The Year 2004 (Flashback of Lord Ardan Eryndor and Aldric Draekhaven' past in college)
Ardan
New city. New campus. New people. I should feel free. But I don't. Because no matter how far I run, Aldric's presence lingers. In the way I hesitate before speaking. In the way I second-guess every new friend.
In the way I still reach for my phone, fingers twitching to text him. I don't. I won't. I promised myself that much. But the silence is unbearable.
So, when the first message comes, my breath catches.
Aldric: Do you really think you can forget me?
My fingers hover over the screen. I shouldn't reply. I shouldn't. Then another message.
Aldric: You're mine, Ardan. You always have been.
I throw my phone across the room.It starts small. The first few weeks, I try to blend in. I go to classes. I make casual friends. I laugh at jokes that aren't really funny. And for a while, it works. Until... it doesn't.
I don't know why it happens, but the people I start to get close to? They change. One girl who sat with me every lunch suddenly avoids me. A group project partner who once joked around now only responds with clipped sentences. Rumors swirl. Little things. I don't even know who starts them. But I know exactly why.
One night, I sit alone in my dorm, staring at my phone. Another text comes in.
Aldric: No one will ever know you like I do.
A lump forms in my throat. I hate that part of me still wants to believe him.
Aldric
I let him play his little game. I let him have his freedom. But I know him. I know the loneliness is eating him alive. So, I wait. And when he finally breaks? When I hear the exhaustion in his voice as he picks up my call one night, saying nothing but breathing? I smile. Because I've already won.
"Come outside," I murmur.
There's a pause. Then, quietly— "...You're here?"
"Of course."
I hear him exhale, shaky, unsure. And then the door opens. He stands there, bathed in the dim light of his dorm hallway, looking like he wants to run but doesn't know how. I step closer. "You really thought you could be without me?"
He doesn't answer. I lift a hand, gently cupping his face. He flinches but doesn't pull away.
"You miss me," I say, soft but certain. "Admit it." His breathing hitches.
"Ardan," I whisper.
And then, finally— He nods. And just like that, I have him again.
ACADEMIC BETRAYAL(Ardan's perspective: The day his world shattered.)
Ardan stood before the professor's desk, his hands trembling as he stared at the empty folder where his research project should have been. Gone. Completely gone.
"This is a joke," he whispered.The professor's gaze was sharp. "If this is your idea of a joke, Ardan, it's not a good one. Your project was due this morning. If you don't have it, you fail."Ardan swallowed, his mouth dry.
"I submitted it. I handed it in. It was—" He stopped, horror creeping up his spine as his eyes darted across the room.
Aldric. Sitting at his usual desk, expression unreadable. And then, behind him, hushed whispers."I heard Aldric was the last one in the lab last night.""Didn't he say he loved Ardan's project?""Maybe too much."
Ardan's pulse thundered in his ears. No. Not Aldric. Not his best friend.
"Mr. Eryndor?" The professor's voice cut through the haze. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Ardan clenched his fists. He could feel everyone staring. Waiting. And Aldric? He just sat there. Silent. Unbothered. The betrayal hit like a knife to the gut. He turned away before his anger could consume him.
(Aldric's perspective: The moment he saw the truth.)
Aldric watched Ardan storm out of the room, his own body stiff with shock. He hadn't stolen the project. But someone wanted him to look like he had. And they had done a damn good job.His gaze flickered to the side, where a smug pair of eyes met his.
Tobias.
Ardan's biggest academic rival. Aldric felt his stomach twist. Tobias had always been jealous of Ardan's work, envious of his mind. And Aldric—Aldric had been too close to him. Too protective. Too proud. That was the real problem, wasn't it? Someone had wanted them separated. And now, they had succeeded. Because Ardan? He wasn't coming back.
(Earlier that day, in the lab)Tobias leaned against a counter, watching Ardan work. "You know, Renshaw," he said, a sneer in his voice. "You're really wasting your time. Aldric's going to take all the credit anyway."
Ardan didn't look up. "He wouldn't do that."
Tobias chuckled. "Naive. You think he sees you as a friend? He sees you as competition. And he always wins."
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Poor Ardan, do you think he overreacted? Let me Know in the comment section.