That morning, the campus felt more crowded than usual.
Blair walked beside Kattie along the main corridor, her sling bag hanging off one shoulder, her hair tied up carelessly.
The air was still cold, but the sun had begun to appear shyly behind the old buildings.
“You look like you’re thinking,” Kattie said, sipping her coffee.
“I’m not,” Blair replied quickly.
“You always say that when you are.”
Blair didn’t answer.
She glanced around, instinctively searching for a figure she had recently learned to recognize far too easily, even from a distance.
Pablo was sitting on the steps outside the faculty building, alone.
A sketch lay open on his lap, his head slightly lowered.
There was something different in the way he sat that morning.
His shoulders were more tense.
His expression more closed off.
Blair slowed down without realizing it.
“You wanna go to say hi?” Kattie asked softly.
Blair hesitated for a fraction of a second.
“Wait.”
She approached quietly, not wanting to startle him.
“Hey,” she said.
Pablo looked up.
A smile appeared, but it didn’t fully reach his eyes.
“Hey.”
“You’re not going to class?”
“Later,” Pablo replied.
“I’m working on something.”
Blair glanced at his sketch.
The building looked different from his previous assignments.
More personal.
Quieter.
“Are you okay?” Blair asked.
It was a simple question.
But Pablo stopped drawing.
“I’m fine,” he said, too quickly.
Blair didn’t push.
She had learned..
from Brunne, from Kattie, from life—that not every truth wants to come out when it’s forced.
“If you need coffee,” Blair said, “Kattie and I are going to the canteen later.”
“Maybe.”
As Blair turned away, Pablo’s phone vibrated.
The name that appeared made him instinctively step aside.
Taylor.
He answered the call.
“Hey, Pablo!” The voice was cheerful…
too cheerful for the morning.
“I got the highest score in art!”
Pablo smiled softly.
“Nice.
What did you draw?”
“A building,” Taylor replied proudly.
“I drew a house that doesn’t collapse.”
The sentence made Pablo fall silent.
“Bro?” Taylor’s voice wavered.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No,” Pablo said quietly.
“You’re smart.”
Blair, who hadn’t completely walked away yet, caught fragments of the conversation.
She stopped a few steps away, pretending to tie her shoe.
“Dad got mad again last night,” Taylor continued, more softly.
“But Mom said not to think about it.”
Pablo closed his eyes briefly.
“Yeah.
Listen to Mom, okay?”
“Okay,” Taylor said.
“Pablo… are you coming home?”
Pablo didn’t answer right away.
“I’ll let you know.”
The call ended.
Pablo stared at the blank screen longer than necessary.
Blair stepped closer again.
“Your sibling?”
Pablo nodded.
“Taylor.”
“She sounds like she really loves you.”
Pablo smiled faintly.
“She’s the only one who still believes I didn’t choose the wrong path.”
The words fell just like that.
Not dramatic.
And that was exactly why Blair went quiet.
“You didn’t choose wrong,” Blair said softly.
Pablo turned to her.
“You don’t know the whole story.”
“No,” Blair admitted.
“But I know what it feels like to be questioned all the time.”
Pablo didn’t respond.
But something in his expression softened.
By midday, they finally sat together in the canteen.
“You two look like you just had a life discussion,” she said as she sat down.
“More like sharing silence,” Blair replied.
“Oh, that’s heavier,” Kattie said casually.
Pablo let out a small laugh.
His first one that day.
After their last class, Pablo and Blair ended up walking in the same direction again.
No plans.
No intention.
“I sometimes think,” Pablo said suddenly, “that I’m not actually afraid of failing.
I’m afraid of disappointing people.”
Blair stopped walking.
“Especially your father.”
Pablo nodded.
Blair looked at him for a long moment.
“You know… my older brother used to say—life isn’t about making other people proud.
It’s about being honest with yourself.”
Pablo turned quickly.
“Your brother?”
Blair nodded.
“He passed away.”
Pablo didn’t ask further.
He only said softly, “I’m sorry.”
Blair smiled faintly.
“It’s okay.
I didn’t say it to be pitied.”
They stood at a crossroads.
The sky was starting to darken.
“I should go,” Pablo said.
“Yeah.”
There was a pause.
Not awkward, but full of things left unsaid.
“Blair,” Pablo said before leaving.
“If one day I tell you everything… will you listen?”
Blair nodded.
“I’m here.”
Pablo walked away.
Blair watched his back until it disappeared into the crowd.
She realized something that day.
Pablo wasn’t mysterious because he wanted to seem deep.
He was mysterious because there were parts of his life that no one had dared to touch yet.
Including himself.
And without realizing it, Blair was already standing close enough to that door.