It was late afternoon when Elena texted him.
Nothing elaborate.
Just:
| Hey. I'm grabbing coffee at the campus café. Want to join me?
Simple.Neutral.But it meant something.
Because for the first time in almost two weeks, she wasn't trying to navigate a silence or pretend she didn't miss him. She was just asking.
And he didn't overthink it.
Alexander (4:13 PM):
| Yeah. Be there in 10.
Elena sat on a bench just outside the café, her fingers curled around a paper cup still too hot to sip from. The weather had dropped enough to make her grateful for her sweater, though she'd brought an extra one just in case.
Not for her.
For him.
Not that she'd admit that out loud.
The sun angled low behind the art building, casting long shadows across the quad. Students passed by in pairs, or alone, earbuds in and shoulders hunched, all moving somewhere.
She was still.
Waiting.
Not anxious.Just… aware.
And then she saw him.
Hoodie, jeans, dark sneakers. His gait unhurried. That same quiet energy he always carried like a second skin. His eyes scanned until they found hers, and something about the way his mouth tilted into that soft half-smile made her breath hitch.
No words yet.Just presence.
He sat beside her, close but not too close.
Neither of them said anything right away.
The kind of quiet that didn't need to be broken.
"I like this spot," Alexander said eventually, nodding toward the bench and the scattered trees. "Quiet. Not too busy."
Elena smiled, gaze still forward. "It's my escape between classes. No one really stops here unless they're lost or trying to avoid someone."
"Or trying not to be found."
She glanced sideways at him. "And which are you?"
He sipped the coffee she'd handed him, then paused mid-swallow.
"You didn't ask how I take it."
"I didn't," she said, a little grin teasing her lips. "Just guessed."
He studied her over the rim of the cup, then nodded.
"Black. No sugar. Accurate."A pause."Should I be impressed or mildly concerned?"
She laughed, soft and real. "Observant. Or lucky. Jury's out."
They sat like that for a while, letting the air fill the space between words.
It was Elena who broke the silence next.
"I almost didn't text you," she said softly. "I thought maybe I should wait."
Alexander looked over at her, his expression unreadable but not unkind.
"I would've waited," he replied. "But I'm glad you didn't."
Their eyes met.
And held.
Not with intensity.
But with understanding.
The kind of look that said: We're here. And that's enough.
"Do you ever think about how we ended up… like this?" she asked after a minute, not quite facing him.
He shrugged gently. "You mean… sitting here like we didn't meet on… that one night?"
Elena's smile faltered, just slightly. That one night.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah."
He didn't press it. Didn't mention names. Didn't reopen any wounds. Just let the weight of the words hang there, then drift away.
"I think about it sometimes," he said. "Not how it happened. Just… that it did."
Her eyes softened. "Me too."
Eventually, he leaned back against the bench, his shoulder brushing hers just slightly.
"You're not like most people," he said, without looking at her.
She tilted her head. "Is that your way of saying I'm weird?"
"No," he said, and now he did glance her way. "It's my way of saying… I don't mind being around you. Even when we're not saying anything."
Elena didn't respond right away.
But when she finally did, her voice was quieter than before.
"I don't mind it either."
They stayed like that until the sky turned golden and the shadows stretched long across the sidewalk.
Nothing was decided.Nothing was confessed.
But something shifted.
And for now… that was more than enough.