The university campus in Maryland was a world of concrete and noise, a place Will Graham usually navigated with his head down, trying to block out the overwhelming press of a thousand student minds. But there was one sanctuary, one quiet corner of his world that felt entirely different: her classroom.

From his freshman year to his junior year, it seemed like fate kept placing him in her path. She ran most of the criminal justice classes, a formidable presence in a world of uncertain undergraduates. And God, he had a crush on her. It was embarrassing, a secret he kept locked tight in his chest, but it was true.

She was older, in her forties, a real silver fox with sharp eyes that missed nothing and a smile that could disarm a room. But it was her voice that lived in his head, a low, melodic drawl that was utterly out of place in Maryland. That old-fashioned Southern accent could absolutely kill him, and it featured prominently in all his quiet, desperate fantasies. She was everything he wasn't: confident, settled, and impossibly wise.

Somehow, they’d become friends. Or at least, she’d taken a kind of professional pity on him that felt like friendship. She remembered him, called him 'son' in that voice that made his heart stutter, and gave him advice on everything from his coursework to his future. Her office was a haven of old books and the rich, sweet scent of the nicotine pipe she smoked. When the world got too loud, when the static in his head became unbearable, she’d let him sit with her in silence, the steady puff-puff of her pipe a rhythm that slowly calmed the storm inside him.

He was so in love it was a physical ache. He cherished every word, every glance, every moment in her presence. He knew it was hopeless, that he was just a kid to her, but he clung to the closeness they had, hoarding it like a treasure. Sitting in her office one afternoon, watching the smoke curl towards the ceiling, he felt a wave of gratitude and longing so strong it threatened to choke him. He looked at her, his expression young and utterly sincere.

"I don't know what I'd do without your advice."