LOGINAriana didnāt move right away after the message.Okay.That was all Cami had sent.No time. No place. No explanation.Just enough to reopen something that had barely started to settle.She stared at her phone for a few seconds longer, then locked it and leaned back in her chair, exhaling slowly.This was different from before.Before, everything between them had been reactive. Emotional. Sharp.Nowāthis felt intentional.And somehow, that made her more nervous.āAn hour later, Ariana stepped out of the car and immediately spotted her.Cami was sitting on a low concrete wall near the park, one leg bent, the other stretched slightly forward, her phone resting loosely in her hand.She wasnāt scrolling.Just holding it.Waiting.Ariana hesitated for half a second before walking toward her.Cami looked up as she approached.Their eyes met.No smiles.But no hostility either.āHey,ā Ariana said.Cami gave a small nod.āHi.āAriana stopped a few feet in front of her.āCan I sit?āCami shif
Ariana woke up before the sun fully came in.For a moment, she didnāt open her eyes. She just stayed there, aware of the warmth beside her, the steady rhythm of Mateoās breathing, the way his arm rested loosely around her like it had always belonged there.It felt⦠calm.Not the kind of calm that came from things being easy.The kind that came after something hard had already been faced.She shifted slightly, turning toward him, her hand resting lightly against his chest.He stirred under her touch, eyes opening slowly.āYouāre awake,ā he murmured.Ariana smiled faintly.āYeah.āHe looked at her for a second, like he was taking in the fact that she was still there, that nothing had changed overnight.āHow do you feel?ā he asked.She exhaled softly.āLighter,ā she admitted.A pause.āBut not⦠finished.āMateo nodded slightly.āThat makes sense.āAriana traced small, absent patterns against his shirt.āShe didnāt forgive me,ā she said.āI didnāt expect her to.āāI know,ā Ariana replied.
Ariana didnāt go back to Mateoās place right away.She walked.No direction, no plan, just letting her body move while everything inside her tried to settle into something she could actually understand.The conversation kept replaying in her head.Not the sharp parts.Those had been expected.It was the quieter moments that stayed.I donāt want you completely gone.That one lingered.Because it wasnāt forgiveness.But it wasnāt rejection either.It was something in between.And that spaceāfelt fragile.Her phone buzzed in her hand.Mateo.She stared at his name for a second before answering.āHey.āāAre you done?ā he asked.His voice was steady, but there was something under it.Not tension.Attention.āYeah.āA small pause.āWhere are you?āāWalking.āāAlone?āAriana let out a quiet breath.āYes.āAnother pause.āIāll come get you.āāYou donāt have to.āāI know.āThat was his way of saying he was already going to.Ariana didnāt argue.She stopped walking a few minutes later, leaning
They stayed longer than either of them expected.Not because it got easier.But because neither of them walked away.Cami traced the rim of her cup again, quieter now, like the sharpest part of what she needed to say had already come out.Ariana didnāt rush her.Didnāt try to fill the silence this time.She just stayed.āThatās new,ā Cami said suddenly.Ariana looked up.āWhat is?āāYou not trying to fix the silence.āAriana let out a small breath.āI think Iāve done enough damage trying to control things.āCami studied her for a second.Then looked away again.āYeah,ā she said. āYou have.āIt wasnāt said to hurt her.Just to keep things honest.Ariana nodded slightly, accepting it.Another pause settled between them, softer now.Not as sharp.Cami leaned back in her chair, her gaze drifting toward the window again.āDid you ever think about how this would affect me?ā she asked.Ariana d
For a moment, neither of them spoke.The noise of the cafĆ© filled the space between them, but it didnāt touch what was sitting at the table.Cami looked down at her hands, then back up at Ariana.āYou know what the worst part is?ā she asked.Ariana didnāt answer.She knew this wasnāt a question that needed one.Camiās fingers tightened slightly around her cup.āItās not even that youāre with him.āA pause.āItās that you let me be around you while it was happening.āThat landed differently.Sharper.More personal.Ariana felt her chest tighten.āI didnāt plan it,ā she said quietly.Cami let out a short laugh.āThat doesnāt make it better.āāI know.āāNo, I donāt think you do,ā Cami replied, her voice still controlled but heavier now. āBecause you werenāt the one sitting there, talking to someone, trusting them, while they were hiding something like that from you.āArianaās gaze dropped for a second.Not avoiding.Just⦠taking it in.āI wouldāve told you,ā she said.Cami shook her head
Cami didnāt overthink it this time.That was new.Usually, she wouldāve waited. Let the feeling settle, sharpen, turn into something precise before acting on it.But she was tired of being the one who adjusted after everything had already happened.So she picked up her phone and called.Ariana answered almost immediately.āCami?āThere was something in her voiceāsurprise, relief, tension all mixed together.āWeāre not doing this over text,ā Cami said.Direct. No buildup.A small pause on the other end.āOkay,ā Ariana replied. āWhere?āCami glanced around her room like the answer might be there.āTomorrow. Lunch. That cafĆ© near the park.āāI know it.āAnother pause.āCamiāāBut she cut her off.āDonāt say anything now.āHer tone wasnāt harsh.Just controlled.āIād rather you say it to my face.āA beat.āā¦okay,ā Ariana said quietly.The line went dead.Cami lowered her phone slowly.Her heart was beating faster now.Not from nerves.From anticipation.Because this timeāshe wasnāt going
The corridor felt like it had been vacuum-sealed.Arianaās pulse thudded so violently in her ears she almost didnāt hear the subtle shift of footsteps behind her. Slow. Measured. Controlled.Tyler swallowed, his earlier charm evaporating like mist under a blade.āExcuse me?ā Tyler said, attempting
Madrid was brighter today.The mist from yesterday had burned away, leaving behind a sharp winter sun that bounced off the glass faƧade of Hospital del Sol. The building gleamed ā polished, immaculate, untouchable. From the outside, it looked invincible.Inside, it felt like a courtroom.Ariana not
The fluorescent lights of the hospital had a way of making everything feel unreal. The corridors stretched longer than they should, the silence between patients almost deafening. Ariana moved like a ghost, her hands shaking slightly as she pushed the cart of supplies down the hallway. Every creak o
In Ariana's small apartment was a quiet atmosphere, the kind of quiet that made Ariana feel both safe and painfully aware of how loud her own thoughts could be. She dropped her bag by the door and tugged off her shoes, letting out a long, shaky breath. The day had been relentless: the fluorescent l







