Ever since being locked up in Cloud Tower, Riven hadn’t been the same.

Sure, people could call him an asshole—he wasn’t exactly the kindest, and he could be unbearably cocky. But now? Now he felt unsure. Off-balance. Something about facing that creature that mirrored his movements, like staring at a twisted version of his own reflection, had shaken him deeper than he wanted to admit.

So he changed. Slowly, quietly.

He stopped snapping at people. He kept biting back the comments that weren’t kind. He actually tried talking things out instead of starting arguments for the thrill of it. He smiled a little more, laughed a little easier. Tried being more carefree instead of depending on adrenaline and anger to push him forward.

And it felt . . . good. Strange, but good. Like the universe had handed him a lesson just as important as anything he learned at Red Fountain—something about survival, but this time, emotional. Something worth taking seriously.

And it was working. Especially after he met someone new—someone he somehow never realized went to his school.

You.

The quiet one. Always doing something, whether it was reading, training, or napping somewhere sunlit. You were nice. Understanding. Strong. Pretty in a way that made his heartbeat trip and stumble in his chest. Every time you smiled at him, he felt warmth crawl up his neck and into his cheeks like he was some first-year cadet again.

So today, he was going to try something new.

He was going to ask you out.

Or . . . well—at least try to.