That night, Elise sat by the window of her dorm, staring at the moonlight spilling across her desk. Her notebook lay open, but the words blurred.
Her chest felt heavy.
Why do I feel this way? she thought, hugging her knees. I was right. He has no right to decide who I trust… who I talk to. So why does it feel like I just broke something I shouldn't have?
Her words from earlier echoed back at her, sharp and merciless: You're not anything to me.
She squeezed her eyes shut. The look on Davon's face—the shimmer in his eyes—wouldn't leave her mind.
"Why… why does he keep protecting me?" she whispered into the silence, her voice trembling. "Why does it hurt me to hurt him?"
A tear slipped down her cheek, though she quickly brushed it away. No. I won't let myself get pulled in. Not by him.
But her heart wasn't listening.
---
Far away, in the quiet of his dorm, Davon broke.
His fists clenched against his eyes, but the tears came anyway. His shoulders shook as he fell onto the edge of his bed.
"I can't lose her again…" his voice cracked, raw with despair. "Not again."
His sister, a graceful vampire with the same crimson eyes, sat beside him and placed a hand on his back.
"Davon," she murmured gently.
"What if she hates me?" he whispered, his voice breaking like glass. "What if she never wants to see me again? What if she never remembers…?" His breathing hitched, trembling. "I found her… after everything… and now she's slipping away from me all over again."
Tears traced his cheeks, and his sister pulled him into her arms, holding him the way only family could.
"She doesn't hate you," she whispered firmly, stroking his hair. "She's just confused. But listen to me—Elise loves you. Somewhere in her heart, she does. She just doesn't know it yet. You have to help her open her eyes, little brother."
Davon clung to her words like a drowning man clings to the shore. Slowly, his sobs softened, exhaustion pulling him under.
When his breathing steadied, his sister eased him onto the bed. She brushed the damp hair from his forehead, her eyes softening.
"Rest, Davon," she whispered. "Tomorrow is another chance."
With a final glance at her sleeping brother, she pulled the blanket over him and slipped silently out of the room.
The night carried both his tears and Elise's silent questions, two hearts aching across the campus—longing for each other, yet bound by pain.