For the first time in days, Bunny didn’t feel like she was floating between fiction and real life.

She was fully grounded—in the moment, in her decision, and in him.

Elio.

They had been spending more time outside her dorm, away from books, away from whispers of fantasy. For once, it felt… normal. Tulad ng ibang college couple. Sabay mag-kape, mag-complain tungkol sa quizzes, at magkulitan sa café.

But magic doesn’t just disappear because you stop believing in it.

“Bunny,” Elio said one afternoon, his voice hesitant, “my hand—look.”

She blinked and stared at his fingers.

They were… fading.

As in literal transparency. Like tracing paper.

“No,” she said, panic rising. “No, no, no.”

Elio gave a soft smile, the kind that cracked her heart in two. “Maybe this world is rejecting me.”

“No! I already chose you. We already—Elio, please.”

He reached out, and she could still feel the warmth, but it was thinner now. Like a memory.

“You said we’d write a better ending,” she choked.

“I think… it’s time to write it down, for real,” Elio replied. “Not just believe in me. Declare it. Anchor me.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean, write our story?”

He nodded. “Write it. Finish it. That’s the only way I can stay.”

That night, Bunny locked herself in the library office with a single lamp on.

She pulled out a fresh notebook.

And she began to write:

Once upon a time, a girl met a boy inside a book.
But this time, she didn’t run from the story.
She held the pen tighter.
She wrote not with fear… but with love.

Hours passed. Pages filled. She cried. She laughed. She remembered everything—the rooftop talks, the ramen nights, the first time he smiled at her like she was his favorite plot twist.

And as she finished the last sentence:

“And he stayed.”

A warm breeze blew through the room.

And standing in the doorway—

Elio.

Fully there. No more fading.

Just him.

Real.