Page 14 of Echoes of Us

A shley woke to what felt like an ice pick being driven through her skull. The sunlight streaming through her dorm window was offensive, each beam a personal attack. Her mouth tasted like something had died in it, and her stomach rolled ominously with every slight movement.

Fragments of last night floated back - Cole's cruel smile, the brunette's giggle, his hands on her jaw, the way he'd looked at her at the end. The memories made her stomach heave, and she barely made it to the bathroom in time.

Sarah was asleep on her bed, still in last night's clothes. Marie was nowhere to be seen. Ashley couldn't face either of them right now, couldn't bear their concerned looks or inevitable questions. She needed air, space, anything that wasn't the suffocating reminder of last night's humiliation.

She stumbled out of her dorm building wearing whatever clothes she'd managed to grab - leggings, an oversized Yale sweater she didn't remember owning, her hair a mess. The October morning was crisp, but she welcomed the cold. Anything to clear her head.

Her feet carried her without direction until she found herself near the physics building.

Of course. Even drunk and lost, some part of her was searching for Cole.

She turned to flee, but the sudden movement made her head spin.

Her knee buckled, and she would have fallen if strong hands hadn't caught her arms.

"Whoa, careful there." The voice was achingly familiar. Soft and gentle.

Ashley looked up into gray eyes she knew too well - but these weren't cold or cruel. Dale's concerned gaze swept over her face, his grip steady but careful.

"You look like you could use some coffee," he said quietly, no judgment in his tone. "And maybe some aspirin."

She should say no. Should pull away and run. But Dale's presence was... steady. Safe. He radiated a calm that Cole had never possessed, even in their future.

"I have both in my apartment," he continued when she didn't respond. "It's just around the corner. No pressure, but you look like you might pass out if you try to make it back to your dorm."

His apartment would be private. Quiet. Away from prying eyes and whispered gossip about last night. And something about the careful way he held her as if she might shatter made her nod.

"Okay," she whispered.

Dale didn't crowd her as they walked, keeping a respectful distance while staying close enough to catch her if she stumbled again. His apartment turned out to be in one of the graduate housing buildings - a small but tidy one-bedroom on the third floor.

His apartment was exactly what you'd expect from a serious graduate student - clean lines and organized chaos.

Books were everywhere but arranged in careful stacks.

Complex equations filled a whiteboard that dominated one wall, the handwriting precise and measured - so different from Cole's impatient scrawl.

A single photo sat on the desk: two boys with identical grins, arms slung around each other's shoulders against a lake backdrop. Ashley's heart clenched at the sight.

"Make yourself at home," Dale said, gesturing to a worn but comfortable-looking couch. "I'll get you some water and aspirin."

She sank into the cushions, grateful when he dimmed the lights without her having to ask. Everything about his movements was deliberate, careful - like he'd learned early to take up less space, to move through the world more gently than his twin.

He returned with water, pills, and a steaming mug that smelled like heaven. "It's my own blend," he said, offering her the coffee. "Less acidic than regular brew. Better for hangovers."

Their fingers brushed as she took the mug. The contact sent a jolt through her - not the electric current Cole inspired, but something softer. Warmer. More dangerous in its own way.

"Thank you," she managed. The coffee was perfect, of course. She shouldn't have expected anything less.

Dale settled into an armchair across from her, giving her space while staying close enough to talk. His gray eyes - so like Cole's but somehow kinder - studied her with gentle concern.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly.

Ashley stared into her coffee. "About what?"

"Whatever sent you running across campus looking like you've seen a ghost." He paused, then added carefully, "Or whoever."

Her hands tightened around the mug. "I don't want to talk about Cole."

"I didn't mention Cole." His voice held no judgment, just quiet understanding. When she glanced up, his slight smile was knowing but kind. "Though I can't say I'm surprised. He tends to have that effect on people."

"You're nothing like him," she said before she could stop herself.

“On that, we can agree.”

Ashley studied the equations on his whiteboard, grateful for something to focus on besides her pounding head. "You're a year ahead of Cole," she said, more a statement than a question. "But you're twins, aren't you?"

