The café smelled of roasted coffee beans and fresh pastries, but Elena barely tasted the sweetness in the air. She had promised Damian she would meet him, though every step that brought her closer had felt heavier.
He was already there when she arrived, sitting at their usual table by the window. His smile was warm, practiced, and familiar. For a moment, it almost worked—almost made her believe he was still the boy she used to trust.
"Elena," he said, standing to pull out her chair. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten me."
She forced a smile and sat. "I said I'd come."
His eyes softened, but his words carried a weight beneath them. "And you kept your word. That means a lot."
---
They talked about ordinary things at first—classes, old memories, the people they once knew. Damian laughed easily, his voice carrying the same gentle timbre she had once adored.
But then, inevitably, the conversation shifted.
"You've changed," he said suddenly, his gaze fixed on her face.
Elena's stomach tightened. "Everyone changes."
"Not like this," Damian replied, shaking his head. "You used to be so… free. Now it's like you're trapped in his shadow."
Her lips parted, but no reply came.
He leaned forward, his voice lowering. "He doesn't deserve you. You know that, don't you?"
"Damian…" she began, but his hand closed over hers across the table.
The contact was gentle, but the insistence behind it made her flinch. She tried to pull back, but he held on, his smile never fading.
"I'm not trying to scare you," he said softly. "I just can't stand watching you throw yourself into something that will destroy you."
Her heart pounded, not from his touch but from the intensity in his eyes.
---
Before she could respond, a shadow fell across the table.
Adrian.
He stood there in a dark coat, his presence commanding enough to silence the entire café. Conversations faltered. Eyes darted toward him, then away again, as if afraid to meet his gaze.
"Am I interrupting?" Adrian asked, though his tone carried no apology.
Elena's breath caught. Damian's hand tightened on hers.
"Yes," Damian said flatly.
Adrian's eyes dropped to where their hands touched. Slowly, deliberately, he reached down and peeled Damian's fingers away, one by one, before sliding his own hand into Elena's. The claim was wordless, absolute.
"She's coming with me," Adrian said.
A hush fell over the café.
Elena's pulse raced. Part of her wanted to protest, to pull away from both of them, but her body betrayed her again—leaning into Adrian's shadow, finding safety in his dominance.
Damian stood, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "You can't keep doing this," he snapped, his voice trembling with restrained fury. "You can't just appear and drag her away like she's… yours."
Adrian smirked, though his eyes glinted with danger. "Can't I?"
The tension between them was suffocating. Damian's smile had vanished entirely, replaced by raw, unguarded anger. For the first time, Elena saw him not as the gentle senior she remembered but as a man unraveling.
"She deserves better," Damian said, his fists clenched at his sides. "She deserves someone who won't cage her."
Adrian stepped closer, his grip on Elena's hand tightening. "And you think that's you?"
Damian's voice cracked with emotion. "At least I'm not a monster."
The word sliced through the air.
For a moment, silence hung heavy. Then Adrian chuckled, low and dark. "Maybe not. But I've never pretended to be anything else."
He turned to Elena, his eyes burning into hers. "Come with me."
Her heart stuttered. The café, Damian's glare, the whispers of strangers—all of it blurred as Adrian's hand anchored her.
And she went.
---
The car ride was silent at first, the city lights flickering across Adrian's face as he drove. Elena stared at her lap, guilt and confusion tearing at her chest.
Finally, Adrian spoke. "Do you see it now?"
She swallowed hard. "See what?"
"The cracks in his smile," Adrian said simply.
Her mind replayed the image of Damian's face—his clenched fists, the fire in his eyes, the desperation in his voice.
"He's… not like that," she whispered, though the words sounded hollow even to her.
Adrian's lips curved faintly, not in mockery but in something sharper. "Not yet. But he will be. Light blinds as much as shadow, Elena. Remember that."
She turned toward the window, her reflection staring back at her. Two men, two truths, and her heart caught in between.
But even now, with guilt gnawing at her, her hand still tingled where Adrian's fingers had laced with hers.
---
Later, as she lay in Adrian's apartment, her thoughts churned. Damian's outburst replayed in her mind, colliding with Adrian's dangerous certainty.
She closed her eyes, but sleep didn't come. Because deep down, she knew something had shifted today.
Damian wasn't just her memory of sunlight anymore.
He was something else—something darker, something she hadn't wanted to see.
And the thought terrified her.