Chapter 34: first day as a couple

The next morning, Damian woke up to a message.

He stared at his phone for a few seconds.

Emily:Good morning :)

Damian smiled.

It was a simple message.

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing that should have had him staring at his screen like an idiot.

Yet somehow, it did.

He typed a reply.

Damian:Morning.

He paused.

Deleted it.

Typed again.

Damian:Good morning, love.

He stared at the word.

Love.

Even after last night, it still felt strange seeing himself type it.

He sent the message before he could overthink it.

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Emily:Still getting used to it?

Damian chuckled.

Damian:Maybe.

Emily:Good. Me too.

He locked his phone and dropped it onto his bed.

Then picked it up again.

He didn’t know why.

He checked the message.

Still there.

He smiled again.

I’m actually dating Emily.

The thought still felt slightly unreal.

For months, she’d just been the girl he studied with, grabbed food with, and occasionally messaged.

Now she was his girlfriend.

Somewhere along the way, the line between friendship and something more had disappeared.

And apparently, neither of them had noticed exactly when it happened.

Damian got out of bed.

Today was going to be normal.

Classes.

Lunch.

Probably Ethan complaining about something.

Maybe some work for the entrepreneurship club.

Normal.

At least that was the plan.

By the time Damian reached campus, Ethan was already waiting outside their lecture hall.

The moment he saw Damian, his eyes narrowed.

Damian immediately knew that look.

"Don’t."

Ethan grinned.

"I haven’t said anything."

"Your face said enough."

"My face is innocent."

"Your face has never been innocent."

Ethan laughed.

They walked into the lecture hall together.

For the first ten minutes, everything was normal.

Then Ethan leaned closer.

"So..."

Damian kept his eyes on the lecturer.

"So what?"

"How’s your girlfriend?"

Damian nearly dropped his pen.

He slowly turned his head.

"You said you wouldn’t tell anybody."

"I said I wouldn’t announce it to the entire university."

"You told someone."

"One person."

"Who?"

Ethan smiled.

"Myself."

Damian stared at him.

"That doesn’t even make sense."

"Exactly."

Damian shook his head and turned back toward the lecturer.

Ethan wasn’t finished.

"So?"

"So what?"

"How does it feel?"

Damian hesitated.

"Good."

Ethan waited.

"That’s it?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don’t know. Something dramatic."

Damian whispered, "We’re dating. I didn’t overthrow a government."

Ethan covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

The lecturer glanced in their direction.

Both immediately looked forward.

A few seconds passed.

Then Ethan whispered again.

"Still can’t believe it."

Damian looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because you’ve spent months acting like asking her out was some sort of life-or-death decision."

Damian frowned.

"I was being careful."

"You were being terrified."

"I wasn’t terrified."

"You checked your phone every three minutes yesterday."

"I was waiting for a message."

"Exactly."

Damian sighed.

"Can we please focus on the lecture?"

Ethan nodded solemnly.

"Of course."

Five seconds later, he whispered,

"You’re officially someone’s boyfriend."

Damian elbowed him.

Ethan laughed quietly.

By lunch, Damian had almost forgotten about the teasing.

Almost.

He sat across from Emily at their usual spot.

She placed her drink on the table and looked at him.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I’m just having a good day."

Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Because?"

Damian leaned back.

"Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes.

"You’re being weird."

"That’s rich coming from you."

She laughed.

For a moment, neither said anything.

Then Emily looked around.

"We’ve done this so many times."

"Done what?"

"Had lunch together."

Damian nodded.

"Yeah."

"But now we’re..."

She paused.

"Together."

Damian smiled.

"Apparently."

Emily laughed.

"Don’t say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you accidentally got a girlfriend."

"I didn’t."

"Good."

She took a sip of her drink.

Then, almost casually, she reached across the table and took his hand.

Damian looked down.

Then back at her.

Emily smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’ve gone quiet."

"I’m just..."

He paused.

"Getting used to it."

Emily smiled.

"Me too."

There was something comforting about how ordinary the moment felt.

No dramatic declarations.

No grand gestures.

Just lunch.

Two people who had slowly become important to each other without either of them forcing it.

Damian squeezed her hand lightly before letting go.

"So, what are you doing after class?"

"Probably studying."

"Want company?"

Emily smiled.

