He counted the days he had not spoken to Matteo and the weeks he had spent pushing him away. For the first time, a faint guilt settled in his chest as he felt bad about it.
In that moment, a desperate urge to reach out to Matteo flared up inside him.
But before he could act on it, Matteo's mother spoke gently, interrupting his thoughts. She asked Adrian not to mention any of this to Matteo. She made it clear that she would deeply appreciate it if he kept their meeting a secret, especially that she had shown him Matteo's private diary entries.
Adrian fell silent, his mind racing. If he couldn't mention this conversation, how was he even supposed to text Matteo out of the blue? Besides, a stubborn piece of his pride whispered a reminder: Matteo was the one who had lied and manipulated him. If Adrian reached out first without a clear reason, wouldn't he look too easy? Wouldn't it look like he was giving in?
