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Oxford, 1893.
She’s the chaos he never planned for.
He’s the silence she can’t quite break.

When sharp-tongued student Iris Evelyn collides with cold, brilliant lecturer Edward Ashcroft, sparks don’t fly—they simmer. In whispered arguments. Glances across bookshelves. Letters never sent.

Between debates and unspoken feelings, they orbit each other—too close to stay untouched, too distant to name what’s growing between them.

But in a place like Oxford, love isn't a possibility.
It's a liability.

And the closer they get, the more it threatens to destroy them both.


A slow-burn academic romance with razor-sharp banter, quiet heartbreak, and two people who were never supposed to feel this much.

Drifted Apart.

Ashcroft arrived at the library earlier than usual.

She didn't look up when he sat down, but he caught the small lift at the corner of her mouth. Like she'd been waiting. Like this wasn't just routine anymore.

He opened his book. Flipped to a random page. Didn't read it.

"You alright?" she asked, still not looking up.

He looked at her. "What does that mean?"

Iris shrugged. "You've been blinking slower lately. That's a red flag."

Ashcroft let out a breath that wasn't quite a laugh. "You monitor my blinking now?"

She passed him a folded piece of paper halfway through the session. He hesitated.

"A study of your tragic behavior. A warning label. Maybe a poem."

Later, they sat on the steps outside, watching people pass by with their collars turned up and their arms tucked tight against the wind.

"I ever tell you about the time I tried to drop out?" Iris said suddenly.

"I wrote a dramatic letter. Three pages. Quoted Auden. Ripped it up before I got to the second paragraph."

She blinked. "I didn't want to be someone who ran away from difficult things."

"I guess I just make them laugh instead."

Ashcroft was quiet. He looked down at his gloved hand.

"You know," he said, "people always assume I'm alright just because I'm quiet."

And for once, he didn't look away.

Ep 14: The Thing in His Chest.