The sky was heavy with clouds when Aria arrived at Ethan's house.
She'd been worried ever since he stopped replying to her texts. Something inside her wouldn't let her rest until she saw him — even if it meant showing up unannounced.
She walked up the familiar path to the porch, her heart beating faster with every step. The gate was slightly open, which was strange. Ethan always kept it locked.
Aria hesitated for a moment, then quietly stepped inside.
She was about to knock when she heard voices — low, serious voices — coming from inside. Ethan's guardian and Ethan himself.
She froze.
"The test results are back," his guardian said softly. "It's worse than before. They said… four months, maybe less, if you keep refusing the treatment."
Aria's breath caught in her throat.
The world seemed to blur for a second.
Ethan's voice came next — calm, quiet, but filled with something she'd never heard from him before.
"Four months is enough. I don't want to spend whatever time I have left in a hospital. I just want to live normally. Go to school. See her smile."
Aria's hand flew to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
See her smile.
He was talking about her.
She pressed her back to the wall, her heart breaking with every word.
His guardian's voice trembled.
"Ethan, please… she'll find out sooner or later. She deserves to know."
"No," he whispered. "She's finally happy. I don't want her pity. I want her to remember me as the guy who made her laugh — not the one who was dying."
That last word shattered something inside Aria.
Her knees felt weak; the air left her lungs.
She couldn't stay there another second.
The tears fell before she could stop them. Quietly, she turned and slipped out through the door, her footsteps light but her sobs heavy.
The sky finally broke open as she ran — rain pouring down, mixing with her tears.
She didn't stop until she reached the end of the street, her chest aching, her mind replaying every word he said.
Four months.
See her smile.
Don't let her know.
Aria fell to her knees, clutching her chest as the rain soaked her completely.
She wanted to scream, to run back and tell him she'd stay no matter what — but she couldn't.
Not yet.
The world had just shown her how fragile love could be.