Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Not That Deep… Right?

The weather had taken a turn. Gray skies loomed like they were personally offended by sunlight.

Riri was wrapped in her oversized brown sweater, the one that made her look like a cinnamon bun and felt like a hug. She was sipping hot chocolate from a campus café cup and waiting for her name to be called in the group project pairing.

“Group of two,” the professor said. “Riri Winters… and Aaron Thorne.”

Riri choked on her hot chocolate.

Lisa gasped beside her. “The universe ships it.”

“Don’t start,” Riri whispered sharply, cheeks heating up.

Aaron looked up from his notebook and met her eyes.

No reaction.

Just that unreadable, still stare — like she was a question he didn’t mind asking himself.

“Winters. Thorne,” the professor said again. “You two will be working on The Power of Voice in Modern Literature. Due in two weeks. Presentations included.”

Riri blinked.

Public speaking. Group work. And a guy who probably moonlights as a haunted piano.

Great.

---

After class, Riri walked a little slower, sipping what was left of her drink. She figured he wouldn’t approach her. Quiet guys usually didn’t.

So when she heard footsteps matching hers, she glanced over and nearly tripped.

Aaron.

Walking beside her.

“Hey,” he said, voice low but not cold.

“Hey,” she replied, a little thrown off.

They walked a few seconds in silence. She wasn’t used to this. Silence made her itchy. She had to say something.

“You ever speak in front of people?” she asked, eyeing him.

He looked straight ahead. “Only when I have to.”

“Cool. I scream internally the whole time.”

A tiny twitch at the corner of his lips.

“Anyway,” she continued, “you wanna do a Google Doc or meet up? I swear I don’t bite unless provoked.”

“Meet up works.”

Another pause.

“You free today?” he added.

Riri raised a brow. “Wow. Efficient. I like that. You’re like an emotionally distant Google Calendar.”

That earned her an actual smile.

Just a little one.

Barely there. But real.

---

They met two hours later in a quiet corner of the library. Lisa had threatened to spy on them but got distracted by a bake sale and vanished.

Riri had brought snacks — obviously.

“Want a cookie?” she asked, pushing the packet toward him.

Aaron looked surprised. “Sure.”

“They’re chocolate chip, because I don’t trust people who prefer oatmeal raisin.”

“You think about that a lot?”

“I think about snacks a lot,” she said. “That, and my future mansion where the fridge restocks itself.”

Aaron took a bite of the cookie and nodded approvingly.

She watched him work — sleeves rolled up, handwriting neat, posture stiff like he wasn’t sure how to exist comfortably in his own body.

He was hot, sure. But that wasn’t the thing that caught her.

It was the way he listened.

Not just nodded to be polite — but really listened.

No fake compliments. No shallow jokes. Just… focus. Attention.

Respect.

“Hey,” she said suddenly. “You’re quiet.”

Aaron looked up. “Yeah.”

“I mean, really quiet. Like you’re always somewhere else.”

“I just don’t talk much.”

“That’s fair,” she said. “I talk enough for both of us anyway.”

He gave her a look. Not annoyed. Just… amused.

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” she said, smirking. “Just gathering data. Might roast you later. Maybe during the presentation.”

“I look forward to it,” he replied dryly.

She paused. “You always this dry?”

Aaron looked at her — really looked.

And for the first time, his voice softened. “Only when I’m not hiding.”

That caught her off guard.

She didn’t reply. She didn’t know how to.

But something shifted then.

She didn’t know what it was.

Not yet.

Not quite.

But it felt warm.

Like standing in sunlight… before you even realized the clouds had moved.

---

End of Chapter 4

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