It was a Monday evening.
Windsor Academy's campus glowed under the amber hue of sunset, like the whole world was dipped in gold just to feel a little softer.
Leon waited by the old fountain in the courtyard, watching the ripples dance on the water.
Evelyn was late.
Not in the "something's wrong" kind of way. Just her usual fashionably unbothered pace.
He was used to waiting for her.
But this time… he came with a purpose.
⸻
When she finally arrived, she looked winded—her cardigan half-buttoned, her sketchbook hugged tightly like it was armor.
"Sorry," she said breathlessly. "The art lab locked me in again. I think the janitor has a personal vendetta."
Leon smiled.
"It's okay. I would've waited longer."
She paused. That kind of sentence didn't come from him often.
"You good?" she asked.
He nodded.
Then shook his head.
"Actually… no."
They sat on the edge of the fountain. Their reflections flickered together in the ripples.
Leon took a deep breath.
"There's something I've wanted to tell you. For a while."
Evelyn's fingers tensed slightly around her sketchbook.
"Okay," she said softly.
He looked at her.
Really looked.
The girl who tilted her head when she drew.
The girl who watched storms like they were secrets.
The girl who could break his heart just by blinking too slowly.
⸻
His throat tightened.
"You make things… quieter," he said finally.
"Not because you're quiet. But because you don't add noise. And when I'm around you, I don't feel like I have to perform."
Evelyn's lips parted slightly.
"Leon…"
But he stopped her.
"Wait. Let me finish."
She nodded.
"When I see you walk into a room, it's like… I remember I'm alive. Not because I'm excited. But because I'm calm. Like, 'Oh, there she is. Now things make sense again.'"
The words felt too much.
Too raw.
He wasn't used to this kind of honesty.
He opened his mouth to say it.
"I think I—"
But then she smiled.
Not a big one.
Just a soft, sad sort of smile that stole the breath from his lungs.
"You don't have to say it."
"Why not?"
"Because if you say it now," she whispered, "and something goes wrong… I won't be able to forget it."
⸻
Silence settled between them again.
But this time, it wasn't awkward.
It was sacred.
Leon didn't say the words.
But he held them like a promise.
⸻
Back in the dorm, Felix took one look at Leon's face and handed him a bag of marshmallows.
"We don't need to talk about it," he said. "We just eat sugar and pretend feelings don't exist."
Leon didn't answer.
But for once, he took two marshmallows.
Because sometimes,
the words you don't say
say everything.