Leah didn't remember agreeing to come over again.
She was halfway down the street before she realized she hadn't questioned it at all.
Jonas walked beside her, hands in his pockets, talking about an upcoming exam. Leah nodded at the right moments, her mind drifting in and out of focus. She tried to summon the same ease she used to feel with him—the sense that this was enough.
It wasn't that Jonas was unkind. He never raised his voice. Never ignored her outright. He just… assumed.
Assumed she'd be there.
Assumed she'd listen.
Assumed she'd fit into the empty spaces he left.
At the house, Alyssa was in the kitchen again.
Of course she was.
She looked up as they entered, a smile already forming, as if she'd been waiting without realizing it. Leah felt it immediately—that small, unwanted relief.
"You're back," Alyssa said. "I was just making tea. Do you want some?"
Leah nodded. "Sure."
Jonas declined and disappeared upstairs.
Leah noticed how easily Alyssa filled the silence that followed—not by talking, but by letting it exist. She moved around the kitchen with quiet confidence, offering sugar, milk, lemon, without making Leah feel like a guest.
"You don't have to stay long if you're tired," Alyssa said, setting the mug in front of her.
"I'm not," Leah replied too quickly. Then softer, "I mean… I'm okay."
Alyssa studied her for a moment, not critically, just attentively. "You don't have to justify that."
The words landed deeper than they should have.
Leah wrapped her hands around the mug, grateful for something warm to hold. "You're really good at this," she said before thinking.
"At what?"
"Making people feel… comfortable."
Alyssa smiled, but there was something almost shy in it. "That comes with practice."
Leah wondered what kind of life required that much practice.
They talked until the tea went cold. About books. About how university felt less exciting than everyone pretended it was. About how sometimes Leah felt like she was already tired of a future she hadn't even reached yet.
Alyssa listened. Really listened.
At one point, Leah laughed at something Alyssa said, surprising herself with the sound of it. Alyssa looked at her then—not like she was humoring a younger girl, but like she was seeing her.
The moment stretched.
Leah looked away first.
She felt something twist in her chest—an awareness that made her shift in her seat, suddenly unsure of herself. This wasn't how she was supposed to feel in her boyfriend's kitchen.
When Jonas finally came back downstairs, the air changed. Subtly. Like a door closing somewhere.
"We should go," he said, already reaching for his jacket.
Leah stood, reluctance heavy in her limbs.
Alyssa walked her to the door again.
"Good luck with your classes this week," Alyssa said. "And… take care of yourself."
Leah hesitated, then smiled. "I'll try."
As she stepped outside, Leah realized something that unsettled her far more than it should have.
She wasn't leaving a house.
She was leaving Alyssa.
And the thought made her ache.