Stephen did not leave campus immediately.
After the rain, after Nadia's smile, after that small conversation beneath the shelter, he found himself walking slowly with nowhere to go.
His hands were in his pockets. His mind was somewhere else.
He had spent the last three days telling himself he was only being careful.
That avoiding her was the smart thing.
That keeping his distance meant none of this could become complicated.
But now?
Now he knew he had been lying to himself.
Because if he didn't care about Nadia, none of this would bother him so much.
He would not notice when she entered a room.
He would not remember the sound of her laugh after the party.
He would not spend three days avoiding her only to stand in the rain thinking about the way she looked at him.
Stephen stopped walking.
The realization came quietly.
He liked her.
Not a little.
Enough to make him cautious.
Enough to make him afraid of getting it wrong.
He exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"So that's the problem," he muttered to himself.
It had never really been about Joshua.
Or the things he had heard.
Not completely.
Those things mattered, yes. But the reason he cared so much was because it was Nadia.
Because somewhere between the dance, the small glances, and the way she smiled at him like she had been waiting for him to notice her—
he had.
And now he didn't know what to do with it.
He thought about the way she looked today, standing beside him with rain caught in the ends of her hair.
The way she kept pretending she was annoyed when really she had just wanted him to stop avoiding her.
The way she smiled when he laughed.
His chest tightened.
He wanted to be around her.
He wanted to know her properly.
But he also knew himself.
When Stephen cared, he cared deeply. Too deeply sometimes.
And maybe that was why he had been running.
Because it was easier to ignore her than to admit she mattered.
But he was tired of pretending.
No more avoiding her.
No more walking away the moment she appeared.
He would take his time.
Be careful.
But he would stop acting like she meant nothing.
Because she didn't.
She really didn't.
—
Nadia got home feeling lighter than she had in days.
She dropped her bag by the door and sat on the edge of her bed, still thinking about him.
Stephen had smiled today.
Not the polite smile he gave everyone else.
A real one.
And for the first time since the party, he had not looked at her like he was trying to escape.
I think he's getting more calm with me now, she thought.
More comfortable.
Even if he was still being too careful.
She noticed it in the way he spoke.
The way he looked at her for a second too long, then looked away.
The way he acted like every word between them had to be chosen carefully.
As if he was afraid of doing too much.
Or feeling too much.
She smiled to herself and lay back on the bed.
It was okay.
She would let him take his time.
She knew Stephen wasn't the kind of person to rush into things.
And honestly?
Just standing beside him today had been enough.
Talking to him.
Making him laugh.
Seeing him let his guard down, even for a second.
That alone made her happy.
Before now, she used to imagine moments like this.
What it would feel like to be close to him.
To have him look at her like she mattered.
If not for Joshua…
Her smile faded a little.
Joshua had complicated everything.
Twisted things.
Taken advantage of a situation she never even had the chance to explain.
Sometimes she wondered if Stephen knew part of the story already.
If that was why he looked at her so carefully.
Like he was trying to understand something he didn't have all the answers to.
She closed her eyes.
I hope one day, if he ever finds out the truth, he sees it from my side too.
For now, she didn't want to think too much.
For now, she just wanted to be around him.
She rolled over, reached for her phone, and opened their chat.
For a few seconds, she only stared at his name.
Then she typed:
Hey. Hope you're not feeling cold?
She read it once.
Twice.
Then pressed send.