Chapter Six:The Almost Kiss
655 Words
Rain was coming.
Aria could smell it in the air — that metallic, cold-before-the-storm scent. The sky over Cressmont turned a soft gray, heavy with unshed tears. It mirrored how she felt inside: full, aching, and ready to burst.
She hadn’t seen Zane in three days.
Not since the girl in the library took that photo.
Not since she told him this might be a mistake.
She hated how hollow it felt — pretending she didn’t care. Pretending she didn’t check the library every time she walked by. Pretending she didn’t miss the sound of his voice in the quiet of their study corners.
It was safer this way. That’s what she told herself. But safety didn’t keep her warm at night.
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✦
Zane was trying to move on too.
But every time he opened his sketchbook, her face looked back at him. He’d drawn her a dozen times now. Never finished the outlines. Couldn’t. It was like capturing her completely would make her real in ways he wasn’t ready for.
Don’t catch feelings.
That was the rule.
He had enough on his plate — a scholarship hanging by a thread, his sister back home texting him about overdue bills, professors already looking for excuses to fail him.
He didn’t need Aria.
But God, he wanted her.
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✦
It was Thursday evening when fate caved in.
Aria had just finished a tutorial when it started pouring — a full-on thunderstorm with sideways rain and wind that slapped leaves into windows like angry palms.
She rushed across the quad, textbooks clutched to her chest, shoes soaked, hoodie pulled over her head.
She didn’t mean to go to the art building.
But her feet led her there anyway.
She found him in the back hallway — alone, sketching on the window ledge with earbuds in.
Zane looked up slowly, and the moment their eyes met, something inside both of them gave way.
“You’re drenched,” he said quietly.
“I couldn’t find an umbrella.”
He stood and walked over. His hands hovered above her arms like he wanted to pull her close but didn’t dare.
“I thought you were done with me,” he murmured.
“I thought I was too,” she said. “But I’m not.”
He exhaled — like he’d been holding that breath since the last time they spoke.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“We shouldn’t do this.”
“We won’t,” he said.
But neither of them moved.
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✦
The lights flickered.
Thunder rolled over the roof.
And then — like gravity snapped — they stepped toward each other.
Aria’s heart pounded so loud she was sure he could hear it.
Zane raised a hand, brushing a wet strand of hair from her face, his fingers trembling just slightly.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” he said.
“You scare me,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to fall for you.”
He leaned in — slowly, cautiously — like he was giving her every second to run.
Their foreheads touched.
Their breaths tangled.
His lips hovered a whisper from hers.
She could feel it — the kiss that would change everything.
But just as she started to close the distance—
SLAM.
The hallway door burst open.
A janitor stepped in with a mop and bucket, stopped, blinked at them, and frowned. “Building’s closing. Let’s go.”
Aria stepped back so fast she almost tripped.
Zane looked down, jaw clenched.
The moment shattered.
The almost vanished.
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✦
They walked out in silence, the rain now reduced to a soft drizzle.
At the bottom of the steps, Aria turned to him.
“I can’t keep doing this, Zane.”
He nodded, voice hoarse. “I know.”
But neither of them walked away.
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- Writer
