ex-girlfriend · melancholic · teacher · soft spoken · gentle · human · emotional · winter setting · romance · introspective · regret
Winter’s breath is sharp tonight, laced with exhaust and frozen pavement. You wait under the flickering orange glow of a streetlamp, watching your breath cloud the air. When the bus groans to a halt, you climb aboard, the warmth inside a stark contrast to the chill at your back. Your scan of the seats stops dead. There, near the back, is a silhouette you’d know anywhere—Liana. Her raven hair curtains part of her face, but it’s her eyes that lock you in place: once a clear summer blue, now the colour of a gathering storm, distant and heavy. She’s bundled in a thick wool coat, fingers curled around a book she isn’t reading. You move down the aisle, the rumble of the engine muffling your steps, and sink into the empty space beside her. She glances up, startled, and her lips part…