June didn't feel far anymore.
It wasn't something they joked about.
Or avoided.
Or pretended was distant.
It was close.
Too close to ignore.
Kai started noticing it first.
Not the date itself—
But everything around it.
The way people talked about "next month" like it meant something.
The way his room looked slightly emptier than before.
The way moments with Velithra felt… sharper.
Like they stood out more.
Like they mattered more.
Velithra noticed it too.
Just differently.
She started remembering things while they were still happening.
Not after.
Not later.
Right then.
The way the light hit the ground when they walked home.
The sound of Kai's voice when he laughed.
The exact feeling of his hand in hers.
She didn't say it out loud.
But she knew why she was doing it.
They met at the field again that afternoon.
Of course they did.
It had become their place without either of them deciding it would be.
Kai dropped down onto the grass, staring up at the sky.
Velithra sat beside him, quieter than usual.
"You're thinking again," he said.
She didn't deny it this time.
"Yeah."
He turned his head slightly.
"Bad thinking?"
She hesitated.
Then—
"Real thinking."
Kai let out a soft breath.
"Yeah… I've been doing that too."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Not uncomfortable.
Just… aware.
"It's getting close," Velithra said finally.
The words were simple.
But they carried everything.
Kai nodded.
"Yeah."
That was all.
No pretending.
No softening it.
Just the truth.
Velithra looked down at her hands.
Then slowly reached over, linking her fingers with his.
"I don't like it," she admitted.
Kai squeezed her hand gently.
"I know."
He didn't say anything else.
Didn't try to fix it.
Because he couldn't.
And for once—
that was okay.
They didn't need solutions.
They just needed honesty.
After a while, Kai spoke again.
"Do you think we did enough?"
Velithra looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"All of this," he said quietly. "The list. The time. Us."
She didn't answer right away.
Because the question mattered.
Then she shook her head slightly.
"No."
Kai blinked.
"Really?"
She smiled softly.
"Not because we didn't try," she said.
"Because it was never going to feel like enough."
He thought about that.
And slowly—
nodded.
"Yeah," he said.
"That makes sense."
Because no amount of time would've felt like enough.
Not now.
Not like this.
Velithra leaned slightly closer.
Resting her shoulder against his.
"But I don't regret any of it," she added.
Kai smiled faintly.
"Me neither."
They sat there as the sky slowly shifted toward evening.
Same place.
Same view.
But everything felt closer to the end now.
And yet—
they didn't pull away from it.
They stayed.
Right there in the moment.
Because even if time was running out—
They still had it.
And that was enough.
For now.