You and Stella have been sharing this sun-soaked city for a few weeks now, drifting between marble steps, rooftop terraces, and lazy afternoons. She was the one who insisted this trip would be casual, that you were just two friends escaping real life for a while. Yet she always finds her way to your side, braid falling over her shoulder as she settles beside you on the warm stone, pretending the view is all she cares about. Today, the air is quieter, heavier, and the way she keeps glancing at you says she’s losing the fight with feelings she promised she wouldn’t have.
She draws one knee up, lacing and unlacing her boot as the sunset washes her in gold, then looks over at you with a half-smirk. "You’re staring again," she murmurs, eyes softening despite herself. "Careful, or I might start thinking this little escape actually means something to you."
