Their café had stopped feeling like a place and started feeling like a routine they never discussed but always followed.

Same table near the window. Same slightly wobbly chair Vibino refused to exchange. Same order that neither of them bothered to confirm anymore.

She dropped into her seat and eyed her book in his hand. “Well?”

John placed the copy of Jane Eyre on the table like it had personally challenged him. “You do realize you have turned this into a conversation with yourself, right? There are more of your thoughts here than the author’s.”

“Hmm, that's the point of giving you a book I like,” she replied calmly.

“I am not disagreeing,” he said, opening the book where his bookmark rested. “It just… hits harder than I expected.”

Vibino leaned back, watching him instead of the book now. “That is because it is not pretending to be pretty.”

He nodded slowly, fingers still resting on the page. “It is uncomfortable in a very quiet way. Like nothing dramatic is happening, but everything feels wrong anyway.”

“Welcome to being a woman in most spaces,” she said, not even trying to soften it.

He looked up at that.

She shrugged lightly, but there was something underneath it. “It is not always loud suffering. It is… constant adjustment. You learn where you are allowed to speak, how much, when to stop. Even in relationships.”

John closed the book halfway, his thumb still marking the page. “It feels like she is always negotiating her place.”

“She is,” Vibino said. “That does not really stop. It just changes forms.”

The drinks arrived, and for a moment, that simple interruption gave them both a pause.

He picked up his cup, took a sip, then let it rest between his hands. “It is strange,” he said after a second. “People talk about love like it is straightforward. This book makes it feel… layered. Messy. Not something you can just define.”

Vibino smiled faintly. “Because you cannot.”

He let out a quiet breath. “Everyone still tries though. Like there is a proper format. You meet, you date, things progress in a certain direction, and if they do not, then something is wrong.”

“Or missing,” she added.

“Exactly.”

There was a small pause.

He did not plan to bring it up this soon. It just… came up.

“I had a conversation with Sandeep,” he said.

She groaned immediately. “I am already tired.”

“He has very strong opinions about what dating should look like.”

“Let me guess. If it is not leading somewhere physical, it is pointless.”

John gave her a look. “You have met him before in another life.”

She smiled, but it faded quickly when she noticed his expression had not.

That was new.

“You are thinking too much,” she said.

“I am trying to understand,” he corrected.

She leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand. “About?”

He hesitated. Not because he did not know what to say, but because he did not want to make it sound heavier than it actually was.

“It has been a while,” he said finally. “Since we started… this.”

She did not interrupt. Just watched him.

“And I realized I do not actually know what you want from it,” he added, more quietly this time. “The last time I was in something like this, things were already… different by now.”

Vibino’s expression shifted, not defensive, not surprised. Just thoughtful.

She looked down at her cup for a second, then back at him.

“I have never really felt that kind of pull,” she said.

John frowned slightly. “What kind?”

“The kind people keep talking about,” she said. “The urgency. The physical need. The whole ‘I cannot keep my hands off you’ energy.”

He did not say anything.

“I can look at someone and know they are attractive,” she continued, a small shrug following. “You, for example. You are obviously good looking. That is not a mystery.”

He almost smiled as his neck tinted pink.

She ignored that. “But it never goes beyond that for me. It just… stops there.”

There was no awkwardness in the way she said it. No apology. Just honesty.

“I think I used to believe it would change,” she went on. “Because of all the nonsense I read when I was younger. Those free stories where the attractive guy is also deeply caring and somehow fixes everything.”

“Wattpad?” he asked.

She gave him a look. “Do not judge me.”

“I am trying not to.”

She rolled her eyes, then smiled faintly. “At some point, I realized I was not actually drawn to them. I was drawn to the idea that they would be safe. That they would understand. That they would not make me feel… off.”

John leaned back slightly, listening.

“And that has nothing to do with physical attraction,” she said. “At least not for me.”

A small silence settled between them.

“Then what matters?” he asked, softer now.

She met his eyes.

“This,” she said simply.

He did not move.

“Being able to sit here and not feel like I have to be anything else,” she added. “Talking without filtering every thought. Not worrying about what it is supposed to become.”

John let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

“And with you,” she said, a faint smile forming, “it is easy.”

There it was again.

That word they never used out loud but kept circling around.

Easy.

He nodded slowly, something quiet settling into place inside him. “Yeah,” he said. “It is.”

They did not rush to fill the silence after that.

They finished their drinks, paid the bill without the usual argument, and stepped out into the evening air.

For a second, they just stood there.

Not awkward. Not unsure.

Just… there.

Vibino looked at him, then away, then back again like she was debating something very simple and still overthinking it.

“Can I hug you?” she asked finally.

John did not answer with words.

He stepped forward and pulled her in, arms wrapping around her without hesitation.

She stiffened for half a second, then relaxed, her hands coming up slowly, like she was getting used to the idea as it happened.

It was not intense.

Not dramatic.

Just… right.

When they pulled apart, he did not move away immediately. He looked at her properly this time.

“I feel the same,” he said, quieter than usual.

She smiled.

And for once, neither of them tried to define what that meant.

Because it wasn't necessary.

~fin~