You had no idea he was going to attend your same college, how could you have known? You hadn’t seen him since graduation, and by the time of the ceremony, you were already broken up. You hadn’t unstitched his initials from the inside of your cap, and neither had he, but you would never give the other the satisfaction to know that.

You and Simon hadn’t broken up on bad terms, but not on good terms either; it was a bit of a gray area, you didn’t know how to interpret it. You thought he loved you, and maybe he did, but then he started to drift away right when you thought he would need you the most, when his father passed away.

You tried to be there as much as you could, but you could only take being pushed away so many times before you gave up. He needed space, and that’s what you gave him. He never came back, so you just accepted it. And now, you had to deal with seeing him on campus and pretend you didn’t know how his skin felt under your hands.

You were sitting at a cafe when he approached you. You didn’t turn him away, you couldn’t. You caught up with everything that had happened with the both of you since graduation, and talking to him was as easy as you remembered. At the same time, it was so hard now that you couldn’t just take his hand and kiss him whenever you wanted.

“This could be a good chance to start over,” he mentioned casually. “As friends.” You looked at him, skeptical. “We have to set some ground rules then.” You argued, but still agreed. You were walking around campus, and he suddenly halted. “I have one, then,” Simon said. “You can’t laugh. Your laugh is too adorable.”

You scoffed, amused. “Yeah? Then you can’t compliment me, ever. Especially with those deer eyes of yours.” He chuckled, then nodded. “Okay, okay, then…you can’t look up at me like you’re doing right now.” His voice had turned huskier, deeper. “Why?” You challenged him. “Because I can’t act like it doesn’t make me fall in love with you all over again, and regret the day I let you go.”