"Sure."

Damian nodded.

"Good."

"That’s it?"

"What?"

"You asked me like you were making a business proposal."

He laughed.

"Sorry."

"You’re ridiculous."

"Ethan says that."

"I know."

She smiled.

"I’ve heard."

The afternoon passed quickly.

Classes.

A short assignment.

A surprisingly difficult quiz that Ethan complained about for nearly twenty minutes.

By the time Damian left the lecture hall, his phone vibrated.

He checked it.

Not Emily.

This time, it was Sarah.

Sarah:Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Daniel wants to discuss the next phase of the pilot.

Damian stopped walking.

The next phase.

That sounded important.

He replied.

Damian:Yeah. What time?

The response came quickly.

Sarah:2 PM. We’ll send you the details.

Damian slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Westbridge had been moving steadily in the background for weeks.

First fifty students.

Then the second university.

Then the two-hundred-student pilot.

Now they were already talking about what came after that.

This is getting bigger.

Not dangerously big.

Not yet.

But big enough that he couldn’t keep treating it like a side investment.

His stake wasn’t just sitting there anymore.

The company was actually moving.

And if Westbridge continued growing...

Damian shook the thought away.

One step at a time.

He’d learned that lesson early.

"You’re doing that thing again."

Damian looked up.

Emily was standing beside him.

"What thing?"

"Thinking."

"That’s usually allowed."

"Not when you’re walking and almost bumping into people."

Damian glanced ahead.

He had, in fact, nearly walked into someone.

"Fair."

Emily smiled.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Westbridge."

"The company?"

"Yeah. Sarah just messaged me. Daniel wants to discuss the next phase tomorrow."

Emily nodded.

"That’s good."

"Yeah."

"You sound worried."

"Not worried."

He considered it.

"More like... curious."

"About what?"

"How far it can actually go."

Emily studied him for a moment.

"You’re starting to take this seriously."

"I’ve been taking it seriously."

"You know what I mean."

Damian smiled.

"Yeah."

They continued walking.

Emily bumped his shoulder lightly.

"Just don’t forget you’re still a student."

"I won’t."

"Good."

"Although..."

She looked at him.

"What?"

"I wouldn’t mind graduating early."

She laughed.

"Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"Because you’d probably start another company before graduation."

Damian grinned.

"No promises."

Later that evening, Damian sat at his desk with his laptop open.

The apartment was quiet.

His phone sat beside him.

A message from Emily.

Emily:Made it home.

Another followed.

Emily:And before you ask, yes, I’m still getting used to calling you my boyfriend.

Damian smiled.

He typed.

Damian:Same.

A reply came almost immediately.

Emily:Goodnight, boyfriend.

Damian stared at the screen.

He shook his head with a quiet laugh.

Damian:Goodnight, girlfriend.

He placed the phone down.

Then his expression changed slightly.

The laptop screen showed a Westbridge report.

Pilot numbers.

User retention.

Implementation costs.

Projected growth.

Tomorrow’s meeting suddenly felt more important.

Damian leaned back.

A few months ago, his biggest financial concern had been whether he could afford a replacement laptop.

Now he was preparing for a meeting about the next stage of a growing company.

And somehow, that wasn’t even the strangest part of his life anymore.

His relationship with Emily was changing.

Westbridge was changing.

His own position was changing.

Everything seemed to be moving forward at once.

Then—

A familiar golden screen appeared in front of him.

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

He hadn’t touched anything.

The system displayed a single line.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

[FINANCIAL INFLUENCE CONTINUES TO ACCUMULATE.]

Damian stared at it.

"Yeah, yeah."

The screen remained unchanged.

No explanation.

No percentage.

No new reward.

Nothing else.

Damian sighed.

"You’re really good at being vague."

The golden screen disappeared.

He looked back at the Westbridge report.

Tomorrow, he’d find out what the company wanted to do next.

For once, he was looking forward to it.

Not because of the cashback.

Not because of the money.

But because he genuinely wanted to see what he’d helped build become.

Damian closed the laptop.

Then his phone buzzed again.

He checked it.

Emily:Also... I miss you already.

Damian smiled.

"Okay."

He typed his reply.

And for the first time in a while, the future didn’t feel like something he needed to chase.

It felt like something that was already coming toward him.