"Sure." Jacob nodded.
A second later, he realized they had already reached the side gate. He'd been about to say goodbye.
"Keep walking," Julia said softly. "Aren't you going to walk me back to my dorm?"
"Okay."
"So — tell me. How did you and Nina get together?"
They turned back into the campus, drifting away from the main roads and onto one of the quieter tree-lined paths. The kind of path people chose on purpose.
As they walked, Jacob told her. He started from the beginning — how he and Nina had first met, how things had shifted slowly between them over time, and how they'd ended up where they were.
He told her about their first meeting, when Nina had looked at him — a transfer student, a brand-new Trainer — with barely concealed irritation, certain he would drag down the training class. How, despite that, she had stayed back with him night after night to help him close the gap with the others, not because anyone asked her to, but because she'd quietly decided to. How, when a Shiny Aegislash had attacked, she hadn't even hesitated before stepping in front of him. How she had pushed through her own exhaustion to help him hatch his Axew, carrying more than her share without a word of complaint.
"And after all of that," Jacob finished, "we just... ended up together."
He let out a slow breath, like he'd been holding it the whole time.
He left some things out, of course. The matter of Iron Valiant. Giovanni. The Gigantamax incidents. Those weren't stories he was ready to tell anyone.
More than an hour had passed by the time he finished.
Julia had been listening without interrupting. When he went quiet, she looked at him for a long moment, her expression layered with something she didn't quite put into words.
She understood now. From the very beginning, she had only ever seen Jacob from the outside — the version of him that showed up to class, that competed at school events. She hadn't known any of this. Not a single part of it.
He'd been through all of that, and I had no idea.
She felt the quiet sting of it. If she had been closer to him, more present — would things have gone differently? She thought they might have. She could still feel, even now, that he hadn't been entirely indifferent to her.
And it wasn't too late to change anything. He and Nina were together, not bound. What Nina had done for him — Julia was willing to do the same.
She pushed the thought aside for now.
"Jacob..." She looked at him, her eyes clear and steady in the low light. "It's getting late. Walk me back."
"Mm."
He walked her to the edge of the girls' dormitory building and stopped there.
"This is fine." Julia turned to face him. A smile appeared on her face — the first real one he'd seen from her in a while. Her voice was soft. "Thank you for telling me all of that. I feel a lot better."
"I'm sorry, Julia." The words came out before he could hold them back. Looking at her smile made the guilt worse, not better.
"Jacob, you really don't need to apologize." Her expression became serious. "If anything, I should be the one saying sorry. I never knew what was going on in your life. I wasn't there. That's on me."
Jacob opened his mouth, then closed it. "Julia..."
"Go on, head back." Her smile brightened — wide and genuine, the kind that had always been the first thing people noticed about her. "I've sorted things out in my head. Really. Thank you."
He almost left it there. But then he remembered the gift box Wei Xianzhi had pressed into his hands. He reached into his coat, pulled it out, and held it toward her.
"Julia — I'm sorry. I hope you're happy. Every day." He paused. "These are for you."
Julia's eyes went wide. She took the bouquet with both hands, surprise and something warmer flickering across her face. Then she composed herself and tilted her head with a small, teasing smile. "Thank you. Now get back before it gets later — Nina will start to worry."
"..."
"Goodnight, Jacob." She turned and walked toward the dormitory without looking back.
Jacob turned as well and headed for the campus exit.
Julia made it to the entrance before she looked back. Jacob's figure was already growing small in the distance, fading into the dark.
She stood there for a moment, then looked down at the bouquet in her hands. She pulled the ribbon loose and folded back the paper wrapping, smiling at the fresh flowers inside — still bright, still faintly dewy. First time, she thought. He's never given me flowers before. She brought them up and breathed in quietly.
Then she noticed something tucked in among the stems, near the center.
She reached in and drew it out carefully, turning it over to read the small print on the packaging.
She stared at it.
Her face went from pink to deep red in about half a second. Her ears burned. Her mind went completely blank.
Jacob... what is this supposed to mean?!
She made it back to her room in something of a daze, the little item buried at the bottom of her bag, her thoughts refusing to settle on anything else.
"Julia?"
"Julia?"
"Julia."
Amira's voice finally broke through. Julia blinked and looked up. "Amira — what?"
"What do you mean, what? You've been standing there staring at nothing." Amira studied her with narrowed eyes. "You're back so late. And what's that in your hands — is that a bouquet?"
"It's nothing," Julia said quickly. "We just talked for a while, that's all."
"Jacob gave you flowers?"
"...Yes."
"Why is your face that color?" Amira crossed her arms, looking thoroughly suspicious. "You're hiding something."
"I'm not — I'm just tired." Julia cut her off with a small wave, already retreating toward the bathroom. "I'm going to wash up and go to sleep. Goodnight, Amira."
Jacob, meanwhile, walked back across campus feeling quietly pleased with himself. Producing the flowers at exactly the right moment — that had been inspired. He really was too clever sometimes.
Though, to be fair, he had Jeffry to thank. Without those flowers, that particular stroke of genius wouldn't have happened. Jeffry was alright, actually. Good instincts.
I should probably keep something like that on hand going forward, Jacob thought. Flowers, a small gift — useful in unexpected situations.
On that note, he pulled out his Pokégear and looked up Jeffry out of curiosity.
The results came back quickly. Jeffry was, apparently, quite well known at Capital University.
Not entirely for flattering reasons. The words that came up most often — from what appeared to be a long list of unhappy commenters — were things like "player," "heartbreaker," and several less printable variations on the same theme.
Jacob stared at the screen for a moment.
...Noted.