Chapter 31: You’re overthinking it

Damian stared at his phone.

The screen was still showing the same conversation he’d opened several minutes ago.

No new message.

No notification.

Nothing.

He locked the screen, tossed the phone onto his bed, and leaned back.

He lasted approximately twelve seconds.

Then he picked it up again.

Still nothing.

Damian sighed.

"I’m an idiot."

He dropped the phone beside him and rubbed both hands over his face.

He had actually done it.

He had asked Emily out.

After weeks of slowly getting closer to her, after all the little conversations, coffee runs, study sessions, and moments where he’d caught himself looking forward to seeing her more than he wanted to admit, he’d finally taken the step.

And then Adrian’s gift had arrived at the worst possible moment.

Damian groaned.

"Perfect timing."

His phone buzzed.

Damian practically snatched it off the bed.

A message.

From Ethan.

Ethan: You alive?

Damian stared at the message for a second before typing.

Damian: Yeah.

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Ethan: You sound suspiciously alive.

Damian rolled his eyes.

Damian: I’m fine.

He hesitated.

His thumb hovered over the keyboard.

Then he typed.

Damian: I asked Emily out today.

The typing indicator appeared.

Disappeared.

Appeared again.

Then—

Ethan: FINALLY.

Damian frowned.

Damian: Finally?

Ethan: Bro. It’s about time.

Damian sat upright.

Damian: What does that mean?

There was a short pause.

Then Ethan called.

Damian answered.

"What?"

Ethan’s voice came through immediately.

"I’m saying it’s about time you finally did something about it."

Damian frowned. "Did something about what?"

There was silence on the other end.

Then Ethan laughed.

"Bro..."

"What?"

"You seriously thought nobody noticed?"

Damian’s expression tightened.

"Noticed what?"

"You and Emily."

Damian blinked.

"What about us?"

Ethan scoffed.

"Don’t do that."

"Do what?"

"Act stupid."

"I’m not acting stupid."

"You’ve been hanging out with her constantly."

Damian opened his mouth but Ethan continued before he could respond.

"Coffee. Lunch. Studying together. Walking around campus together. She messages you, you suddenly disappear into your phone for five minutes."

Damian looked down at his phone.

"That doesn’t mean anything."

"Right."

"It doesn’t."

"Sure."

Damian could practically hear Ethan grinning.

"You two have been getting closer for weeks. Even I could tell something fishy was going on."

Damian leaned back against the headboard.

"I thought I was being subtle."

"You weren’t."

"How bad was it?"

"Pretty bad."

Damian groaned.

Ethan laughed.

"Relax. It wasn’t exactly a difficult mystery."

Damian shook his head.

"So you already knew?"

"I had my suspicions."

"And you didn’t say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say? ’Hey Damian, are you secretly falling for Emily?’"

Damian went quiet.

Ethan caught it.

"Oh."

"What?"

"You’re actually serious about her."

Damian stared at the ceiling.

He could have brushed it off.

Made a joke.

Changed the subject.

But there wasn’t much point anymore.

"Yeah," he admitted.

Ethan’s voice softened slightly.

"Then I’m happy for you, bro."

Damian smiled faintly.

"Thanks."

"So?"

"So what?"

"What did she say?"

Damian’s smile disappeared.

"She said she’d think about it."

There was a pause.

Then Ethan said, "That’s it?"

"Yeah."

"She didn’t say no."

"I know."

"So what’s the problem?"

"There isn’t one."

"You sound disappointed."

"I’m not."

"You definitely are."

Damian sighed.

"It’s just..."

He stopped.

"Just what?"

Damian looked at his phone again.

"Forget it."

Ethan laughed.

"You’re overthinking."

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I’m really not."

"You’ve checked your phone three times since I called."

Damian froze.

"How do you know?"

"Because you’ve been silent for about thirty seconds."

Damian glanced at the phone in his hand.

"...Shut up."

Ethan laughed.

"Give her some time, man."

"I know."

"And don’t start acting weird around her tomorrow."

"I won’t."

"You definitely will."

