ログインThe night air felt different when we stepped out of the cinema.Not lighter, exactly, but easier to breathe. Bella stretched beside me like she had just woken up from something more than a movie, then bumped her shoulder lightly against mine.“You definitely owe me food now,” she said.“For what?” I asked.“For sitting through a movie with someone who barely watched it,” she replied without hesitation.I shook my head slightly. “You were talking the entire time.”“Because you were not paying attention,” she said. “Which made it my responsibility to fix the situation.”“That is not how that works.”“It is tonight,” she said, already walking ahead.I followed.The restaurant was not far. Small, warm lighting, not too crowded but not empty either. It felt like the kind of place people came to talk more than eat, which, knowing Bella, was exactly why she chose it.We got a table by the window.She sat across from me, immediately grabbing the menu like she had not eaten in days.“I am orde
“I am bored,” she said, stretching across the couch like she had already decided something. “We should go out.”I glanced at her. “You just woke up.”“And?” she replied, turning her head toward me. “That does not cancel boredom.”I leaned back slightly. “You got suspended.”She smiled. “Exactly. That means I have free time.”Kai said nothing from where he stood, but I could feel his attention shift slightly, like he was listening without interrupting.Bella sat up suddenly, her eyes lighting up with that familiar spark I had not seen in a while.“Let’s go watch a movie,” she said.I hesitated for a second.Not because I did not want to, but because it felt strange, stepping out like everything was normal when it clearly was not.Bella noticed immediately.“You need it,” she added, softer this time. “Stop thinking so much for once.”I exhaled slowly.She was not wrong.“Fine,” I said.Her smile widened instantly. “Good. Get ready.”—The cinema was not crowded.That alone made it easie
I woke up to quiet movement.Not loud enough to startle me, but enough to pull me out of sleep slowly, like my mind was trying to catch up before my body did. For a moment, I did not move. I just lay there, staring at nothing in particular, trying to place where I was.Then I felt it.Warmth, Close Breath.Bella.She was still there, curled slightly into my side like she had not moved much through the night. Her breathing was soft and steady, her hand loosely resting against my arm like she needed that small point of contact to stay grounded even in sleep.I exhaled slowly, careful not to wake her.For a second, everything felt… normal.Not perfect, not simple, but in a way that did not demand anything from me. No questions. No tension. Just a moment where nothing was pulling at me.I stayed like that for a while.Just listening to her breathe.Then eventually, I shifted slightly, easing myself out from under her without breaking that calm. She stirred a little, her brows pulling toge
We did not realize how late it had gotten until the silence in the apartment started to feel deeper.Not the kind that comes from a quiet evening, but the kind that settles in when the day has taken too much out of you. Bella had stopped talking at some point, her energy finally dipping after everything she had said, everything I had told her.She looked at me, then at the bed.“I am not leaving you alone tonight,” she said simply.I let out a small breath. “I was not planning to ask you to.”She nodded once like that settled it.We stood up almost at the same time and walked toward the bed, neither of us saying anything else. It did not feel awkward. It did not feel strange. It felt nice.We both slipped off our shoes without thinking, small movements that felt automatic, like we had done this a hundred times before even though we had not. Bella moved first, climbing onto the bed and pulling the covers over herself without ceremony.“I am exhausted,” she muttered.“That is obvious,”
We did not stay in the dining area for long.As much as I wanted to hold onto that moment, to sit there and pretend everything was normal again, I knew it would not last. There was too much sitting between us, too many unanswered questions, too much time we had lost.I stood up first.“Come,” I said quietly.Bella did not argue. She followed me immediately, like she already knew we were not done, like she had been waiting for this part more than anything else.We walked back into the room Kai had given me. I closed the door behind us, not bothering to lock it this time. The space felt smaller now, but not in a suffocating way. Just… full.Bella looked around briefly before turning her attention back to me, her expression already shifting from relief to something more serious.“Start talking,” she said.I let out a slow breath and sat on the edge of the bed. For a second, I did not know where to begin. There was too much, and none of it felt easy to explain.But she was Bella.If there
I did not realize how long I stayed in that position until the quiet started to feel different.Just… still.At some point, the exhaustion caught up with me, not enough to sleep, but enough to make everything feel slower. My thoughts were no longer racing, just sitting there, waiting, like they knew I would come back to them eventually.A soft knock came from the other side of the door.I did not move immediately.Then Kai’s voice followed, calm as always.“Elias. You should eat.”I exhaled slowly, pushing myself up from the floor. My body felt heavier than it should, like I had carried more than just myself into this room. I brushed my hand over my face quickly before unlocking the door and stepping out.Kai was already in the hallway, leaning slightly against the wall like he had been waiting but did not want to pressure me.I did not say anything.He did not either.We walked into the dining area in silence, and the table was already set. Simple. Clean. Like everything else about h
The next morning hit like a truck full of regret and caffeine withdrawal.My alarm screamed at 7:45—some default chime that sounded like a dying robot. I slapped it silent, groaned, and immediately regretted every shot Riley had shoved into my hand last night. My head throbbed in time with my heart
The double date had ended awkwardly, Luca and Elias exchanging stiff goodbyes, Riley trying to keep the energy alive with bad jokes, and me pretending my ribs didn’t hurt every time I laughed. We Ubered back separately: Elias and Luca in one car, Riley in another. Riley talked the whole way about h
The embarrassment from the hallway lingered like smoke in my clothes. I couldn’t shake Kai’s voice—low, cutting, “Careful. You don’t want to find out.” It played on repeat every time I walked past a mirror, every time I caught my reflection and saw the flush on my cheeks. I told myself it was anger
The lecture hall for Econ 201 was already half full when I slipped in at 9:58, sliding into a seat near the middle row so I could see the board but not be too obvious about checking my phone every five minutes. Vane still hadn’t texted back. His last message was from yesterday afternoon: Meeting dr







