Episode 22: Forever in the Stars

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, too quiet for the night but loud enough for me to hear them, feel them in my bones. I turned my head to find Chou standing by the door, her expression unreadable, yet her eyes locked onto mine like she could see right through me.

I had barely noticed the tension that had been building between us, the way our glances lingered just a little too long, the moments when our hands brushed and I thought for sure something was about to break. But it hadn't. Not yet.

It had been a week since the rooftop conversation. A week since I'd felt that crack in my heart, that soft, fragile piece of me that wanted something—someone—that I wasn't sure I could handle.

Chou pushed herself off the doorframe and walked toward me, every step deliberate, like she was weighing each movement before committing. The weight of the silence in the room was suffocating. I wasn't sure if I wanted her to speak, or if I was afraid to hear what she'd say.

"Are you okay?" Chou's voice broke the silence, the words simple but layered with something else—concern, maybe. Or something else entirely.

I blinked at her, unsure of how to answer. Am I okay?

Was I? I wasn't sure anymore. My emotions were tangled, my thoughts a mess. Every time I tried to reach out, to bridge that gap between us, I felt like I was falling deeper into something I didn't understand. Something I wasn't sure I was ready for.

"I don't know," I admitted, voice barely above a whisper. "I feel... off. Like something's about to happen, and I'm just waiting for it."

Chou tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing just enough to show me that she was paying attention. Really paying attention. It made me feel exposed in the best and worst ways.

"You know, Hana," she said, her voice soft yet firm, like she was grounding me with every word. "It's okay to be scared. You don't have to hide it from me."

I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to pull away from her. But I couldn't. The closer she came, the harder it was to breathe, to think clearly. Everything about her pulled me in, every tiny detail about her presence wrapped me up in something warm, something comforting. But also, something terrifying.

"Chou..." I whispered, not knowing what I wanted to say. The name on my lips felt like a confession, even though I hadn't said anything yet.

She stopped right in front of me, a few inches away, and for a moment, I thought she might say something. But instead, she just smiled softly, her eyes filled with something I couldn't quite place.

"Whatever happens, we'll figure it out," she said, her words settling over me like a blanket. "Together."

And just like that, something in me softened. The tension I hadn't even realized I was holding onto started to unravel. The weight of it didn't disappear, but for the first time in a long while, I felt like maybe I wasn't alone in it. Maybe, just maybe, we could face it together.

But the truth was, even though her words were comforting, I still didn't know where we were going. I didn't know what any of this meant. The feelings I had for her, the way my heart raced whenever she was near... were those just emotions, or something more?

I could see the uncertainty in her eyes too. She was just as unsure of all of this as I was.

I reached out before I could stop myself, brushing my fingers against hers. It was a small movement, one that could easily be ignored. But in that moment, I felt like it said everything that needed to be said.

Chou didn't pull away. Instead, her hand found mine, fingers entwining with mine in a way that felt so natural, yet so foreign. I had to remind myself to breathe, to stop shaking, to stop thinking so damn much.

"Promise me something," I said, my voice shaky as I looked up at her, trying to hold onto the control I was losing by the second.

"What?" she asked, squeezing my hand tighter, as if reassuring me that she was still here, still with me.

"Promise me that no matter what happens next, we won't let this—" I gestured between us, my free hand hovering awkwardly, unsure of how to express the feelings that had been building up for weeks now. "We won't let this thing between us get messed up."

I saw a flicker of something in her eyes, something deep, something unspoken. But her smile never wavered.

"I promise," she said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."

And just like that, my heart stopped its frantic pounding, the storm inside me calming. In this crazy, chaotic world we lived in, there was a small part of me that was starting to believe that maybe everything would be okay. Because we had each other. And that felt like enough for now.

For the first time in a long while, I didn't feel alone. The weight of everything didn't feel so heavy.

"Yeah," I said softly, squeezing her hand back. "Together."