When the Stars Remembered Us
On the night the city lost its stars, Aria met Noah on the rooftop of an old apartment building. The sky was dull, hidden behind clouds and light pollution, but Noah pointed upward anyway.
“They’re still there,” he said. “Even when we can’t see them.”
Aria liked that about him—how he believed in things beyond sight.
They began meeting on that rooftop every week. Some nights they talked for hours; other nights they sat in silence, listening to the city breathe below them. Noah brought stories. Aria brought dreams she had never shared with anyone else.
One night, Aria confessed, “I’m afraid of loving someone who might leave.”
Noah didn’t promise forever. Instead, he said, “I’ll stay as long as my heart knows the way back to you.”
Seasons changed. Life pulled them in different directions. And one evening, Noah didn’t come.
Months passed.