Page 125 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

No.

It couldn’t be…

My heart started racing before my mind could catch up.

I straightened without realizing.

Waiting.

Longing.

Needing him to turn.

And then, just like a solemn prayer answered too slowly, he did.

Like time had decided to take its time with me.

His face came into view, piece by heart-aching piece⁠—

—until there was no denying it.

Victor.

He didn’t see me at first.

His eyes moved through the crowd, unfocused, like he wasn’t looking for anything in particular.

And then⁠—

They landed on me.

He stilled.

Surprise flickered across his face.

Subtle, but there.

And just like that, everything else disappeared. The screaming. The fireworks. The music.

Gone.

It was just him.

And me… and my pulse that I couldn’t even feel anymore.

Or maybe it was too loud to register.

I didn’t know.

For a second, I thought that this wasn’t real. That this was just what loneliness does—showing phantoms that didn’t belong to me anymore.

But I still moved forward.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Like if I rushed it, the moment would shatter.