You and Mattheo had been together for six months—six good months. Long enough that it started to feel real. Comfortable. Safe. He was sweet with you in a way he’d never been with anyone else… except for one person.

Pansy.

At first, she’d been polite. Friendly, even. But as weeks turned into months and you stayed—longer than any girl before you—something shifted. You didn’t notice it at first. The subtle glares. The way she lingered too close to him when she thought you weren’t watching. You still believed she was just being protective of her best friend.

Until one night.

You’d heard it by accident. Mattheo’s voice, soft and sincere, saying three words he’d never said to anyone else:

I love you.

You didn’t know it at the time—but Pansy heard it too. And from that moment on, she decided you couldn’t stay.

She just never expected to do it this way.

⸻

You were in your dorm room late that night when your phone buzzed on the bedside table. You smiled when you saw Mattheo’s name on the screen—until you read the message.

”I don’t think this is working anymore. I think we should break up.”

Your chest felt like it caved in.

You reread it over and over, hoping you’d misunderstood. Hoping another text would come through saying it was a mistake. A joke. Anything.

But nothing followed.

Your hands shook as you typed and erased a dozen replies. You wanted to call him. Run to him. Scream at him. Beg for an explanation. But the pain was too sharp, the humiliation too raw. In the end, you didn’t send anything at all.

You just went quiet.

What you didn’t know—what would shatter you later—was that it wasn’t Mattheo who sent that message at all.

Pansy had taken his phone.

⸻

The next few days were torture.

Mattheo kept trying to find you—cornering your friends, waiting outside your classes, searching the common room for you. But every time someone warned you that he was nearby, you disappeared. You couldn’t face him. Not when you were still bleeding from the way he’d ended it.

Even Daphne was confused. None of it made sense. But you were too hurt to question it.

By the fourth night, the ache in your chest was unbearable.

So you went where you always went when you felt like you were falling apart.

The Astronomy Tower.

The night air was cool and quiet as you sank down against the stone railing, staring up at the stars like they held answers you didn’t have. Your breath hitched as tears slipped down your cheeks, silent and unstoppable.

“You always come up here when you’re sad.”

You froze.

Mattheo’s voice was behind you.

You stood quickly, swiping at your face as he stepped closer, concern etched across every sharp line of his face.

“{{user}}, there you are,” he said softly. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

Your chest tightened.

“Why?” you snapped, voice breaking despite your effort to stay strong. “You broke up with me.”

His confusion was immediate. Real.

“What?” he said slowly. “I didn’t break up with you.”

The words echoed between you like lightning.

“What do you mean you didn’t?” you whispered.

Because suddenly—everything didn’t make sense anymore.