Aurora forced a smile, but it wobbled at the corners.
"I broke up with Ethan," she said quietly.
Mia shot up like she'd been electrocuted. "*What?! Oh my God, are you serious?"
Aurora nodded, feeling strangely numb.
Mia scrambled across the room and pulled Aurora into a fierce hug. "I am sooo proud of you," she said, voice thick with emotion. "I know how hard that was. You deserve so much better, Rory."
The tears threatened again, but Aurora blinked them back. She hugged Mia tighter, grateful beyond words.
"I just... I….i need to clear my head today," Aurora whispered. "I'm going to the library for a bit."
Mia pulled back and studied her face. "Okay. Good. Space is good. Just text me if you need me, okay?"
"I will," Aurora promised.
Armed with nothing but her tote bag and Eleanor Gray's novel, Aurora headed across campus.
The library was blessedly quiet.
She chose a corner table by a window, surrounded by rows of worn books and the soft scratch of pens against paper. It was comforting… safe.
She opened her novel and tried to read, but her thoughts kept drifting.
Was Ethan still trying to call her? Was he angry? Sad? Furious?
Did she even care?
Aurora sighed and turned the page, looking up briefly…and that's when she noticed him.
The boy from the night before.
He sat a few tables away, half-hidden behind a stack of books. His hair was dark, messy in an artfully careless way. He wore a gray hoodie and jeans, and he was staring intently at a thick book bounded by a dark blue leather.
Except... every few minutes, his eyes flicked up , right at her.
Their gazes collided briefly.
Aurora's heart skipped, but not in the way it used to around Ethan.
This was different …sharp, unsettling, but also... curious.
He quickly looked away, pretending to be engrossed in his book.
Aurora frowned slightly.
Had she seen him before?
He looked... familiar.
And not just from last night.
Flashes filled her mind… a boy at the coffee shop by the philosophy building. A figure sitting three rows behind during her Creative Writing lecture. Someone strolling past her favorite bench near the garden courtyard.
"Was it him all along?"
The realization sent a strange shiver down her spine.
She turned back to her novel, pretending to read, but her mind raced.
Coincidence?
Or something more?
When she glanced up again, he was still there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aurora's fingers tightened around the edge of her book.
Maybe she was being ridiculous. Maybe he was just another student who liked the library.
But a voice inside her , the one she usually ignored whispered, "Find out!."
Before she could overthink it, she pushed her chair back, gathered her courage like armor around her, and stood.
The sound seemed to echo in the quiet space. A few students looked up briefly, but she kept her eyes fixed on her goal.
The boy whose name was Lucas noticed her approach. His body stiffened slightly, his hands tightening on the book, but he didn't move. He watched her like a wary animal unsure if she was friend or predator.
Aurora stopped a few feet from his table.
"Hey," she said, voice soft but steady.
Lucas blinked up at her, feigning surprise. "Hey."
Up close, he was even more familiar , and even more handsome than she realized.
Dark, thoughtful eyes.
A jawline sharp enough to cut glass. Yet there was something almost... sad about him. Something he hid behind the crooked little smile he was offering her now.
"Um... sorry if this is weird," Aurora said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "But... have we met before?"
Lucas tilted his head slightly, pretending to think. "I don't think so."
"But..." She laughed awkwardly, feeling foolish. "I swear I've seen you around a lot lately."
He shrugged, one shoulder lifting lazily. "Maybe we just hang out in the same places."
Aurora flushed. Maybe she was imagining everything.
Still, something made her stay rooted to the spot.
"What are you reading?" she asked, nodding toward the thick book in his hands.
Lucas turned it slightly so she could see the title.
Her heart skipped.
"Eleanor Gray," she breathed. "You're reading Eleanor Gray!?"
Lucas's lips curved into a real smile this time, and it was devastating.
"Yeah. 'Letters to the Unwritten.' One of my favorites."
Aurora's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's my favorite too!." she said, wondering how big of a coincidence it was that they both liked novels from the same author.
He laughed under his breath, the sound low,rough and deep. "Small world."
A warm, electric feeling hummed through her.
Maybe... just maybe... this day wasn't a total disaster after all.
"Mind if I sit?" she asked, surprising herself.
Lucas gestured grandly to the seat across from him. "Be my guest."
Aurora slid into the chair, her heart thudding wildly.
They talked ….first about Eleanor Gray's books, then about their favorite characters, favorite lines, favorite heartbreaking moments.
Lucas knew "everything". He quoted passages, laughed at inside jokes only true fans would understand, and listened ….really listened when Aurora spoke.
It was easy.
It was 'too' easy.
At one point, Aurora caught herself laughing …real, unrestrained laughter and it startled her. She hadn't laughed like that in... she couldn't even remember.
Maybe it was the way Lucas looked at her like she mattered. Like he saw right through her broken pieces but didn't mind them.
Still, in the back of her mind, doubt lingered.
Was it truly coincidence?
Or something more deliberate?
As if sensing her unease, Lucas leaned back in his chair, studying her quietly.
"You seem... like you have a lot on your mind," he said gently.
Aurora hesitated.
Could she tell him? This stranger who felt somehow familiar?
"It's... been a rough few days," she admitted.
Lucas nodded slowly, as if he understood far more than she said.
"If it helps," he said, voice low and earnest, "sometimes the worst endings make way for the best beginnings."
Aurora's throat tightened painfully.
'Best beginnings?' She didn't know if she believed in those anymore.
But sitting here, across from him, she wanted to try.
"Thanks," she whispered.
They smiled at each other ….small, tentative, but real.
It was the beginning of something neither of them could yet name.
And somewhere, in the shadows of the library, a storm was already brewing.
Because unknown to Aurora, Ethan wasn't giving up.
Not yet.
And Lucas...
Lucas had secrets of his own.
Secrets that could either save her…..or destroy her.