first time seeing each other
Malachi and Eden both share a (literature or history?) course; they suddenly share eye contact on the first day of class. both quickly look away; Malachi continues to glance in his direction for the remainder of the class, Eden doesn't.the course professor lets the students know that they have selected pairs that will be working together for the courses main project of the semester; Malachi and Eden are paired together.the students are dismissed at the end of class. before Malachi can approach him, Eden leaves the room.
- Malachi and Eden meet during freshman orientation?: Malachi and Eden sit near each other in the auditorium at the orientation takes place in. Malachi is immediately drawn to Eden, and the two suddenly share eye contact with one another. Both quickly look away, but Malachi continues to glance in his direction throughout the duration of the initial meeting.
- eventually, the students are split into groups for the campus and dorm tours. Malachi and Eden are put into the same group. Malachi decides to compliments Eden on his bag, and the two end up striking up a conversation
first time meeting/speaking to one another
SAME DAY AS FIRST SIGHTweather = down pouring and windyEden accidentally drops his notebooks while trying to open his umbrella outside one of the university's academic buildings. a couple of papers are swept away by the wind and Eden quickly chases after them, leaving the notebooks scattered on the ground. when Eden catches the papers and returns to collect his notebooks, Malachi is standing there with Eden's notebooks in one hand and an umbrella in the other. Malachi introduces himself and gives him his notebooks back. Eden introduces himself back and the two spark up a conversation about their project. Malachi notices a coffee shop across the street and asks Eden if he would like to get a table there and chat. Eden is hesitant at first, but ultimately accepts his proposal.- after Malachi's music therapy session, he is walking down the street in downtown Leeds when he passes by an art conservation studio. he glances inside through the glass doors and notices Eden standing at the first desk. he is instantly taken aback by his immediate attraction towards Eden and panics before quickly continuing to walk past the studio.
- Malachi and Eden continue to interact after their first encounter, mostly meeting at the same coffee shop, but also taking walks throughout the town (vintage clothing stores, music stores, etc.). they also text each other almost every day.
- 3 WEEKS AFTER FIRST ENCOUNTER: eventually Eden works up the courage to invite Malachi over to his apartment to show him his poetry book collection; Malachi accepts. the two spend some time at the apartment, just looking through Eden's books, talking about random things, and listening to music. the two slowly inch closer and closer to one another until they end up sharing a kiss.
- Eden and Malachi continue to see one another. Malachi eventually introduces Eden to his friends, by inviting him on a trip with his friend group, minus Ilya. Eden hesitates at first, but does accept the invitation.
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THE TRIP TO THE WATERSIDE HOUSE
-Eden takes the bus from the city to Malachi's hometown and meets up with Malachi and his friends at the train station. Malachi introduces Eden to his friends before they all pile into Lalaan's Volkswagen van and begin the 2 hour drive to Belinda's family's lake house. during the car ride, the group all listen to music and hold light conversation. Eden doesn't talk much, but Malachi's friends feel good vibes from him.
-Belinda meets the group at the waterside house. they all take their belongings inside then immediately have a group smoke session, where Eden smokes weed for the first time and is fascinated by Viola's rolling skills. the group then go down to the water and spend the rest of the day there. (Malachi and Eden are in one bedroom, Belinda and Yves are in another, and Rohit, Ilya and Viola share another bedroom: Lalaan and Ilya in one bed, and Viola in another.)
-the next day, the group wakes up and start the day off with another smoke session. in the middle of the session, Belinda abruptly leaves the room. her absence isn't really noticed, until she returns to the room with a surprise: Ilya. everyone is absolutely shocked and asks why he was there. it turns out that Belinda and Ilya wanted to play a 'prank' on the group by lying and saying that Ilya was unable to go because of (some random excuse) when in reality he was to arrive a day after everyone else. the air starts to feel awkward as Ilya acknowledges Malachi and then Eden. Eden, who does not know the full extent of Malachi and Ilya's relationship, gives Ilya a friendly greeting. Ilya musters up a fake happy response before leaving the room.
-Ilya attempts to talk to Malachi several times throughout the day, but Malachi tries his best to remain aloof and dismissive, which angers Ilya. eventually Ilya gets Malachi alone in a bedroom with him. He is very forward and tries to start a conversation with Malachi, but Malachi is very adamant that he does not want to interact with Ilya in any way, shape, or form. Ilya becomes more aggressive and attempts to grab Malachi, but Malachi instantly bolts to the door, leaves the room, and immediately bumps into Eden, who was standing right outside the room (he happened to be passing by when he overheard Ilya and Malachi's voices). Malachi quickly grabs Eden's hand and leads him back to their shared bedroom. Ilya calls after him, but he does not respond.
-Malachi locks the door behind him and Eden before sitting down on the bed with him. Malachi very vaguely and briefly explains his relationship with Ilya, stating that the two of them dated for 3 years, during which Ilya was incredibly toxic towards him. he says that he has since moved on from the relationship, but Ilya continues to try to interact with him (he purposefully leaves out the sexual assault.). he assures Eden that whatever happened with Ilya was in the past and that he is fully committed to their [Malachi and Eden's] new relationship. Eden is satisfied with his explanation, and the two leave the room and join the others downstairs.
