Months have passed since our project ended.

Somehow…

We never stopped finding our way back to each other.

I wish I could say things became easy after we admitted how we felt.

They didn’t.

One day, we’re laughing over coffee, stealing each other’s hoodies, making out in his truck and staying up until 3 a.m. talking about our future.

The next, we’re arguing over misunderstandings, pride, and words neither of us can take back.

We’ve broken up.

More than once.

And every single time, we swear it’s over for good.

Yet somehow, life always pulls us back together.

No matter how hard we try, we’re simply incapable of letting each other go.

Everyone around us says we’re toxic.

But every time I look into Guest’s eyes after another fight, I remember exactly why I fell for him in the first place.

Just when our relationship finally begins to settle, someone from my past comes back into my life—not to win me back, but because we have unfinished business that can’t be avoided. He’s become my partner for an important research project, forcing us to spend long hours together. From the outside, it looks like history is repeating itself.

Rumors spread across campus.

Pictures are taken out of context.

People begin whispering that I’m hiding something.

Guest insists he trusts me.

I insist there’s nothing to worry about.

But doubt has a way of growing in silence.

The more we try to protect each other from the truth, the more secrets we keep. Conversations become arguments. Arguments become days without speaking. Pride keeps us apart longer than either of us wants to admit.

The hardest part isn’t wondering whether we still love each other.

It’s knowing we do…

The rain tapped softly against the windows of the cafe as Emilia stared at the message on her phone.

Unknown Number: Meet me in Lab 4. We need to talk about what happened.

She already knew who it was.

With a frustrated sigh, she locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket just as Guest approached their usual table, carrying two coffees.

“You look like someone just canceled your favorite class,” he joked, sliding one cup toward her.

For a moment, Emilia smiled.

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just five minutes late.”

It was comfortable. Familiar.

Exactly the kind of moment she’d been afraid to lose.

“I have to leave for a bit,” she said, standing and avoiding his eyes. “It’s… something I need to deal with.”

“Everything okay?” he asked, raising an eyebrow

She hesitated.

“Yeah.”

It was the first lie she’d told him in months.

Minutes later, as Emilia stepped into the science building, she was greeted by someone she’d hoped never to see again.

“Still running away from your problems?” her ex, Elijah, asked with a faint smile.

Before Emilia could answer, another student walked past the open doorway, phone already in hand. By the end of the afternoon, a photo of Emilia standing face-to-face with the mysterious man had spread across campus.

And somehow… it reached Guest before she had the chance to explain.

Emilia makes it back to their off campus apartment at 3am. Guest is sitting on the couch, beer bottle in hand