Episode 5
1092 Words
The picture from the formal dinner spread across campus faster than either of them expected.
By Monday morning, students smiled knowingly whenever Samuel and Haliyah walked past.
“There goes the famous couple.”
“I knew they were in love.”
“Did you see the way they looked at each other?”
Haliyah buried her face in Samuel’s shoulder.
“I’m transferring schools.”
He laughed.
“You’ll still go viral.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I know.”
For the first time in a long while, everything felt… easy.
Which was exactly why neither of them noticed the storm approaching.
⸻
A few days later, Samuel’s phone rang during a study session.
His smile disappeared the moment he answered.
“…What?”
He stood up.
“When?”
“I’ll be there.”
He ended the call and stared at the floor.
“Samuel?”
He swallowed.
“My mum collapsed at work.”
Without another word, Haliyah packed both their books into her bag.
“I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
He looked at her, eyes full of worry.
“Okay.”
⸻
The hospital smelled of disinfectant and silence.
Samuel paced outside the emergency ward while doctors attended to his mother.
Haliyah sat nearby, watching him wear a path into the floor.
“Come here.”
He stopped walking.
“I can’t sit.”
“You’ve been standing for an hour.”
“If I sit, I’ll start thinking.”
She gently took both his hands.
“Then think with me.”
His shoulders finally dropped.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“I’ve never been this scared.”
“I know.”
“What if she—”
“No.”
She squeezed his hands.
“We’re not finishing that sentence.”
Hours later, a doctor stepped outside.
“She’s stable.”
Samuel let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
Before he knew it, he had pulled Haliyah into a hug.
Not because he was romantic.
Because he was relieved.
She hugged him back just as tightly.
“I’m here,” she whispered.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
⸻
Life slowly returned to normal.
Or at least it tried to.
Samuel threw himself into assignments.
Haliyah noticed he wasn’t sleeping much.
“You’ve had three cups of coffee today.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I mean it this time.”
She frowned.
“You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
“I know.”
But she wasn’t convinced.
⸻
Friday evening brought another surprise.
Samuel canceled their usual study date.
Again.
“It’s just family stuff.”
“I understand.”
He canceled the next one too.
Then the next.
Their conversations became shorter.
Replies that once came within minutes now arrived hours later.
One night, Haliyah stared at their chat.
The little “Delivered” beneath her message felt heavier than it should.
Her anxiety whispered familiar lies.
Maybe he’s tired of you.
Maybe this is how it starts.
She hated that those thoughts still lived inside her.
She closed her phone.
“No,” she whispered.
“We made a promise.”
⸻
The next afternoon, she found Samuel sitting alone behind the engineering building.
He looked exhausted.
She sat beside him without speaking.
After several quiet minutes, he finally said,
“I’ve been failing.”
She frowned.
“At what?”
“Everything.”
“My mum.”
“My coursework.”
“Us.”
She turned toward him.
“You haven’t failed us.”
“I keep disappearing.”
“Because you’re trying to hold your family together.”
“I should still be here for you.”
“You are.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
She reached into her backpack.
He looked confused.
From inside, she pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
“What is that?”
“Our pinky promise.”
She had rewritten it in colorful ink.
No guessing.
No silent treatment.
No pretending everything is okay.
“You remember?”
“I remember everything too.”
He laughed through tired eyes.
“I’ve been pretending.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You don’t.”
“You let me help.”
For the first time in weeks, he cried.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
The kind of tears that come from carrying too much for too long.
Haliyah didn’t try to stop them.
She simply stayed beside him.
Sometimes healing wasn’t about finding the perfect words.
Sometimes it was about refusing to leave.
⸻
A week later, Samuel’s mother was discharged from the hospital.
She invited Haliyah over to thank her.
“I’ve heard so much about you,” she said warmly.
“I’m beginning to think my son likes you.”
Samuel nearly dropped his glass of juice.
“Mum!”
“What?”
“You smile every time she calls.”
Haliyah laughed as Samuel buried his face in his hands.
“I’ve never been so betrayed.”
His mother smiled at Haliyah.
“Thank you.”
“For taking care of him when he forgot how to take care of himself.”
Haliyah glanced at Samuel.
“He’d do the same for me.”
“I know,” his mother replied softly.
“That’s why I’m not worried anymore.”
⸻
That evening, Samuel walked Haliyah back to her hostel.
The campus was unusually quiet.
Only the sound of crickets filled the air.
“I almost pushed you away,” he admitted.
“You didn’t.”
“I tried.”
“You did.”
“So why did you stay?”
She smiled.
“Because loving someone isn’t only about enjoying their happy days.”
“It’s about sitting beside them when life gets heavy.”
Samuel stopped walking.
“I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone the way I love you.”
She looked at him, surprised.
The words were simple.
Honest.
No audience.
No dramatic music.
Just two people beneath a sky full of stars.
She smiled.
“I know.”
He laughed.
“That’s your response?”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“And I love you too.”
He took her hand.
Neither of them realized that, after surviving their first real storm together, they had become stronger than ever before.
Whatever came next…
They would face it side by side.
- Writer
