Lukas’ phone started ringing while the car continued moving through the streets of Darmstadt.

He glanced down at the screen.

Joanna.

A small smile appeared on his face as he accepted the call and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hey."

"Hey," Joanna replied softly.

"You good?" Lukas asked.

"Yeah... are you free right now?"

"Yeah," he replied immediately. "We just finished discussions with the Manchester City people."

There was a brief pause on the other end.

"Wait, seriously?"

Lukas leaned back slightly in the seat. "Yeah. Looks like we’ll be travelling to Manchester in two days. Medical, contract signing, all of that."

"Wow."

He could hear the smile in her voice now.

"That’s... wow. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"I’m serious," she continued. "I’m really happy for you."

Lukas smiled faintly, but as she spoke, he could still hear something underneath it. Something slightly strained.

He frowned a little.

"Joanna... is everything okay?"

There was a short silence before she answered.

"Yeah. I just got a response from one of the universities I applied to."

Lukas straightened slightly in his seat.

"What happened?"

"I didn’t get into the one I wanted."

Immediately, Lukas thought of Madrid.

"You didn’t get into Madrid?"

"No," she replied quietly. "I got into Madrid. I didn’t get into Manchester."

Lukas’ expression dropped immediately.

"Oh my God... Joe."

He rubbed his forehead lightly.

"I’m so sorry."

"It’s okay," she said quickly, though her voice didn’t really sound convincing. "I mean... it is what it is."

Lukas knew that tone.

The trying-to-sound-fine tone.

The trying-not-to-think-about-it-too-hard tone.

He looked out the window for a second before speaking again.

"You at home?"

"...Yeah."

Lukas immediately looked toward the front seat.

"Marco, can you drop me at Joanna’s place?"

Marco glanced back at him briefly, immediately understanding from Lukas’ face alone that something had happened.

"Yeah," he said simply.

Joanna heard it through the phone.

"Lukas, you don’t have to come over."

"I know," he replied calmly. "I still am."

That finally got a small laugh out of her.

"You’re annoying."

"Probably."

She sighed softly into the phone.

"...Okay."

"I’ll be there soon."

After the call ended, Lukas lowered the phone slowly and stared out the car window quietly.

Javi looked at him from beside him.

"What happened?"

"She didn’t get into Manchester," Lukas replied.

Javi looked over from beside him. "Ah."

His expression softened slightly.

"I understand why she’d feel bad about that."

"Yeah," Lukas replied quietly. "So I want to go over for a bit. Just... be there for her."

Marco nodded from the front seat while adjusting something on his phone, likely the route.

Then Javi spoke again.

"You know she works there, right?"

Lukas frowned slightly and turned toward him.

"Who?"

"Jane," Javi replied. "She works at the university. She got her doctorate there."

He paused briefly, thinking.

"I think she lectures there too. Microbiology, if I remember correctly. I don’t know if she’s a full professor yet, but I know she works there."

Lukas blinked once.

Then leaned back slightly into the seat.

"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I know."

That got both Marco’s and Javi’s attention.

Lukas shrugged faintly.

"When I found out her name... I looked her up."

The words came casually, but there was still something slightly strange about hearing him say it aloud.

Javi looked at him for a second before nodding slowly.

"Microbiogy... That’s similar to what Joanna wants to study, right?"

"Yeah."

Lukas answered automatically at first, but then something crossed his mind.

His eyes slowly shifted toward Javi.

Javi immediately noticed the look.

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lukas hesitated for a second.

Then:

"Can she help her get admitted?"

"You wanna ask for help to get your girlfriend admitted?" Marco said as he tried to hide his laughter but a chuckle betrayed him.

"What? People do it all the time. It’s called having and using connections." Lukas replied as he smiled, also finding the idea a bit funny.

"I doubt it tho," Javi replied honestly. "Maybe if she hadn’t been rejected yet she’d stand a chance. Now she’s been rejected, there’s gotta be a valid reason for that to be reconsidered."

He leaned back into the seat.

"Also, I seriously doubt lecturers have any meaningful say in admissions decisions like that."

Lukas stayed quiet for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Yeah," he admitted. "You’re probably right."

Another short silence followed before he added,

"Besides... there’s no need to contact her over something like that."

Javi glanced at him briefly.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "That’s probably for the best."

* * *

About two hours later, Joanna’s room was much quieter.

The earlier disappointment still lingered somewhere in the background, but it no longer felt as heavy as it had that morning.

Now, the soft glow from her laptop illuminated the room while the ending credits of About Time rolled slowly across the screen.

Both of them were lying above the covers on her bed, Joanna practically wrapped around Lukas’ side, one arm across his stomach while Lukas absentmindedly stroked her hair with slow movements of his fingers.

The movie soundtrack played quietly through the speakers.

Lukas looked at the screen for a moment before chuckling softly.

"This is the fifth time we’ve watched this together."

Joanna tilted her head slightly to look up at him.

"Are you complaining?"

"No," Lukas replied immediately, smiling. "Not at all."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"I’m serious. I’m learning something new every time."

That got a laugh out of her.

"Oh really?" she asked. "So what did you learn today?"

Lukas pretended to think deeply about it for a few seconds. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Hm. I think I need another watch before I can properly answer that."

Joanna snorted and lightly slapped his chest.

"You’re ridiculous."

"But it’s a good movie," Lukas defended himself. "Very good movie."

"It is."

For a little while, they stayed there quietly while the credits continued rolling.

Then Joanna looked up at him again.

"...I’m feeling better now, by the way."

Lukas smiled faintly at that.

"Good."

He kept gently running his fingers through her hair before speaking again.

"You should come with me in two days."

Joanna blinked once. "To Manchester?"

"Yeah."

"For the medicals and stuff?"

Lukas nodded.

"You want me there?"

He looked down at her like the answer should have been obvious.

"Of course I do."

That made her smile properly again for the first time all day.

"...Okay then," she said softly. "I’ll come."

The room settled into another comfortable silence after that. Outside, faint evening light filtered through the curtains while the movie menu eventually appeared on the laptop screen.

Joanna’s voice came again after a while, quieter this time.

"Maybe I should just take a year off."

Lukas looked down at her.

She kept staring at the ceiling while speaking.

"I’ve basically been studying nonstop my whole life anyway. Maybe I should just take a gap year and apply again next year."

She shifted slightly against him.

"My final grades ended up better than my projected grades when I applied this year. So maybe I’d have a better chance next time."

Lukas listened quietly.

"And maybe during the year I could find some internship or lab placement or something relevant."

"Hm."

He thought about it for a moment before asking carefully, "Do you think that’s the best idea?"

Joanna didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she tightened her arm around him slightly before finally mumbling,

"...I just don’t want to be too far away from you."

**********

DanielPolo extra Chapter again guys! Love for the love man!

2 down, 2 to go!