Research On You

Chapter 2: Operation: Research Date

The group chat was blowing up at 8:03 AM on a Saturday.

Sera: EMERGENCY MEETING. COFFEE SHOP. NOW.

Sera: I repeat. NOW.

Cass: It’s Saturday.

Sera: EXACTLY. WE HAVE TIME TO PANIC.

Me: What’s wrong?

Sera: Theo just posted an IG story. Guess what it says.

Theo: good morning to research and research only

Sera: AND A PICTURE OF TWO COFFEES

Sera: ONE OF THEM IS BLACK. NO SUGAR. ANA’S ORDER.

Me: That means nothing.

Sera: GIRL.

Cass: ...

Theo: it means i bought coffee

Sera: SUS.

I dropped my phone on my bed and groaned into my pillow.

This was day 6 of being thesis partners with Theodore Alistair.

Day 6 of him being annoyingly punctual.

Day 6 of him remembering how I take my coffee.

Day 6 of Sera acting like we were already married.

"Relax," I told myself. "It’s just coffee."

Thirty minutes later I was at Rel’s Cafe.

Because apparently "emergency meeting" meant "g**g up on Ana."

Sera was already there, with Cass. Eli was in the corner with his camera. Rel was behind the counter pretending she wasn’t listening.

"There she is," Sera said, pointing at me. "The girl who says ‘it’s just coffee.’"

"It IS just coffee," I said, sitting down. "He probably bought one for himself too."

"Two cups," Eli said without looking up from his camera. "One black, one caramel. He ordered them separately. I saw."

"You saw?" I asked.

"I document everything," Eli said, smiling. "For the memories."

Rel slid a coffee in front of me. "On the house, kid. You look like you need it."

"Thanks, Rel," I said.

The door chimed.

Theodore walked in.

Hoodie. Jeans. Hair still wet from a shower. Holding another coffee.

"Morning," he said, like he wasn’t the cause of a group chat meltdown. "Got you coffee, Reyes."

He set it down in front of me. Black. No sugar.

"I already have coffee," I said, gesturing to Rel’s cup.

"That’s from Rel," he said. "This is from me. Different coffee. Different research purposes."

"Research purposes," Sera repeated. "Right."

Theodore sat down next to me. Too close. "What are we panicking about?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"We’re panicking about you two," Cass said, deadpan. "Specifically how you’re acting like a married couple."

"We are NOT—" I started.

"Research spouses," Theodore interrupted, grinning. "That’s the term. We’re research spouses."

"That is not a term," I said.

"It is now," he said. "I’m making it a term."

I took a long sip of his coffee. It was perfect. Of course it was.

"Anyway," he said, pulling out his laptop. "We have work. Professor Celes wants interview drafts by Monday."

"We?" Sera asked. "On a Saturday?"

"Yes," Theodore said. "Because Ms. Reyes here has a color-coded schedule and I respect that."

"I do not have a color-coded—" I started.

"You do," he said. "Pink for intro, blue for lit review, yellow for—"

"Stop," I said, ears burning.

Sera and Eli were already taking mental notes.

"Alright," Theodore said, clapping. "Operation: Research Date begins."

"It is NOT a date," I said.

"It’s a working session," he corrected. "With coffee. In a cafe. On a Saturday. Very date-like."

"Theo," Cass warned.

"What?" Theodore said innocently. "I’m being productive."

For the next two hours, we actually worked.

Theodore was surprisingly focused when he wanted to be. He typed fast. He asked smart questions. He even suggested three interview questions that were better than mine.

"Not bad," I admitted.

"High praise from Ms. Perfectionist," he said. "I’m framing this."

"Don’t you dare."

Eli took a photo of us arguing over a survey question. "This is gold," he muttered.

At 11 AM, Sera stood up. "Alright. I’m bored. Field trip."

"To where?" I asked.

"The campus garden," Sera said. "For research. We need to observe people. Grief and healing, remember? People go there to think."

"That’s actually not a bad idea," Theodore said.

"See?" Sera said. "Even he agrees. Let’s go."

---

The campus garden was quiet on Saturday morning. Sunlight through the trees. Students reading on benches. Some people just sitting.

"Okay," I said, opening my notebook. "We need to observe coping mechanisms in public spaces."