Dale glanced up from where he was rinsing mugs at his small kitchen sink. "Ah. You noticed that." He dried his hands, leaning against the counter. "Both of us were offered the opportunity to skip a grade. I did, he didn’t."

"He didn’t?" This was new - something Cole had never mentioned.

"Mhm." Dale's response was noncommittal as he poured their coffee. "But you'll have to ask him about that yourself."

Heat crept up her neck. She hadn't meant to pry information about Cole from his brother. "Enough about your brother," she said quickly. "Tell me about yourself. Physics?"

A genuine smile lit his face as he handed her a steaming mug. "Theoretical physics, specifically. I'm working on quantum field theory." He gestured to the whiteboard. "It's basically trying to understand how particles interact at the most fundamental level."

"That sounds..." Ashley searched for the right word. "Lonely."

Dale's eyebrows rose slightly. Most people said 'complicated' or 'boring' - she could see it in his expression. "What makes you say lonely?"

The words caught in her throat. She couldn't tell him that years from now, his brother would say the same thing about theoretical physics - that it was the loneliest kind of beauty, trying to understand something no one else could see.

That he'd chosen experimental physics instead, needing something he could touch, something real and tangible he could prove to the world.

Something that couldn't exist purely in his mind, where doubts lived.

She shrugged instead, warming her hands on the mug. "Spending all day thinking about things you can't see. Trying to understand forces most people don't even know exist." She nodded toward his desk, covered in journals and papers. "Seems like you spend a lot of time in your own head."

"Says the behavioral science major," he countered, but his eyes held genuine interest.

“Well, I spend most of the time in other people’s heads.” She replied before correcting herself, “will spend, I mean.”

He settled into the armchair across from her, one leg tucked under him.

The casual pose should have clashed with his pressed slacks and soft gray sweater, but somehow didn't. "You're right, and it can be lonely.

But there's something beautiful about it, too.

The idea is that underneath all this chaos, there are patterns.

Rules. A fundamental truth, if we can just figure out how to see it. "

The passion in his voice caught her off guard. This wasn't just small talk - this was something he truly loved. "Is that what drew you to it? The search for truth?"

"Partly." He took a sip of coffee, considering. "I like puzzles. Always have. The bigger, the better. And what bigger puzzle is there than trying to understand the basic fabric of reality?"

Ashley found herself leaning forward despite her headache. "And have you? Understood it?"

Dale laughed, the sound warm and unreserved. "Not even close. That's what makes it exciting. Every answer just leads to more questions." His eyes lit up with genuine enthusiasm. "Like right now, I'm working on this problem with quantum entanglement-"

He caught himself looking sheepish. "Sorry. I tend to ramble when people let me talk about physics."

"No, don't stop," she said, surprised to find she meant it. "It's refreshing to hear someone be genuinely excited about something."

Something flickered across his face - understanding, maybe. "Not much of that at parties, is there?"

"Not much," she agreed quietly.

* * *

Ashley's brain felt like it might actually melt. She stared at her Behavioral Psychology textbook, the words swimming before her eyes. How had she forgotten so much? And why did every theory have to have some old white man's name attached to it?

"If I have to memorize one more cognitive bias, I'm going to lose my mind," she groaned, face-planting into her notes.

Their study nest had taken over the floor of the dorm room - textbooks, notebooks, and flashcards scattered around them like academic confetti.

Empty coffee cups from three different campus cafes formed a small army on Sarah's desk, and a half-eaten pizza balanced precariously on Ashley's bed - their sustenance for the past five hours of studying.

Marie sat cross-legged on the bed, highlighting entire pages of her Political Science text in various neon colors.

Sarah sprawled on her stomach on the floor, her long legs kicked up behind her as she muttered physics equations under her breath.

"At least you don't have to understand quantum mechanics," Sarah muttered, aggressively erasing something. "Why did I think physics would be an interesting elective? 'Oh, I'm good at math,'" she mimicked herself in a high-pitched voice. "'How hard could it be?'"

"Eddie warned you," Marie said, not looking up from her highlighting. "But you thought he was just being dramatic."