"Hey."
A soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.
He turned his head to see a girl approaching. Hazel eyes that caught the fading light. Chestnut brown hair falling past her shoulders in gentle waves. She wore a simple dress, nothing fancy, with a small basket over her arm.
She sat beside him without waiting for permission, settling onto the bench with comfortable familiarity.
"Sorry I took so long today," she said, her voice apologetic. "Had some issues with my roommates. Drama about borrowed books or something equally ridiculous."
Caleb shook his head. "It's fine."
She reached into her basket and pulled out a wrapped sandwich, homemade, the kind gesture she'd repeated for weeks now. Ever since they'd started meeting here.
"Here." She held it out. "You looked like you'd forgotten to eat again."
He took it with a quiet thanks and unwrapped it.