Theodore sat on the bench next to me. "So we just... watch people?"

"Ethically," I said. "From a distance. And take notes."

He leaned back. "Got it. Observing."

Ten minutes passed.

"Reyes," he said.

"What?"

"You’re staring really hard at that girl with the book."

"I am not," I said. "I’m observing."

"You’re observing her bookmark," he said. "You have a problem."

"I do not."

He bumped my shoulder with his. "You do. It’s cute."

My pen stopped moving. "Did you just say cute?"

"Maybe," he said. "Did you hear me?"

"No," I lied.

"Liar," he said, grinning.

Sera and Cass were walking ahead of us. Eli was trailing behind with his camera.

"This is nice," Theodore said suddenly.

"What is?"

"This," he gestured. "Working. With you. Not fighting."

"We fight," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "But it’s fun fighting."

I didn’t know what to say to that.

My phone buzzed.

Rel: You guys still out?

Me: Yeah. At the garden.

Rel: Take a break. Eat something.

Rel: And Theo, feed her. She forgets.

Me: I DO NOT.

Rel: You do.

Theodore saw the messages. "See? Even Rel knows."

"I do not forget to eat," I said.

"You do," he said. "Which is why I brought snacks."

He pulled out a small bag from his backpack. Crackers. And a granola bar.

"For research," he said, offering it to me.

"For research," I repeated, taking the granola bar.

We sat there eating in comfortable silence.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure."

"What’s your favorite part of research?"

I thought about it. "The part where it starts making sense. When all the data clicks."

"That’s nerdy," he said.

"You asked."

"What about you?" I asked.

"The part where I get to work with you," he said casually. Like it was nothing.

I choked on my granola bar.

"What?" he asked, too innocent.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "Water?"

"Yeah, I have some."

He handed me his water bottle. I drank from it without thinking.

Sera, from ten feet away: "DID SHE JUST DRINK FROM HIS BOTTLE"

Cass: "She did."

Eli: click

"DELETE THAT," I said.

"No," Eli said. "For the memories."

---

By 2 PM, we had five pages of observation notes.

"Not bad for a Saturday," Theodore said, stretching. "Productive research date."

"It was NOT a date," I said.

"Working date," he corrected. "Research working date."

"Whatever," I said. "Let’s go back. I need to type these up."

As we were walking back, we ran into Professor Celes.

"Reyes. Alistair," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Field observation, ma'am," I said quickly. "For our thesis."

Professor Celes looked at us. At our notebooks. At the coffee in my hand. At Theodore’s backpack.

"Good," she said. "Initiative. Send me your notes by Sunday night."

"Yes, ma'am," we said in unison.

She walked away.

Theodore turned to me. "Did we just get praised?"

"I think we did," I said.

"Teamwork makes the dream work," he said, holding out his fist.

I stared at it.

"Come on," he said. "Fist bump. For research."

I bumped his fist. His hand was warm.

Sera made a gagging noise. "I’m going to be sick."

---

That night, I was typing up our notes when my email pinged.

From: Theodore Alistair

Subject: Operation: Research Date - Results

_Data collected: 5 pages

Snacks consumed: 1 granola bar

Times you called me annoying: 7

Times I made you laugh: 3

Overall success rate: 100%

Next mission: Monday. Library. 9 PM.

Bring your color-coded notes and your attitude.

- T

P.S. Thanks for sharing my water. Very hygienic. Very research-like.

I stared at the email for a long time.

Then I opened my notebook.

Pink: Introduction.

Blue: Literature Review.

Yellow: Methodology.

Green: Results.

Purple: Unexpected.

Under purple:

_Research date in the garden.

Shared water bottle.

Fist bump.

"Work with you" comment.

Log for future analysis.

Maybe this was just a thesis.

Maybe it was just two people doing research.

But Theodore Alistair was making it really hard to believe that.

---

Monday. 9 PM. Library.

He was already there when I arrived. On time.

"Took you long enough," he said.

"You’re early," I said.

"I have my moments," he said. "Now come on, research spouse. We have data to analyze."

I sat down across from him.

"Partners?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Partners," I said, shaking it.

His hand was warm. Again.

And for the first time, I didn’t want to let go immediately.

END OF CHAPTER 2