Joshua couldn't shake the feeling.
Ever since that afternoon—ever since Nadia's voice carried just enough to reach Tiana—something had shifted. The air around him felt heavier, like the truth was circling but refusing to land.
Why did Stephen always seem to appear whenever he was around Tiana?
Why did he always pull her away so effortlessly—no argument, no resistance? Just a quiet movement, like she belonged there now.
When did that start? Joshua wondered.
Back in the barracks, Stephen had been his friend. Not close-close, but close enough. They talked. They laughed. They knew each other's business. Stephen knew about Nadia. Knew she used to come to Joshua's place. Knew what those nights meant.
So when did he switch sides?
Joshua replayed the moment again—Tiana's reaction when she saw Nadia. That split second of surprise before she masked it. Too quick to be coincidence.
She didn't know before, he thought.
So who told her?
A memory surfaced uninvited—the last time Nadia had visited him in the barracks. How things changed shortly after. How Tiana began to pull back. How Stephen stopped answering his calls.
His chest tightened.
Don't tell me this was all Stephen's doing.
By evening, the questions had turned restless. Joshua found himself walking toward Stephen's hostel without fully deciding to. Anger and confusion guided his steps.
Laughter stopped him at the doorway.
He froze.
Inside, Stephen and Tiana sat close, heads bent over Stephen's phone. Tiana laughed freely—soft, genuine, the kind of laughter Joshua hadn't heard from her in a long time.
His stomach dropped.
So it's true, he thought bitterly.
They're together now.
He stepped forward.
"Tiana."
She looked up, startled—but only for a moment.
Joshua's voice came out sharper than he intended. "Is it because of Stephen that you've been acting cold toward me?"
Stephen stood immediately. "It's not what you think."
"Stephen," Tiana said quietly, shaking her head. "Don't."
Joshua laughed, hollow. "So now you speak for her?"
Tiana rose slowly from her seat. Her eyes were calm, unreadable.
"If that's why," she said evenly, "what business do you have with that?"
The question landed hard.
Joshua stared at her, searching for something—anger, guilt, softness. He found none.
Stephen's voice was steady. "You don't get to interrogate her."
Joshua clenched his fists. "I was her boyfriend."
Tiana met his eyes. "And I was a person."
Silence stretched.
Joshua realized then that the space between them was no longer distance—it was a boundary. One he had never noticed because he never thought she'd draw it.
She picked up her bag.
"Goodnight," she said, not unkindly.
As she walked past him, Joshua felt the truth settle painfully into place:
Stephen hadn't taken her from him.
Nadia hadn't betrayed him.
Tiana hadn't changed suddenly.
He had simply stayed the same—
and expected everyone else to wait.
But they hadn't.
And for the first time, Joshua understood what it meant
to arrive too late to a story
that no longer needed him.