Finding light in the darkest places—through love-Chapter 100 – Back to You

Evelyn nodded. "It felt heavier than I expected. But also... lighter, in a weird way. I think I needed to see it all clearly. Face it."

He didn't rush to ask questions, didn't poke at the emotional edges. Instead, he simply walked beside her, shoulder brushing hers every so often in that unspoken rhythm they'd fallen into.

When they reached her dorm, she turned to him. "Want to come up for a bit?"

Adrian looked slightly surprised but nodded. "Yeah. If you're sure."

"I am."

Her room was still how she'd left it—textbooks slightly askew on her desk, a scarf tossed over the back of her chair, the faint scent of lavender from a candle she'd never lit but kept near her bed.

Adrian set her suitcase by the dresser and sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, giving her space.

Evelyn sat beside him, closer than usual.

"I don't know what I expected," she said after a moment. "Going home always messes with my head. But this time, I feel like... I didn't fold. I didn't disappear."

Adrian looked at her then, and something flickered behind his eyes—pride, concern, something warmer and quieter than either.

"You didn't," he said. "You came back whole."

Evelyn blinked once, slowly, as if letting his words sink past the usual layers of self-doubt.

"And I kept thinking about you," she admitted. "Not just as a distraction. But like... you were the thing that kept me grounded. Every time things got too loud, I'd wonder what you'd say. Or wish you were there."

Adrian leaned back slightly, resting on his palms. "I did a lot of wondering too," he said. "Mostly about how to be here when you got back."

"You don't have to try so hard," she said, her voice low. "You already are."

A pause settled between them, charged but not uncomfortable. She reached out and gently touched his hand. He didn't move, just looked at their hands—the casual intimacy of it.

Then, without fanfare, he interlaced their fingers.

It was the first time.

No drama. No grand confessions. Just a quiet click of understanding.

"Next time," she said, her thumb brushing the side of his hand, "I want you to come with me."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "To your family?"

"Eventually. Maybe not as my... anything official yet. Just you. As you."

He smiled slowly, that quiet, warm grin that always made her feel steadier somehow.

"I'd like that."

Later, they walked to the quad, side by side, hand still in hand. A few students passed by, chatting or glued to their phones. No one paid them much attention, but Evelyn felt the shift in the air around them.

Adrian's thumb occasionally ran across her knuckles in small, grounding motions. Not possessive. Not hesitant. Just present.

They sat on a low stone bench near the flowering camellia trees, watching the clouds drift.

"So what now?" she asked, tilting her head against his shoulder.

Adrian hummed. "Now we keep going. One step at a time. One honest conversation at a time."

Evelyn smiled against the fabric of his hoodie. "Sounds like a plan."

"And," he added, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head, "you don't have to do any of it alone anymore."

It wasn't a declaration. It wasn't a confession.

It was a truth.

And Evelyn, for the first time in a long time, didn't flinch from it.

She let herself lean in, hand still in his, heart still a little cautious but no longer caged.

And the campus, their quiet little corner of it, felt just a little more like home.

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