Noa didn't sleep that night. She stayed in the editing room until sunrise, clutching the now-blank sketchbook, staring at the empty pages like they might suddenly bring Reno back.
Every creak of the station made her jump. Every shadow made her hope it was Reno sauntering in with that crooked grin, ready to tease her back into sanity. But the room stayed painfully quiet.
By morning, the exhaustion hit her like a freight train. Mira poked her head in, took one look at Noa's red-rimmed eyes, and sighed.
"You look like death. Go home," Mira muttered. "I'll cover your shift."
Noa nodded numbly and stumbled out into the gray dawn.
---
She collapsed onto her couch at home, the sketchbook still clutched to her chest.
*What am I supposed to do now?*
The apartment felt empty. The tiny space was usually her safe haven, where she'd laugh at Reno's dumb jokes, glare at him when he tried to burn popcorn in the microwave, or smack his arm when he changed the channel mid-episode.
Now it was just… silent.
She flipped open the sketchbook for the hundredth time, hoping—somehow—he might be waiting on the page. But there was nothing.
---
Later that day, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Ren.
**REN:** Hey, hope you're okay. Want to grab coffee and talk?
Noa stared at the screen, tears threatening again. She typed back a quick reply:
**NOA:** Sorry… can't today.
Then she turned her phone off.
---
That night, unable to sleep, she dug out her old art supplies from under the bed. She stared at the blank page for a long time, pencil trembling in her grip.
*Maybe… if I draw him again…*
Her hands moved, sketching the messy hair, the crooked smile, the big dumb eyes that always glittered with trouble. But no matter how hard she tried, the drawing stayed stubbornly flat on the page. It didn't twitch. It didn't glow.
It wasn't *him.*
Noa threw the pencil across the room with a frustrated sob.
---
She didn't know how long she sat there, hugging the sketchbook to her chest, tears dripping onto the paper.
"Come back… please… I don't care if you're annoying, or stupid, or make me want to scream… just come back…"
But there was no answer.
---
Outside, the city lights flickered. In the silence, Noa whispered into the dark:
"I miss you."