Days started to feel normal again.
Morning school.
Afternoon revision.
Short evening conversations.
Nick didn't text constantly.
Sometimes it was just one message.
Nick: Eat properly.
Nick: Don't skip sleep.
Nick: Mock test tomorrow?
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't intense.
It was steady.
One evening, while solving math problems, Ariana suddenly felt stuck.
She threw her pen on the table.
"I hate this chapter," she whispered.
Her phone buzzed.
Nick: How's the genius doing?
She picked up the phone.
Ariana: Not genius today.
Nick: What happened?
Ariana: Integration is ruining my mood.
Nick: Want help?
She smiled slightly.
Ariana: Since when are you good at math?
Nick: Since always.
She shook her head.
But after a few minutes, she sent him a picture of the question.
He explained it simply.
Not in a complicated way.
Just step by step.
She solved it.
It worked.
Ariana: Oh.
Nick: See.
She felt something shift inside her.
This didn't feel like distraction.
It felt like support.
After a while, she typed—
Ariana: Are you scared about anything?
Pause.
Nick: Yeah.
Ariana: What?
Nick: That you'll decide I'm not worth the effort.
Her fingers froze.
That was unexpected.
She typed carefully—
Ariana: Why would I think that?
Nick: Because you think about the future a lot.
She stared at the message.
He wasn't wrong.
She did think ahead.
Too much sometimes.
She replied—
Ariana: I'm scared of choosing wrong.
There was a longer pause.
Then—
Nick: You don't make careless decisions.
She smiled slightly.
Ariana: That's not very comforting.
Nick: It is. You think before you act.
She leaned back in her chair.
For the first time, she didn't feel like he was pulling her away from her goals.
It felt like he was walking beside her.
Not ahead.
Not behind.
Beside.
Before sleeping, she sent one last message.
Ariana: Just don't disappear.
The reply came quickly.
Nick: I'm still here.
And somehow, that was enough for now.