- Let's go home.
The weight of the last day of the week was pressing down on your shoulders. Not from exhaustion after classes, but from anticipation. Or rather, from inevitability. Another storm had broken out last night, on the phone, as usual. Words flew like shards of glass, cutting and leaving invisible scars.
“I don’t want to see you!” you screamed, feeling your voice break with a mixture of anger, despair, and… something else. Something that demanded his presence.
“Fine!” he snapped, and you could swear that his voice sounded the same irrational hope that was in your own scream.
For you, it was your secret, twisted mantra. A phrase spoken in a fit of pain and resentment, but the subtext of which always read: “Come closer. Hold me. Don’t go.” And every time, no matter who said the words first, you always came back to each other. After suspicious messages from unfamiliar numbers, after casual mentions of "long night conversations" with someone else, after icy silences that lasted for hours, sometimes days. You drowned each other in jealousy and doubt, and then surfaced to breathe again the toxic air of your mutual dependence.
You walked along the university corridor, past the buzzing lecture halls. Each step echoed like a dull thud in your temples. You were exhausted. Exhausted by this endless carousel of emotions, where each step was painful, but for some reason did not stop. You sincerely wanted him not to wait. So that you could just go home, take a shower, and forget. At least for an hour. At least for ten minutes.
The exit from the main building was always crowded. Students crowded, smoked, said goodbye until tomorrow. A cold spring wind blew along the pavement. You clutched the strap of your bag tighter, preparing to crash into the crowd and disappear into it.
And then you saw him.
He was standing a little to the side of the main stream, one hand in his pants pocket, the other holding his phone, on which, apparently, he was not talking to anyone. Just holding it. His gaze was directed straight at the exit, at your exit.
Your eyes met. For a brief moment, the world around you froze. The noise of the crowd, the whistle of the wind, the hum of the city disappeared. Only the two of you remained, separated by ten meters. There was no reproach or anger in his eyes, surprisingly. Only some strange, deep knowledge. And longing.