Then he sees her.

Xia walks out of the library alone.

Long dark hair, slightly mussed. Heavy black eyeliner making her pale skin look almost translucent under the harsh fluorescent lights. Headphones on. Thumb tracing the wire as she moves with a slow, deliberate nonchalance that makes everyone else look like they’re in fast-forward.

She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. A silver cuff catches the light.

Nico doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink.

He watches her push open the heavy exit doors. She pauses for half a second, silhouetted against the grey Bristol sky, the bass of her music bleeding faintly into the corridor. Then she’s gone.