The following days dragged like a never-ending blur. Every time Damian ran into Alex, the tension between them was like an unspoken truth that neither of them could ignore. It wasn't the kind of tension that came with shouting or arguments, but something heavier. More complicated. And it seemed to be growing by the minute, suffocating them both in the silence they refused to address.
It wasn't just the silence that made it worse. It was the way Alex's eyes seemed to linger on him sometimes, his gaze so intense it felt like Alex was trying to read every thought racing through Damian's head. It was in the small touches, the way he'd brush against him by accident, as if it were normal, but the meaning was all wrong. It felt like the world was pushing them toward something neither of them was ready to confront. Every time Damian tried to focus on anything else, his mind would circle back to that night—the way they had run through the streets, the reckless rush of adrenaline. And then Alex's question. That stupid, impossible question about leaving everything behind. And why did it suddenly feel like something he could almost want?
Damian tried to bury the thoughts. He buried them deep, under layers of schoolwork, under the dull hum of everyday life. But it wasn't working. The thoughts wouldn't stay hidden.
By the time Friday afternoon came, Damian felt like he couldn't breathe. He was standing outside the student center, leaning against a bench while scrolling aimlessly through his phone, trying to look busy, trying to drown out the storm in his head. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was looking at, just letting the minutes slip by. He didn't even notice Alex approaching until he sat down next to him with a quiet thump.
"Hey," Alex's voice was softer than usual, almost hesitant. Like he was testing the waters. "You been avoiding me?"
Damian blinked, finally looking up at him, the surprise in his eyes giving him away. He hadn't expected Alex to bring it up, hadn't expected the weight of the question to come crashing back into the conversation. He hesitated before responding. "I'm not avoiding you."
Alex didn't look convinced. He gave Damian a side glance, a slight smile tugging at his lips, but there was something unreadable behind his eyes. "Really? 'Cause it kinda feels like you are."
Damian shifted on the bench, his hands fidgeting with his phone as if it would give him something else to focus on. "I'm just... trying to figure some shit out, okay?" He let out a slow breath, staring down at the screen, trying to keep his voice even. "It's not that simple."
Alex didn't respond immediately, his eyes scanning Damian's face as if trying to catch something behind the words. He looked at him for a long moment before leaning back against the bench, letting out a quiet breath, his fingers tapping rhythmically on his thigh. The silence between them stretched on longer than Damian liked.
Finally, Alex spoke again, his voice quieter now, tinged with uncertainty. "You think about last night?"
The question hit Damian like a punch to the gut. He'd been trying to push it all away, but hearing it out loud made it all real again. He'd tried not to think about it, but the truth was, it never left. It lingered, like a shadow.
Damian opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He didn't know what to say. His heart was pounding, and for a second, it felt like the ground was shifting beneath him. Everything in his head seemed to go numb, like he was floating outside of his own body.
"Yeah," he finally said, his voice rough, like he was admitting something he hadn't meant to. "I think about it."
There was a long pause. Damian could feel Alex's gaze on him, the silence almost suffocating. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to face this. But it was impossible to pretend it wasn't there anymore. He'd been trying to bury it, but it was bubbling up, threatening to spill over.
"But it doesn't change anything, right?" Damian added quickly, trying to push it all back down. He wasn't ready to talk about this. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Alex's expression softened. For the first time in a long time, Damian saw something raw behind his eyes—vulnerability, maybe. "I don't know, man. I thought maybe it would. I thought maybe we could just... go back to how things were, but I don't think it works like that anymore."
Damian swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
Alex shifted uncomfortably beside him, his eyes looking everywhere but at Damian. "I don't know if I can keep pretending like I'm not feeling... something." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but Damian could see it in the way his shoulders tensed, in the way his jaw clenched. "You know?"
The words hit Damian harder than he expected. He'd felt it too, that pull, that unspoken thing growing between them. It had been there for a while now, just waiting to be acknowledged, but Damian wasn't ready for it. He wasn't ready for the weight of it. He didn't know how to handle this, didn't know how to make sense of it.
He wanted to say something, to brush it all off, but when Alex looked at him, there was something different in his eyes. Something almost desperate.
"I don't want to mess this up," Alex continued, his voice quieter now, almost broken. "But I can't ignore it anymore. Can you?"
Damian felt like he was drowning, his chest tight with the pressure of the unspoken truth. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure what to do. All he knew was that pretending things were fine wasn't an option anymore. The truth was out there between them, hanging like an unfinished sentence, waiting to be spoken.
"Yeah, I'm scared too," Damian whispered, his voice barely audible. "But I can't ignore it either."
Alex didn't respond right away. He just nodded, looking away again. There was a heavy silence, the kind that felt like it was wrapping itself around them, a blanket of things they couldn't say out loud. But for the first time in what felt like forever, Damian didn't feel like he was alone in this. Whatever this was between them, at least they were facing it together. They didn't have the answers, but they didn't have to. Not yet.
Finally, Alex broke the silence. "So, what do we do now?"
Damian wasn't sure. He wasn't sure about anything anymore. But he knew that this—whatever it was—wasn't something they could run from. Not anymore.
"I don't know," Damian said softly. "But we need to talk about it. Really talk."
Alex nodded slowly, his eyes meeting Damian's for the first time in what felt like forever. And for once, the tension between them didn't feel so suffocating. It felt like a step forward. Maybe not the best one, but a step nonetheless. They didn't have all the answers. Hell, they didn't even have most of them. But at least they were in it together.
As they sat there, the weight of everything that had been left unsaid seemed to shift. Maybe they didn't know where they were going, but at least they didn't have to go alone.