(Noah's POV)
Noah had always been good at pretending things didn't get to him.People called him cold, calculated, stiff. They weren't wrong.He knew how to keep his head down. He knew how to stay out of messes, how to keep his emotions zipped up tight where no one could poke at them. But that didn't work with Axel. It had never worked with Axel. Not from the first day he walked into their classroom all attitude and bruised ego and sat behind him like he owned the place. Noah hadn't even meant to say anything. But the words had slipped out, sharp and automatic: "You won't survive a day here." And just like that, something started. It was supposed to be a jab. But it felt like the beginning of a fuse. He noticed everything after that. The quiet under Axel's noise. The bruises that didn't quite fade fast enough. The way he walked like he was daring people to touch him but didn't seem to actually want anyone near. And when Axel had helped him at the party that night, dragging him half-drunk and shivering into safety, Noah realized: he wasn't as detached as he thought. He cared. And that scared the hell out of him.
The Friday Axel missed school after the fight, Noah couldn't focus. He tried. He told himself to let it go. Axel probably didn't want him worrying. But when the whispers started "His mom didn't even show up," "I heard his dad's some big deal who doesn't even live with him," something inside Noah snapped. He'd stepped in without thinking. Told some loudmouth to shut his mouth before he got embarrassed. Axel wasn't even there to see it. But that wasn't the point. The point was, someone needed to stand up for him. Then came the rain. Noah hadn't expected to see Axel on the sidewalk, soaked through and shivering, standing like the world had forgotten him. He'd just left the store, groceries digging into his palm, umbrella overhead. And there he was. Just... standing there. Something about it cracked Noah's chest wide open. He walked him home. Quietly. No pressure. Just silence that felt heavy but safe. And then came the kiss. It had been soft, scared, sudden and Noah had kissed him back. For just a second. Just long enough to tell him: I feel it too. When he left, he didn't say much. He didn't want to scare Axel.
He just wanted him to know he wasn't alone. That was all. But the next day at school? Nothing. Axel avoided him. Wouldn't look at him in Lit. Turned the other way in the halls. And Noah well, he didn't chase. He wasn't going to force himself where he wasn't wanted. Still, he texted. Just once. "Are you okay?" Sent at 8:14 a.m. No answer. So he gave it time. But by the end of the day, when he saw Axel slip into the bathroom, Noah followed. Something about the way his shoulders hunched, the way he moved like he was about to come apart it lit up every alarm Noah had. He walked in quietly. Let the door click behind him. "You've been avoiding me." The way Axel flinched like Noah had struck him instead of spoken that hurt. But Noah kept his voice level. Calm. He didn't want to make him bolt. "You kissed me," he said. "Then you ran. Then you pretended I didn't exist." Axel's eyes dropped. His voice cracked. "I panicked." Noah asked why. He already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it. "I've never liked someone like that. Not a guy." Noah's heart twisted. Not because Axel said it but because it cost him so much to admit it.
So he told the truth. "I kissed you back." He saw Axel freeze like the floor had shifted under him. "You weren't the only one who felt something." Noah hadn't planned to push Axel. But he had leaned in. Cornered him, gently. Not because he wanted control but because he knew Axel would run if he didn't block the exit. He'd stood close enough to make his point, but left room to breathe. "Don't avoid me again, Axel." He meant it. And more than that: "I don't like being treated like a secret." Because he wasn't one. Not to Axel. Not anymore. That night, Noah stared at his phone, wondering if Axel would answer his second message: "We need to talk." Nothing. He didn't expect much. But a small part of him still hoped. Not because he wanted drama. But because what happened between them in the rain and again in that bathroom it hadn't been fake. It hadn't been confusion. It had been real. So Noah waited. Waited for the boy who kissed him to stop running. Waited for Axel to realize that the thing he was scared of wasn't the kiss. It was what came after. Noah wasn't in a rush. But he wasn't walking away either.
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