It had been a week since Aria was reunited with her brother. The warmth of that moment still lingered in Eira's chest. There was something deeply moving about witnessing lost love find its way home again. It made her think about Auren more often—about how much she didn't know, and how much she wanted to.
It was a sunny Thursday when Loira messaged the group chat: "We all need a break. Meet at the riverside garden. I'll bring snacks. No excuses."
Eira smiled at the message. She had just finished a chapter of her novel—the one Auren had been reading when they first met. It felt like a good time to take a breath.
The riverside garden was alive with color. The cherry blossoms had given way to late-spring flowers, and a gentle breeze rustled the grass. Ryan and Loira were already there, laying out a blanket. Cristina arrived shortly after, waving with both hands and nearly tripping over a rock.
Auren and Eira arrived together, having bumped into each other at the university gates.
"Fancy seeing you again," Eira said as she fell into step beside him.
"I'm beginning to think fate likes throwing us together," Auren replied with a soft smile.
She noticed the faint dark circles under his eyes. He hid it well, but the weariness was there.
---
The group settled under the shade of a tall tree. Loira passed out sandwiches. Ryan, never one to waste a second, opened a bottle of soda and promptly spilled it on himself.
"JOJO pose emergency!" he declared, striking an exaggerated stance like a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, making Cristina burst out laughing.
"Dio would disown you," Loira said, shaking her head.
"Za warudo!" Ryan shouted, freezing mid-pose.
"Time stop!" Auren joined in, raising two fingers and pretending to slow time.
Eira giggled. She didn't even fully understand the references, but watching them go all-in on their ridiculousness made her smile.
Cristina pulled out her phone. "This is going straight to my story. Caption: JoBro nonsense level 100."
---
After lunch, they played cards, chased each other around with bubbles, and watched Ryan attempt (and fail) to climb a tree.
Later, Eira sat on the edge of the riverbank with Auren beside her.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For being here. For everything."
He looked out over the water. "Some days, I don't feel like I deserve it."
She turned to him. "You do. Even if you don't believe it yet."
They sat in silence, the sounds of water and distant laughter filling the space between them.
---
That night, back in her room, Eira opened her laptop. The cursor blinked on the empty document. She started typing.
> He stood at the edge of the unknown, eyes like the sea before a storm. She wanted to reach him, to hold him, but the wind whispered that he was already half gone.
She paused, staring at the line. Her fingers trembled slightly. Then she saved the file and titled it: The Boy with the Quiet Storm.
She thought about the time Auren had read her manuscript.
Maybe he was the boy she'd been writing all along.
---
The next day, Eira and Cristina grabbed coffee at their favorite campus café. Cristina leaned in.
"You and Auren… something's going on, right?"
Eira blushed. "I… I don't know. It's complicated."
"He looks at you like you're the plot twist that saved his story," Cristina said.
Eira sipped her drink, hiding her smile. "That's… actually kind of poetic."
"Use it in a book. Just give me credit."
---
That evening, rain started to fall as Eira was leaving campus. She hadn't brought an umbrella.
Of course.
And because the universe was predictable and cheesy in the most annoying ways, she heard a voice.
"You're going to catch a cold."
Auren stood beside her, holding out his umbrella.
She looked up at him. "You came at the perfect time."
"I had a feeling," he said with a soft smile.
They walked in silence, close beneath the umbrella. The rain tapped a soft rhythm above them as the world around them faded into a gentle blur. Their shoulders brushed, and neither moved away.
Eira glanced at him. "You're warm."
He looked down at her. "So are you."
There was a pause—a sweet, unspoken moment filled with the scent of rain and something neither of them dared name yet.
"Do you ever wish time could slow down during moments like this?" she asked.
Auren nodded. "Yeah. Especially now."
She smiled, her heart quietly thudding. "Me too."
---
As they reached her street, the rain slowed to a drizzle.
"Auren," she said, stopping.
He turned.
She wanted to tell him then. Everything. That she liked him. That she was scared. That she didn't care what secret he was hiding—she just wanted him to let her in.
But before she could speak, he looked down.
"I need to tell you something soon," he said. "But not tonight. I'm sorry."
He looked so lost, so tired.
She simply nodded. "Then I'll wait."
He turned, disappearing into the mist.
---
Later that night, Eira stared at her phone.
Auren: Thanks for walking home with me.
She replied: Thanks for not letting me drown in the rain.
He didn't answer, but a few minutes later, she got a voice message.
It was Auren. Soft-spoken.
"I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to let people in without hurting them. But being around you… makes me want to try."
Eira's heart cracked and bloomed at the same time.
She whispered to her cat, "I think I'm falling in love."
---
Meanwhile, across the city, Auren stood alone in his apartment.
He stared at a small vial of pills.
Then picked up his phone and called Leya.
"I can't keep lying," he said.
She sighed. "Then don't. But be ready. Once you open that door, there's no closing it again."
"I know."
He hung up.
Then turned to the window, rain streaking down the glass, eyes heavy with secrets.
"Soon," he whispered.