Chapter Two: Back When It Was Easy
555 Words
Before the silence, before the distance there was laughter.
Amy met Luca in the most unplanned way possible. A friend’s game night, a last-minute invite she almost ignored. He wasn’t supposed to be there either, but fate does that thing where it shoves two stubborn people into the same room just to watch them collide.
He’d caught her eye the second he walked in black hoodie, easy smile, that calm confidence that made everyone look twice. She tried not to stare. She failed.
“Never seen you around,” he’d said, sliding onto the couch beside her. “You new or just avoiding us?”
“Maybe both,” she joked, pretending not to notice how close he sat.
That night turned into another. Then another. Before she even realized it, he was her comfort zone the one who remembered her favorite snack, who stayed up too late just to hear about her day, who made her laugh when she was mad at the world.
But comfort has a way of turning into something else when feelings grow uneven.
The first argument wasn’t even about anything real.
Something small a text left unanswered, plans changed last minute. But the way he reacted the way his voice dropped when he said, “So you’re just gonna walk away?” made Amy realize something was off.
He wanted control.
She wanted peace.
And the mix of those two things that’s what burned everything down.
The night had that kind of stillness that only happens right before things change.
Amy was in Luca’s apartment the one with the half-fixed lamp and the faint smell of cologne that always clung to the air.
He was stretched out on the couch, scrolling on his phone, one arm draped lazily across her legs. She had her head tilted back, half watching the movie, half watching him.
“You’re staring again,” he said without looking up.
“Maybe I like what I see.”
He grinned, eyes flicking up to meet her’s. “Maybe I like hearing you say it.”
For a while, it was easy like that playful, warm, quiet. She didn’t have to try. He’d pull her closer without asking, fingers tracing lazy circles against her thigh, and she’d forget everything that hurt before him.
“Stay tonight,” he murmured.
She hesitated, just for a second. “I have work in the morning.”
“So? You’ll still leave late, you always do.”
She laughed because it was true. Amy always found reasons to stay excuses to be wrapped up in him for a little longer. But something in his tone was different this time. Softer. Almost pleading.
When she didn’t answer, he shifted, pulling her so she were facing him. “You ever think about how we ended up like this?” he asked quietly.
“Like what?”
“Like I can’t sleep right unless you’re next to me.”
She felt her chest tighten, because that kind of honesty from him was rare and she knew what it cost him to admit it.
So she said the only thing that made sense. “Yeah. I think about it.”
He kissed her hand then, slow, like he was memorizing it. And for a moment, she believed that maybe this time, it would last.
- Writer
