Sky Ren's POV
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There's this thing no one tells you about being the sunshine girl.
That people expect you to never get jealous.
That when you say it's fine, they believe you, because how could the girl who's always smiling possibly mean it when her voice cracks?
That when your heart breaks a little—it has to break quietly, because you don't want to burden anyone.
So I smile.
I smile even though my throat is dry and my eyes are hot and Kai's talking to her.
Some brunette with heels and sharp lipstick and a brain full of legal jargon who actually matches his cold, terrifying, mafia-energy vibe. She's laughing at something he said.
He's smirking back.
And my world shifts a little. Just a little.
Like someone kicked the sun.
I can't breathe. I can't move. I laugh too loudly at something my friend says. I bite my cheek to keep from looking over again.
But I do. Of course I do.
She touches his arm.
My stomach drops like I missed a step on the stairs. My vision blurs.
I excuse myself.
Except—my feet don't take me to the bathroom like I said. They take me to him.
Of course they do.
He's walking down the hall alone now, probably heading to class. He sees me and pauses, eyebrows rising just slightly, like here comes the hurricane again.
And I stop right in front of him. In the middle of the empty corridor. My cheeks are flushed, my throat is tight, and my hands are shaking.
"Kai," I say, voice too high.
He blinks. "What."
"I—I know you don't like me." The words come out too fast, too breathless. "I know you think I talk too much and I'm clingy and weird and my hair's a fire hazard and I laugh like a broken flute and trip over nothing and—and I bother you and you probably wish I'd leave you alone—"
"Sky—"
"—but if you're going to fall for someone, please don't do it in front of me."
Silence.
God. The air is too still. I sound crazy. My eyes are filling with tears but I keep going because it's like the dam broke.
"I know I'm not your type, okay? I know I'm a lot. Everyone says it. I take up too much space, I talk too much, I feel too much, I—"
"Sky."
I hiccup. "What?"
"You're crying."
"No I'm not!" I cry. Louder. Like a liar. "I just—it's just—your shirt looks really blurry today!"
He stares at me. And then, quietly, terrifyingly, he steps closer.
And wipes the tears off my cheek with his thumb.
The gentlest touch I've ever felt.
"You think I'd fall for someone else?"
I freeze.
"I haven't even figured out what the hell to do about you yet," he mutters, looking away, jaw tight.
My brain goes blank.
"Wait, what—what does that mean?" I stammer. "Like you hate me or like you like me or like you hate how much you like me or—"
"Sky," he says sharply.
I shut up.
"You're not too much. You're just—" His voice breaks a little, almost like he hates saying it. "You're just not what I'm used to."
I sniff. "That's not a no."
His lips twitch. Almost a smile. "It's not a no."
I blink at him. "Can I hug you now?"
He sighs. "You're going to anyway, aren't you?"
So I throw my arms around him.
Tight. Clingy. Messy. Me.
And for once… he hugs me back.
Just for a second.
Just enough.
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Kai's POV
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I should've walked away.
The second I saw her barreling toward me in that ridiculous fluffy sweater, eyes glossy, braid swinging like a whip behind her—I should've turned around.
But I didn't.
Because I'm an idiot.
Because I waited.
Because some part of me—some soft, cracked, rusted part—wanted to hear what she had to say.
And she said it. Loudly. Teary. Like a train wreck of feelings I didn't know I could cause.
Please don't fall for someone else in front of me.
What the hell was I supposed to do with that?
What was I supposed to say when her voice broke and she looked at me like I had the power to ruin her entire world?
I didn't plan to touch her.
But I did.
I wiped her tears. I let her hug me. I hugged her back.
For a second.
But a second with her is never just a second. It lingers. It burns. It rewires something.
And now I'm sitting in the back of the lecture hall, staring blankly at the whiteboard, wondering what kind of voodoo that girl is made of. Because my chest still feels warm. Like something's growing there. Something terrifying.
I've avoided girls like her my whole life. The loud ones. The clingy ones. The ones who feel everything, all at once, all the time. They're chaos.
Sky Ren is chaos incarnate. A certified Category 5 emotional hurricane.
And she has no idea.
She bounced off after that moment like it hadn't wrecked me. Probably skipped down the hallway, braid flying, calling her best friend to tell her what happened while naming our imaginary children.
Meanwhile I'm here, trying to remember how to breathe.
She thinks I don't like her.
She thinks I don't care.
She doesn't realize I've memorized the exact shade of pink she paints her nails. Or that I notice she always wears mismatched socks on Wednesdays. Or that I wait to hear her voice in the mornings—too loud, too fast, always interrupting the silence I never realized I hated.
She's not my type.
She's not like anyone I've ever known.
And that's the problem.
Because suddenly… no one else compares.
And I don't know what to do with that.
Not when I know she'd forgive me for anything.
Not when I don't deserve it.
Not when the only reason I haven't kissed her yet… is because if I do, I won't ever stop.
God help me.
I'm screwed, aren't I?