Kelvin sighed, his face blank, as he slowly took away Felix's hands away from his waist. His movements were firm but not rough. "I'm going back to the studio," Kelvin said, his tone flat and unreadable.
Felix blinked at him, surprised by the sudden shift. But then he nodded, agreeing quickly. "Okay... I'm coming too," he said, trying to sound casual. "I wanna hear what you've been working on."
Kelvin just shrugged, not saying a word. He turned and started walking back inside from the balcony. Felix followed closely behind, his hands in his pockets, not saying anything either.
The silence between them felt a little heavy, but neither of them seemed ready to break it.
---
Felix leaned against the van window, scrolling through his phone, pretending not to notice how Kelvin had been acting weird around him lately.
It had been a week since he got back from New York, and though they were never exactly close, something about the way Kelvin was subtly avoiding him felt... off. Not that Felix cared or anything—it wasn't like they were best friends or anything. Still, it bugged him more than he wanted to admit.
The van was loud as usual. Zach and Grey were having some sort of argument over snacks, while Mitchell was groaning dramatically. Kelvin was sitting next to him, focused on his phone screen with an unusually smug look on his face.
"Take that!" Kelvin said, his voice louder than usual as he leaned closer to Mitchell's screen.
"You're cheating!" Mitchell yelled, slamming his hand on his lap. "There's no way you're this good at this game!"
"I don't cheat," Kelvin replied, smirking. "You just suck at it."
Mitchell gasped like Kelvin had insulted his entire existence. "Zach, Grey! Did you hear that? He said I suck!"
Felix couldn't help but glance at Kelvin from the corner of his eye. For someone who'd been avoiding him all week, Kelvin sure seemed fine acting like everything was normal now. Felix rolled his eyes and went back to his phone, turning down the volume on the chaos around him.
Felix, tired of sitting silently and watching everyone act chaotic without him, had an uncanny idea. If he couldn't shake off the weird vibes Kelvin was giving him, maybe he'd just shake the entire van instead.
He suddenly shouted, "Hey! Everyone shut up for a second!"
The van went dead silent. Even Grey stopped mid-sentence, a chip halfway to his mouth. Everyone turned to Felix, confused and curious.
Felix smirked and leaned back against his seat, his voice loud and clear as he said, "I'm gay."
The silence that followed was deafening. Zach's jaw dropped so hard it might as well have hit the floor. Grey blinked, looking like he'd just witnessed the end of the world, while Mitchell froze mid-game, his character dying on-screen as he stared at Felix.
"You're—what?" Mitchell stammered, breaking the silence.
"You heard me," Felix said casually, acting like it wasn't a big deal, though his heart was racing a bit. "Gay. G-A-Y. Happy Pride, I guess."
Zach and Grey exchanged wide-eyed glances, looking like their entire understanding of life had just shifted. Mitchell was still processing, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Kelvin, on the other hand, didn't look shocked at all. He just kept his eyes on his phone, his expression unreadable, as though he'd been expecting it.
"Wait, hold on," Zach finally said, leaning forward. "Are you serious, Felix?"
Felix shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Thought I'd let you guys know since, you know, we're all stuck in a van together."
Grey squinted at him, suspicious. "You're not joking, right? Because this is, like, huge if you're serious."
Felix rolled his eyes. "I'm not joking, Grey. Calm down."
Mitchell finally found his voice. "Why now? Like, why'd you suddenly decide to drop that bomb on us?"
Felix smirked. "Why not? You guys were being loud, and I thought I'd match the energy. Seems like it worked."
Kelvin shifted in his seat, glancing at Felix for a moment before going back to his phone, but he didn't say a word. Felix noticed but chose not to comment. He'd deal with Kelvin's silence later. Right now, the chaos was back in full swing, and for some reason, that made him feel a little better.
The van was finally calming down after Felix's confession. The boys seemed to have accepted it easily, though the initial shock still stayed in the air. Felix leaned back in his seat, staring out the window, when Grey suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered, "So, are you going to marry Kelvin? He's very much head over heels for you."
Felix's eyes widened, and before he could stop himself, his hand shot out and smacked Grey on the back of the head.
"OW!" Grey yelped, rubbing the sore spot as everyone turned their attention toward them.
