The morning swept through the small northern English town with damp air and thin clouds. Dew clung to the windows of Nora's house, blurring the view of the cobbled streets beyond. Inside, the scent of tea and toasted bread filled the space.
Julian woke with stiff limbs. He'd slept on the sofa without a blanket. Yet strangely, he was warm—a thick blanket had somehow found its way over him during the night. And on the small table beside him sat a slice of wheat bread and a cup of warm milk.
He smiled faintly. "You said only until the rain stopped..." he murmured under his breath.
Footsteps sounded from the staircase. Nora, her hair hastily pinned up and wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, descended with her usual icy expression.
"You're still here?" she asked stiffly.
"Yeah. And I'm grateful."
He began eating the bread without shame.
Nora crossed her arms. "Is this how you usually live? Breaking into people's homes and eating their food like it's yours?"
Julian chewed, then spoke with his mouth half-full. "You saved me from a chase, let me in, and even gave me tea. I figured that was invitation enough."
Nora exhaled sharply. "Are you always this infuriating?"
Julian wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don't aim to please anyone."
He straightened, then met her gaze squarely.
"What's your name?"
Nora studied him for several seconds. A pause.
"I don't feel the need to tell you."
"But you know mine."
"Only because you announced it."
Julian narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Then I'll call you... Miss Ice Queen."
"I could throw you out right now."
"You could. But you didn't last night."
Nora didn't reply. There was truth in that. She knew everything she'd done for Julian hadn't been impulse—it had been choice. Even if she didn't understand why.
Julian stood. "I'll go. I've got class soon. First period, if the history teacher isn't asleep again."
He pulled on his worn jacket and walked to the door.
But before opening it, he glanced back. His expression this time was serious.
"You know? I move around a lot. Sometimes sleep in parks, sometimes on old shop roofs. But last night... for the first time in three years, I felt like a person."
Nora stayed silent.
Julian touched the doorknob, then added, "I don't know who you really are. But thanks, Miss Ice Queen."
The door closed. Silence followed.
In the living room, the folded blanket remained on the sofa. The nearly empty cup of milk was still warm. And in the air lingered traces of the boy who'd made the house feel... alive.
Nora stood motionless for a long time. Then, as if nudged by a faint memory, she walked to the table. One thing had been left behind.
A student ID card. The name printed clearly:
**Julian Locke**
**Year 12, St. Arlen High School**
She stared at it before tucking it into a drawer. Her face remained calm. But her eyes... were less steady than before.
The day passed quietly. The gray sky hadn't changed since morning, as if mirroring the heart of someone who never truly brightened. Nora sat at her work desk, architectural designs spread neatly before her. Yet her mind wandered—not to the museum project in Leeds, but to a boy with a lopsided smile and a scrape on his temple.
She hated it. The attention. The tenderness creeping in uninvited. She'd fortified herself for years, and Julian... had needed just one night to make a crack in that wall.
Meanwhile, across town, Julian walked through school corridors. Books were piled haphazardly in his arms, his uncombed hair even messier than usual. Friends teased him, some tossing meaningless remarks, but Julian barely responded. Today, his mind wasn't on class—it was on the sharp eyes of a woman who hadn't given her name.
When school ended, Julian slipped out before the math teacher could corner him about overdue assignments. He retraced last night's route on foot. Unconsciously, his steps led him back to that wooden house.
He stood there a long time. Didn't knock. Just stared. Like someone longing, though he'd never admit to longing.
Inside, Nora was preparing tea. Rain had begun to fall, its rhythm soft but steady. As she walked to the front room, her gaze fixed on the figure standing beyond the fence. No umbrella.
The woman sighed.
And opened the door.
"You don't know how to knock?" she asked flatly, though her tone had softened slightly.
Julian smiled sheepishly. "Thought you'd pretend not to be home."
"I could have."
"But you didn't."
Nora narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"
Julian ducked his head slightly, rain dripping from his hair onto his jacket. "I... don't know. Maybe just to make sure you're still here. Still real."
Nora was silent. Then she turned. "Come in. Before you freeze out there."
Julian stepped inside. The house felt warmer than before, though the heating wasn't on.
"Sit. But this time, don't touch anything," she ordered.
Julian obediently took the same sofa. "Are you always this harsh?"
"I just don't like wasting time on useless things."
"Am I 'useless'?"
Nora's gaze softened briefly. But she quickly looked away.
"You're stubborn."
Julian leaned back. "And you're too used to being alone."
The words cut deeper than he'd intended.
Nora froze. She stood behind the table, her hands trembling faintly though her face showed nothing. Then, quietly, she replied, "Alone is a choice. Hurt is the consequence."
Julian was silent.
Then, slowly, he said, "What made you so afraid to trust people?"
Nora turned to him. Their eyes met—storm-gray eyes belonging to a woman who harbored tempests, and dull brown eyes full of scars.
"I'm not afraid. I just learned from reality."
Julian nodded slowly. Then looked out the window.
"You know? Sometimes I wish someone would be stubborn enough to keep knocking... even when I've yelled at them to leave."
Nora didn't answer.
But quietly... she understood.