Rain had turned the city quiet. Not silent, never silent. But softened in a way that made everything feel distant. The roads shimmered under streetlights, the pavement reflecting gold and red like spilled paint. Cars moved slower tonight, their tires whispering over wet asphalt. Inside the black car, Caelum Rhaith sat with one hand resting loosely on the steering wheel.
Outside, the cold clung to the evening like a second skin. He hated this kind of weather. Not because of the rain itself, but because of what it did to memory. Rain had a way of dragging things back. He exhaled quietly and adjusted his grip on the wheel.
Aeris.
The name had lived somewhere at the edge of his mind all day, Ever since he told Sugar to call her. He should not have done that. Yet here he was. Driving to her. Caelum's jaw tightened slightly.
"What exactly are you going to say?" he muttered under his breath.
The windshield wipers swept across the glass in steady rhythm.
He tried again.
"I owe you an apology."
The words sounded stiff.
Formal.
He shook his head faintly.
"No."
His fingers tapped once against the steering wheel.
"I behaved poorly the other night."
He paused, That sounded worse. Like a corporate statement.
He sighed quietly.
"I shouldn't have ended dinner the way I did."
The light ahead turned red.
Caelum slowed, the car rolling to a stop at the intersection. For a moment, the world outside his windshield became a small living stage. Pedestrians hurried across the street with umbrellas and bags held over their heads. Someone laughed somewhere in the distance. A woman standing on the corner. Her coat looked thin for the weather, the rain speckling the shoulders of the fabric. Beside her stood a boy maybe six or seven years old, shivering slightly in the cold. The boy rubbed his hands together. The woman noticed immediately and Without hesitation, she pulled off her sweater and wrapped it gently around his shoulders.The boy protested. She laughed and tugged the sleeves around him anyway. The child finally gave in, leaning against her side.
Caelum stared. Something in his chest tightened suddenly. And just like that, The past opened its door.
Rain again.
But colder.
Much colder.
A small house on the edge of a long gravel road. The wind howling softly through the trees behind it. Caelum was smaller then. Small enough that his feet barely touched the floor when he sat on the wooden bench near the door. Geneya stood beside him, swinging her legs impatiently.
"Stop moving," she whispered.
"I'm cold," he muttered.
"Everyone's cold."
He huffed quietly. Then their mother appeared in the doorway, Ariel. Her hair tied loosely back, her eyes soft despite the constant tension that lived beneath them. She held two cardigans in her hands.
"Come here," she said gently.
Geneya immediately stepped forward.
"You always forget," she teased Caelum.
"I don't forget," Caelum argued.
"You do."
Their mother laughed quietly.
"Both of you, stop."
She knelt in front of Caelum first, wrapping the cardigan carefully around his small shoulders. The fabric smelled faintly of soap and lavender.
"Better?" she asked.
He nodded.
Then she turned to Geneya.
"Arms."
Geneya lifted them dramatically.
"There," Ariel said softly, buttoning the sweater closed. "Now you won't freeze before dinner."
Geneya leaned against her side.
"Mama?"
"Yes?"
"Why is the house always cold?"
Ariel hesitated for only a second. Then she brushed Geneya's hair back gently.
"Because winter hasn't left yet."
The front door creaked slightly in the wind. All three of them turned toward it instinctively. Even back then, The sound made their stomachs tighten. Geneya grabbed Caelum's hand.
Ariel noticed.
She always noticed.
"It's alright," she whispered. But her voice carried the same quiet fear they both felt.
A loud horn jerked Caelum back into the present. The light had turned green. Cars behind him were beginning to move. He blinked once, Twice. The woman and her son had already disappeared into the rain. Caelum slowly pressed the accelerator.
The car moved forward again. His fingers tightened slightly around the wheel. For a moment, he could almost feel the weight of that old cardigan on his shoulders, Warm, Safe, Temporary. His voice was quiet when he spoke again.
"Hello, Aeris."
He paused.
The words felt strange, Like a door opening somewhere he had never intended to go. Rain slid down the windshield as the car continued through the dark streets.
The rain had softened into a steady drizzle by the time Caelum's car rolled to a stop outside Aeris' building.
The engine went quiet.
For a moment, he didn't move. The building was modest, nothing like the towering glass structures he spent most of his life inside. Its brick walls were worn in places, the small balcony railings painted a pale color that time had begun to peel away. A single warm light glowed from one of the windows. Her window.
Caelum stared at it longer than he intended. Then he stepped out of the car. Cold air wrapped around him instantly. Rain speckled the shoulders of his coat as he walked toward the entrance. His shoes echoed softly in the hallway as he climbed the narrow staircase.
Second floor.
The door at the end of the corridor.
He stopped in front of it. For a moment, his hand hovered near the wood. He had faced boardrooms filled with men twice his age. He had negotiated deals worth millions without hesitation. But standing in front of that simple door, something unfamiliar settled in his chest. He knocked, Once. The sound felt louder than it should have in the quiet hallway. Footsteps shuffled lightly inside then the door opened. And there she was. Aeris stood in the doorway, looking slightly breathless, as though she had rushed to answer it.
Her hair fell loosely around her shoulders, still slightly damp from the rain earlier that day. She had changed clothes since Renek left, something simple, soft. Nothing extravagant. Yet somehow she looked brighter than the streetlights outside. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw him standing there. Beautiful.
But it wasn't the first thing Caelum noticed. It was her eyes. Unprotected, Innocent. Something in his chest twisted. They reminded him of photographs he had once seen in a dusty album hidden at the back of a cabinet in his childhood home. Pictures from Ariel's college years. Before the house. Before the fear. Before his father. His mother's eyes had looked like that once. Bright, Alive. Full of a light that had not yet been dimmed. Caelum felt something heavy settle behind his ribs. I can't be like Father. The thought surfaced quietly but firmly in his mind.
His gaze lingered on her face. And suddenly the idea of being the one to take that light away, to slowly snatch the glow from those eyes the way it had been taken from his mother made something inside him recoil. The thought alone filled him with a strange, quiet sadness.
Before he could say anything, Aeris spoke.
"Oh!"
Her voice carried a small note of embarrassment. "I'm so sorry," she said quickly.
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm not ready yet."
Her cheeks had warmed slightly.
"I didn't expect you to be here already."
Caelum blinked, pulled from his thoughts.
"It's alright."
It wasn't.
She stepped aside slightly, opening the door wider.
"You can come in if you want," she said shyly. Her fingers twisted lightly together. "I just need a few more minutes."
Caelum hesitated.
Then he nodded once.
"Of course."
He stepped inside.
The apartment was warm. Small. Comfortable. The scent of something faintly sweet lingered in the air maybe tea, maybe soap. It was nothing like the places he usually spent his evenings. Nothing polished, nothing curated, Just… lived in. Aeris closed the door behind him.
"I won't take long," she promised. Then she disappeared quickly down the short hallway toward what was probably her bedroom.
Caelum remained standing in the middle of the living room. Rain tapped softly against the window. He glanced around quietly. A stack of photography books sat neatly on a small table. A camera rested beside them.
Framed photographs hung on the wall. scenes of streets, strangers, sunlight spilling across ordinary places. Life captured in small, fleeting moments. His gaze settled on one image of a child laughing beneath falling rain. For a moment, Caelum stood completely still. And somewhere deep in his mind, a quiet thought returned.
Don't ruin this.
From down the hallway, Aeris' voice drifted faintly.
"Two minutes!"
Cealum exhaled slowly
Two minutes, he could wait.