Suzanne didn't sleep well that night — not because of the dizziness or the fainting spell, but because of Ryan's message repeating in her mind like a heartbeat.
"Tomorrow… I need to talk to you."
Need.
Not want.
It scared her.
But morning came anyway, carrying sunlight through her curtains and warming her face. She opened her eyes to a new day — a day that felt strangely softer, kinder, as if life itself wanted to give her a little break.
Liam burst into her room before she could even sit up.
"Didi! You're not allowed to be sick today!" he declared dramatically.
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why exactly?"
"Because I made pancakes," he said proudly, holding a plate where the pancakes looked like they had survived an earthquake.
She laughed — loudly.
"Wow… these look like art."
"Eat it!" he said, shoving the plate at her. "Dad said if you smile a lot today, he'll buy me football shoes."
"Liam!" she shouted, laughing harder.
Her father peeked in from the hallway with a crooked smile.
"Bribery works sometimes."
Her mother shook her head behind him. "My children and their nonsense."
The room filled with laughter — warm, bright, real.
Moments like these were the ones she wanted to hold onto forever.
Suzanne expected Ryan to be waiting at the gate with worried eyes and a thousand questions.
But he wasn't.
Instead, he was waiting on the school rooftop — and he texted her to come alone.
Her heart fluttered.
The rooftop.
Their place.
When she pushed open the metal door, she gasped.
Ryan had spread soft-colored fabrics across the floor — mint green and sky blue.
There were paper cranes hanging from strings he had tied to the railings.
And next to him…
A small box.
"Ryan…" she whispered, stepping forward.
He didn't look serious or angry.
Instead, he looked nervous — in a sweet, fragile way.
"You scared me yesterday," he said quietly. "But today… today I want to give you something different."
She swallowed.
"What kind of something?"
He took a deep breath and opened the small box.
Inside was a delicate bracelet — silver, simple, glowing in the sunlight.
"It's not expensive," he said quickly. "But I saw it and… I thought of you. It reminded me of the way you look at the sky."
Suzanne felt tears burning behind her eyes.
Not sad tears.
Something softer.
Something full.
"Ryan, you didn't have to—"
"I wanted to," he said, stepping closer.
He held her wrist gently, sliding the bracelet onto her skin. His fingers lingered there for a moment — warm, trembling slightly.
And then —
He looked into her eyes.
Not with worry.
Not with fear.
But with something deeper.
Something almost like love.
"You mean a lot to me."
Ryan said it so quietly that the wind nearly carried it away.
Suzanne's breath caught.
"I don't want to lose you," he continued. "Not to distance. Not to misunderstandings. Not to anything."
She looked down, trying to hide the emotion filling her.
"Ryan… I'm not going anywhere."
He lifted her chin with a gentle touch.
"Promise?"
She nodded.
"I promise."
And maybe it was not the kind of promise she could keep forever…
But today?
She wanted to give him all the happiness she could.
He sat beside her on the blankets he had laid out. They talked about silly things — teachers they disliked, movies they wanted to watch, dreams they never said out loud.
At one point, Suzanne made a joke so bad Ryan literally fell back laughing.
"Stop, I'm dying!" he shouted dramatically.
She smacked his arm. "Don't say that word."
He sat up, instantly serious for a second.
"Sorry," he whispered.
But then he nudged her shoulder gently, bringing the lightness back.
"Fine. I'm… living too hard."
"Much better," she said, smiling.
The sky above them was a perfect shade of blue.
The breeze was soft.
Her heart felt warm.
It was one of those days that didn't feel like a day —
it felt like a memory preparing itself.
After an hour of talking, Ryan lay back, staring at the sky.
"Suzanne?" he said softly.
"Hmm?"
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while."
Her heart skipped.
"What is it?" she asked.
He turned his head slowly to look at her.
His eyes were warm… deep… honest.
"I think… I'm falling for—"
A loud bell rang suddenly, interrupting him.
They both jumped.
Ryan groaned. "Are you serious?! Right now?!"
Suzanne laughed — a bright, ringing laugh that made him smile helplessly.
"We should go," she said, standing up.
But as she walked toward the door, she heard Ryan whisper under his breath:
"—falling for you."
She froze for a second.
Just a second.
But she didn't turn around.
If she did…
she knew her heart would burst open.
As she reached the stairs, her phone buzzed with a new message.
Doctor's Appointment
Tomorrow — 5 p.m.
Mandatory review.
Susan's smile slowly faded.
A cold wave seeped into her chest.
Tomorrow…
Was the storm coming closer again?
---