My awakening was immediate, abrupt, as if my body already knew the exact hour despite the lingering veil of sleep still wrapped around me. I blinked, surprised to see that it was five in the morning, a number that felt both terribly early and strangely logical for the uncertain beginning of the day.
My mind, still half-asleep, struggled to adapt to the awareness slowly returning to me, yet the rest of my body seemed perfectly alert, ready to move, ready to act, as if this transition from unconsciousness to reality had been anticipated by something inside me.
I stood up from the couch and looked through the window at the outside world, which was already reclaiming its soft colors, the pale light of dawn gradually erasing the shadows of the night.
A strange sense of calm surrounded me, yet a faint unease remained, as if every movement I made was still weighed down by the inertia of the previous day.
I walked toward the refrigerator to drink some water, but the gesture was instinctive, and the amount I took was far more than necessary, as if my body were trying to fill an invisible void.
The cool liquid slid down my throat, gently awakening every fiber of my being, but I could not ignore the curiosity that pushed me to look toward Mia's room, just across from me.
My gaze lingered on the closed door, a fascination mixed with discomfort preventing me from looking away, and my thoughts were already drifting toward questions I should not have been asking.
One part of me wanted to understand what was happening here. Another wanted to escape this intimacy that felt far too close for such a fragile awakening.
Yet that curiosity kept me there, unable to look away, aware of every breath that moved through the room.
I eventually decided to take a shower, letting the warm water wash away the heaviness of the night and the remnants of my tangled thoughts.
The droplets sliding over my skin seemed to cleanse not only my body but also part of the tension weighing on my mind, as if each drop carried away a fragment of confusion or worry.
After getting dressed and ready, I decided to go out for a run, feeling that physical movement might help clear my mind before facing the day.
Morning light was already bathing the streets when I stepped outside, and every breath filled me with a sense of renewal, mixed with a faint awareness of my surprisingly healthy physical condition.
It was already seven when I left, and I allowed the rhythm of the run to carry me forward, calming a portion of my troubled thoughts.
Mia was already awake when I returned, silently arranging the house with calm precision, a ritual of movement that fascinated me as much as it soothed me.
I greeted her as I stepped into the living room.
"Hi," I said simply, trying to break the silence that hung between us.
"Hi… where were you…" she asked, straightening up to look at me with curiosity, her eyes searching my gestures, my body, and perhaps something deeper that I was not ready to reveal.
"I went for a run…" I replied calmly, sensing that part of her was observing me in an almost analytical way.
She paused for a moment, examining my body as if confirming what her eyes had already suspected, and I felt that attention resting on me in a strange way.
"Now that I'm looking at you closely… you seem pretty healthy for someone who just came out of a coma," she said with unexpected frankness, her eyes moving over my body without any apparent embarrassment.
I felt my face flush slightly under that direct observation, aware of the intimacy of her gaze.
She seemed to realize it and tried to justify herself, stammering.
"I wasn't staring at you, you know… I was just making an observation out of curiosity."
Her words were awkward but sincere, and I understood that the line between curiosity and indiscretion could be thin.
A faint smile escaped me, not out of amusement but as a quiet acknowledgment of her honesty.
I turned toward her with apparent calm and murmured, "Yes… I'm deeply surprised too."
It was the truth. I knew nothing about this new body that seemed healthier than ever, a body I was still discovering with a mixture of fascination and concern.
She nodded slightly and added, "Ah, right… I almost forgot. Did you get a call?"
I asked no questions and walked over to the table where the phone was lying, curious to know who had contacted me.
The screen revealed an unknown number and a message mentioning that I had come out of a coma. At that moment, I still had no idea who it could be.
Mia, noticing how intently I was reading the message, asked calmly, "Do you know who it is?"
"I don't know who it is…" I replied.
She frowned slightly.
"You're not going to call back? It might be someone important."
Her words echoed strangely inside me, and something within urged me to smile.
I let out a brief, artificial smile and replied, somewhat awkwardly.
"I don't have anyone important anymore… except you, Mia. I'll never forget what you did for me."
The words I spoke made me uncomfortable, but I had to stand by them.
POV Mia
I thought he was trying to forget that girl, kyte, by adopting this reserved and distant attitude, especially since news of their breakup had spread at the academy, Yet something in his behavior made me doubt.
I felt that he might have changed, but part of me remained cautious.
This man had been broken by his life, by his losses, by a coma caused by a breakup, and it seemed impossible for such a profound change to happen in so little time.
And yet, every time he spoke to me, I noticed a different nuance, something that felt genuine and impossible to ignore.
The emotions mixing inside me were complex: curiosity, suspicion, fascination, and pity, all at once.
I had decided to shelter a boy I barely knew under my roof, and the idea disturbed me more than I wanted to admit.
Am I crazy? I asked myself internally.
But it was too late for regrets.
I made a simple and calm decision.
"Can you get ready? We're going to buy you some clothes. I promised you yesterday."
His response was short and direct, as usual.
"Alright. I'll do that."
Yet that answer did not bother me as much as I thought it would, and I found myself analyzing how deeply he had been broken, or how much he had truly changed.
"Go take the shower first. I'll go after you," I said, trying to hide my embarrassment at the idea of sharing a house with a boy.
"I've already showered… before going for my run," he replied, remaining still and staring at me with eyes that seemed to express nothing, like an empty shell.
That absence of emotion unsettled me, stirring a mixture of pity, fascination, and curiosity.
I turned toward the shower, uncertain about my feelings but aware that I had to honor the debt I felt toward him.
The silence that settled between us was heavy but necessary, a suspended moment where we coexisted without unnecessary words.
POV EREN
An hour had already passed since we decided to go shopping together, sitting inside a bus with slightly fogged windows.
She sat across from me, her eyes fixed on her phone, while I observed her carefully, noting the precision of her features, the delicacy of her face.
She seemed to sense my attention and raised her eyes to look directly at me, but I did not look away.
Every movement, every small detail of her posture fascinated me.
My mind observed without judgment, capturing signals I could not yet fully interpret.
Suddenly, a notification appeared on my phone.
"You're still not answering me, Eren… we need to talk. It's kyte. Be a man for once and come see me."
My heart tightened slightly as I read the message, and a mixture of concern and curiosity took hold of me.
Every memory of that person, of that past betrayal, returned with painful clarity, reviving emotions I believed had been buried.
I remained silent, letting the tension and apprehension settle in my mind.
The bus continued its route, and with each jolt, the outside world seemed to drift farther away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.