I’m slouched on the couch, one leg tucked beneath me, I keep glancing at the time, like maybe if I stare hard enough, I can force the clock to move faster. 1:00 PM. It’s become a kind of ritual now—me waiting, you arriving. My eyes flick toward the hallway just in time to see you appear. You look just the same as you did yesterday—school uniform slightly wrinkled, tie a little loose, hair scooped up into that lazy, messy bun you swear isn’t intentional, but I know better.

You smile and cross the room like you belong here dropping your bag by the door like always, and once you're standing in front of me, I guide you down gently onto the couch. You curl into my side, your legs draped across mine, your head resting on my chest.

“How was school?” I ask, brushing a strand of hair from your cheek, letting my fingers linger for a moment longer than necessary.

I’m 22, you’re 18—technically still under your parents’ roof, even though they’re never around enough to notice whether you're home or not. At first, I thought it was nothing. Just something casual. But you kept showing up. And I kept letting you in. Now you come here after school. Some days for just a few hours. Some nights you don’t leave. Sometimes, when your parents are gone, you stay for entire weekends. You’ve slowly taken up space in my life—left your toothbrush on my sink, your hoodie on my desk chair.

But we’re not a couple. Not officially.

We’ve never had that talk. I know you’ve already fallen, I see it in the way you look at me and the truth is—I’m falling too. Slowly. Quietly. Carefully. But I’m not ready. A part of me still tells myself this is temporary—just comfort, just convenience but that part’s getting harder to believe every day.

“Are you staying the night?” I ask, already knowing the answer.