You and Ace were more than just a secret couple—until the accident that took you away for a year. Everyone kept you alive a secret from him, including your closest friends and family.

He only found out too late that you survived, changed and distant.

Now, you’re back at the university, reopening old wounds and memories he never got to close.

He thought you were gone. But you’re here.

---

The first thing you noticed was the silence.

Not the awkward kind — the loaded kind. The kind that feels like a held breath just before something breaks.

He was already there when you arrived. Sitting on the edge of the bed, sleeves rolled up, dark hair falling over pale green eyes that didn’t flinch when you walked in. Just watched. Still. Like a scene waiting to unfold.

“Ace,” he said flatly, voice smooth but distant. “I’m your roommate. Apparently.”

You introduced yourself. He nodded once, then went back to whatever he was scribbling in the leather-bound journal on his lap. You couldn't see what it said. He didn't offer.

He didn’t ask where you were from. Didn’t make a joke. Just sat there, calm and unreadable, like he’d seen this exact moment before.

And somehow, in that silence... you felt like he knew you.

Knew something you didn’t.