DIYA'S POV
The day dragged like honey—slow, golden, unbearable.
Lectures blurred. My notebook filled with absent sketches—hearts, stars, his name scrawled in the margins like a prayer.
Maddy's coming.
When my phone finally buzzed, my heart stuttered.
Maddy: "Reached. Heading to orientation now."
I was out the door before the text fully registered, feet carrying me across campus faster than thought. The orientation hall hummed with chaos—new students clutching maps, parents snapping photos, professors shouting directions.
But I saw only him.
Leaning against a pillar, duffel bag at his feet, wearing that stupid black hoodie I'd stolen a hundred times.
Our eyes met.
And then—
I ran.
The world narrowed to the space between us. The second I crashed into his arms, he lifted me off the ground, his laugh vibrating against my chest.
"I missed you," I breathed into his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne—warm, woody, home.
"I can tell," he murmured, voice rough with amusement.
When we pulled back, his gaze traced my face like he was relearning me. "You look different here," he said softly.
"Different how?"
"College looks good on you." His thumb brushed my cheek. "Freedom suits you."
I swatted his shoulder. "You're just saying that because you're glad to be back with me."
His smirk was devastating. "Maybe. Or maybe you were all I missed about this place."
The noise of the crowd faded. In that moment, it was just us—breathless, grinning, alive.
Later, we sprawled on the grass beneath fairy lights, coffee cups forgotten between us. His knee pressed into mine, his pinky hooking around my wrist like an anchor.
No words. Just this—the quiet certainty of his presence, the way the world finally felt right again.
He was here.
And so was I.
This time, our beginning had no end in sight.
MADDY'S POV
The bus ride felt endless.
I tapped my foot the entire way, replaying her voice in my head—the way she laughed last night, the way she'd whispered "I miss you" like a secret.
The second I stepped onto campus, my pulse kicked up.
She was here. Somewhere in this maze of buildings, Diya was close.
Orientation was a blur of faces until—
Her.
Sprinting toward me like I was the only solid thing in a spinning world.
I caught her mid-air, her legs wrapping around my waist as she buried her face in my neck. Fuck, she smelled good. Like vanilla and sunlight and everything I'd ached for.
"I missed you," she whispered, and my chest caved.
I set her down reluctantly, drinking in the sight of her—hair longer, skin sun-kissed, eyes brighter than I remembered.
"You look different here," I admitted.
"Different how?"
Beautiful. Radiant. Mine.
"Freedom suits you," I said instead, because the truth was too big for this crowded courtyard.
She rolled her eyes, but her smile undid me.
Later, on the grass, I couldn't stop touching her—a brush of fingers, a nudge of knees, my hand finding hers like it had a mind of its own.
The coffee went cold.
I didn't care.
All that mattered was the way her breath hitched when I laced our fingers together.
The way she fit.
Like she'd always been meant to.