"Goodnight, Ethan."

"Goodnight, lover boy."

Damian ended the call.

He stared at the phone.

Then sighed.

"Lover boy?"

He shook his head.

"Idiot."

The next morning, Damian arrived on campus with one goal.

Don’t think about Emily.

Simple.

He could do that.

Probably.

He met Ethan outside their first lecture.

"Morning," Ethan said.

"Morning."

Ethan glanced at him.

"You sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Damian nodded.

Then his hand slipped into his pocket.

His phone came out.

He checked the screen.

Nothing.

Ethan stared at him.

Damian looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Damian narrowed his eyes.

Ethan smiled innocently.

"Let’s go to class."

The morning passed normally.

Almost painfully normally.

Classes.

Notes.

A short quiz.

A lecturer spending far too long explaining something that could have been covered in half the time.

Everything was ordinary.

Except Damian kept checking his phone.

Every time it vibrated, his hand instinctively moved toward his pocket.

Every time it wasn’t Emily, a small part of him felt disappointed.

By lunch, Ethan had stopped commenting on it.

Mostly because Damian had become predictable.

They sat together, talking about football and arguing over which team had the better midfield.

For a while, Damian actually forgot about everything.

Then his phone came out again.

Nothing.

He locked it.

Ethan glanced at him.

"You’re doing it again."

"I’m checking the time."

"Your phone is literally in your hand."

Damian looked at the clock on the cafeteria wall.

"...I knew that."

Ethan laughed.

"Sure."

Damian ignored him.

But underneath the humor, the uncertainty was starting to bother him.

He hadn’t seen Emily all day.

Not once.

Their schedules didn’t always line up, so it wasn’t impossible.

Still...

He’d expected to run into her.

Somewhere.

The library.

The cafeteria.

One of the walkways.

Nothing.

By the afternoon, Damian found himself checking the entrance every time someone walked through.

Still nothing.

Maybe she was busy.

Maybe she had classes elsewhere.

Maybe she was thinking about what he’d asked.

That was reasonable.

It was completely reasonable.

So why did it feel so bad?

By the time classes ended, Damian was exhausted.

Not physically.

Mentally.

He walked away from campus with Ethan, but eventually they split at the usual intersection.

"See you tomorrow," Ethan said.

"Yeah."

Ethan took a few steps before turning around.

"And Damian?"

Damian looked back.

"Don’t overthink it."

Damian gave him a tired smile.

"I won’t."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Liar."

Then he walked away.

Damian continued toward home.

The evening air was cool, and the streets were busy with students heading in different directions.

He shoved his hands into his pockets.

His phone was still there.

He pulled it out.

Nothing.

Damian stared at the screen for a few seconds.

Then locked it.

Maybe he’d moved too fast.

Maybe he’d misunderstood everything.

Emily had enjoyed spending time with him. That much was obvious.

But maybe enjoying someone’s company didn’t automatically mean wanting a relationship with them.

And Adrian’s gift hadn’t exactly helped.

Damian exhaled.

"Why did I do that?"

He knew why.

Because he liked her.

Because pretending otherwise had become impossible.

Still, knowing the reason didn’t make the uncertainty any easier.

He kicked a small pebble off the pavement.

"I should’ve just left things alone."

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he didn’t believe them.

If he hadn’t asked, he’d probably spend the next few weeks wondering what would’ve happened.

That didn’t make him feel much better.

He kept walking, lost in his thoughts.

Then—

"Damian?"

He stopped.

The voice was familiar.

Damian turned around.

Claire stood a few feet away, one hand holding the strap of her bag.

She looked at him for a moment.

Then tilted her head.

"You okay?"

Damian blinked.

"Yeah."

Claire raised an eyebrow.

"That didn’t sound convincing."

Damian gave a weak smile.

"It’s been a long day."

Claire studied him for another second.

"Clearly."

Damian slipped his phone back into his pocket.

For the first time all day, he stopped thinking about whether Emily would message him.

Because now Claire was standing in front of him.

And judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t planning on simply saying hello and walking away.