The night air was thick with the lingering scent of rain, the pavement still slick beneath their feet as Damian and Alex walked side by side. The streetlights cast long shadows, stretching their figures across the empty road, flickering slightly like they were just as uncertain about staying lit as Damian was about whatever was happening between them. The tension between him and Alex had dulled, but it hadn't disappeared. It sat there, just beneath the surface, waiting.
Damian shoved his hands into his pockets, his fingers twitching slightly. He glanced at Alex, who was kicking a stray bottle cap down the street like it was the most important thing in the world. It was rare to see Alex this quiet. Usually, he filled the space between them with jokes or wild stories, always keeping the air light. But tonight, he just walked, his head slightly bowed, lost in thought.
The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy, and Damian hated it.
"You good?" he finally asked, breaking the quiet.
Alex let out a breath, his shoulders rising and falling before he shrugged. "I don't know, man. Feels like we've been stuck in some weird limbo lately." His voice was quieter than usual, missing its usual cocky edge.
Damian knew exactly what he meant. Ever since their conversation outside the library, something had shifted. They had acknowledged the unspoken tension, but neither of them had made a move to do anything about it. It was like they were waiting—waiting for some invisible sign, waiting for the right moment, waiting for something that might never come.
"Yeah," Damian admitted, his voice quieter than he intended. "I feel it too."
Alex suddenly stopped walking.
Damian took a few more steps before realizing, then turned back. Alex was staring at the pavement, jaw clenched, hands balled into fists at his sides like he was trying to hold something in. His whole posture was tense, like he was carrying a weight that was getting heavier by the second.
"I don't know how to do this," Alex admitted, his voice rough, like it had been scraped raw from holding back. "I don't know what the hell this even is."
Damian swallowed hard, his pulse hammering in his ears. "You think I do?" He let out a dry laugh, shaking his head, his hands tightening in his pockets. "I'm just as fucking lost as you are."
Alex finally looked at him, his expression unreadable. His dark eyes searched Damian's face like he was trying to find an answer there, something to make sense of what neither of them could say out loud.
"Then what do we do?" Alex asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
The question hung between them, heavy, pressing down on Damian's chest like a weight.
He didn't have an answer. He wanted to—wanted to say something that would make everything clear, that would make the confusion and uncertainty disappear. But nothing felt right, nothing felt enough.
Instead, he stepped closer.
Close enough to see the flicker of uncertainty in Alex's eyes, the way his fingers twitched like he was fighting the urge to reach for something—maybe Damian, maybe an answer, maybe both. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating off him in the cold night air, despite the way his body was rigid, like he was bracing for something.
Alex didn't move away.
Damian exhaled slowly, steadying himself. "We figure it out."
Alex held his gaze for a long moment, and for a second, Damian thought he might say something, might push back, might break the moment entirely. But instead, he nodded—small, almost imperceptible, but it was there.
"Yeah," Alex murmured. "Together."
They didn't say anything else after that. They just kept walking, side by side, their footsteps echoing against the wet pavement, moving forward into the unknown, toward whatever came next.