"What the heck, Grey?!" Felix hissed, trying to keep his voice low despite the heat rising to his face.
Grey pouted, leaning away dramatically. "What? I'm just stating the obvious. Isn't it true, Mitchy?"
Kelvin, who had been mid-laugh at Mitchell's failed game attempt, froze. His grip tightened slightly on his phone, but he didn't look up.
"What are you even talking about?" Mitchell said, his voice calm, though there was a slight edge to it.
"Kelvin and Felix, of course!" Grey grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying the chaos he was causing.
Zach leaned forward, his expression amused. "Wait, wait, wait. Is there actually something going on between you two?"
Felix groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Grey's just being an idiot like always. Ignore him."
Mitchell smirked, finally joining in. "You didn't deny it, though."
Felix shot him a glare. "You, too? Seriously? You're the sensible child!"
Kelvin sighed heavily and put his phone down, rubbing his temples. "Can we not do this right now?" His tone was firm, but Felix noticed the faint red tint from his ears.
"Oh, come on, Kelvin. You're usually so composed. Why are you so defensive all of a sudden?" Zach teased, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm not defensive. I just think Grey's being ridiculous," Kelvin replied curtly, his gaze fixed on the front of the van.
Felix groaned, feeling the weight of everyone's stares. "I'm regretting telling you guys anything now," he muttered, slumping in his seat.
Grey smirked, completely unbothered. "No regrets, Sunflower."
Felix's head snapped toward him, eyes blazing. "Don't. Call. Me. That."
The van erupted into laughter, even Kelvin cracking a small smile despite the tension. But Felix couldn't help sneaking a glance at Kelvin. For just a moment, their eyes met, and Felix swore he saw something in Kelvin's expression—something unspoken.
Kelvin quickly looked away, shifting his focus back to his phone. Felix sighed, staring out the window. The rest of the ride might've been filled with laughter, but Felix couldn't shake the strange fluttering in his chest.
-
The van finally pulled up at the location for the show Off the Script. Staffs were running around and everything seemed chaotic.
"Wow, they weren't kidding when they said it's unscripted," Mitchell joked, looking at the chaos with wide eyes.
Kelvin glared playfully. "Don't embarrass us, Mitch. Remember, we're supposed to act like professionals."
Mitchell rolled his eyes. "Relax, Dad. I've got this."
A staff member approached them with a clipboard and a friendly smile. "Welcome, Rune! It's great to have you here. Please follow me, and we'll take you to your dressing room to get your makeup done."
The boys followed her down a hallway, passing more crew members and props. Felix kept his head down, adjusting the hoodie he had on. He wasn't nervous, but Off the Script had a way of catching people off guard.
"Try not to steal the show too much, Felix," Zach teased, nudging him. "We know how fans go crazy for you."
Felix gave him a lazy smile. "I don't even have to try, Zachary."
They all laughed as they entered the dressing room. Inside, there were rows of mirrors with bright lights around them, makeup artists already waiting with brushes and palettes.
The boys sat down, and the artists got to work immediately.
Grey leaned back in his chair, already tapping away on his phone. "So, what's the plan for today? Are we just gonna wing it, or is there some kind of structure to this chaos?"
"The whole point is that there's no plan," Kelvin said, his tone calm as a makeup artist worked on his face. "We just go with the flow and try not to get canceled."
"That's easy for you to say," Zach muttered. "You never do anything crazy anyway."
Kelvin raised an eyebrow. "Exactly. Maybe you should take notes."
Felix chuckled softly, watching their banter through the mirror. He hadn't been on Off the Script before, but he'd seen clips. It was wild and unpredictable—exactly the kind of thing that could bring their group even closer or just get them cancelled.
As the makeup artists finished up, one of the staff members popped her head in. "You're up in ten minutes. Be ready!"
"Time to shine," Grey said with a grin, standing up and stretching.
Felix stood too, adjusting his jacket in the mirror. He caught a glimpse of Kelvin, who looked as composed as ever, but there was something in his eyes that Felix couldn't quite read. Shaking the thought off, Felix took a deep breath. This was just another show. Nothing to stress over.
Or at least, that's what he told himself.