~Aria's POV
I was still standing there when he finished fixing the car.
Not shifting from foot to foot. Not pretending to be busy on my phone. Just standing. Letting the rain soak through my clothes, my hair, my patience. Letting the cold creep in slowly, first at my ankles, then my fingers, then deeper, the kind of cold that does not sting right away but stays.
And there he was. Crouched by the tyre. One knee on the gravel like this was the most ordinary way to spend an evening.
Like people fixed cars in the rain all the time, Like the cold did not matter.
Like he did not care.
I told myself not to stare.
I really did.
I shifted my weight. Folded my arms. I looked at the road. I looked at the trees. Counted the seconds between thunder rumbles that never fully came.
Then my eyes went back to him anyway.
They always did.
