That One Real Smile

Chapter Twenty nine: When Silence Speaks

Athena's POV

I knew Nox was avoiding me. And I knew I had no right to be hurt by it. But knowing didn't make it hurt any less.

I tried to understand. I told myself over and over that maybe he needed space, after all, it was my fault. Pero kahit anong pilit kong intindihin, hindi ko maiwasang masaktan.

He had always been distant, always carrying things on his own, but this... this was different. He wasn't just pulling away. He was shutting me out completely.

And I was getting tired of pretending that it didn't bother me.

For days, I watched him from a distance. Hindi ko man gustuhin, hindi ko mapigilang hanapin siya sa bawat sulok. Our friends noticed, of course. Samantha would give me these worried glances, Nico looked ready to confront Nox himself, and Kairon, well, Kairon just sighed like he knew this was bound to happen.

"Hayaan mo muna siya," Samantha had told me one afternoon. "Baka bumalik din siya."

Bumalik.

I wished it were that easy.

And then here I am, at the entrance of the library. Waiting for him. For hours.

It felt stupid, standing there, pretending like I had something better to do. I shifted from one foot to the other, checking my phone every few minutes, as if that would somehow make time move faster.

Nox was inside. I knew that much.

I caught a glimpse of him earlier when I passed by, sitting at our usual table, head down, fingers pressed against his temple. His posture was stiff, and even from a distance, I could tell something was wrong.

I waited for him to come out, to acknowledge me, to look at me even once.

But he didn't.

The sun started to dip lower in the sky. Students came and went, some glancing at me curiously, others too caught up in their own lives to notice. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling the slight chill in the air.

At some point, my feet ached, and my patience wore thin. But I stayed. Because I didn't want to leave. Because a part of me, an irrational, foolish part of me, thought that maybe if I just waited long enough, he would walk out and see me.

Maybe then, he would stop pretending I didn't exist.

A few moments later, I saw a familiar figure coming out of the entrance door. It was him.

"Nox," I called, my voice calmer this time, but no less firm. "Usap tayo."

He exhaled slowly, shoulders tense. His hands curled into fists.

He wouldn't even look at me.

I could see it... the war inside him. The way his body tensed, how his feet barely moved.

My chest ached. He was right in front of me, yet he felt so far away.

Still, I stood my ground. I wasn't going to let him slip away again. I wasn't angry. I wasn't crying. But I knew he could see it, what I wouldn't say.

"Please, Nox," I said, softer this time. "Kahit saglit lang."

For a moment, I let myself hope.

But then, he moved.

He walked past me.

Mabilis. Walang pag-aalinlangan.

I stiffened. My breath hitched, but I refused to turn around, refused to let him see just how much it hurt.