The snow started falling the morning of their cardiology quiz.
It was light at first—just a delicate sprinkle brushing the window panes of their apartment like the city was exhaling. Talia sat cross-legged at the kitchen table in Ezra's hoodie, her hair in a messy knot, a coffee mug perched dangerously close to her laptop.
Ezra walked in, towel draped around his shoulders, still damp from the shower. He froze at the sight of her.
"You're wearing my hoodie."
She looked up. "You own like five identical ones."
"Yeah, but that one's my favorite."
She smirked. "And now it's mine."
Ezra leaned down, kissed the top of her head, and sat across from her. "Deal. On one condition."
"What's that?"
"You come with me to the library later. Study date."
"Library?" she groaned. "But we have the apartment. Blankets. Snacks. Heated floors. Me."
"I know," he said, nudging her ankle under the table. "But I get distracted when you're here."
Talia raised an eyebrow. "You're blaming your inability to focus on me?"
"I'm blaming your mouth. Specifically when it's saying things like 'Ezra, maybe we should nap' when we both know what napping means in this context."
She laughed. "Okay, nerd. Library it is."
By noon, the world had turned white.
The city moved slower, like it was holding its breath. Students shuffled past with scarves up to their ears, textbooks clutched against the cold. Inside the library, it was warm and quiet. Too quiet, Talia thought. She was used to the hum of their apartment, the sound of Ezra talking to himself while studying, or the kettle whistling while he brewed tea.
They took a corner table by the window. Ezra set out his pens like weapons, organized by color.
Talia leaned over. "You realize no one cares that your highlighter has a matching sticky tab."
Ezra didn't look up. "It's about harmony."
She rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away. "You're such a Virgo."
"I'm a Cancer, actually."
"Explains the emotional damage."
Ezra chuckled and bumped her knee under the table. "Focus, woman."
Hours passed. They reviewed heart murmurs, ECG rhythms, and the physiology of blood flow. Occasionally Ezra would glance up and find Talia chewing on her pen, deep in concentration, and his heart would stutter—because he couldn't believe she was real. That they were real.
By late afternoon, Talia closed her book and stretched.
"Okay. I can now officially diagnose myself with sinus bradycardia from boredom."
Ezra closed his own notes. "You hungry?"
"Starving."
Outside, the snow had thickened into a quiet storm. They bundled up and stepped into it, the cold biting at their cheeks. Talia grabbed Ezra's hand, lacing their fingers without looking.
And just like that—it hit him.
They were an "us."
They found a café two blocks away, warm and loud with other students escaping the cold. Talia ordered hot chocolate. Ezra got chamomile tea, because of course he did.
As they waited for their drinks, she looked at him over the rim of her cup. "You ever think about how this started?"
He blinked. "You mean the part where you hated me?"
"I didn't hate you."
"You literally called me 'Human Wikipedia' and told Sophie I was emotionally constipated."
Talia grinned. "You were."
Ezra smirked. "And now?"
She pretended to think. "Still a nerd. Still a little emotionally awkward. But... mine."
He looked at her for a long moment. "Yeah. I like the sound of that."
She hesitated, then said it softly—barely above the clatter of cups and voices around them.
"We're really an us now, huh?"
Ezra reached across the table and took her hand. "Yeah. We are."
Back at the apartment, Ezra was the one who crawled under the blankets first, pulling Talia in after him like gravity. They didn't talk much. Didn't need to.
The snow kept falling.
And for the first time, both of them understood that love wasn't just a feeling. It was built. Day by day. Quiz by quiz. Fight by fight. Snowfall by snowfall.
And this? This was the start of everything.