My Last And My Only

Chapter 67: Same Campus, Different Distance

The ride home passed in silence.

The Grab moved slowly through the afternoon traffic while Aiah sat by the window, absentmindedly tracing the passing scenery with her eyes. She wasn't really looking at anything. The familiar streets of Manila blurred together, fading into the background as her mind replayed the same moment over and over again.

She hadn't expected to see Khae today.

Not this soon.

Not when she had spent the last few days convincing herself that they simply needed more time apart.

She thought she had prepared herself for every possibility.

She was wrong.

Nothing could have prepared her for the way Khae looked at her.

There was no trace of the girl who used to argue endlessly just to be heard. No desperate attempts to explain herself. No pleading. No tears.

Only silence.

And somehow...

That silence hurt far more than any fight they had ever had.

She slowly closed her eyes.

For a split second, their fingers had almost touched when Khae handed back the folder.

Almost.

The distance between them couldn't have been more than a few inches.

Yet it felt impossible to cross.

Beside her, Gwen quietly watched the buildings pass by through the windshield. She had been giving Aiah space ever since they left the university. She knew better than to ask questions the moment something painful happened. Aiah wasn't the type to talk immediately. She needed time to understand what she was feeling before she could put it into words.

Still...

Gwen couldn't stop thinking about what she had witnessed. She had only been a few steps away when Aiah accidentally bumped into Khae. From where she stood, she couldn't hear their conversation. She only saw Khae instinctively kneel to gather the papers that had scattered across the pavement. She saw the careful way Khae held the folder before returning it to Aiah, almost as though she was afraid their hands might touch.

And then...

She watched Khae walk away.

Not because she wanted to.

Because she believed she had to.

The silence inside the car stretched comfortably between them until Gwen finally spoke.

"You didn't expect to see her today, did you?"

It wasn't really a question.

She already knew the answer.

Aiah's eyes remained fixed on the window.

"...No."

Her voice barely rose above a whisper.

Another moment passed before Gwen spoke again.

"I saw the way she looked at you."

Aiah swallowed.

She didn't ask what Gwen meant. She was afraid she already knew.

Gwen let out a quiet breath.

"She looked like she wanted to stay."

Aiah felt something tighten painfully inside her chest. Because that was exactly what she had seen too. For one brief moment... Neither of them moved. It almost felt as though they had forgotten there were dozens of students walking around them. As though the rest of the university had disappeared.