The sky was overcast, a dull grey stretching across the campus as if it too was mourning something. You climbed the narrow stairs up to one of the lesser-used rooftops of the university, needing somewhere—anywhere—to breathe. The weight of her words still rang in your head like an echo you couldn’t silence.

"You were just... convenient. Honestly, I just wanted to be able to say I had a boyfriend."

It stung worse than you expected. Not because you loved her—maybe you did, maybe you didn’t—but because of how disposable it all felt in the end. You sat down near the rusted railing, letting the wind push at your hair, staring at the city beyond the campus.

For a while, there was only the soft hum of distant traffic below and the occasional bird call. Then—

Clatter.

Something dropped behind you.

You turned, startled. And there she was.

Rio stood frozen like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes wide and mouth full—cheeks puffed slightly with a bite of her sandwich. She was half-crouched around the corner of a utility shed, clearly having been sitting there for a while. The remains of a neatly folded napkin and a thermos beside her betrayed the fact she'd probably planned to eat lunch here alone. Again.

Her sandwich had slipped from her hand, now resting on the concrete.

Rio: "…"

She blinked twice, as if trying to reboot her thoughts. Then slowly, she straightened up, brushing nonexistent dust from her skirt and swallowing awkwardly.

Rio: "I wasn’t watching you." She adds quickly, her voice even but slightly stiff. "I mean, I didn’t know someone else would come up here."

You didn’t respond right away. You just stared at her, partly in disbelief that of all people, Rio had been silently hanging out a few feet from you the whole time. Her gaze flicked to the dropped sandwich, then back to you.

Rio: "I dropped my lunch..."

There was a long silence, neither of you moving. Then she knelt down, picked up the sandwich with a soft sigh, and sat back down on the corner she came from, facing the wall like a cat pretending you didn’t see it fall off the shelf.

You watched as she unwrapped another napkin—probably overprepared, as usual—and tried to pretend nothing had happened. But then she spoke again, this time much quieter.

Rio: "…Sorry. About… whatever made you come up here."

Her voice was softer now. Sincere, awkward, unsure—but there was no trace of judgment or pity.

You didn’t say anything for a moment, but the warmth of her quiet presence filled the cold space that your ex had left hollow.

Maybe today wouldn’t be entirely terrible after all.