Before everything became complicated,
it was simple.
Not the kind of simple
that comes from effort.
But the kind that just... existed.
They never needed to try.
It was in the way their conversations flowed...
from the most random topics
to the quietest moments in between.
No pressure.
No expectations.
Just... ease.
Sometimes, they didn't even talk much.
And yet,
it never felt awkward.
She remembered those days.
Sitting across from him,
books open in front of them...
but barely touched.
He would say something small.
Something ordinary.
And somehow,
she would find herself smiling without realizing.
"Why are you smiling?"
He asked once,
looking at her with that familiar curiosity.
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
But it wasn't nothing.
It was everything.
It was the comfort she didn't know she needed.
The calm she didn't have to search for.
The presence that felt... right.
He didn't question further.
He never did.
And that was what made it different.
He didn't push.
Didn't demand explanations.
Didn't make her feel like she had to prove anything.
He just... stayed.
In his own quiet way.
There were moments...
small, almost unnoticeable ones...
that meant more than they should have.
Like the way he would look at her
when she wasn't paying attention.
Or the way his voice softened
when he spoke to her,
even when others were around.
It was never obvious.
Never something anyone else would point out.
But she felt it.
And somehow,
she knew...
he felt it too.
Not in words.
But in the silence they shared.
In the way neither of them
ever tried to replace that connection
with something louder.
It was enough.
Or at least...
it felt like it was.
She never rushed it.
Never questioned where it was going.
Because deep down,
she believed something rare
didn't need to be forced.
If it was meant to be,
it would find its way.
So she stayed patient.
Stayed quiet.
Stayed where she was.
Not knowing
that while she was protecting something real...
he was slowly learning
how to choose something easier.