Snow had not yet begun to fall, but the air tasted like December... cold enough to sting, quiet enough to make the world feel half asleep. Aria had always loved this time of year. It felt like the earth held its breath, waiting for something magical to happen. But tonight, magic wasn't what she was looking for. She just needed clarity. Or closure. Or both.
Her boots crunched against the gravel walkway leading to the community centre's back entrance. The building stood like a tired giant... brick, drafty, too old to be charming... and lit only by the soft orange glow of the security lights. Inside, the annual winter charity rehearsal had wrapped hours ago, but Aria found herself moving toward it anyway.
A week ago, she would've walked home with everyone else. But a week ago, her life still felt normal.
A week ago, she hadn't found that damn letter.
"Still wandering around in the cold?" a voice called behind her.
Aria stiffened.
She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Only one person on earth could make her heart trip over itself with a single sentence.
Leo.
He stood a few steps away, hands shoved into the pockets of his coat, hair messy from running his fingers through it... something he did when he was thinking too hard. Or anxious. Or both. She forced herself to face him, lifting her chin slightly, preparing for the battle she wasn't sure she was strong enough for.
"I left something inside," she said, though it wasn't true. She just needed an excuse for why she was out here instead of anywhere else in the world.
Leo nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on her, soft and searching. "You okay?"
She hated that question. And she hated even more how gentle he sounded. Like he still had the right to ask.
"I'm fine," she answered too quickly.
The wind picked up, brushing her hair across her face. Leo took a step forward before he stopped himself, fists flexing as if he had to physically hold himself back from brushing the strands away for her.
It used to be effortless between them. It used to be simple.
Until it wasn't.
Leo cleared his throat. "You weren't answering my texts."
Aria crossed her arms, trying to steady her breath. "There wasn't anything to say."
"You found the letter." It wasn't a question, more like a confession.
Her chest tightened. "I wasn't supposed to, right?"
Silence settled between them, heavy, like wet snow waiting to fall.
Leo exhaled slowly. "No. You weren't."
The honesty stung more than a lie would have.
She looked away, focusing on the frost gathering along the railing. "So you wrote all that for... who, then? Some mystery girl? Someone who wasn't me?"
He took another step closer. "Aria, please don't..."
"No," she cut in, voice trembling. "Because it sure looked like it. It sounded like you were in love with someone else. Someone who wasn't even real."
His jaw clenched, not in anger. In pain.
"That letter wasn't meant to hurt you," he said quietly.
"But it did."
She didn't realize she whispered it until she saw the way Leo flinched.
She hated this. Hated that one piece of paper had pulled the ground from under her feet. Hated that Leo... the one person she trusted blindly... had turned into a puzzle she no longer knew how to solve.
He took a breath, then another, like he was gathering courage. "Aria... that letter wasn't for some girl. It wasn't for anyone. I wrote it because... well because it was easier than saying the truth out loud."
"And what truth is that if i may ask?"
He hesitated. Leo never hesitated.
"Tell me," she pressed.
But he didn't. Instead he ran a hand through his hair and whispered, "You weren't supposed to see it."
That was all he could say.
Aria stepped back, creating space he didn't try to close. "I shouldn't have come tonight."
She turned toward the walkway, but Leo's voice stopped her.
"Wait."
She hated how quickly she obeyed. She turned. Slowly.
"There's something I need to show you," he said.
She blinked. "Now?"
"It'll make sense. I swear it."
Aria looked at him... really looked at him with those eyes. His breath was visible in the cold. His shoulders tense as if his expression is somewhere in between regret and desperation. Something immediately shifted in her chest, just a little, enough to tilt her balance.
She now sighed and was like. "Fine. Five minutes."
Leo's shoulders dropped as if he'd been holding his breath. He unlocked the back door, letting her in first. Warm air hit her face, carrying the faint scent of pine decorations and leftover hot cocoa from rehearsal.
The community hall was empty, chairs stacked, fairy lights still glowing softly across the stage. Leo walked ahead, stopping near the piano at the front. Aria followed slowly, watching him.
He pulled something from under the bench... an envelope. Her breath caught.
Another letter?
He held it out to her without a word.
"What's this?" she murmured.
"The truth," he said. "The one I couldn't say in the first letter. The one I was supposed to give you on Christmas Eve."
Her pulse kicked. "Why didn't you?"
"Because I was scared." His voice cracked. "Scared that once you knew how I felt, everything between us would change. And then you found the wrong letter, and everything changed anyway."
Aria stared at the envelope. Her name was written on it in Leo's handwriting. Neat. Careful. Intentional.
She didn't open it.
"Leo... I don't know if I'm ready for this."
"I know," he whispered. "But I need you to have it. Even if you don't read it tonight."
The lights hummed softly above them. The entire room felt suspended between past and future, between what she thought she knew and what she didn't dare believe.
Aria slid the letter into her coat pocket, close to her heart.
Leo swallowed hard. "Stay a little longer?"
She should've said no. She should've walked out, gone home, and tried to forget the weight of that envelope.
But she didn't.
She nodded once.
And Leo's expression softened... hope flickering across his face like the first light of dawn.
He sat at the piano and pressed a single key. The note echoed gently, warm and familiar, and Aria felt something shift inside her. Something she'd tried all week to shut down.
Something that started long before tonight.
The night everything changed wasn't when she found the letter.
It was this moment.
Standing beside Leo under the December lights, holding a truth she wasn't ready to read, and realizing she had never stopped hoping for him.
Not even for a second.