Just as I got home my phone buzz with a message. Simple. Unexpected.
Amethyst: "Hey… I'm home for the weekend. You around?"
I stared at the screen for a while. I hadn't seen her in person since… everything. The letter. The new guy. The healing. All of it. We still messaged now and then—safe, surface-level things. But this felt different.
Me: "Yeah. Want to meet?"
She replied with a thumbs-up and a smiley face. My stomach twisted in ways I couldn't explain.
---
We met at the old basketball court near the sari-sari store—the same one we used to hang out at back in high school. It looked the same. Cracked floor. Rusty hoop. A few kids playing in slippers like we once did.
And there she was. Amethyst.
Same soft eyes. Same tired smile. Her hair was tied back, and she was wearing that big hoodie she used to steal from me. For a second, it felt like nothing had changed.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey," she replied, pulling me into a quick hug. She smelled like rain and fabric softener. Like memories.
We walked. Nowhere specific. Just down familiar streets, our steps quiet and slow.
"So how's college?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Tiring. Beautiful. Lonely sometimes."
I nodded. "Yeah. Same."
We passed the bakery with the cheap cheese bread and the empty lot where we used to light sparklers. Everything was familiar and different at the same time.
"You still draw?" I asked.
"All the time," she said. "I joined this art club. They make us sketch strangers sometimes. I think I accidentally fell in love with a barista once."
I laughed. "You would."
She smiled, but it faded a little. "What about you?
"Still helping girls write letters for other guys." I sarcastically answered.
"Ouch."
"I'm mostly failing my midterms and surviving off iced coffee." I said.
"So... the usual."
We reached the park without really meaning to. It started drizzling. Just a light sprinkle. The kind you almost ignore.
She looked up. "Do you remember that one time we danced in the rain here?"
"I pretended to hate it. You made it dramatic."
"You slipped and fell on your butt."
"Twice."
We both laughed, but then it went quiet again. The rain picked up, and we ran under the big acacia tree near the bench. It didn't help much—we were still getting wet. But neither of us moved.
Her hair stuck to her face. I wanted to brush it away but didn't.
"I've missed this," she said softly.
"This…?"
"You. Us. Just talking. Just being."
I didn't know what to say to that. I felt the words build up in my chest but none of them came out right. So I just nodded.
"I think about you a lot," she added, voice barely louder than the rain.
"Even with him?"
She hesitated. "Yeah. Even with him."
I swallowed hard. "Is that... bad?"
"I don't know."
She looked at me then. Really looked. Eyes full of things she wasn't saying. And suddenly, the rain wasn't cold anymore.
Something shifted in the air.
For a moment, we weren't just old friends under a tree.
We were something in between.
She took a step closer. I didn't move. Her hand brushed mine. Warm. Shaky. Familiar.
And I thought: Is this a second chance to confess?
"I don't know what I'm doing," she whispered.
"Me neither," I said.
I could hear my heart pounding louder than the rain. I saw her glance at my lips. I saw her take a breath like she was about to speak or cry or kiss me.
Then—
Her phone buzzed.
She blinked. Stepped back. Checked it.
Her whole face changed.
"Who is it?" I asked, already knowing.
"Rafael," she said. Her voice was small. "My… ex."
I waited.
"He wants to talk," she added. "He's outside. He drove all the way here."
"In the rain?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
She nodded.
I looked at her. The girl who once broke my heart and held it in the same breath. The girl I might've kissed just now. The girl who still made my chest hurt without trying.
"You should go," I said.
"You sure?"
No. Not even a little.
But I said, "Yeah."
She stood there for a second, like she was waiting for something. For me to stop her. For me to say, "Stay."
But I didn't.
She gave me that half-smile again. The sad one. "I'm sorry."
Then she turned and ran into the rain.
I stood there, soaked and still, watching her disappear down the road. The water mixed with whatever heat was in my chest, and I didn't know if it was sadness or relief or both.
Maybe this was the closure I never got before.
Or maybe it was just another pause in a story that kept skipping chapters.
---
I didn't move for a long time. Just listened to the rain hit the leaves above me.
Then I walked.
Slowly. Back home. Back to the present.
Back to Clarisse.
---
She was waiting at the dorm lobby with two paper bags.
"Milk tea," she said. "And fries. You looked like you'd need it."
I smiled. Took the bags. Sat beside her.
"She visited?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Was it nice?"
"For a while."
Then I told her everything. The walk. The tree. The almost. The goodbye.
Clarisse listened. Quiet. Nodding. Her eyes soft.
"She's still figuring it out," I said. "And maybe… so am I."
Clarisse leaned her head on my shoulder.
"We all are," she whispered. "But hey… you didn't cry this time."
"Not yet," I said, laughing.
"Progress," she said.
And just like that, the ache in my chest felt a little lighter.
---
Later that night, we added to the healing list again.
Nathan and Clarisse's Healing Plan (Part Three)
11. Sometimes love almost happens. That's okay.
12. Don't chase people who can't choose you back.
13. Stand in the rain if you have to. Just don't stay there too long.
14. Fries and milk tea make everything 5% better.
15. It's okay to feel everything and still not have answers.
I looked at number 12 for a long time.
"Clarisse," I said. "Thank you. For being here. For not leaving."
She smiled. "Well, someone has to stop you from writing sad poetry at 2 a.m."
I laughed. "I don't do that."
"You totally do."
I didn't argue.
Because even if I wasn't sure where I stood with Amethyst… or with my feelings… I knew this: Clarisse was my constant.
And right now, in a world full of rain and confusion and people who left…
That was enough.