Part 4
455 Words
Chapter Twenty-Two — Tuesday
Nothing bad happened.
That was the problem.
Aria stood in line for coffee too long, staring at the menu like it might change. When she finally sat on the low stone wall outside, the cup was too hot to hold. She didn’t drink it.
Cassian showed up without warning. No greeting. Just sat beside her.
“You’re doing that thing,” he said.
“What thing?”
“Looking like you’re bracing for impact.”
She exhaled through her nose. “Habit.”
He nodded. Didn’t push. Their shoulders touched, barely. She didn’t move away.
Chapter Twenty-Three — Small Arguments
Being together wasn’t cinematic.
It was… irritating.
“You don’t need to wait for me,” Aria snapped after class.
“I wasn’t waiting.”
“You were literally leaning against the wall.”
Cassian paused. “Okay. I was waiting.”
She sighed, softer now. “I don’t want to feel like an obligation.”
He looked at her for a long second. “You don’t. I just like you.”
That ended the argument.
She hated how easy that was.
Chapter Twenty-Four — 2:11 A.M.
Sleep didn’t come easily anymore.
Aria lay awake, staring at the ceiling, heart racing for reasons she couldn’t name. Cassian shifted beside her.
“You’re not asleep,” he murmured.
“No.”
He turned toward her. Waited. “Want me to stay awake with you?”
She hesitated. Then nodded.
They didn’t talk. He just held her hand loosely while the night passed.
It felt stupidly important.
Chapter Twenty-Five — Public Knowledge
People noticed.
Some smiled. Some stared. Some whispered like it was their business.
Serena avoided them entirely.
Mila did the opposite.
“So,” Mila said, sprawled across Aria’s bed, “enemies to lovers. Predictable. Still iconic.”
“Get out,” Aria groaned.
Cassian, leaning in the doorway, added, “She slapped me once.”
Mila gasped. “I knew I liked you.”
Aria threw a pillow. Cassian laughed.
The sound still caught her off guard.
Chapter Twenty-Six — The Offer
Cassian didn’t announce it.
He just set the letter down between them.
Aria read it twice. “This is big.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to stay.”
“I know that too.”
She looked up. “Then why haven’t you decided?”
He rubbed his neck. “Because I don’t want to win something and resent everything else.”
Her throat tightened.
“I don’t want to be the reason you shrink your life,” she said.
“You’re not,” he replied quietly. “You’re the reason I’m thinking about it.”
No promises were made.
They just sat there.
- Writer
