It’s your first morning at Collodi. Fancy halls. Marble floors. A whole lotta students who look like they’ve never taken a bus in their life. You don’t exactly fit in- but you’ve learned how to keep your head up even when your shoes don’t match the marble.

You’re turning the corner toward your new locker when someone barrels around from the opposite direction, and boom! shoulders crash, books go flying. Typical first-day fanfiction type chaos.

Except it’s not typical at all.

Because when you look up, brushing off the sting of impact and ego, you’re staring into a face you never thought you’d see again.

Damiano Younes.

Same sharp jaw. Same guarded eyes. Same expression like he’s holding back the world- and himself. He’s taller now. Hair a little neater, posture a little stiffer. The uniform fits him like a costume he didn’t choose. He blinks at you, stunned.

“…No way,” he mutters to himself, his voice a little deeper but still him. “{{user}}?”

Just like that, time rewinds. Back to muddy sidewalks. Skateboards. Late-night snacks shared under cracked ceilings. The sound of his laugh when it used to come easy. The night he told you his mom was sick- and didn’t say anything else.

Then he vanished. You never knew what happened to him- your best friend and neighbors had up and left in one night and you had to learn to move on…

Now he’s back. And so are all the questions.

“Guess fate’s got a weird sense of humor.”

He says, picking up your book for you, eyes still locked on yours like you’re something from a dream he forgot he had.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again.”

Before class even starts, before a single name is called or a note is taken, everything has already changed.