Where We Begin Again...

Chapter 2: Developing Attraction

Aurora 

 It wasn't supposed to be like this. I came to Cornell with a clear plan—to focus on my future, build a career, and avoid distractions. But somehow, Nathan had slipped past the carefully constructed walls I'd built around myself. Not that I'd admit it, but there was something disarming about him. I wasn't looking for love. In fact, I'd actively avoided it for years. Growing up with my family's name and wealth came with expectations, and romance wasn't high on the list. My parents were generous, but the pressure was always there—attend the right schools, make the right connections, and follow the family legacy into law. I knew my path from the day I understood what expectations meant. But Nathan wasn't part of that plan. At first, I thought it was just persistence. He was that confident guy, the one who always seemed to have his life figured out. He could've easily been the stereotypical rich kid who cared more about partying than his future, but he wasn't. There was depth in his eyes, a seriousness he didn't always show. And the more time we spent together, the harder it became to pretend I didn't feel something. We had started meeting more regularly. It wasn't exactly dating, not yet. We'd grab coffee between classes or study together in the library. At first, it felt like convenience, but now... now, I wasn't so sure. The casual conversations had turned into deeper discussions. He started asking about my childhood, and my dreams, and I found myself opening up in ways I hadn't anticipated. The more we talked, the more I saw how different we were. He had this boldness that I envied, this ability to face life head-on. He wasn't afraid to be who he was, while I spent most of my time hiding behind the version of myself that my family and the world expected me to be. One evening, as we sat in the small café on campus, sipping hot chocolate, he asked me a question that shook me more than I expected. "Why do you hide, Aurora?" I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden seriousness in his voice. "Hide?" I asked, playing dumb, but I knew exactly what he meant. "Yeah," he said, leaning forward, his eyes searching mine. "You keep people at arm's length. You never really let them in. Why?" I looked away, feeling exposed. No one had ever asked me that before. Most people just accepted my distance as part of who I was. But Nathan wasn't most people. He saw through me, and that scared me more than anything else. "I'm not hiding," I said softly, but even I didn't believe the words. He didn't press further, and for that, I was grateful. But the silence that followed hung in the air, thick with unspoken truths. 

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Nathan

I knew there was more to Aurora than she let on. From the moment I met her, there was something about her that intrigued me, something beneath the surface that she wasn't showing. Most people saw the confident, put-together girl with the perfect life, but I could see the cracks. I could see the way she kept everyone at a distance, how she was always careful not to reveal too much. That night at the café, I thought maybe I had pushed too far with my question. She went quiet after I asked her why she hid from people, and for a moment, I thought she was going to shut me out again. But instead, she stayed. She stayed, and that meant something. Over the next few weeks, we spent more time together, and I could feel the shift. It wasn't just hanging out anymore. We were getting closer, and I could see it in the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn't paying attention. It was subtle, but it was there—a flicker of something deeper. The thing about Aurora was that she wasn't like anyone else I'd met. Sure, I'd been with girls before. Some were fun, some were interesting, but none of them had ever made me feel the way she did. There was this quiet intensity about her, like she was constantly battling something inside herself, and for some reason, I wanted to be the one to help her win that battle. One night, after a long day of classes, we decided to take a walk around campus. The air was cool, the sky dark and clear with stars. We walked side by side in comfortable silence, and for the first time, I felt like maybe she was starting to trust me. "I used to hate walking at night," she said suddenly, breaking the silence. I glanced at her. "Why?" "I don't know," she said with a small laugh. "I guess I always felt like there was something lurking in the shadows. Something I couldn't see." I smiled. "Sounds like you've watched too many horror movies." She laughed again, but it was soft, almost sad. "Maybe." We walked a little further, and then she spoke again, her voice quieter this time. "I guess it's not the shadows I'm afraid of anymore. It's what's in the light." I stopped walking and looked at her, trying to understand what she meant. "What do you mean?" She didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked up at the sky, her breath visible in the cold night air. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Sometimes, the things we're most afraid of aren't the things hiding in the dark. They're the things that are right in front of us, out in the open. The things we can't ignore." I wasn't sure how to respond. I had a feeling she wasn't talking about walking at night anymore. But I didn't push. I'd learned that with Aurora, it was better to let her open up in her own time.

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Aurora 

 Nathan had this way of making me feel seen, in a way that was both comforting and terrifying. He wasn't like the other guys I'd known—guys who were more interested in my family's wealth or my appearance than who I actually was. Nathan looked deeper, and that scared me because I wasn't sure if I was ready for him to see the real me. But at the same time, I couldn't stay away. As the days went on, I found myself thinking about him more and more. He was always on my mind, even when we weren't together. And when we were together, I felt this pull, this connection that I couldn't explain. It was like he saw through the façade I'd spent years perfecting, and for some reason, that made me want to be around him even more. I wasn't used to feeling this way. I wasn't used to feeling... vulnerable. But with Nathan, I couldn't help it.

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Nathan 

 We had been spending so much time together that it was becoming routine. But one night, something shifted. It wasn't a big moment or a grand gesture, but I could feel the change between us. We were sitting in the library, our books and laptops spread out in front of us, when I noticed the way she was looking at me. It was different. There was something in her eyes, something soft, something open. And in that moment, I knew. This wasn't just a friendship anymore.

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