Chapter Text
She hadn’t anticipated encountering them again in such an unexpected manner. The air was thick with the scent of freshly printed paper and a hint of coffee from the nearby cafe, and she felt a rush of memories flood over her. Leaving home had been a calculated decision; she needed to escape the tidal wave of emotions that had threatened to engulf her. It was a choice made in the aftermath of her parents’ tumultuous divorce, each argument and tear etched into her mind, a reminder of love’s fragility.
Yet, here they stood, a whirlwind of activity in the crowded campus hallway, surrounded by a sea of students rushing to their next class. Their arms were piled high with a jumble of books—some titles she had adored and others that felt utterly foreign to her now.
The vibrant chatter and laughter echoed off the walls, creating a melody that swirled around her, but in that moment, it felt as if the world had narrowed to just them.
For two long years, she had clung to the belief that she could move on, wrapping herself in the comforting blanket of denial. She told herself that the passionate affection she had once known was merely an illusion, a fleeting glimpse of joy that couldn’t endure the harshness of reality.
After witnessing the painful fallout between her parents, she had sworn to never plunge headfirst into love again—it was a risk she couldn’t bear, an emotional gamble that would leave her shattered.
At first glance, they appeared as specters of their former selves, their features softened by the passage of time, yet still bearing the essence of the people she once adored. The familiar cadence of their laughter pierced through the bustling soundscape, rich and melodic, igniting a spark of nostalgia within her chest. It wrapped around her like a warm embrace, pulling her back to days filled with innocent joy, shared secrets, and the late-night conversations that lingered in the air like the fading warmth of the sun.
The recognition gnawed at her, both a sweet comfort and a painful reminder of the life she had left behind.
“I’m telling you, that was a perfectly safe landing,” Colt boasted, his voice booming through the crisp morning air, far too loud for the quiet eight o’clock.
“Jumping off a second-floor balcony is not a ‘landing’,” Ryland retorted, his grip tightening around a stack of notes as if they could somehow protect him from the ridiculousness around him. “It’s statistically reckless.”
“And yet, here I am, perfectly alive,” Colt replied, a broad grin spreading across his face. He shoved both hands deep into his pockets, radiating an unbothered confidence.
She halted mid-step. A sudden heaviness settled in her feet, as if the ground itself had grown impossibly dense beneath her.
There it was—that familiar chaos, a whirlwind of energy that enveloped the scene, accompanied by the same rhythmic banter she had come to know so well.
Lost in her thoughts, she could only stand frozen in disbelief, taking in the sight of them.
“Move.”
Just one word, but it hung in the air like a low rumble. Calm and steady, yet imbued with a weight that made her chest tighten in an all-too-familiar-way.
Her gaze slowly lifted, drawn upward before she could fully register the shift occurring around her.
Courtland.
He looked older now. Not in a way that was immediately shocking, but there was a distinct sharpness to his features—a crispier outline to his jaw, an intensity in his gaze that suggested he had purposely chosen to withdraw into himself.
It felt as though he had taken all the vibrant words and emotions he once freely expressed and sealed them away in a vault where no one else could ever discover them.
For a second, time seemed to freeze around them.
Only for it to be shattered in an instant as Ryland’s eyes landed on her.
“...Y/N?”
His whispered shock pulled Colt’s attention away, a spark of disbelief lighting up his face. “No way—”
In that moment, the weight of the world descended upon her. A wave of nausea washed over her, threatening to pull her under.
“Hi,” she managed to voice, her words barely escaping her lips, strained and fragile as her mind scrambled to comprehend the whirlwind of emotions swirling within her.
Courtland remained silent.
He simply gazed down at her, his eyes searching, unblinking.
And somehow, that unspoken connection was even more unsettling.