The next few days felt strangely quiet for both Kyra and Aiden.
No long chats.
No small texts.
Just… silence — the kind that doesn't hurt sharply, but still settles in the chest like cold air.
Even though neither of them said it out loud, both felt the absence of the other.
A Day Without Aiden
One evening, Kyra went cycling like always. The air was cool, the road empty, and her friends were laughing about something she didn't have the energy to follow. She kept looking around — not obviously, but enough for her eyes to wander every few minutes.
Maybe he would appear.
Maybe his familiar cycle would turn the corner.
Maybe there would be that moment where he noticed her first and she pretended she didn't.
But Aiden never came that day.
Kyra didn't show her disappointment. She simply smiled at her friends at the right moments, nodded during their jokes, and pretended not to feel that tiny ache of missing someone she technically wasn't supposed to miss.
When she returned home, she opened Instagram by habit… and closed it again.
He hadn't texted.
She hadn't texted either.
Maybe the silence was mutual.
Maybe they were giving each other space.
Or maybe both were waiting for the other to blink first.
A Day Without Kyra
The next day, the situation flipped.
Aiden came.
Early.
He looked around, pretending he wasn't looking for someone specific. Evan was there with him today, so Aiden was alone — which made his glances even more obvious.
He kept riding in a slow loop around the area where Kyra usually arrived with her friends.
Maybe today she would come early.
Maybe she would smile.
Maybe she would talk.
But Kyra didn't come.
Aiden stayed longer than usual. He checked his phone twice, though no messages were expected. He looked at the road in the distance, half hoping she would suddenly appear. The sky was already turning golden when he finally realized she wasn't coming.
He didn't text her either.
It wasn't because he didn't want to — he wanted to more than he wanted to admit.
But something held him back, the same something that made him avoid speaking first sometimes.
Maybe it was fear.
Maybe hesitation.
Maybe pride.
But he rode away quietly, wondering why her absence felt heavier than it should.
When Eyes Meet Again.
The third day arrived with a strange anticipation.
Neither Kyra nor Aiden had said a word to each other for two full days, yet both reached the cycling spot a little earlier than usual.
Kyra wasn't expecting anything. She kept telling herself not to. Still, her heart tightened each time a cyclist passed by.
Aiden wasn't expecting either. But his eyes flickered up each time a group entered the lane.
And then — finally — their eyes met.
Not for a second.
Not for a rushed glance.
But long enough for both to feel something warm return inside them.
Aiden smiled first — a wide, sincere smile, the kind that reaches the eyes.
Kyra looked surprised, and then she smiled back, soft and unsure, but real.
For a moment, neither looked away.
It felt like those three days of silence dissolved in that single exchange.
He rode past her slowly, still looking back for a second.
She kept standing there, pretending she wasn't blushing.
The Unexpected Text
Later that evening, when Kyra checked her phone, she didn't expect anything.
But there it was — a message from Aiden.
Aiden: Hey, what's up?
She stared at the message for a few seconds.
She wasn't particularly happy, but not sad either.
Her mind felt full, but her heart felt empty — all because of one thought:
He has a crush.
Not just a crush — but one he had already told her about.
Still, she typed a reply.
Kyra: Nothing… just studying. You?
A few seconds later his reply came.
Aiden: Listening to some game commentary.
Kyra paused. Her fingers hovered over the screen. The question she had pushed away kept coming back — the one she had wanted to ask since that day.
So she finally asked.
Kyra: Since when do you have a crush on Vyana?
(He had mentioned the name casually a few conversations ago, when the last talked with each other)
The typing dots appeared.
Disappear.
Reappear.
Disappear.
And then finally—
Aiden: Almost 3–4 months now.
Kyra felt something shift inside her.
Not sharp pain — she wasn't heartbroken.
But a slow, restless discomfort spread through her chest, the kind she couldn't name.
Why did it bother her?
Why did she care?
Her mind whispered the truth she wasn't ready to accept.
Because she wanted to be someone's "something"… especially his.
She took a breath and forced herself to continue the conversation normally.
The Conversation Continues
Kyra: Oh… that's long.
Aiden: Yeah… I guess.
She didn't know what that meant.
Was he still into that girl?
Was he over her?
Did he expect Kyra to react?
But she didn't ask.
She couldn't.
Aiden quickly changed the topic, asking about her day.
Aiden: So… how was your day?
Kyra: Normal. A bit tiring.
Aiden: Same. Was kinda boring actually.
His messages sounded casual, but there was something quiet underneath — like he wanted to say more but wasn't sure how.
They kept talking — small details, tiny updates, simple moments of their day — but the conversation felt different now.
There was something between them that hadn't been there before… or maybe it had always been there and they were only just noticing it.
Kyra's Thoughts That Night
When Kyra went to bed, she wasn't sleepy.
She stared at the ceiling, replaying everything.
Their eye contact
His smile
His text
His crush.
Her restlessness
None of it made sense.
Why did she miss him?
Why did his silence bother her?
Why did the name "Vyana" irritate her more than she expected?
She pressed her pillow closer and exhaled softly.
It's nothing… it has to be nothing, she told herself.
But deep inside, she already knew it wasn't "nothing."
It was almost something.
Just like them.
Almost strangers… almost something.
Maybe this was how feelings started.
Not with sudden excitement.
Not with dramatic moments.
But with small, confusing aches that grew quietly in the spaces between conversations.