With finals over, winter break loomed ahead: three weeks apart.
Three weeks that felt simultaneously like nothing and everything. Three weeks that they needed to decide how to handle.
They met for coffee at the small café off campus—their neutral ground, a place that wasn't Adrian's dorm or the dining hall or anywhere weighted with too much history.
The café was nearly empty, most students already gone for break. Just a few stragglers like them, saying goodbye to friends, finishing last-minute errands.
Adrian and Dante claimed a corner table by the window, two lattes between them, both staring at their drinks like they might contain answers.
"Three weeks is a long time," Adrian started, breaking the silence that had settled over them since they'd ordered.
"Yeah." Dante stirred his coffee absently, spoon clinking against the ceramic mug. "Thanksgiving was hard enough and that was only five days."
