Morning came slower than Aria expected.
Not because she hadn't slept but because sleep hadn't done what it was supposed to do. The weight from yesterday followed her into consciousness, settling in her chest before she even opened her eyes.
The fight with Chloe hadn't ended with closure. There was no dramatic goodbye, no final understanding. Just words thrown like stones and silence that felt heavier than shouting ever could.
Aria lay still for a few moments, staring at the ceiling of her room, listening to the muted sounds of the house waking up. Her mother moving around the kitchen. The low hum of a radio. Life continuing, indifferent to the small fractures forming inside her.
Her phone buzzed on the bedside table.
Julian.
She didn't open it immediately.
Not because she didn't want to talk to him but because she didn't know how to explain a pain that didn't have a clear source. How do you tell someone you love that your world feels slightly off, even when nothing is technically wrong?
Eventually, she picked up the phone.
Good morning. Did you get home okay yesterday?
The message was simple. Gentle. Julian, as always.
She typed back.
Yeah. Just tired.
She hesitated, then added:
I'll see you at school.
Julian read the message almost immediately. He didn't push. Didn't ask questions.
Okay. Have a good morning.
That restraint once comforting now felt like distance.
---
Campus felt different the next day.
Not visibly. The same buildings. The same students rushing to class, laughing too loudly, complaining about lectures, flirting in corners like the world wasn't complicated. But for Aria, everything felt sharper, more exposed.
She met Liam near the humanities block purely by coincidence or at least that's what she told herself.
"Hey," he said, slowing his steps when he saw her.
"Hey."
He studied her face for a moment. "You okay?"
She nodded automatically. "Yeah. Just…a lot on my mind."
Liam didn't smile this time. "About Chloe?"
Aria stopped walking.
He hadn't assumed. He hadn't pried yesterday but he had paid attention.
"Yeah," she admitted. "We haven't talked since."
"That doesn't mean you won't," he said carefully. "Sometimes space is necessary."
She exhaled. "Or sometimes it's the beginning of the end."
Liam shook his head. "I don't believe that."
They walked together in silence for a while, not touching, not leaning into each other just existing side by side. Liam didn't try to fill the quiet. He didn't make jokes. He let her be.
That alone felt intimate.
By the time they reached her lecture hall, Aria's shoulders had relaxed just slightly.
"Thanks," she said. "For not making it worse."
Liam smiled faintly. "Anytime."
He hesitated, then added, "I'll see you later?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
Neither of them noticed Julian standing across the quad.
He hadn't been looking for Aria.
But once again, his eyes found her.
This time, he saw less but felt more.
He saw Aria walking with Liam, close enough that conversation felt private. He saw the way she tilted her head when she spoke, the way Liam listened really listened. He didn't see touching. Didn't see anything inappropriate.
That was almost worse.
Because there was intention there.
Julian didn't interrupt. Didn't wave. Didn't approach.
He told himself he would talk to her later.
---
The day stretched.
Classes passed. Notes were taken. Lectures delivered. But Julian felt like he was moving through water, everything slowed by a growing awareness he couldn't quite define.
Aria didn't sit with him at lunch.
She texted instead.
I'm eating with my course mates today.
No explanation. No apology.
Julian typed Okay and put his phone down.
He wasn't angry.
He was…uneasy.
When they finally crossed paths later that afternoon near the library, the moment felt awkward in a way they hadn't experienced before.
"Hey," Julian said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
She let him but there was a half-second delay that didn't go unnoticed.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just tired."
Again.
The same word.
They stood there, close enough to touch, yet not quite connected.
"I was thinking," Julian said slowly, "maybe we could spend tonight together. Just us."
Aria hesitated.
Just for a moment.
But that moment was enough.
"I already promised Chloe I'd check on her," she said. "If she's ready to talk."
Julian nodded. "Of course."
He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Text me later?" he asked.
"I will."
She meant it.
As Aria walked away, Julian stayed where he was, watching her retreating figure. He wasn't losing her not yet but he could feel the shift. Like standing on ground that was no longer completely solid.
He didn't blame Liam.
He didn't blame Aria.
But he couldn't ignore the truth forming quietly in his chest:
She was starting to need someone else in ways she used to need him.
---
That evening, Aria sat on her bed again, phone in her hand.
She had texted Chloe. No response.
Julian's name hovered at the top of her messages.
She typed.
I'm sorry if I've been distant.
Then deleted it.
Instead, she wrote:
I miss you.
Julian replied a few minutes later.
I miss you too.
But something about the exchange felt incomplete.
As if both of them were standing on opposite sides of a line neither had acknowledged yet but both could see.
And somewhere between unspoken words, misunderstood moments, and quiet choices, the space between them continued to grow.
Not loud.
Not cruel.
Just real.
And sometimes, that was the most dangerous kind of distance of all.