It started with a text. (Again)
[Kaelira🐰💫] 9:42PM
r u awake
[Aria🌸🌼] 9:42PM
no
i'm sleep-texting this
[Kaelira🐰💫] 9:43PM
wow. a talent
anyway…
wanna go to the 24/7 mart with me
i want banana milk and i'm lonely lol
[Aria🌸🌼] 9:44PM
you had me at banana milk
give me 10 minutes.
⤹ ❀
10:07PM
The city was different at night.
Quieter. Softer. Like even the streetlights were whispering.
Aria met Kaelira at the end of her street, both of them bundled in hoodies and masks, the air crisp but not cold. Kaelira waved when she saw her, pulling her hood tighter.
"Hi."
"Hi."
Aria smiled under her mask. "So. Banana milk?"
Kaelira linked their arms. "Banana milk. And maybe… some shrimp chips."
"Scandalous."
⤹ ❀
10:20PM – Inside the Mart
They wandered the aisles like kids in a candy store — which, to be fair, was basically what the back section of the mart was.
Kaelira loaded a basket with banana milk, yogurt drinks, honey butter chips, and three different kinds of gummies. Aria added a triangular rice ball, a tiny cup of pudding, and a ramen she claimed was "absolutely life-changing at 2AM."
"You planning on feeding a whole dorm?" Aria teased.
Kaelira poked her side. "I panic shop when I'm happy."
"Is that a thing?"
"It is now."
They took turns holding the basket. Argued over which jelly had the best texture. Debated whether melon bread was a breakfast food. Aria reached for something on the top shelf, couldn't quite get it, and Kaelira wordlessly stepped in and grabbed it for her.
Aria looked up at her. "Tall privilege."
Kaelira grinned. "Can't help my genetics."
They paid. Left the store with their arms full of snacks and heads full of quiet joy.
⤹ ❀
10:45PM – The Rooftop
"Wait—your rooftop?" Kaelira whispered.
Aria nodded, unlocking the metal door that led to the top of her building. "Don't worry. It's safe. I come up here all the time."
The rooftop was empty, wide, and just a little magical. String lights were pinned along the edge of the fence, flickering softly. Potted plants sat in corners, swaying in the breeze. And in the middle: a worn blanket and two milk crates they'd now repurposed as snack tables.
Kaelira's eyes went wide. "This is so main character behavior."
Aria smirked. "You haven't even seen the best part."
She flicked a switch. The small speaker on the crate lit up, playing a soft lo-fi beat.
Kaelira blinked. "Okay. I'm dating a Pinterest board."
Aria paused. "Dating?"
Kaelira flushed. "I meant—hypothetically. I mean. If we were."
Aria looked at her.
Kaelira bit her lip. "Was that weird?"
Aria shook her head, voice quiet. "Not weird."
They sat.
Unpacked their snacks.
Unfolded into each other like it was the most natural thing in the world.
⤹ ❀
11:12PM
They were side by side, sharing a pack of gummies and talking about the weirdest places they'd ever cried.
Aria: "In a karaoke booth while singing 'Love Scenario.'"
Kaelira: "In the back of a cab while the driver played an IU ballad."
They laughed until they couldn't breathe.
Aria wiped her eyes. "God, my stomach hurts."
Kaelira was already reaching for a rice ball. "Same. Wanna split the pudding?"
Aria held up a spoon. "Obviously."
They shared it — one spoon, passed back and forth without thinking.
Halfway through, Kaelira said quietly, "This doesn't feel like a fake night."
Aria blinked. "What do you mean?"
Kaelira looked at the sky. "Sometimes, my life feels... performed. Even when I'm resting, it's like I'm still being watched. But this? Right now? Feels like something real. Like... something I didn't have to rehearse."
Aria looked at her for a long second.
Then reached out and gently took her hand.
Kaelira didn't flinch. Didn't even look surprised.
She just laced their fingers together.
⤹ ❀
11:47PM
They were lying down now, heads side by side, sharing the same blanket.
The stars were faint above the city haze, but they were there.
Aria turned her head, her voice soft. "You can come here whenever."
Kaelira met her eyes. "I want to. A lot."
Silence.
A good kind.
A warm, slow kind that said I'm not going anywhere.
Kaelira whispered, "I almost kissed you the other night."
Aria smiled, heart doing slow cartwheels. "I know."
Kaelira laughed under her breath. "Would it have been okay?"
"It would've been perfect."
Their fingers were still intertwined.
The wind blew gently across the rooftop, and it felt like the city exhaled.
No cameras. No pressure.
Just banana milk, quiet stars, and two girls trying not to fall too fast — but doing it anyway.