The Dangers Of The Damaged ✔︎

56 ↝ Missing In Action

"I feel it, can you feel it tonight?
I feel the fire between you and I,
I mean it, don't you turn off the light."
Nothing On You — Ed Sheeran

"Our final module to tackle before midterms will be..." My professor trails off, turning to the whiteboard behind him to scrawl a sentence across the board in large letters. "Social and Cognitive Development."

He turns back around to face us, sticking the marker back into it's cap. "This topic examines how the self and relationships develop from infancy through to adolescence. It's a hard one to latch onto easily, but I believe we have enough time left to ease into it. We'll begin the lesson tomorrow, you're all dismissed. Have a good day, and grab the assignment brief before you leave."

He points to a stack of papers on the edge of his desk, before turning away to gather his things. Everyone hurries out of their seats, taking a paper each before filing outside.

I pack up my bag and make my way down the stairs towards the professors desk, grabbing a sheet of paper from the pile before stepping out into the warm air.

After tucking the brief away safely into a file in my bag, I walk towards the café to grab a quick bite before retreating to my dorm for the day. The little bell above the door tinkles as I enter, my eyes automatically going over to our booth to see if anyone's there, and sure enough, Nessa and Kye are sharing a plate of fries.

They don't see me, so I make a beeline to the counter to order myself a burrito and an iced tea. Once I've paid and gotten my order, I stalk over to the table and slump down next to Kye.

"Hey roomie," Nessa smiles as Kye ruffles my hair in greeting before snagging a sip from my iced tea.

"Hey." I sigh, unwrapping the burrito, eager to eat.

"Bad day?" Kye quirks a brow as he sets down the iced tea.

I shrug, chewing my food and swallowing it before replying. "Not really, just... mediocre."

Nessa's brows furrow. "Are you okay, Alex?"

The food in my stomach suddenly feels heavy, and the ache hits me face-first again out of nowhere as I put down the burrito on it's wrapper.

"I don't know."

Kye wraps an arm around my shoulder, his other hand rubbing my arm. "He has talked to you?"

I shake my head, licking my lips. "No. Where is he?"

Ever since the night at the club two days ago, I haven't seen him or heard from him. The only communication we have is when he responds occasionally on our groupchat to stuff that everyone else says. I don't really address him directly on there for him to respond to me, anyways.

In such a short span, Hunter had unknowingly become such a huge part of my day to day life. Now that he's not here, everyday feels incomplete, everyday feels longer and darker. Not a day passes by when I don't hear his words to me echoing in my head.

I love you.

He loves me, and I love him, but for some reason, we're not together.

Emotion rises in me like nausea, and I can't help but turn my head and bury my face in Kye's sweater, leaning into him for comfort. Kye responds immediately, tightly winding his arms around me.