-later that day, the group all go out to a house party at another lake house nearby.
- at the party, Belinda openly flirts with a random guy as Yves watches from afar. Viola notices Yves watching Belinda and tries to approach him, but Yves quickly walks away.
- meanwhile, Rohit is working on selling some weed to people at the party. Malachi tries to ease Eden's social anxiety by persuading him dance. two random girls approach Eden and compliment his hair. Eden's anxiety eases to the point where he continues to dance with Malachi and begins to genuinely enjoy himself. unknowingly, Ilya observes them from nearby as he is flirting with a random guy.
- Viola wanders into a random room and finds Belinda in a smoke circle with a couple of random party-goers and the same guy she was flirting with earlier. Viola approaches her, asks her what her problem is, and whether she had any shame in doing what she did in front Yves. Belinda is dismissive and shoos them away before going back to laughing with the random strangers. Viola rolls their eyes and exits the room.
- Yves somehow ends up outside of the house near the pool in the backyard, there he receives a call from his mystery man. they have a general conversation about their day, all the while Yves wears a big smile on his face.
- Malachi and Eden exit from the crowd of dancers. Malachi tells Eden that he is going to look for some drinks for the two of them and that he'll be right back. Eden says okay and stays leaning up against a wall as Malachi walks away. Eden begins to daze off as he catches his breath after dancing, but is suddenly brought back to reality by a stranger who approaches him. The stranger asks Eden if he is having a good time; Eden happily says that he is. they tell him that he looked really good dancing in the crowd; Eden gives a nervous chuckle before thanking them.
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THE STATE OF AFFAIRS
-Eden barely keeps in contact with his father, but talks on the phone, facetimes, and texts his tutor regularly. his tutor is the only member of his support system.
-the uk is a bit of a culture shock to Eden, so Malachi takes it upon himself to introduce him to British society.
-Malachi's Cotard syndrome has come to a stand still, but he spends a lot of time preventing himself from relapsing.
MAIN PLOT POINTS (NOT IN ORDER)
-the group (plus Eden, minus Ilya) go on holiday to a lake house owned by Belinda's family. this trip is how Malachi introduces the rest of the group to Eden. the group settle in for a day and things feel calm and relaxed, until Ilya suddenly shows up. it is revealed that Belinda and Ilya secretly planned for Ilya to come on the trip a day after everyone else arrives. Eden and Malachi grow closer over the course of the trip, but the tension between Malachi and Ilya increases.
-the group goes to the beach? OR pub hopping?; Eden hasn't eaten in days and ends up passing out on the beach/the middle of the street. the group panics and calls an ambulance, Eden is taken to the hospital. when visiting Eden in the hospital later that day, Eden decides that the two of them need to be separated for a while; Malachi is heartbroken.
-Belinda outs Eden through some posts on her social media. the posts gain traction and people begin to comment Eden's former last name. soon, former classmates of Eden expose Eden's father's identity and the posts go viral. while Eden is in treatment, he gets spammed with harassing messages and even death threats; he is forced to delete his only social media account. due to the wide coverage of the story on social media, Eden's father publicly disowns him.
-one month has passed since Malachi and Eden have talked or seen each other. Malachi is close to caving and taking unknown pills that had been given to him months prior, but he is abruptly interrupted by a phone call from a number that he doesn't recognize. he hesitates, but eventually answers. Eden is on the other end, calling from the treatment center that he has been living in since the hospital visit. he asks Malachi how he's been; Malachi lies and says he's been okay. Eden then asks if Malachi could possibly visit him and Malachi jumps at the chance. the two schedule to meet at the treatment center later that day.
-Malachi arrives at the treatment center with stuffed animal he bought for Eden. Malachi is shocked by Eden's appearance: he has visibly gained some weight,
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-Yves is emotionally cheating on Belinda with a mystery man. eventually Yves breaks up with Belinda, triggering her to retaliate by exposing Eden. after breaking up with her, Yves opens up to Malachi and Anais about his relationship with this mystery man, showing them their text conversations and the man's picture.
-Anais is persuaded into searching for his father. after searching for a period of time, he eventually finds an address and goes there in hopes of finally meeting his father. the address leads him to a gated community that he manages to sneak into. he finds the correct home that correlates with the address and he knocks on the door. he suddenly gets cold feet and is about to leave when the door is opened and it is revealed to be the man from the picture that Yves showed him. Anais puts two and two together, makes up a random excuse, and abruptly leaves the neighborhood.
-after being discharged from treatment and not hearing from his tutor since he was admitted, Eden receives an email from him stating that he is terminally ill and would like to invite him and Malachi to his home back in Moldova. both Eden and Malachi accept the invitation and end up having a transformative experience on said trip, causing them to both realize how much the other means to them.
MINOR PLOT POINTS (NOT IN ORDER)
-Anais' best friend confesses his feelings for him. Anais is shocked and doesn't know how to respond, so he quickly makes up an excuse and exits.
-Malachi and Ffion's mother secretly starts the process of legally adopting Anais.
-Yves and Viola have a sudden romantic moment together, but neither of them knows where it leaves their friendship.
-Rohit has a falling out with Ilya and ends up cutting him off of his drug supply.
-upon first meeting, Eden and Anais bond over their shared love of metal.