Like, what the actual fuck?
The run does nothing to clear my head.I spent most of it trying figure out what the fuck I'm doing, what I'm hoping to accomplish by showing her any of these places I’m taking her to today.
I just know that I can't let her disappear again without trying to understand what last night meant.
If it meant anything at all.
Nora answersthe door wearing ripped denim jeans and a simple white t-shirt, her hair loose around her shoulders, even dressed this casually, she still takes my breath away.This is how I remember her best—not dressed up for some event or trying to be anyone other than exactly who she is.
Just Nora, simple and beautiful and so fucking perfect it makes my heart ache.
Everything I ever felt for this girl comes flooding back like a dam bursting.Not that it ever really left—I've just gotten better at keeping it locked away where it can't consume me.
"Ready?"I ask, because if I look at her for too long I'm going to do something stupid, like tell her I've missed her every single day for the past eight months.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"You'll see."
Montserrat looks different at sunrise.
More mystical, more otherworldly.The massive serrated peaks rise from the Catalan plains like something from a fairy tale, and the early morning light makes the limestone formations glow like ancient cathedrals carved by giants.This sacred mountain, with its monastery perched among the rocks, feels like a place where earth reaches toward heaven.
Nora stands beside me on the cliff overlooking the scene, and for a moment it feels like it always did with her—like we're the only two people in the world, like we exist in our own private universe where nothing else matters.
"Wow, it's beautiful," she says softly.
"Legend says it's the third most magnetic place on Earth," I tell her."Some people say it has healing properties.Others say that it's cursed.Guess it depends who you ask."
She looks at me sideways.
"And you?What do you think?"
“I think some places, they collect the shit people leave behind.Not in a poetic way—more like they absorb every fear, every prayer, every bad decision whispered into the air.Some mountains feel heavy with it.This one?It feels like it’s holding all the people who came here hoping they could be put back together.”
We fall into comfortable silence, watching the sun climb higher over the horizon.This is what I've missed most—not just her, but this feeling of peace that comes from being with someone whose presence says more than words ever could.
"When are you supposed to leave?"I ask, even though I don't really want to know the answer.
"I’m flying back to London tomorrow night."
Instantly, there’s a pit in my stomach.
I knew this wasn't permanent, knew she had a life to get back to, but hearing it makes something in my chest tighten painfully.
“So what brought you to a nightclub in Barcelona exactly?”
“Camilla got this huge opportunity.It was super last minute and I came for moral support.Thankfully, Liam covered me so I could.”
“Liam?”The name hits me like a sucker punch.
She raises a brow.
“Oh, just someone I work with.His aunt is the chief editor of Macmillan.I mean he could’ve easily gotten a better paying job at the company, but he wanted the experience first.”
I shouldn’t care about some guy she sees at work every single day.I mean, I have no right to care.And yet jealousy curls low and slow inside my ribs, a stupid, territorial flicker I thought I’d buried.Obviously fucking not.
I clear my throat.
