without hesitation.
Not without asking her to become smaller first.
And that realization still scared her a little.
“I’m not exactly easy,” she admitted quietly.
Tedros smiled softly.
“Good.”
Agatha looked up.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t want easy.”
God.
There he went again.
Saying things that completely rearranged her internal organs.
Agatha stared at him for one dangerous second before muttering:
“You’re really ruining my whole emotionally unavailable thing.”
Tedros laughed quietly.
“Come here.”
And then somehow they were kissing beside a random European fuel station while trucks roared past in the background.
Which honestly felt very on brand for them at this point.
Tedros pulled her closer by the waist while Agatha grabbed the front of his hoodie.
The kiss started soft.
Then immediately stopped being soft.
A car honked somewhere.
Neither of them cared.
Inside the gas station, Sophie spotted them through the window and screamed so loudly several tourists turned around.
“I KNEW IT.”
Hester appeared beside her holding chips.
“Disgusting.”
“They’re obsessed with each other.”
“More disgusting.”
Dot looked emotional again.
“Oh, they really fell in love.”
Reena sipped an energy drink.
“I give it six months before they accidentally adopt a dog together.”
Meanwhile outside—
Tedros kissed the corner of Agatha’s mouth smiling slightly against her lips.
“You know everyone can see us, right?”
Agatha opened one eye lazily.
“I genuinely don’t care anymore.”
Tedros looked immediately lovestruck again.
Which was becoming a recurring issue.
Agatha noticed.
And for once—
instead of panicking—
she just smiled.
Small.
Real.
Beautiful enough to make Tedros completely forget his own name for a second.
“Oh,” he said softly.
Agatha narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re doing the staring thing again.”
“You’re doing the pretty thing again.”
Agatha stared at him.
Then groaned loudly and buried her face in his chest while Tedros laughed.
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
She kissed him again immediately.
—
The final hours of the drive turned strangely soft after that.
Everyone was exhausted.
Music played quietly through the speakers while rain tapped softly against the windows again.
Dot slept curled against the door.
Hort snored lightly.
Sophie edited wedding photos while pretending not to cry over “the narrative arc.”
And in the front seat—
Agatha rested her head against Tedros’s shoulder while he drove.
No panic.
No overthinking.
Just warm.
Tedros glanced down at her carefully.
“You tired?”
“Mm.”
“You can sleep.”
Agatha tilted her head slightly to look at him.
“You’d miss me.”
Tedros grinned instantly.
“Already do.”
Agatha rolled her eyes.
But she was smiling.
Outside, highway lights blurred gold against the rain.
And somewhere between terrible motels, Austrian bars, emotional disasters, and way too much gas station coffee—
they’d accidentally become something real.
Messy.
Chaotic.
Slightly concerning.
But real anyway.
Honestly?
That felt kind of perfect.