Merlina's POV
For a moment, it felt like gravity was pulling us together — like something inevitable.
Our faces, so close, I could feel the heat of his breath mingling with mine, suspended in the fragile space between us. I didn't dare move. Neither did he. We were balanced on the edge of something, and I couldn't tell if I wanted to fall or flee.
Then his phone buzzed, sharp and sudden, breaking the spell.
Craig pulled back, the moment shattering. He fumbled for his phone, and something flickered in his eyes as he glanced at the screen.
"Adriana," he muttered under his breath.
The name hit me. I had heard it before — in passing, whispered from someone else's mouth.
Adriana.
Of course. She wasn't just anyone. She was his someone. I felt my heart twist awkwardly, painfully.
Gosh, why was I feeling this way?
I straightened, instinctively pulling myself together, arms crossing over my chest. I masked the sting with a polite smile, one that didn't — couldn't — reach my eyes. My skin prickled with discomfort, like I had done something wrong just by standing so close to him. Like I had crossed a line I hadn't seen until it was too late.
The phone continued to buzz urgently, turning slightly away from me, he answered.
"Hey… yeah, I'm fine. Good… I'll be there in a bit," he said, voice low and casual, like we hadn't just almost—
I looked away, pretending to focus on the street, trying to collect myself. I pressed my fingers lightly against the spot on my waist where his hand had just been, the heat of his touch still etched into my skin. It was stupid how much it lingered — how much I wanted it to.
Craig lowered the phone and sighed. "I'll have to go soon," he said quietly.
I nodded, small and composed, trying not to let anything show. But inside, I was unraveling just a little.
We stood in silence for a moment, the weight of everything we hadn't said crushing the air between us.
"Everything okay?" I asked, hating how hesitant I sounded, how unsure.
He looked at me, something uncertain flickering behind his eyes. "Yeah. Just… my girlfriend."
There it was.
The confirmation. Girlfriend.
The word rang in my ears, heavy and inescapable. He said it casually, but it dropped between us like an anchor. I shouldn't have felt anything, but the ache in my chest said otherwise. I nodded like it didn't matter. Like it hadn't just realigned everything.
"But really," he added softly, "are you okay?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat. No, I wasn't. Not really. But I couldn't let him see that — not now, not ever. So I drew in a breath and forced a light laugh.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks to you."
He smiled faintly — that infuriatingly unreadable smile.
"I think I can see my car." He said.
There was a pause. Then his voice shifted, gentler somehow.
"Need a ride?"
I shook my head quickly, clutching my composure like armor. "I'm good, thanks. My dorm's just around the corner."
He nodded slowly, like he didn't actually want to leave either. "Alright."
We stayed frozen for a moment longer, caught in the silence, in everything neither of us was saying.
"Goodnight, Merlina," he said finally, his voice soft — sincere.
"Goodnight, Craig," I replied, my chest tightening.
We turned away from each other, walking in opposite directions. My steps felt heavy, each one pulling me farther from something I wasn't even sure I had.
The night air was cold, but not cold enough to numb what I felt. His presence still clung to me — a memory I couldn't quite shake.
Back in my dorm, I lay on my bed feeling like the worst version of myself. My phone rested on my chest, but I hadn't looked at it in a while. I couldn't. My thoughts were too loud, my heart too full.
He's with her.
Adriana.
I hadn't seen her, but I didn't need to. The name was enough — clean, sharp, definitive. She existed in his life, in his space, in the way he said my girlfriend like a bold statement, like no one else mattered.
My mind whispered the truth over and over, cruel and quiet.
I hated that I was feeling so defeated over the fact he had a girlfriend.
This was so unlike me.
I rolled onto my side and curled in on myself, as if I could shrink away from the thoughts chasing me. But they always caught up — the way his hand had brushed against my waist, the way his eyes had lingered, the way he'd looked at me like I was the only one in the world.
Was that nothing?
Was I nothing?
I pressed my palms to my face, trying to hold it all together. God, I felt so pathetic.
"Don't think about it," I whispered into the darkness. "You've no right to be jealous. Just stop."
But it was already too late. I had let myself feel too much. And now I didn't know how to take it all back.
Craig's POV
In the quiet of my room, I lay on my bed, shirtless, unmoving, like I'd been pinned here by a feeling I couldn't shake.
Adriana was curled against me, her head on my chest, her breath warm and steady like clockwork.
My arm rested around her, loose and automatic. Muscle memory.
I held my phone in my other hand, not even looking at it anymore. I wasn't texting. I wasn't scrolling. I was just… stuck. Caught in the middle of a memory I couldn't get out of.
A memory of her.
I closed my eyes, hoping it might clear my head, but it only made things worse. Because all I saw was Merlina. The way she looked at me — like she didn't want to feel anything, but she couldn't help it. The way her face was so close to mine, her breath brushing against my lips. The way she leaned in, like she trusted me.
It had felt right. Too right.
Not until the my phone buzzed and pulled us back to my reality.
I exhaled, slow and heavy, like I could breathe the guilt out of my body.
Adriana stirred, mumbling something soft in her sleep as she snuggled closer. I wrapped an arm around her, instinctively. Just a hollow reflex. A move I'd gotten used to over time.
A moment later, I shifted away from her, careful not to wake her, and turned onto my side. My back to her. My chest cold where her warmth used to be.
Eyes open.
Mind racing.
I could still hear the catch in Merlina's voice when she asked if everything was okay. I had told her I had a girlfriend — casually, like it meant nothing. But I'd watched her flinch like the word had weight.
It did.
Did it?
Or was that just my imagination?
Because saying it out loud felt heavier than it should've. Like I wasn't just telling her — I was reminding myself.
That I belonged to someone else.
That whatever had just passed between us, couldn't go anywhere.
The way her expression shifted when I told her about Adriana, it's stuck in my head. Like something fragile between us cracked.
It felt like it meant something.
At least… it did to me.
But maybe that's just me holding on. Wanting it to matter. Wanting to believe I wasn't the only one who felt whatever that was.
Because if I was…
God, what does that say about me?