Same Environment (AU - Jane POV)

A Before, After, Again Alternate Story

Jane and Lia have always come as a pair.

If Jane is missing, ask Lia.
If Lia is late, ask Jane.
If one needs something, the other probably already has it.

They've been classmates, best friends, study partners, commute partners-and when college begins, roommates too.

Same school. Same course. Same section. Same dorm. Same room.

To everyone else, they already look like they're together.

But Jane has always had the same answer.

Friends lang kami.

And technically, she's right.

Lia may have liked her for years, but Jane has rejected her just as many times. So Jane never questions the life they've built around each other: the shared groceries, late-night reviews, washed uniforms, breakfast before class, extra pens, quiet walks, and the automatic assumption that whatever happens-

sabay sila.

Until college gives Lia new people, new choices, and a life that doesn't always include Jane first.

Lia doesn't disappear.

She doesn't become cruel.

She doesn't even stop caring.

She's still Lia.

She's just no longer always Jane's Lia.

And Jane is about to learn that having someone as your default person feels effortless-

until they stop being your default.