Weeks passed, but the tension didn't fade. It bloomed instead - slow and quiet, like ivy creeping along old stone. Every class became a minefield of glances, every comment layered with subtext.
Elena tried to maintain distance. She sat further back in the lecture hall. She avoided lingering. But it didn't matter - his presence lived in her thoughts long after she left campus.
One afternoon, she found herself alone in the English building after hours. Her tutoring session had been canceled, and she wandered the quiet halls out of habit more than anything else. The sound of footsteps behind her made her turn.
Daniel.
Neither of them spoke at first. The hallway felt charged, like it was holding its breath.
"I didn't mean to startle you," he said, voice low.
"You didn't." Her heart betrayed her with its pace.
He stepped closer - not enough to cross a line - but enough for her to feel it tremble.
"This is a bad idea," she whispered, unsure if she meant being alone with him - or everything that was growing between them.
"I know," he said.
But he didn't move away.
And neither did she.