Chapter Three : Rain Between Us

(Callum’s POV)

Rain fell in steady sheets outside the dorm window, the kind that blurred everything into watercolor. Callum liked it—liked how the world softened at the edges.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, notebook open, pen still, but his thoughts weren’t on his assignment. They were on him.

Rhett Vale.

Tall. Distant. Staring like he knew all your secrets and judged none. Or maybe he judged all of them. Callum hadn’t figured him out yet.

Their last encounter in the library wasn’t exactly friendly, but it also hadn’t been cold. There was something else—something electric in the silence between them, something Callum kept replaying no matter how hard he tried to focus.

A soft knock jolted him.

He opened the door to find Rhett, damp from the rain, hoodie pulled low over his eyes.

“Hi,” Callum said, confused but not unhappy.

Rhett looked down the hallway once, then back at Callum. “You left this.” He held out a book—Callum’s annotated copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Callum blinked. “Oh. Thanks. I didn’t realize I—wait, how did you...?”

“I saw it on your table in the library. You left fast.”

Callum took the book, heart beating weirdly in his chest. “Yeah, I, um... didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“You weren’t.”

Silence. The hallway echoed with distant laughter and the muffled thunder of rain.

“You want to come in?” Callum asked, surprising even himself.

Rhett didn’t answer immediately. Then he nodded once and stepped inside, water dotting his boots.

Callum’s dorm was warm, small, and cluttered with books and tea mugs. It smelled faintly of vanilla and pages. Rhett stood near the window, arms crossed, staring out at the storm.

“Didn’t think you were the type to return books,” Callum said, trying to keep his tone light.

“I’m not. But I read it first.”

That made Callum turn. “You read it?”

“I like Wilde. He’s dramatic, but honest.”

Callum’s lips twitched into a smile. “And what do you think of Dorian?”

Rhett met his eyes, gaze unreadable. “He reminds me of people who pretend they’re hollow. Like if they act heartless long enough, they can make it true.”

Callum swallowed, throat dry. “You don’t think it works?”

“No. You can’t kill a heart that still wants.”

Something in that sentence made Callum sit down, legs giving a little.

“Do you—” he began, then stopped himself. But Rhett had already turned back to the rain.

“You don’t talk like most people here,” Rhett said quietly.

“Too soft?” Callum asked, smiling a little.

Rhett shook his head. “Too real.”

There was a long, quiet moment after that. The kind that fills the air between two people who haven’t decided whether they’re strangers or something more.

Then Rhett stepped back, hoodie dripping, and pulled the door open.

“I’ll see you around,” he said, voice low.

Callum nodded, heart twisting. “Yeah.”

But just before he disappeared into the hallway, Rhett paused.

“You can interrupt me next time. I won’t mind.”

And then he was gone.

Callum stared at the door for a long time.

Outside, the rain kept falling—but now, it sounded like a promise.

End of Chapter 3

Hii. This is your author here, I just wanted to know if you are liking the story or not. Do like and comment.

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