The applause from the exhibition still echoed faintly in Riven's ears as he slipped out of the hall. The school courtyard was quieter, the late afternoon sunlight painting the cracked tiles in shades of orange and gold. Students laughed in the distance, but the noise felt far away, as though he were standing in another world entirely.
He sank onto a bench, running his hands over his face. His chest ached—not from exhaustion, but from the weight of words unsaid.
He had told himself all week that Eli's distance didn't bother him, that as long as their project succeeded, everything else was irrelevant. But now, with the day's tension still raw, he realized how much he had been lying to himself.
Footsteps approached. Riven didn't have to look up to know who it was.
"You left before the awards," Eli said, his voice low.
Riven kept his gaze fixed on the tiled ground. "Didn't feel like celebrating."
Eli sat beside him, leaving just enough space for the distance between them to feel deliberate. "We won second place."
"Congrats." Riven's tone was flat, but his heart twisted. They should have been celebrating, should have been laughing over their near-victory, not sitting here with the air thick between them.
Eli sighed. "About earlier…"
"Don't," Riven cut in. "If the project was all that mattered, then fine. You got what you wanted."
"That's not—" Eli stopped, running a hand through his hair. "You think I don't care? I've been pushing myself because I do care. About this. About us."
Riven's breath caught at the last word, but he kept his voice steady. "Then why does it feel like you've been somewhere else this whole time?"
Eli didn't answer immediately. The silence between them felt heavier than any argument. Then, softly, he said, "Because I'm scared. I don't know what happens to us when this project ends."
Riven turned to face him, surprised by the honesty in Eli's eyes. For the first time in weeks, there was no guarded expression, no calculated distance—just the truth, raw and vulnerable.
"I don't know either," Riven admitted. "But I don't want to find out by losing you first."
Eli's lips parted as if to reply, but instead, he simply reached out, letting his hand brush against Riven's. It wasn't quite holding, but it was enough—a quiet promise that the silence wouldn't last forever.
---