✤ Sera ✤
It took me longer than it should have to admit it, but once the realization settled in, I couldn’t shake it.
Julian was pursuing me.
Not in the vague, friendly way I had tried to convince myself of before. Not as a concerned professor or a kind presence when I was clearly struggling. This was something else. Something deliberate. And now that I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. And what made it worse was that a part of me hated how much I enjoyed the attention. I hated that his focus made me feel visible again after a week of silence from Adrian. I hated that someone noticed when I looked tired, or when my voice wavered, or when I tried too hard to appear fine. Julian listened. He remembered things. He showed up with coffee and pastries, with concern etched into his expression like
