The morning after the argument didn't arrive with drama.
No thunder. No rain. No sign that anything in Aria's world had shifted.
The sun rose like it always did, slipping through the thin gap in her curtains, landing softly on her wall. Birds chirped outside. Her alarm buzzed. Life continued.
But Aria woke with a weight in her chest that hadn't been there before.
She reached for her phone before she could stop herself.
No notifications.
She stared at the screen longer than necessary, as if waiting for it to change out of pity.
Julian always texted good morning.
Even when he was busy. Even when they'd disagreed. Even when words were complicated, he found a way to say something simple Did you sleep okay? or Have a good day.
There was nothing.
She told herself it was fine. That space was what they'd agreed on. That this was normal.
Still, she checked again.
Nothing.
At school, everything felt louder.
Not literally but emotionally. The hallways seemed narrower, the laughter sharper, the air heavier. Aria moved through her day like she was slightly out of sync with everyone else, half a second behind conversations, responses delayed.
She caught herself scanning faces without realizing it.
Looking for him.
Julian wasn't in her first lecture.
That shouldn't have mattered. They weren't in every class together. But it did. Her eyes kept drifting to the seat he sometimes occupied, empty and indifferent.
She took notes without absorbing them, pen moving on autopilot while her thoughts circled the same questions.
Was he really giving her space?
Or was he pulling away?
Her phone buzzed during her second class.
Her heart jumped.
It wasn't him.
Just a group chat notification. Chloe asking if anyone had the slides from last week.
Aria locked her phone, jaw tightening.
By lunchtime, the absence had settled into her bones.
Usually, Julian met her outside the cafeteria, leaning casually against the wall, pretending not to watch for her even though he always did. Today, the space where he stood felt oddly hollow.
She ate with Chloe and a few others, smiling when expected, laughing at the right moments. But Chloe noticed she always did.
"You're quiet," Chloe said, tilting her head. "Like… not your normal quiet."
Aria shrugged. "Just tired."
Chloe studied her for a second longer but didn't push. Still, her foot brushed Aria's under the table a small, grounding gesture.
The rest of the day passed slowly.
Too slowly.
When classes finally ended, Aria walked home alone.
Her phone stayed silent the entire way.
That night, she told herself she wouldn't check.
She checked anyway.
Still nothing.
—
By the third day, the distance had developed a rhythm.
No calls.
No texts.
No accidental run-ins that lingered too long.
Julian wasn't avoiding her in an obvious way but he wasn't reaching out either. When they passed each other on campus, it was brief. Polite. Controlled.
A nod instead of a smile.
A "hey" instead of a hug.
It hurt more than open conflict would have.
At school, people noticed.
Not in the way they whispered openly but in the way eyes lingered a second too long. In the pauses that followed when Aria joined a conversation.
She felt exposed, like something fragile had cracked and everyone could see the fracture lines.
One afternoon, she saw Julian across the quad.
He was with his business partners the older ones he worked with outside school. They were talking, laughing lightly. Julian looked composed. Focused.
Fine.
That stung.
She turned away before he could notice her staring.
Later that evening, her phone rang.
Julian's name lit up the screen.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She stared at it.
Let it ring.
It stopped.
A minute passed.
Then another.
A message appeared.
I called earlier. Hope you're okay.
No apology. No explanation. No I miss you.
Just neutral. Careful.
Aria typed a reply.
Deleted it.
Typed again.
I'm fine.
She stared at the words before sending them, knowing they sounded colder than she felt.
He replied hours later.
Good. I didn't want to bother you.
The words settled uneasily in her chest.
She had wanted him to bother her.
—
The tension followed her everywhere.
In class, she struggled to concentrate. At night, sleep came late and restless. Her dreams were full of unfinished conversations and doors she couldn't open.
Chloe confronted her a week later.
They were sitting on the steps outside the library, evening light stretching long shadows across the ground.
"You and Julian," Chloe said carefully. "Something's wrong."
Aria exhaled. "We're just… taking space."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Space doesn't usually look this quiet."
Aria didn't respond.
"Do you want space?" Chloe asked.
The question caught her off guard.
"I don't know," Aria admitted.
Chloe nodded slowly. "That's usually the problem."
—
Julian felt the distance too.
He didn't show it publicly. He still attended meetings. Still answered emails. Still smiled when required.
But the quiet pressed in on him at night.
He reached for his phone more than once, thumb hovering over Aria's name, only to pull back.
She'd asked for space.
He was trying to respect it.
Still, every unanswered urge felt like a small loss.
At school, he noticed how she avoided eye contact now. How she sat further away. How her laughter seemed reserved for others.
It wasn't anger that hurt him.
It was restraint.
—
Two weeks passed like this.
Careful. Controlled. Unresolved.
Until one afternoon, everything cracked just a little more.
Aria was leaving class when Charlotte Davis stepped into her path.
Charlotte hadn't always been polite before. A little too polite. Her admiration for Julian wasn't exactly subtle but it had never crossed a line.
Until now.
"I heard you and Julian aren't really together anymore," Charlotte said, smiling too sweetly.
Aria stiffened. "You heard wrong."
Charlotte shrugged. "Just saying what people are talking about."
Chloe appeared beside Aria instantly. "Funny how people only talk when they don't know anything."
Charlotte's smile faltered. "I didn't mean anything by it."
Aria met her gaze calmly. "Then don't repeat it."
Charlotte stepped back, clearly embarrassed. "Right."
She walked away.
Chloe turned to Aria. "You okay?"
Aria nodded but her hands were shaking.
That evening, Julian called again.
This time, Aria answered.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey."
There was a pause. The kind filled with everything neither of them had said.
"I heard something happened today," Julian said. "With Charlotte."
Aria closed her eyes. "Yeah."
"I should've been there," he said quietly.
She swallowed. "You didn't know."
Another pause.
"I miss you," Julian said finally.
The words landed gently and painfully.
"I miss you too," Aria whispered.
Neither of them said anything else.
But for the first time in weeks, the silence didn't feel empty.
It felt honest.
And fragile.
Like something waiting to be handled with care.