10/08/2025
When She Looked My Way
By itz_thelma_
Episode 10 – Choosing Each Other
The week started with a message Clara hadn’t expected.
An anonymous post on the campus gossip page.
“Mark Blake’s new first-year girl… wonder how long she’ll last.”
It was followed by a blurry photo of them in the cafeteria, his arm around her chair. The comments were worse — strangers dissecting her clothes, her looks, whether she was “Mark’s type.”
By the time she read through them, her hands were shaking.
---
Pulling Away
She didn’t see Mark until late that afternoon, and when she did, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked, falling into step beside her.
“Fine,” she said quickly. Too quickly.
He studied her for a moment. “Someone said something.”
She stayed quiet.
“Clara.” His voice was firmer now.
“It’s not worth talking about,” she said, picking up her pace. “And it’s not like you can stop them.”
He caught her wrist, gently but firmly, pulling her to a stop. “I don’t care what they say. Why do you?”
“Because it’s not you they’re tearing apart,” she shot back before she could stop herself.
The words hung there between them, raw and sharp.
---
The Space
For the next day and a half, she avoided him. She buried herself in assignments, skipped their usual study sessions, and told Mia she was “just tired.”
But she wasn’t tired. She was scared.
Because letting herself believe Mark was different meant she had something to lose.
---
The Confrontation
On Wednesday night, there was another knock on her door. She hesitated, but when she opened it, he was there — hair damp from the rain, jaw set like he wasn’t leaving until he got an answer.
“You’re avoiding me,” he said.
She stepped aside reluctantly, letting him in. “I’m busy.”
“Busy running away?”
“Mark—”
“No,” he cut in, stepping closer. “You don’t get to pull me in and then shut me out because some idiots on the internet have opinions.”
Her throat tightened. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is,” he said, his voice softer now. “You either believe this is real, or you don’t.”
---
The Decision
She looked at him — really looked. At the way his eyes searched hers, at the stubborn set of his jaw, at the fact that he’d come here in the rain just to have this conversation.
And she realized she’d already made the choice days ago.
“I do,” she said quietly. “I just… didn’t know if you did.”
His expression shifted — relief, frustration, something warmer beneath it all. “You really think I’d put up with all this if I didn’t?”
Before she could answer, he closed the distance and kissed her. Harder this time, urgent, like he needed her to feel it as much as hear it.
Her hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer until she could feel the solid weight of him against her. The kiss deepened, heat sparking between them, and when they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.
---
Out in the Rain
When he left an hour later, she walked him to the door — and stopped when she saw the rain still falling outside.
He glanced back at her. “Come with me.”
“To where?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He held out his hand.
She hesitated for half a second before taking it, letting him lead her out into the rain. They walked across the quad, laughing when their clothes clung and their hair plastered to their faces.
Halfway across, he stopped, pulling her in again, kissing her like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
And in that moment, with the rain falling around them and the campus lights blurring in the wet air, Clara decided it didn’t matter who was watching.
Because she was his.
And he was hers.
---
The End..
What did you learn from the story ?
