2AM
The screen glowed in the dark like a quiet heartbeat. Nova’s fingers hovered over her keyboard, the message sitting half-finished in the chat box. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” She read it again, blinked at the words like they were someone else’s, then hit send before she could change her mind. Her room was silent except for the soft whir of her fan and the hum in her ears—anxiety static.
She pulled her hoodie tighter around herself, knees to her chest, trying to shrink into the quiet. Maybe he wouldn’t reply. Maybe he’d finally gotten tired of her spiral-texting at 2AM.
Then—
The three dots appeared. Typing.
Ash [2:00 AM]
“Are you seriously pulling the ‘I’m about to fall apart’ card at 2AM, Nova? You know I’m half-dead right now, right? My brain’s in low-power mode.”
Nova snorted despite herself. She could practically hear the exhaustion in his voice, but the sarcasm was too good to ignore.
“Sorry, didn’t realize I was disturbing your beauty sleep.”
He replied immediately.
“If by ‘beauty sleep’ you mean ‘a tragic attempt to nap while I slowly die inside,’ then yeah, totally.”
She couldn’t help it. A laugh slipped out before she could stop it, and she covered her mouth, hoping her mom wouldn’t hear. Nova wiped her eyes, smiling through the tears.
“You’re a disaster,” she typed.
“Takes one to know one.”
There was a pause. Not long—just enough to feel it. Like the air holding its breath.
“Seriously though. You okay?”
Nova stared at the screen. Her fingers hovered, but she didn’t know what to type. She wasn’t okay. Not even close. But saying that felt like too much. Like if she typed the truth, it would become real.
“No.”
That was all she wrote. Just that. It was the most honest she’d been all day.
Typing. Again.
“Okay. Then I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me until further notice. Possibly forever. I haven’t decided yet.”
She let out a shaky breath, her lips twitching into a small smile.
“Lucky me.”
“Extremely. I’m a gift.”
“A gift that insults me at 2AM.”
“That’s just part of the charm.”
Nova leaned back against her wall, the glow of the screen painting soft light across her tired face. For a moment, it didn’t feel like everything was collapsing. It just felt like… Asher was there. Not on a screen. Not in a different state. Just there.
And somehow, that was enough.
Nova closed her eyes for a second, the light of her screen still glowing behind her eyelids. She didn’t know why, but nights like this always brought her back to that first message. That stupid little chat bubble in a blocky Roblox game where her whole world had quietly changed.
Three years earlier.
Nova’s screen flickered as she loaded into the BedWars lobby, the music already looping in her head. She was still kind of terrible at the game—okay, really terrible—but it helped keep her brain busy. Better to focus on blocks and swords than the static in her chest.
She clicked into a match and was instantly swarmed by players jumping around like caffeinated frogs. One in particular caught her attention—his avatar was wearing a dark hood and sunglasses, and his username? DuskThorn.
“Nice bed defense,” he typed in the chat after she accidentally built a wall on the wrong side.
She blinked at the message.
“I panicked.”
“Clearly.”
“At least I’m trying!”
“Trying… my patience?”
Nova let out a laugh—loud, unexpected. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had teased her like that. Not in a mean way. Just… funny. And weirdly comforting.
“What kind of name is DuskThorn anyway?”
“Cooler than ‘NovaMaren_02,’ I’ll tell you that.”
“Rude.”
“Honest.”
They ended up in a duo round by total accident—well, she thought it was an accident until he typed:
“Guess you’re stuck with me. Don’t feed the enemy this time.”
She rolled her eyes, grinning.
“Only if you promise not to die in the first two minutes.”
“Can’t promise that. I’m a little dramatic.”
He died two minutes later. On purpose. Just to be annoying.
And that’s how it started. A sarcastic stranger in a block game. A little spark across the screen.
Two years earlier.
It was a school night. Nova was supposed to be asleep. But she couldn’t. Not when her chest felt like it was caving in. Not when everything inside her screamed without making a sound.
Her phone lit up with a quiet buzz. A message.
DuskThorn: “You alive?”
NovaMaren_02: “Kinda wish I wasn’t.”
She hadn’t meant to send that. It was supposed to stay in her head. But her thumb betrayed her.
Typing…
And then nothing.
She stared at the screen, regretting everything, when finally—
“I’m calling you.”
Her heart stopped. Calling? She’d never even heard his voice.
The screen flashed with an incoming call. Her hand trembled as she hit accept.
