[POV Orión]

  The coffee shop Sora had recommended, a noisy pce full of university students, was exactly the kind of spot I usually avoided. Too many people, too much commotion, too much ughter that wasn't mine. But today, as I waited for Sora, the anxiety was a knot so tight in my stomach that I barely noticed the atmosphere. Last night's decision still burned in my chest: I would tell her the truth. I would tell her how I felt.

  She arrived five minutes te, apologizing with a smile that made me forget my nervousness for a second. She wore a summer blouse and jeans that, effortlessly, made her look radiant.

  "I'm sorry, Orion, I was just finishing up some blueprint tweaks for the engineering project," she said, sliding into the chair across from me. "Did you wait long?"

  "No, not at all," I lied, feeling my hands sweat beneath the table. "I actually like the vibe of this pce." It was the first truth I had dared to utter that day. I liked the vibe because she was in it.

  We ordered our coffees. As we chatted about university trivialities, about the Economics assignment which now seemed the least of my problems, the pn formed in my mind. I couldn't blurt out my confession in the middle of a noisy café. I needed a moment, a pce.

  "Hey, Sora," I said when we finished our coffees. "Since we're out and we have the day off, why don't we go to the mall? I need a new charger for my ptop." It was a pathetic excuse, but it was the best I could come up with.

  Sora tilted her head, thoughtful. "Hmm, not a bad pn. I need to look at some textbooks and maybe some clothes. Let's go!"

  Her enthusiasm was contagious. For a moment, I allowed myself to feel a pang of something akin to happiness. We walked to the mall under a bright, cloudless sun, a perfect day.

  The mall was a byrinth of shops and stimuli. Usually, it would overwhelm me, but with Sora by my side, it was different. She looked at the dispy windows with genuine curiosity, commenting on a dress or a book with a passion that I hadn't felt for anything in years. I, for my part, kept watching her, memorizing every gesture, every expression.

  We spent almost an hour in a bookstore, my personal purgatory. Sora immersed herself in the engineering section, her fingers gliding over the spines of the books with devotion. I followed her, nodding at her comments about thermodynamics and structures.

  "Look at this one," she said, pulling out a thick tome. "It's the edition I wanted. Should I buy it?"

  "If it makes you happy, yes," I replied with more sincerity than I intended.

  She ughed. "What great advice, Orion. Thanks! You're a sweetheart." Her hand briefly rested on my arm, and an electric shock ran through me. For her, it was a friendly gesture. For me, it was a universe.

  Then we went to the video game area. This was my territory. My eyes lit up, for the first time in a long while, at the sight of the new releases.

  "Oh, look at this one!" I excimed, pointing to a new dark fantasy RPG. "They say the story is incredible."

  Sora leaned in, looking at the screen with feigned interest. "It looks fun. You've always liked these worlds, haven't you? It's like you're always looking for a pce to escape to."

  Her comment hit me harder than expected. It wasn't intentional, I knew, but it was the truth. My empty life pushed me to seek refuge in fictional worlds.

  "Yeah, I guess," I mumbled, looking away. But she didn't judge me; she just looked at me with a understanding I rarely found in others.

  After a couple of hours, with my ptop charger bought and Sora with a new book, we decided to leave. The sun was beginning to stain the sky with oranges and pinks. A perfect sunset.

  "Why don't we walk through the park for a bit?" I suggested. It was the pce I had envisioned, the backdrop for my st gamble.

  She nodded, carefree. "Sure, a little fresh air will do me good."

  We walked in silence along the park's paths, the atmosphere tranquil, only broken by the birdsong. My hands were damp again, my heart hammered as if trying to escape my chest. This was the moment. There were no more excuses.

  We stopped next to an old oak tree, its branches spreading like wise arms. The sun was setting completely, coloring the world in a mencholic hue.

  "Sora," I began, my voice barely a husky whisper. It took so much effort to get it out. "There's something else I need to tell you. Something I couldn't tell you back at the coffee shop."

  She looked at me, her eyes curious, without a hint of the brutal honesty that would follow.

  "You know my life has been a mess since my parents left," I continued, forcing myself to look at the horizon, not her. "I've been floating, aimless, with nothing I truly care about. And I've tried. I've tried to find something. But... I haven't succeeded."

  I took a deep breath, the cold evening air filling my lungs. This was the truth. The raw, naked truth.

  "The only thing, Sora. The only thing that makes me want to get out of bed. The only thing that gives me a shred of hope, a reason to believe there's something more for me in this empty world..."

  I finally turned to look her in the eyes. Her expression was still curious, mixed with a growing concern.

  "It's you, Sora. I love you."