Chapter 28: No longer just friends

Damian didn’t think about Emily much on Saturday.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

He spent most of the morning going through Westbridge’s latest updates, checking a few documents Sarah had sent him and trying to understand the numbers instead of simply staring at them.

The second university pilot was moving forward.

Two hundred students.

Implementation costs.

User feedback.

Retention.

There were plenty of things that could go wrong, and Damian had learned enough by now to know that a good opportunity wasn’t automatically a safe one.

He closed his laptop.

His phone buzzed.

Emily:What are you doing?

Damian looked at the message.

Damian:Nothing important.

Three dots appeared.

Emily:Boring.

He smiled.

Damian:You asked.

Emily: I guess 😂

A few seconds later:

Emily:Want to get food later?

Damian didn’t hesitate.

Damian:Sure.

He paused after sending it.

Then looked at the screen again.

Why had he answered that quickly?

It wasn’t unusual for Emily to ask him to hang out.

They had done it plenty of times.

Still...

He put the phone down. ℴ

It’s just food.

That settled it.

Or so he thought.

They met near one of the quieter cafés off campus later that afternoon.

Emily was already there when Damian arrived.

"You’re early," she said.

"You’re late."

"I’ve been waiting for five minutes."

"Exactly."

She rolled her eyes.

"You’re becoming annoying."

"Becoming?"

She laughed.

"Okay."

They ordered and found a table near the window.

For a while, the conversation stayed completely ordinary.

Classes.

The entrepreneurship competition.

Ethan’s latest attempt to avoid doing an assignment.

One of their lecturers who somehow managed to make every topic sound twice as complicated as it actually was.

Emily shook her head.

"I swear Ethan could turn a ten-minute assignment into a three-day crisis."

"He’s talented."

"That’s one word for it."

Damian laughed.

The conversation flowed easily.

It always did with her.

That was the problem.

There was no effort.

No awkward silence that needed filling.

No need to impress each other.

He could just sit there.

And enjoy it.

Emily reached for her drink.

"You’ve been quiet."

"Have I?"

"A little."

Damian shrugged.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing."

She gave him a suspicious look.

"You’re terrible at lying."

"I’m actually pretty good."

"No, you’re not."

Damian smiled.

She was probably right.

After they finished eating, they walked around the area for a while.

The sun was beginning to drop, casting long shadows across the pavement.

Emily talked about an idea she had for improving her entrepreneurship proposal.

Damian listened and occasionally gave his opinion.

At one point, she stopped.

"Do you think I should change the whole thing?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because most of it is fine."

"What if the judges don’t like it?"

"Then find out why."

Emily smiled.

"You sound like Adrian now."

Damian laughed.

"That’s probably the worst thing you’ve said to me."

"I knew you’d react."

They continued walking.

A few minutes passed.

Then Emily said quietly,

"I’m glad I didn’t go with him."

Damian looked at her.

"Adrian?"

She nodded.

"I kept thinking about it after I told him no."

"And?"

"I just don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it."

Damian didn’t answer.

Emily looked ahead.

"I’ve had more fun hanging out with you."

Something about the way she said it caught him off guard.

Not flirtatious.

Not dramatic.

Just honest.

Damian smiled.

"I’m glad."

Emily looked at him.

"You’re not going to say something annoying?"

"Like what?"

"I don’t know. Something sarcastic."

"I can if you want."

"Don’t."

They laughed.

Then they kept walking.

That night, Damian lay on his bed with his phone resting beside him.

He wasn’t tired.

His mind kept replaying the afternoon.

Emily laughing.

The café.

Their conversation.

The way she had looked at him when she said she preferred spending time with him.

He picked up his phone.

Opened their chat.

Scrolled through a few messages.

Nothing unusual.

Just conversations.

Plans.

Random jokes.

Questions about school.

But there were a lot of them.

More than he had realized.

Damian locked the phone.

Then unlocked it again.

He stared at the screen.

Why am I doing this?

He tossed the phone onto the bed.

Silence filled the room.

His thoughts returned anyway.

He remembered how he’d felt when Emily told him she had rejected Adrian.

He hadn’t exactly been disappointed.

If anything...

He’d been relieved.

That was when the thought finally surfaced.

Simple.

Uninvited.

And impossible to ignore.

I like her.

Damian stared at the ceiling.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he let out a quiet breath.

"Seriously?"

There was no system notification.

No dramatic revelation.

Just him.

And a conclusion he’d apparently been avoiding for weeks.

He thought about how often he looked for Emily on campus.

How quickly he answered her messages.

How easily he agreed whenever she asked him to hang out.

How he’d started noticing the little things she did without meaning to.

And, most importantly, how much he genuinely enjoyed having her around.

It wasn’t because she was pretty.

Though she was.

It wasn’t because she liked him.

He wasn’t even sure what she felt yet.

It was simply...

Emily.

He liked being around her.

He liked talking to her.

He trusted her.

And somewhere along the way, she’d stopped being just the second friend she’d jokingly called herself.

Damian rubbed his face.

Well... that’s inconvenient.

He wasn’t panicking.

He wasn’t about to confess his feelings tomorrow.

And he definitely wasn’t going to start acting weird around her.

He just needed to acknowledge it.

That was all.

The thought felt less strange the second time.

Damian smiled faintly.

Then his phone buzzed.

He grabbed it.

Emily:You get home okay?

Damian stared at the message.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

Damian:Yeah. You?

Her reply came almost immediately.

Emily:Yeah :)

Damian placed the phone beside him.

For once, he didn’t try to overthink it.

He knew how he felt now.

That was enough.

Monday morning arrived far too quickly.

Damian walked onto campus with Ethan beside him.

Ethan was complaining about a lecturer.

Again.

"I swear that man enjoys watching students suffer."

"You didn’t even do the reading."

"That isn’t relevant."

"It sounds pretty relevant."

"I prefer to call it strategic preparation."

"You’re an idiot."

"Thank you."

Damian laughed.

They entered the main courtyard.

Emily was standing near the library entrance.

The moment she noticed them, she waved.

Damian’s eyes naturally went toward her.

He caught himself.

Then smiled.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Ethan noticed the smile.

He looked at Damian.

Then at Emily.

Then back at Damian.

He said nothing.

For once, Ethan simply smiled to himself.

Oh.

Maybe he finally understood what was going on.

Across the courtyard, Adrian was speaking with one of his teammates.

He noticed Damian and Emily too.

His expression didn’t change.

But his attention lingered for a moment longer than necessary.

The competition was over.

His interest in Emily wasn’t.

And neither was his interest in Damian.

For Damian, however, something had changed.

Not between him and Emily.

Not yet.

Something inside him had simply become clear.

And now that he knew how he felt...

He couldn’t pretend he didn’t.