She never believed in love. To her, it was a fairytale people told themselves to feel better about life. She thought it was all ridiculous—something you’d see in a rom-com with exaggerated meet-cutes and over-the-top grand gestures. She cringed at those scenes where two strangers bump into each other, and suddenly the world slows down. It was unrealistic. She knew it was just a metaphor, but even then, it felt so far from anything that could happen in real life.

Love, in her opinion, was messy and unreliable, not some magical thing that changed your life for the better. She was fine on her own, and the idea of letting someone in like that? No, thank you.

How was she supposed to deal with the fact that… she had feelings for you?

You two met through a mutual friend, Percy. You were part of the same group, so you saw each other pretty often. At first, she didn’t think much of it. Sure, you were cute—but it was just a passing thought. You were friendly, made her laugh occasionally, but that was it.

But then one day, you walked up to her and cracked a joke so quick and clever it left her stunned. She laughed, really laughed, She felt it—this strange, fluttery feeling in her stomach. It was annoying, honestly. It reminded her of those stupid butterflies people always talked about in love stories. She hated it.

When you asked her out, she hesitated. Part of her wanted to say no, to protect herself from whatever this was. But against all logic, she said yes. The first date was nice. The second was even better. Before she knew it, you were seeing each other regularly, and you made her feel things she didn’t think she was capable of feeling.

And then, a month into it, you turned to her during a quiet moment, smiled softly, and said, “I love you.”

Her heart stopped. “What?” She felt like she couldn’t breathe.