“Nova?”
His voice was quiet. Groggy. A little rough.
“…Yeah.”
There was a pause.
“You don’t get to say stuff like that and expect me to ignore it.”
She bit her lip hard enough to sting. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—well, I did, but—just ignore it.”
“No.” His voice was firmer now. “I’m not ignoring it. Talk to me.”
She swallowed. “It’s just… everything feels so heavy. Like I’m stuck in my own head and no one notices. Not my parents. Not anyone at school. I could disappear and I think they’d just… keep going.”
Ash didn’t speak for a second. She could hear him breathe.
“Nova… that’s not nothing. That’s heavy as hell. And I get it.”
She blinked. “You do?”
“I’ve punched three walls in the last month and seriously considered throwing my phone into Lake Erie because everything just—sucks.” He sighed. “You’re not alone in this, okay? Even if it feels like it.”
Nova covered her face. The tears were silent, but her chest hurt from trying to keep them quiet.
“I just want someone to see me,” she whispered. “Really see me.”
“You’re talking to a guy who noticed your terrible bed defense and stuck around anyway. I see you, Nova. I always have.”
She laughed through the tears—barely—but it was real.
“Thanks, Ash.”
“Anytime. Always.”
There was a silence after Ash spoke. The kind that didn’t feel awkward—just… full. Like something important had just shifted between them.
Then:
“You know,” Nova said, voice soft and shaky, “this is the first time I’ve heard your voice.”
“Yeah?” He cleared his throat, suddenly self-conscious. “Sorry it sounds like a raccoon with a caffeine addiction.”
She giggled. “It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” He scoffed. “Wow. Be still my heart.”
“Okay, maybe it’s a little bad.”
“Ouch. That’s it. I’m hanging up.”
“No, wait—” She panicked for a second, but he laughed. That deep, sarcastic laugh that always made her smile.
“Relax, Nova. I wouldn’t hang up on you. You’re the most interesting part of my night.”
There was a pause.
“I’m really glad you called,” she whispered.
“..Me too.”
It had been a few weeks since that first voice call. Now it was kind of their thing—late-night conversations, usually starting with sarcastic jokes and ending with one of them falling asleep mid-sentence.
Nova had her mic muted as she tried to finish a snack, when Ash suddenly said, “Nova, if you’re secretly a goblin chewing wires, just say that.”
She unmuted, laughing. “Sorry, I was eating.”
“Wow. You trust me enough to eat on call. That’s basically marriage.”
Before she could reply, there was a distant thump, followed by:
“Ashhh!” a voice shouted in the background, clearly younger—and clearly annoyed.
“Oh no,” Ash muttered. “The gremlin awakens.”
Nova blinked. “Was that…?”
“Mira,” he sighed. “Brace yourself.”
Suddenly, the mic picked up a scuffle, then a much closer voice:
“Is this the girl?” Mira asked, suspicious and amused all at once.
Nova went dead silent.
“Mira, don’t—”
“Hi!” Mira chirped into the mic. “I’m Mira. I’m fourteen. I live with a dramatic loser who talks about you constantly, and—ow! Ash, stop elbowing me!”
Ash groaned. “I swear, I’m adopting myself into a new family.”
Nova covered her face, laughing so hard she nearly dropped her phone. “Hi, Mira…”
Mira leaned closer again. “Are you his girlfriend yet or is he still pretending he doesn’t like you?”
Nova choked on air. “What—no—I—!”
Ash finally wrestled the mic away with a loud sigh. “I’m sorry about her. She’s, like, 60% demon.”
“She’s adorable,” Nova giggled.
“She’s a menace.”
Present Day
Her head felt heavy, her eyes fluttering in and out of focus. She glanced at the clock in the corner of her screen. 2:30 AM.
“Great,” she muttered under her breath. “Another sleepless night.”
She texted Ash one last time. “I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow… goodnight.”
She didn’t wait for his reply. There was something oddly soothing about putting her phone down, knowing he was still there. Still out there somewhere, even if it was just through a screen.
Nova curled up under her blankets, drawing them tightly around her shoulders. Her chest tightened for a moment, her thoughts threatening to pull her back into the depths of her mind. But then she remembered his voice, his laugh, and the way he always knew how to make her feel like she wasn’t alone.
She closed her eyes.
Her body relaxed into the mattress, her breathing slowly syncing with the rhythm of the quiet room. As she drifted off to sleep, a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. For the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel so empty.
