If someone had told me I'd reunite with both my exes on the same day. I would've laughed. Or cried.
Maybe both.
"So… uh… how have you been?" I asked, trying not to sound like I was swallowing a golf ball.
"I'm fine." Ashe said quietly. Her smile was small, unsure. "You look… different. More mature."
More matured… maybe because I died once. I can't say that.
Serena snorted. "More like confused, he looked like he saw a ghost."
"I felt like I saw two." I muttered.
Ashe giggled. That laugh—I hadn't heard it in years. It hit me harder than expected.
Serena, meanwhile, crossed her arms and leaned against a vending machine. "Well? You gonna pretend we didn't exist, or what?"
"No, I just—I didn't expect this."
"Neither did we." Ashe said, her voice turning more confident. "…maybe it's fate?"
"Fate's been messing with me a lot lately."
The awkwardness hung in the air after I said that.
"You guys wanna grab coffee?" I blurted.
They blinked in unison.
"Like a… date?" Serena raised a brow.
"Like a… peace treaty."
Ashe laughed. Serena stared at me for a beat, then gave a lopsided shrug.
"Sure." They both said.
We sat at a corner table in the campus café.
Ashe ordered herbal tea. Serena got a black coffee, no sugar.
"So," Ashe began, "what have you been doing since high school?"
"You mean in this timeline or the last one?" I almost said.
"Just trying to figure things out." I replied instead.
Serena tapped her cup. "You still coding? Or gave up on that too?"
I winced, but nodded. "Actually, I picked it back up recently. Got a few personal projects going."
She looked impressed for a split second before she caught herself and scoffed.
"Good. Maybe you're not as hopeless as I remember."
Ashe leaned in, curious. "What kind of projects?"
I hesitated. But as I spoke—about the apps, the coursework—they both listen.
Really listened to me.
Maybe the past wasn't a wall.
Maybe it was a foundation.
And maybe, just maybe…
This time, things would go different.