The Love we lost

thoughts but it all kept going back to Nath. Friday came faster than I expected. I kept thinking about our kiss

d me this was not just about coffee, it was something more. something i was sure either of us was not ready to put a name to yet. just as i was puttin

d took a deep breat

d coffee. Nath had already ordered our drinks by the time I slid into the seat across from him. His usual

smiling as I wrapped my fi

f his drink, his gaze steady

armth through me that had no

piling up, how the lecturer had embarrassed someone today by asking an impossible quest

g on between us an

where the sun was setting endlessly before us. We sat on the hood of his car, t

nice," I

his expression unrea

nted to ask what we were doing, where this was

meanour. "It was... unexpected, to say the least." "Unexpected? You were the one who suggested it!" he teased, his lips curling into a mischievous smile. "You can't just throw out a challenge like that and expect me to ignore it." I rolled my eyes, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. "I meant it as a joke, you know. I did not think you would actually... do it." His expression softened, and

r than usual. "That kiss-was

th hitching. He was not smiling,

d. "No. It

e he had not expected my hone

second before answering

I could respond, before I could let the nerves take over, he clos

sed him back wit

, I didn't wa

y from the bustling crowd of students, the soft rustle of leaves filling the space where words lingered. "I think so," he replied, the sincerity in his voice making my heart race. "If you're open to it." This was both terrifying and exhilarating and I had never allowed myself to consider him as anything other than a friend, a companion through the ups and downs of college life. But now, with the taste of that kiss lingering in the air betwe