The morning air carried the smell of rain, though the clouds had already cleared.Velithra walked beside Kai, their steps quiet against the wet pavement. Neither spoke — not because there was nothing to say, but because words somehow felt too fragile to touch.
They hadn't planned to leave the house. But after everything — the sleepless night, the tension neither of them wanted to name — they'd both needed air.
They ended up by the bridge anyway. The old one, behind the park — the place where students sometimes hung out after class. It wasn't far, but it felt like a world apart from everything else.
Kai leaned against the railing, looking out at the slow-moving water below. His hair fell over his eyes, dark and soft in the muted light.
Velithra stood beside him, her hands tucked into her sleeves. She could feel the unspoken words between them — heavy, careful, waiting.
He broke the silence first."You ever feel like everyone's watching you live your life, but no one's actually in it with you?"
She looked at him, startled by how close that was to what she'd always felt. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Every day."
Kai let out a slow breath and nodded. "That's how it's been for me, for a long time."
There was no bitterness in his tone. Just truth.
Velithra shifted slightly, resting her elbows on the cold metal railing. "You don't talk much about yourself."
He gave a faint smile. "Maybe I'm scared I'll ruin whatever people think I am."
She turned toward him, frowning softly. "You don't need to be anyone else."
He looked up then, and for the first time, she really saw him — not just the boy everyone stared at, not just the quiet mystery. But someone tired. Someone who'd carried too much alone.
The wind brushed through his hair, and he looked back at her."You make it sound easy," he said.
"It's not," she replied. "But it's better than pretending."
For a moment, neither of them moved. The space between them was full of something fragile — something that felt like it could break if either of them breathed too hard.
Then, softly, Kai reached out.His hand brushed hers.
It wasn't much — just skin against skin, light enough that she could've pulled away if she wanted to. But she didn't.
He didn't look at her when he spoke next."I'm not good at this," he said quietly. "Talking. Or… being close to people."
Velithra's voice came out barely above a whisper. "I'm not asking you to be good at it. Just to try."
He looked at her then, really looked — and something in his expression shifted. The wall in his eyes lowered, just a little.
"Okay," he said. "I can try."
Velithra smiled faintly, the kind of smile that didn't quite reach her eyes but was real anyway. "Good."
They stayed like that — not touching more than that one simple connection — just two people breathing the same air, the same silence, letting it mean something.
And for once, neither of them felt completely alone.