It is plain that, if all causality in the world of sense were natural—and natural only—every event would be determined by another according to necessary laws, and that, consequently, phenomena, in so far as they determine the will, must necessitate every action as a natural effect from themselves; and thus...

I could no longer even attempt to follow Kant's meandering logic and the words themselves were starting to blur together on the page. Definitely time for a Starbuck's break, I thought, leaning back in my chair and running my hand over my face. Fresh air and a chance to stretch my legs, plus a little caffeinated yumminess, would do me good.

I had been holed up in my favorite little corner of the philosophy collection up on the third floor of the main Manchester University library. It was my first term here as an MRes student studying, you guessed it, philosophy. Or "reading" philosophy as the Brits would have it. I am not British, however; I am very much American. So in addition to getting used to the insane amounts of reading and coursework I had to do, I was also trying not to get run down while crossing the street by cars driving down the wrong, ahem left, side of the road, mentally converting pounds to dollars, and picking up a new vocabulary of slang and Britishisms.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm loving every minute of it. I'm a total anglophile and I've always wanted to live in the motherland, so I was beyond psyched when I was accepted into my post-doc program with enough scholarship money to make it actually possible for me to attend. And now I am happily ensconced in the country of Jane Austen, JS Mill, The Beatles, Doctor Who, the IT Crowd, and of course, most of my current YouTube obsessions. It was basically a dream come true - even the super intense classes, because I'm a total nerd like that.

I'd had enough Comparative 19th Century Ethics for the moment, however, so I decided to pack up my things and head down to the city center. It would be nice to get off campus for a bit, and to reward all my hard work with a delicious caramel macchiato.

After I'd given the barista my order and my name - it's Kate, by the way - I started scoping out a place to drop my book bag and hang out for a little bit. Just as I spied a vacant seat in the back corner, my order came up. Not wanting to lose out on my table in the crowdedcafe, I grabbed my drink and spun around quickly to head towards it, my gaze focused on my target across the room. I didn't get very far however, as I was met with something solid and t-shirt clad. My confusion and embarrassment were soon taken over by pain, however, as I felt steaming hot liquid dousing my chest and stomach. "Owwwww," I whined, stepping back to bend forwards, trying to my coffee soaked shirt away from my skin.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry! I am such a fail. Are you okay?" I heard a male voice blurt out. "I'm fine, just a mess," I began to say, looking back up at owner of the offending beverage. That was as far as I got though, as my next words caught in my throat and my eyes probably doubled in size. Standing not twelve inches away from me, in that god-awful paisley t-shirt of his, was Dan mother-fucking Howell. This is not happening! Somewhere beneath my inner squealing fangirl, however, was a desire to play it cool. I mean, it was bad enough that my one chance to meet danisnotonfire involved me with my hair in a library-hermit messy bun and some kind of sticky latte dripping down my front; I didn't reallywant to start gushing and freaking out on top of it. In my momentary panic, I somehow decided it would be a good idea to just pretend I didn't know him. I managed to recover quickly, and he was either distracted by pulling napkins from the dispenser or wrote it off to shock over the whole coffee incident, because he didn't react as I continued, "No, really, it was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Yeah, but I was the one who dumped my drink straight on you. This kind of thing happens way too often to me. I'm literally a walking disaster."

"It's alright, I forgive you, I'm just really wishing I had an extra top in here," I added, pointing to my bag stuffed full of textbooks and notebooks.

"Here, let me go get a cup of water, and we can at least de-sticky you," he said turning back towards the counter.

I think I was still in shock, watching him walk away, his boxers just visible above his low-slung skinny jeans. Holy crap, I just met Dan. Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out.

He came back, and we managed to do about as much damage control as could be done. "I'm Dan, by the way." I know! "Nice..." I started, "ish to meet you," I said, cocking my head. "I'm Kate."

"You know, I just live around the corner, if you want to get cleaned up properly. I'm sure I could even dig up a t-shirt for you to borrow."

Okay, so while I'd follow Dan just about anywhere, I figured most girls would just skip home with the first bloke to dump a coffee on them. "Um, so what does just around the corner mean? Give it to me in yards?" I replied, channeling my inner Julia Roberts. Since my life was apparently now a romantic comedy, I figured I might as well go all out.

"Not sure, really, um, a hundred and fifty? But, I swear I'm not some crazy stalker cannibal or anything. It'll be fine, I promise," he finished, looking at me expectantly.

"Alright then," I said throwing my hands up in mock surrender, "lead the way."