The walk back from university felt the same as always, the low hum of the city, the quiet rhythm of my footsteps against the pavement. My bag was heavier than usual, or maybe I was just tired.

I remember thinking I’d call you later, tell you about the lecture that ran too long, maybe laugh about how I almost fell asleep halfway through. Just another ordinary day.

By the time I reached home, the sun had already started to fade. My sister greeted me from the living room, a faint smile playing on her lips, the kind of smile she gets when she knows something I don’t.

“There’s someone waiting for you upstairs,” she said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

I blinked. “For me?”

She only nodded before turning back to her book, and I stood there for a moment, trying to make sense of it. My first thought was that she meant a delivery, maybe a friend. I checked my phone, no calls, no texts.

Still, something in her tone made my heart beat a little faster.

I walked up the stairs slowly. The house was quiet, too quiet. The closer I got to my room, the warmer the air felt, like the moment before something happens and you don’t know what yet.

My hand hesitated on the door handle. I don’t even know why. Maybe because I wasn’t expecting anything. Maybe because a part of me was.

When I pushed the door open, I froze.

You were there.

Standing in the soft glow of the room, looking just like I’d seen you in a thousand video calls, except this time, you were real.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe. My thoughts scattered, every word I could’ve said slipping away before it reached my lips.

You smiled. Just that, a simple, quiet smile.

And everything inside me fell still.

All the late-night calls, all the distance, all the “I wish you were here”s, they all led to this. This silence, this warmth, this moment that felt like it could last forever.

I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I just looked at you.

And somehow, that was enough.

The quiet between us said everything.