Exploring

Melanie held hers and Hayden's cat, Willow, in her arms as she made her way out to the grounds. She had woken up late and Hayden was probably already waiting there for her. Oops. Seeing as she wasn't well acquainted with the corridors and where they led to...she (of course) got lost. It was a miracle that she finally found her way. Willow jumped from her hold after spotting Hayden and hurried over to him. Melanie giggled and followed after the cat. "Hey." She smiled brightly at Hayden. "Would it shock you if I told you I got lost?" She laughed sheepishly.

"Honestly?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "No not really." He picked up their cat and grinned at her. "She's so cute." Hayden stroked her fur and she purred loudly. "What's on the cards for today? Shall we go for a walk down by the lake or a hike through the campus? We could just hang out and play with Willow. Whatever you want sounds good to me." He smiled happily. "I'm free all day because I finished my homework ahead of schedule. Did you finish that essay yet?" Hayden asked as they began to walk along one of the many paths in the area known as the grounds.

She flushed slightly. “I need a map of this place or something.” Melanie laughed and nodded. “The most adorable cat ever, I was so glad our mums said we could get her.” She smiled, stroking her ear. “That all sounds like fun. We could walk down by the lake and play with Willow?” She suggested, her smile brightening. “That’s great, we can spend the whole day together.” She paused.  Melanie had gotten the other work done, possibly? But, uh… what essay…?  “Yeah, yeah totally, I think I got it done yesterday.” Liar. Looks like you’ll have to cut the fun short later.

"Yeah, that sounds like a ton of fun." Hayden grinned and let the cat walk at their side as walked with Melanie down to the lake. "Getting Willow was easily our best decision ever." He said proudly. "She's so adorable and fun to have." Hayden sighed happily and sat down in a patch of grass with a little mouse toy that he began to make run around so Willow would try to catch it. "This school is literally the best school ever. I just want it to be summer though so you can come and visit me." Hayden chuckled softly and happily.

Melanie grinned up at him and nodded. “I sent a picture of her home with my last letter. My sisters started begging my mum and dad for a cat.” She giggled and sat beside him in the grass, playing with the grass. “I’m so glad I got that letter.” She smiled over at him. “I never thought that I’d get to meet you in person and then bam! We both get letters to attend the same school. It’s funny how things work out.” Willow’s cat toy ran into her foot. She giggled, picking it up and letting the toy run around again to tire out the cat. “I can’t wait to come visit you.” She beamed up at him.

"Their cat could be best friends with Willow!" He exclaimed excitedly. "They could be best cat buddies and do all sorts of cat things together." Hayden laid back so his head was in her lap. "When you come over I could take you to a pet store and we could get Willow a whole mess of toys for her to play with. We could even let her pick out the toys herself. The pet store near my house allows the pets to walk around in the store with the humans. It's the coolest thing ever." Hayden beamed brightly at Melanie. "Like even cooler than charms."

“Aw! That would be so much fun.” Melanie grinned brightly. Her parents would most likely cave and get the twins a cat. She wasn’t expecting Hayden’s head to be in her lap, so she jumped slightly and her cheeks slightly pink. “Willow is going to be so spoiled by us by the end of school, isn’t she?” Melanie giggled, watching their adorable cat pounce at its toy and roll around in the grass, then swat at a bug flying around her head. “They really let the animals walk around? That is super cool!” She grinned, laughing. “I don’t know about that, charms is pretty cool.” She giggled.

"It would?' Hayden grinned widely. He loved that Melanie was into a lot of the stuff he was. Or at least she humored him and his interest in things. Most people didn't even go for that. It's what made Melanie better than most people. She was genuinely kind to just about everyone and that made Hayden really admire her and be happy to be around her. "Of course she's going to be super spoiled, but that's only because she's the best cat ever and deserves every ounce of spoiling she gets. She deserves all of it and more. And I know. The pet store is so cool and she would absolutely positively adore it."

“Of course it would, sill.” Melanie giggled, smiling happily at her best friend. She played absentmindedly with his hand while she watched Willow. She wanted to make sure that her cat wasn’t going to run off. Melanie smiled and nodded. “You’re right, she does deserve it.” She giggled. They hadn’t had the cat for very long and the two of them were treating her like a regular old princess. They probably should’ve named her something that meant ‘princess’ too. But Willow definitely suited their cat. “Yeah? I can’t wait to visit you and take Willow there.” She smiled happily.

"I can't wait either. I think your family should just move in with mine." Hayden laughed softly. "Then we don't have to be so far apart during breaks. We could see each other every single day all year and it would be pretty great if you ask me. Waking up to our parents having cooked breakfast and stuff like that would be really cool, don't you think? It's just a day dream of course, but I dunno. It'd be fun." Eventually Willow got tired and curled up against Hayden in the nice Spring warmth. Hayden took a contented breath and smiled. Life was so good sometimes. In fact sometimes it was perfect.

“You don’t want the five Arnetts living with you.” Melanie giggled and shook her head. “You’d kick us out after two hours.” Silly as the daydream was, it sounded perfect. Just if she lived near him. Next door or something. They would be able to see each other everyday and hang out. They wouldn’t have to worry about Willow missing the other over breaks. Or spend a lot of money on traveling. Hmm… No, her parents wouldn’t up and move to America. She sighed softly. It’d be amazing if something like that could happen. She smiled watching Willow curl up against Hayden. Melanie could easily say this was one of the most perfect days in her life.