The past was quiet now.
Not erased.
Not forgotten.
Just… no longer loud.
That should've made things easier.
Instead, it made them closer—and that was its own kind of dangerous.
Aira noticed it in the smallest moments.
The way Reyhan waited until she finished speaking before answering.
The way he remembered how she took her tea.
The way his presence didn't feel heavy anymore—just constant.
Comforting.
Which scared her.
Because comfort invited attachment.
And attachment invited staying.
They were sitting on the library steps after school, backpacks discarded, homework ignored.
Reyhan leaned back on his hands, looking up at the sky like it had answers.
"You've been quiet today," he said.
Aira shrugged. "Thinking."
"That's dangerous," he teased softly.
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Don't joke."
He turned toward her. "What's wrong?"
She hesitated.
This wasn't fear.
This was something deeper.
"I don't want this to become something we depend on," she said carefully.
"Us."
Reyhan frowned slightly. "You think I'm depending on you?"
"I think I might be," she admitted.
That surprised him.
She continued,
"Everything feels easier when you're around. I don't want to wake up one day and realize I don't know how to do hard things without you."
Reyhan studied her face, serious now.
"You think staying is weakness," he said slowly.
"No," Aira replied.
"I think staying can become hiding if you're not careful."
Reyhan considered that.
Then nodded.
"That's… fair."
She blinked. "You're not offended?"
"Why would I be?" he said.
"You're not pushing me away. You're protecting yourself."
That mattered.
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Reyhan said quietly,
"I don't want to be the thing you lean on so hard you forget how to stand."
Aira's chest loosened.
"You won't be," she said.
"Not if we're honest about it."
Reyhan smiled faintly.
"I like us like this."
Aira looked at him.
"Like what?"
"Choosing each other," he replied,
"but not losing ourselves in the process."
That was the line.
The one that felt like almost love.
Not confessed.
Not named.
Just acknowledged.
The sun dipped lower.
Aira stood up. "I should go."
Reyhan stood too.
They walked toward the gate.
As they reached it, Reyhan stopped.
"Aira?"
She turned.
"I'm not staying because I need you," he said softly.
"I'm staying because I want to."
Her heart tightened in the best way.
"Good," she replied.
"So am I."
They parted without touch.
Without promises.
But the space between them felt… held.
RULE #41: Don't let him stay the night emotionally.
Because wanting someone should never mean
forgetting how to want yourself too.