Chapter Three: Falling Into Love


    The memory of their walk lingered in Steve’s mind long after he and Valentina had parted ways. It wasn’t just the laughter, the easy banter, or the way her eyes had lit up at the sight of the conservancy—it was the way he felt around her. Alive. Excited. A feeling he hadn’t realized he’d been missing.


    But Valentina wasn’t the only one who had once made him feel that way.


    Tina.


    There had been a time when his heart had raced at the sight of her, when her laughter had been the only melody he wanted to hear, when just being around her had been enough. That memory, though dulled by time and frustration, was still there. He clung to it now, hoping to remind himself of what they had once been.


    Their story had started in the most unexpected way—an ordinary classroom, a first-year psychology lecture where students had been asked to pair up for an exercise. Steve had been quick to claim a spot near the front, ready to charm his way through the assignment. And then there was Tina.


    She had been sitting a few seats away, her beauty undeniable, her presence commanding. He had caught glimpses of her before, but never up close. And when the lecturer told them to find a partner, he hadn’t hesitated.


    “She’s mine, guys,” he had blurted out, louder than he intended.


    The entire class had turned to look at him, laughter rippling through the room. Steve had felt heat rush to his face, but then Tina had smiled—that slow, teasing smile that made his heart stumble.


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    “Let’s start with you,” she had said, tilting her head in amusement.


    That was it. That was the moment he had known he wanted her.


    The assignment had been simple: get to know your partner and then describe them in a few sentences based on what they shared. But by the end of it, Steve hadn’t just learned about Tina—he had wanted to know everything. What made her laugh, what made her cry, what her dreams were, what she feared.


    After class, he had asked her to join him for coffee. She had hesitated, her cautious nature evident, but in the end, she had agreed.


    From there, it had been a whirlwind. Late-night conversations that stretched until dawn, stolen moments between classes, playful teasing that never ended. Tina had been his best friend before she became his love, and maybe that was why it had felt so real, so effortless.


    But the moment that had truly sealed it had come months later, on a quiet evening walk beneath the soft glow of campus streetlights.


    They had been talking about books—Steve had promised to lend her one, though he couldn’t remember which—when she had suddenly stopped mid-step, turned to him, and said, “I love you, Steve.”


    Just like that. No preamble, no hesitation. Just a truth laid bare between them.


    Steve had frozen. The words had caught him off guard, leaving him momentarily speechless.


    “What?” he had asked, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.


    “I love you,” she had repeated, this time with a quiet confidence that melted every doubt in his mind.


    A wide grin had spread across his face. “I love you too, girl. Wow! You have beaten me to it.”


    And before he knew what he was doing, he had lifted her off the ground in excitement. Except, in his enthusiasm, he had lost his footing, sending them tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and breathless laughter.


    They had fallen as friends and risen as lovers.


    Their relationship had been a success from the beginning. They were so happy together, inseparable, like two puzzle pieces that had always been meant to fit.


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    But now, as Steve sat in his room, flipping absentmindedly through his notes, he couldn’t help but wonder—when had things started to change? When had Tina started slipping away?


    And why was it that, despite everything, it was Valentina’s face that kept invading his thoughts?