月光透过纱帘洒进客厅，Alexander蜷缩在沙发一角，指尖无意识地摩挲着围裙口袋里那张被攥得微皱的纸币——那是顾延珏付账时留下的，边缘似乎还残留着对方指尖的温度。

"Grandpa, you're still up?"他慌忙坐直身体，看着外祖父拄着那根雕花拐杖缓步走近。老人身上的羊毛开衫沾着夜露的凉意，镜片后的眼睛却亮得惊人。

"Couldn't sleep."外祖父在他身旁坐下，银质拐杖顶端在月光下泛着柔光，"Saw the light on in your room and thought I'd check on you."布满皱纹的手轻轻覆上他的手背，"You look like you've got something on your mind, kiddo."

Alexander深吸一口气，纸币在掌心发出轻微的窸窣声。

"Well, there's this guy..."他的声音越来越轻，耳尖在台灯暖光下透出绯红，"I met him today at work."

外祖父忽然笑了，眼尾的皱纹舒展开来："Oh? Let me guess - is he the kind of guy who smiles when handing you coffee, with stars in his eyes?"

记忆如潮水般涌来。Alexander想起顾珽说"your smile"时睫毛投下的阴影，想起他接过咖啡时指尖的温度，还有那句让他心跳漏拍的"coffee date"。

"He's... different."他揪着沙发扶手上的一根线头，"There's just something about him that makes me..."

"Since when does liking someone need a reason?"外祖父从毛衣口袋摸出一颗柠檬糖，糖纸在寂静的夜里发出清脆的声响。老人将糖果塞进他手心，指节轻轻敲了敲自己的心口："When I first met your grandma, my heart was just like this—like there was a fluttering dove inside."

外祖父从内袋取出那个磨损的皮夹。泛黄的照片里，年轻时的外祖父穿着粗花呢外套，身旁戴着珍珠发卡的女子正指着剑桥国王学院礼拜堂的拱顶。

"She said my sketches made stone look like it could dance."外祖父的指尖轻抚照片，喉结微颤，"I said her laugh made the equations in my head go silent."

Alexander注视着照片里外婆眼角的小痣，突然明白为什么外祖父总在下雨天凝视窗外。

"Love isn’t a word for it, my dear."外祖父突然将皮夹按在胸口，拐杖与地板叩出清响，"Fifty years later, I still haven’t found the right formula to describe how she made the world feel like a well-drawn blueprint… and a mystery all at once."

"Tell me more about this boy who’s got your stars tangled."外祖父狡黠地用拐杖戳了戳他的膝盖。

Alexander红着脸描述那个高大的身影："He's really tall, Grandpa, even taller than me."他的手指在空中比划着，"And when he talks about coffee, it's like... like listening to someone describe a symphony."

外祖父眼中泛起温柔的光："Eyes are the windows to the soul. When I first looked into your grandmother's eyes, I saw a whole universe of possibilities."他指向窗外的星空，"Love is like the constellations - sometimes you have to look closely, and sometimes they shine so brightly you can't miss them."

Alexander攥紧那颗柠檬糖，忽然想起顾珽离开时回头望他的那一眼——就像夜空中突然亮起的星辰。

"Now, it's getting late."外祖父缓缓起身，拐杖在地板上投下细长的影子，"Dream of all the wonderful things that might come."

躺在床上的Alexander望着天花板，月光将槐树的影子投在墙上，摇曳如心跳的节奏。糖纸在他枕边发出细微的声响，他轻轻闭上眼睛，期待着在梦里再见那双让他魂牵梦萦的眼睛。