The universe has a twisted sense of humor.
Just when I thought I was building something resembling a life, just when I thought I might actually be okay, it drops her back into my world like a fucking meteorite.
CHAPTER5
A NOT SO SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE
NORA
My heart jumpsand breaks simultaneously.Jumps because it's him, really him, after eight months of wondering and worrying and trying to forget.It then breaks because there's a tanned, tattooed, dark-haired girl throwing her arms around him, kissing his cheek with the familiarity of someone who belongs there.
But his eyes are locked on mine.
Those same eyes that could hold me, paralyze me, even from across a crowded room.The same eyes that used to look at me like I was the answer to every question he'd never learned how to ask.There's something cruel about the way fate operates—how it waits until you've convinced yourself you've moved on, until you've built walls high enough to feel safe, and then it orchestrates a collision so perfect it feels like the universe planned it all along.
Two timelines converging in the most unlikely of circumstances, two people who should be anywhere but here, finding each other across a crowded room like something out of a story you'd never believe if someone else told it to you.
Why does it happen when you're not ready?
Why does love—or whatever this is—show up right when you've just started learning to live without it?
It happens in slow motion—the way he gently untangles himself from the girl's embrace, the way he moves through the crowd like he's walking underwater, like the space between us is something tangible he has to push through.People part for him without realizing they're doing it, and I can't move, can't breathe, can't do anything but watch him approach.
He looks different.
Healthier.
Even in the dark, the closer he gets, I can see there's color in his cheeks that wasn't there before, and his shoulders don't carry that weight they used to.
His hair is longer, somewhat lighter and sun-streaked, and I can see new tattoos scattered across his forearms—intricate line work that looks like it means something, not the impulsive ink of someone trying to feel anything at all.
The Barcelona sun has been kind to him, painting golden undertones across skin that was once winter-pale.
When he stops in front of me, close enough that I can smell that familiar combination of cedar and something darker, my thoughts scatter.
The black linen shirt he's wearing is unbuttoned just enough to reveal the edge of new ink across his collarbone, and I have to force myself to look away before I do something stupid like reach out and trace it with my fingertips.
Nothing makes sense.
The odds of us being here, in this moment, in this place, are astronomical.But somehow, with him standing in front of me, everything does make sense.Like all the chaos and heartbreak and months of silence were just the universe's way of getting us to this exact spot, at this exact time.
"Nora?"
"Hi."
Such a small word for such a massive moment, but it's all I can manage.
We stare at each other in disbelief, and I can see he's struggling with the same impossibility I am.
His jaw works like he's trying to find words, and I notice the way his throat bobs when he swallows hard.
"Nate!Come on, the others are waiting for us."
The girl who had her arms around him appears at his side, threading her arm through his with easy intimacy.She looks at me with curious eyes, and something sharp and ugly twists in my chest.
"Oh, who's this?"
I can see Nate about to introduce me, trying to figure out how to explain who I am, what I mean… what I meant.
