CHAPTER 3 — “The Stranger Who Saw Me”
618 Words
For a moment…
I couldn’t speak.
My tears were still falling, my chest still rising and falling like I had just run miles.
But all I could do… was stare at him.
He stood under the dim streetlight, hands tucked into his jacket, eyes fixed on me with something I hadn’t seen all night.
Concern.
Real concern.
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, wiping my face.
A lie.
A terrible one.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t argue.
Didn’t try to get closer.
“Okay,” he said softly.
But he didn’t leave.
That alone confused me.
Most people would’ve walked away by now.
Most people didn’t care.
But he stayed.
“You don’t look fine,” he added after a few seconds.
I let out a small, broken laugh.
“Do I look that bad?”
He tilted his head slightly, studying me.
“You look like someone who just lost something important.”
That hit me.
Hard.
Because I didn’t just lose a relationship.
I lost myself in it.
I looked away quickly, biting my lip to stop myself from crying again.
“I’ll be okay,” I whispered.
More to myself than to him.
There was a pause.
Then—
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
The question caught me off guard.
Because the truth was…
I didn’t.
I shook my head slowly.
He sighed quietly, like he was thinking.
Calculating.
“Look,” he said, his voice calm, steady.
“There’s a café just down the street. It’s still open.”
I hesitated.
Every warning in my head started going off.
He’s a stranger.
You don’t know him.
What if—
“I’m not trying anything weird,” he added quickly, almost like he could read my thoughts.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
“I just don’t think you should be out here alone… like this.”
I studied him carefully.
Dark hoodie.
Messy hair.
Tired eyes…
But something about him felt…
Safe.
“Five minutes,” I said finally.
“That’s all.”
His smile grew just a little.
“Five minutes.”
The café was warm.
Quiet.
A complete opposite of the storm inside me.
I sat across from him, wrapping my hands around the cup he ordered for me.
Hot chocolate.
I didn’t even tell him what I liked.
“How did you know?” I asked softly.
He shrugged. “You look like you needed something sweet.”
For the first time that night…
I almost smiled.
“I’m Kai,” he said, leaning back slightly.
I blinked.
“Kai…”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “And you are?”
I hesitated.
Not because I didn’t know my name…
But because saying it felt like introducing a broken version of myself.
“…Ava.”
He repeated it quietly.
Like it meant something.
“Ava.”
Silence fell between us again.
But this time…
It wasn’t painful.
“You wanna talk about it?” he asked gently.
I shook my head immediately.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
No pressure.
No pushing.
No expectations.
And somehow…
that made me want to tell him everything.
“I caught him cheating.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Kai didn’t react dramatically.
Didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t judge.
He just listened.
“That sucks,” he said simply.
And for some reason…
that simple sentence felt more comforting than anything Ethan had ever said to me.
“I loved him,” I whispered.
Kai looked at me for a moment.
Then said something I wasn’t expecting.
“That doesn’t mean you were supposed to stay.”
I froze.
Because deep down…
I knew he was right.
- Writer
