The day

...•   —— Chapter 🎓 ——   •...

After that, I returned to school, trying to hold myself together. My relationship with him grew stronger—closer, almost like nothing had ever gone wrong—but inside, my obsession twisted tighter, strangling any sense of reason. It was at its peak, a wild, burning hunger I couldn’t control.

Then came that day—the day of his graduation ceremony. The day I dreaded more than any other. What was I hoping for, really? That he’d never leave? That he’d stay trapped in that hall forever, with me lurking somewhere nearby? Of course not. How foolish, how painfully stupid I was to believe something so impossible.

That day, I cried like I never had before. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing something that felt like it belonged to me. He was mine—he couldn’t just walk away. While the ceremony went on and voices filled the hall, I was trapped in the silence of the bathroom, broken and raw, tears streaming down like a storm that wouldn’t end. Alone with my grief, I crumbled into a mess, the weight of loss pressing down on my chest like a relentless shadow.

I heard my phone ring a few times, the quiet chime of his messages sliding in.

I had promised to be there for his speech. And what was I doing instead? Crying alone in the bathroom—pathetic, useless. A burden. That’s what I was to him. I shouldn’t be crying... but the tears came anyway, unstoppable and raw.

...•   —— 🎓 ——   •...

A soft knock echoed through the bathroom door, cutting through the rhythm of my broken sobs. Then his voice—low, steady, too warm for someone like me—spoke gently.

“Hey... it’s okay. Come out. You’ve cried enough for today. Let me hold you, yeah?”

I pressed my forehead to the cold tile, breath hitching. My fingers trembled against the sink edge.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “I didn’t mean to miss it. I wanted to be there, I really did. I just... I broke.”

There was a pause. A breath. Then:

“You think a ceremony matters more to me than you do?”

I cracked the door open, just a sliver. And then I saw him.

He stood there in his graduation tunic, sunlight from the hallway window tracing a gold line over his shoulders. The fabric made him look even more unreal, like something pulled out of a dream I wasn’t supposed to have. He was radiant—handsome in a way that made my stomach twist painfully, like looking directly at something I’d never be good enough to touch.

And yet, here he was.

“You’re leaving,” I said, voice trembling. “Everyone leaves. And I—I know I’m weird and too much and not enough all at once and—”

“Stop.”

The word was soft but rooted in something calm and unshakable. He stepped forward, gently pushing the door open the rest of the way.

“You’re not too much. You’re just... hurting. And I see that now. Leaving school doesn’t mean I’m leaving you.”

I looked down, ashamed of how small I must’ve seemed. My voice broke again.

“You’re not scared of me? Of what I did?”

He exhaled, slow and thoughtful, then shook his head.

“I was confused, yeah. But scared? No. I think you’re someone who’s been starved of kindness. And maybe I should’ve noticed that earlier.”

My chest ached. I couldn’t meet his eyes.

“I don’t deserve this,” I whispered.

He reached out, wrapping his arms around me like I hadn’t just shattered myself on a bathroom floor.

“Everyone deserves to be held when they’re falling apart,” he murmured into my hair. “Even you.”

I stayed there for a moment, breathing him in—the cologne he probably wore just for the occasion, the faint smell of smoke, the warmth of someone who still hadn’t let go.

Then he pulled back slightly, a crooked grin tugging at his lips.

“You know,” he said, glancing down at his graduation robes, “if I’d known I’d be rescuing a crying mess in the boys' bathroom, I would've brought tissues instead of a diploma.”

I let out the ugliest half-laugh, half-sob sound a human has probably ever made.

“Shut up,” I mumbled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. “You still look like a prince in that thing.”

“Damn right I do,” he said, nudging my shoulder gently. “Now come on. We’ve got speeches to ruin and memories to make.”

And just like that, the ache in my chest loosened. Not gone—but held.

...•   —— 🎓 ——   •...

When I finally stepped out of the bathroom—eyes red, face a wreck—he didn’t flinch. He smiled through it all and said, like it was the easiest thing in the world, that we were going partying after this. That I was going to stand beside him during the speeches, whether I liked it or not.

It was the happiest and most heartbreaking day of my life. That hug... that one hug felt like home. And I remember wishing—desperately—that he would never let go. That time would break right there, and I could stay in his arms forever, where everything was quiet, and nothing hurt.

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