The next morning, Sam woke up feeling strangely… empty. It wasn't that he felt unwell—far from it. He just felt like something was missing.
He stared at the ceiling for a while before his eyes drifted toward his bedside table. His gaze landed on the small locket Mahiru had given him. He picked it up, opening it to reveal the picture of them smiling together. A small, unconscious smile tugged at his lips.
Yesterday had been… different. Spending a whole day taking care of Mahiru had made him realize just how much she meant to him. The way she had looked at him with such trust, the way she had smiled despite being sick… it made his chest feel warm.
With a deep breath, he sat up and stretched. He checked his phone instinctively, expecting a message from Mahiru, but there was nothing.
His smile faded slightly. She was probably still resting. He had told her to take the day off and get some proper sleep, but without her usual "Good morning, Sam!" message, the day already felt unusual.
Shaking off the feeling, he got out of bed, freshened up, and headed to the dining table, where Anna was already munching on toast.
Anna smirked the moment she saw him. "Oho, look who finally decided to wake up. Had a long night, huh?"
Sam shot her a look. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, don't act all innocent," she teased, waving a piece of toast at him. "You stayed over at Mahiru's place, didn't you? Taking care of her, feeding her, staying up all night by her bedside…"
Sam coughed, nearly choking on his own breath. "It—it wasn't like that!"
Anna grinned mischievously. "Oh, sure. So you're saying you didn't stay up all night taking care of her?"
Sam groaned, rubbing his temples. "I was just making sure she was okay. That's it."
Anna leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Mhm, and that's why you're sitting here looking all lovesick and checking your phone every two seconds?"
"I am not—" Sam started but stopped when he realized he had been checking his phone. He quickly put it face-down on the table.
Anna laughed. "Wow, you're so obvious. Just admit it, you missed her, didn't you?"
Sam sighed, giving up. "...Yeah, maybe a little."
Anna gasped dramatically. "A little? My dear brother, this is full-on boyfriend mode!"
"Just eat your breakfast," Sam muttered, stuffing toast in his mouth to shut her up.
Anna giggled but didn't push further, though her smug grin told him she was enjoying every second of this.
---
During lunch at college, Sam sat with his friends, but his mind kept wandering.
"Dude, you okay? You've been staring at your food for the past five minutes," Ryan, one of his friends, pointed out.
Sam blinked and looked down at his tray. His sandwich was untouched. "Huh? Oh… yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Another friend, Jake, smirked. "You've been checking your phone every two minutes. Got a secret girlfriend or something?"
Sam stiffened. "What? No. Why would you think that?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Because you're acting weird. Plus, you had some excuse yesterday and didn't hang out with us."
"Yeah, and now you look like you're waiting for a text," Jake added, nudging him. "Come on, tell us—who's the girl?"
Sam quickly shook his head. "It's nothing. Just... a friend wasn't feeling well, that's all."
Ryan and Jake exchanged a look before smirking.
"A friend, huh?"
Sam sighed. "Can we just eat?"
His friends continued teasing him, but he barely paid attention. His thoughts were still on Mahiru.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. His lectures felt longer than usual, and he found himself glancing at his phone more often than he'd like to admit. He didn't want to disturb Mahiru's rest, but the silence felt unnatural.
When he finally got home, the first thing he did was check his phone again.
1 New Message: Mahiru
His heart did a small flip as he opened it.
Mahiru: Hey, Sam… Sorry for not texting earlier. I was resting, like you told me to. Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. It really meant a lot. I missed you today.
Sam stared at the last sentence for a moment before a small grin formed on his lips.
Without hesitation, he typed back.
Sam: I missed you too. Feel better soon, okay?
Almost instantly, another message popped up.
Mahiru: I will. Let's meet soon.
Sam exhaled, a deep warmth filling his chest.
Yeah… he couldn't wait to see her again.
----