Chapter 9 After the rain

Brianna couldn't focus the next morning.

Not on her lecture. Not on the pages in front of her. Not even on Lydia, who was rambling beside her about some club she had no intention of joining.

Because all Brianna could think about was the rain.

And his lips.

And the way Malvin had looked at her like he meant it.

She hadn't planned on anything happening last night. She told herself it was just a rooftop. Just a break from everything.

But it had become something else.

Something that couldn't be undone.

She hadn't texted him since.

Didn't know if she should.

Didn't even know what to say.

Was it a one-time thing? A moment caught between clouded skies and stolen honesty?

Or was it more?

When her phone buzzed, her chest tightened.

Malvin.

> Library. Now. Just us.

She didn't think.

She just went.

---

He was sitting in the far corner again. Hoodie on. Hair still slightly damp from the night before.

When she sat across from him, he didn't smile.

Didn't flirt.

Just looked at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, though her hands betrayed her. Restless. Fidgeting.

"I wasn't planning on that happening," she admitted.

"I know."

"But I don't regret it."

His eyes locked with hers. "Neither do I."

Silence stretched between them - not tense, but heavy with everything unsaid.

"Did it mean anything to you?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

He exhaled, leaning forward on his elbows.

"It meant everything," he said. "And that scares the hell out of me."

Her breath caught.

"But I'm not running," he added. "Not from this. Not from you."

Brianna didn't realize how tightly she'd been holding herself until her body slowly relaxed, like his words had cracked something open.

"I don't want to run either," she said.

He reached across the table, slow and careful, and took her hand.

They stayed like that - fingers tangled together - not making promises, not pretending they knew what came next.

But for once, Brianna wasn't afraid of what she felt.

And Malvin wasn't hiding behind silence.

Whatever this was...

It had started.

For real this time.