By the time they reached campus, the story had exploded beyond anything either of them could have anticipated.
Their faces were on sports blogs. Relationship forums. Even some mainstream news sites had picked it up as a human interest piece.
The narrative depended entirely on who was writing: tragic romance, career sacrificed for love, cautionary tale or fairy tale depending on the author's perspective.
Their phones didn't stop buzzing.
Reporters requesting interviews. Classmates sending screenshots of articles and social media posts. Strangers on the internet commenting on every aspect of their relationship like they had any right to an opinion.
Adrian tried to ignore it, turning off notifications and avoiding social media.
But Dante couldn't seem to stop looking.
Adrian watched him scroll through article after article, reading comment after comment, his expression growing more closed off with each passing hour.
Dante was shutting down.
