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The first thing View noticed when she saw Mim again was how familiar the silence felt.
Not awkward. Not strained. Just… theirs.
Time apart had stretched long enough to blur details, the exact cadence of Mim’s laugh, the way her eyes softened when she listened but not long enough to erase the feeling. If anything, distance had sharpened it. Clarified it. Made it impossible to ignore.
Because no matter how hard View tried to compare, to measure, to make sense of it.
What she felt for Mim had never been the same as what she felt for June.
It wasn’t lesser.
It was more.
Not louder, not frantic, not something that demanded to be proven every second. It didn’t ache in the same restless way. It didn’t leave her questioning where she stood.
It was steady. Certain. Unbreakable.
Mim wasn’t just someone she loved.
She was home in a way View hadn’t understood until she had to live without it.
And once she realized that, there was no undoing it.
So she decided quietly, carefully that she would make it right.
It started small.
Mim arrived one morning to find her favorite drinks neatly placed on her desk. No name. No explanation. Just a small note tucked underneath.
“For someone who deserves something sweet today.”
Mim blinked at it, confused at first. Then amused.
And then smiling.
The next day, there was another note with a drawing of her. This time slipped between the pages of her notebook.
You look prettier when you’re focused. Don’t frown too much.
Mim let out a soft laugh, pressing her lips together as warmth bloomed in her chest. She didn’t know who it was but she had a feeling. A suspicion she didn’t quite dare say out loud yet.
Still, the butterflies came anyway.
Day after day, the mystery unfolded. Notes appeared like secrets meant only for her. On her table. In her bag. Once, even tucked into the sleeve of her jacket.
Each one written in the same familiar, careful handwriting.
Mim traced the letters one evening, her thumb brushing over the ink.
“…I know who you are,” she whispered softly to no one.
And she smiled.
The final gesture came with flowers.
Her favorite ones.
That only one person knew.
They were delivered in the late afternoon, delicate and thoughtful, with a note resting gently against the stems.
Meet me at the rooftop.
Mim didn’t hesitate.
-
View had been there early.
Too early.
She stood by the edge, hands nervously fidgeting, watching the sky shift slowly into hues of gold and pink. Every passing minute felt heavier than the last.
She didn’t know if Mim would come.
Didn’t know if she had already ruined something that had once been simple and safe.
But she stayed.
Because for Mim, she would wait as long as it took.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Soft. Familiar.
View turned.
And there she was.
Mim stood a few steps away, holding the flowers, her expression unreadable for just a moment before it melted into something gentle. Something knowing.
“You’re late,” Mim teased lightly.
View let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, a small, nervous laugh escaping her. “I’ve been here forever.”
“I know.”
That made her pause.
“…you know?”
Mim stepped closer, lifting one of the notes slightly between her fingers. “Your handwriting hasn’t changed.”
There it was.
No anger. No confusion. Just quiet certainty.
View swallowed, her chest tightening, not from fear, but from everything she had been holding in.
“I didn’t know how else to say it,” she admitted softly. “There’s… a lot.”
“Then say it now.”
The sun dipped lower, painting Mim in gold. For a moment, View almost lost her nerve.
But not this time.
Not again.
“You were never just… someone to me,” View began, her voice steady despite the emotion behind it. “I thought I understood what love was before. I thought it had to be intense, overwhelming, something that burned.”
She shook her head slightly, eyes never leaving Mim.
“But with you, it’s different. It’s… everything else. It’s calm and certain and…” she let out a small, breathless laugh, “it’s the kind of thing I didn’t realize I needed until you were gone.”
Mim’s gaze softened.
“I can’t look at you the way I looked at her,” View continued, quieter now. “Because what I feel for you isn’t the same.”
A pause.
“It’s more.”
The words settled between them, carried gently by the evening air.
“You’re not just someone I could love,” View said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re… something that feels like it would never break. Even if everything else did.”
Mim stepped closer.
Close enough now that View could see the way her lips curved, the way her eyes shimmered, not with surprise, but recognition.
“I was wondering how long it would take you,” Mim said softly.
View blinked. “You… weren’t confused? At all?”
Mim shook her head, lifting the flowers slightly. “You’ve always been like this. You just didn’t see it yet.”
A quiet moment passed.
Then Mim reached out, her fingers gently finding View’s.
“I never stopped waiting for you too.”
The sun slipped lower, the sky blooming into deeper shades of orange and pink, wrapping them in something warm and fleeting.
View tightened her grip slightly, her thumb brushing over Mim’s hand.
“I’m here now,” she said.
“I know.”
And this time, there was no distance left between them.
The kiss was soft.
Not rushed. Not uncertain.
Just right.
Like something that had always been meant to happen, finally finding its moment.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, they stayed there, close and quiet, the world fading into the background.
Some things didn’t need to be loud to be real.
And some loves,
The best ones,
Didn’t feel like falling at all.
They felt like coming home.