Rea didn't know how long they sat there, but it was long enough for the sun to start dipping lower in the sky, casting everything in soft gold.
She had never spent time like this with someone before. No pressure to fill the silence. No expectation to be anything other than herself.
Aster didn't treat her like she was fragile. He didn't ask why she struggled with crowds, why she kept her distance, why she preferred quiet spaces like this.
He just let her be.
And she wasn't sure what to do with that.
"Did you run away from home or something?" he asked after a while.
Rea gave him a look. "What?"
"You moved here out of nowhere, barely talk to anyone, and you look like you'd rather be anywhere but here. So, what is it? Witness protection? Secret spy?"
Rea snorted. "Yeah, that's definitely it."
Aster smirked. "Knew it."
She rolled her eyes. "My parents move around a lot. My dad's job."
Aster nodded, but she could tell he wasn't satisfied with that answer.
"And you hate it," he guessed.
Rea exhaled. "It's hard starting over all the time."
Aster was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Yeah. I get that."
She glanced at him. "You do?"
He looked out at the field, his expression unreadable. "I don't stay in one place for long, either."
Rea frowned. "But you've been here for a while, right?"
Aster hesitated. "Longer than usual."
There was something in the way he said it—something that made Rea wonder what he wasn't telling her.
She wanted to ask. But before she could, Aster stood, brushing dirt off his jeans.
"Come on," he said, nodding toward the car. "I should probably take you home before your parents think I kidnapped you."
Rea followed him, sliding back into the passenger seat.
As they drove, she realized she wasn't dreading going home as much as she usually did.
Because for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like she was just passing through.
And maybe—just maybe—that had something to do with Aster Westwood.
---
The next day, Rea found herself looking for Aster.
She told herself she wasn't.
But when she walked into school, her eyes automatically scanned the hallways.
When she sat in class, she caught herself glancing toward the back of the room, where he usually slouched in his seat.
At lunch, she barely heard what Elena and Milo were talking about because her thoughts kept drifting back to him.
It was stupid.
Aster was just a person.
A person she barely knew.
But then, at the end of the day, when she reached her locker, she saw him leaning against it, arms crossed, smirk firmly in place.
"Miss me?" he asked.
Rea rolled her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Waiting."
"For what?"
Aster shrugged. "You."
Her heart skipped.
She tried to play it off. "You're so full of yourself."
He grinned. "I do have my moments."
Rea shook her head, but she couldn't fight the small smile tugging at her lips.
Aster noticed.
And that was the moment she knew—
She was in trouble.