Chapter 157 Chapter 157

Chapter 157 Chapter 157
Aurelia

The conversations between us had gotten simpler lately. Not because feelings disappeared Because certainty replaced overthinking, I called him a few seconds later instead of texting again. He answered quickly. “How bad is the workload already,” he asked.
“I haven’t even had one class yet, and somehow I’m already stressed.”

“That sounds self-inflicted," he said, and I could tell he was smiling.
“You’re annoying.” I said,

“I’m accurate, and still you love me.” He said, "I leaned back against the wall smiling a little." In the background on his end I could hear movement. Doors, maybe low voices; he was still working, always working. But somehow it didn’t bother me the way it used to because I knew now that being busy didn’t mean being emotionally distant. Those weren’t the same thing.

"Are you home?” I asked.
“Not yet," he said.
“Thought so.” There was a short pause. Then he asked, “You settled in.”

“Mostly.”
“You’ll adjust fast," he said.

That confidence in me still hit every time. Even now, especially now.We stayed on the phone for another ten minutes talking about absolutely nothing important. Dani’s chaos Amy is apparently starting another argument with him over something stupid.
My schedule and his travel plans Then eventually he said, “I have to go.”
“Okay.”

No tension, no dragging the call out emotionally. Just normal. Before hanging up, though, he added quietly, “I’ll be in Maylan next week.” That made me smile . “For work?”
"Yes," he said. 
“You always have work excuses.”

“They’re effective," he replied. 
“Suspicious.”
“Still effective. "I love you," he said. That made me smile.
“I love you too, Talon." 

“Thank god," he said, and I laughed softly before the call ended, and after hanging up, I realized something important: I wasn’t waiting desperately for his attention anymore, not because I cared less but because I trusted the consistency now.

The next few weeks settled into a rhythm surprisingly fast. Classes got heavier immediately. Third-semester professors clearly believed suffering built character. But somehow I handled it better this time. More organized, more disciplined Less emotionally distracted And somewhere inside all of that, Talon just existed steadily in the background of my life.

Some weekends I went to Silverridge. Not formally, just naturally. I’d finish classes Friday afternoon, throw stuff into a bag, and drive there like it was normal now because, honestly, it was. The staff greeted me casually every time Amy usually attacked me emotionally within ten minutes of arrival. And Talon would come home later looking visibly calmer the second he saw me there. Like that reaction had become automatic.

Other times he came to Maylan instead, usually during work gaps. He’d show up for dinner or disappear into our room for a few quiet hours before leaving again the next morning. Thankfully Dani was an angel; when he showed up, she would voluntarily leave and give us space. I told her she didn't need to. She said our love was gross to her eyes. 

There were no big scenes. No dramatic reunions Just integration. One night he came over after a meeting nearby and found me studying on the floor surrounded by papers. He stood in the doorway for a second staring down at the disaster zone.

“You’re losing structural control,” he said. I looked up slowly. “That sentence was deeply unattractive.” I said
“You’re sitting on paper.” he said
“I’m studying.”

“That’s not the same thing," he said. I laughed while he stepped over my notes carefully. Then he sat beside me on the floor without complaint, loosening his tie slightly. That tiny action hit me for some reason.

Talon Blackwell was sitting cross-legged on my dorm floor surrounded by flashcards like it was completely normal. And honestly maybe it was normal now. At some point while I was reviewing notes, I noticed he’d gone unusually quiet beside me, and I looked over.
“You’re tired.”
“I’m fine," he said.

“You literally closed your eyes mid-conversation."
“That isn’t illegal," he said.
I smiled softly. “You can sleep for a bit.”

“I’m not sleeping on your floor.” he said,
“Coward.” I said that got a small smile out of him before he leaned back against the side of my bed anyway. And suddenly the whole moment felt weirdly domestic. Comfortable, easy, not intense Not fragile, just ours.

Talon

The third semester started exactly how I expected it to: fast, and everything accelerated again immediately. Work expanded. Travel increased. Schedules tightened, but unlike previous semesters, none of it created underlying instability anymore. Because Aurelia and I had already adapted That was the difference. Distance stopped feeling like a threat. It became a logistical reality instead. Which is significantly easier to manage.

The first week after she returned to Maylan, I noticed something almost immediately during our conversations. She sounded settled. Not emotionally dependent on constant interaction Not waiting around for reassurance Just grounded in her own routine.

That mattered. It meant the relationship had stabilized properly. When I told her I’d be in Maylan the following week, her reaction was relaxed. No emotional weight attached to it Just an expectation that's healthy. Over the next several weeks, patterns established themselves naturally. Sometimes she came to Silverridge. Sometimes I went to Maylan. Neither required discussion anymore. No formal planning No emotional negotiation Just movement.

The Blackwell house adjusted around her presence entirely at this point. Staff recognized her immediately. My mother treated her like a permanent inclusion rather than a guest accommodation. Amy essentially acted like Aurelia belonged there already. And importantly, she stopped behaving like she needed permission to exist in the space. That shift changed everything.

One Friday night I got home later than expected and found her asleep downstairs with a textbook open beside her. The staff informed me she arrived hours earlier and immediately started studying. That sounded accurate. I stood there looking at her for a moment longer than necessary.

She was comfortable, integrated, and present. Then I noticed something else. Seeing her there no longer surprised me internally. My brain had already categorized her presence inside the house as normal. Permanent enough to stop registering as unusual That realization stayed with me quietly afterward.
When I visited Maylan instead, I noticed similar changes there too. Her environment no longer felt separate from me. I move through it naturally now. The first time I sat on her dorm floor while she studied, she looked at me like the image itself amused her. Objectively, it probably should have.

But the simplicity of moments like that mattered more than larger gestures eventually. Relationships survive through routine integration more than intensity. That’s something most people learn too late. As semester rhythm continued, another important thing became obvious.
We stopped tracking distance emotionally. No counting days apart No subconscious tension during busy periods No need for constant reassurance loops The relationship existed steadily whether proximity changed or not. That level of stability is rare.

And sitting on her dorm floor that night while she worked through notes beside me, I realized something clearly. We had moved beyond the phase where separation threatened the relationship. Now it simply existed inside it naturally. That changes the entire future.