Things feel different.

Not in a bad way - but in a way that makes Nio feel like everything around him is moving too fast. Like the world expects him to catch up with whatever he and Tee are now, before he's even figured it out himself.

They still text, still hang out between classes, but something lingers beneath their conversations now. A weight. A pressure.

Tee hasn't said anything about making it "official." Maybe he thinks they already are. Maybe he's waiting for Nio to say it first. Maybe -

"Earth to Nio."

Nio blinks. Beam waves a hand in front of his face.

"You've been stirring that iced coffee for, like, ten minutes."

They're at a caf� near campus, sun filtering through the glass, soft indie music playing low in the background. Win is off flirting with the barista again, and Beam's looking at him like he knows too much.

Nio sighs. "I'm just thinking."

"About Tee?"

He doesn't answer, which is enough of an answer.

Beam leans forward, all teasing gone. "You like him, right?"

"I? yeah. I do."

"Then why do you look like someone just told you your dog ran away?"

Nio groans and leans his head against the table. "Because everything's changed and I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

Beam rests his chin in his hand, voice quieter. "Did something happen?"

Nio pauses. "We slept together."

Beam's eyebrows lift, but he doesn't say anything for a beat.

"Okay," he says slowly. "Was it? good?"

Nio looks up, cheeks burning. "It was really good. Like, really good. But now every time I see him, I feel like I don't know how to act normal."

"Maybe because you've been pretending not to love him for months and now you can't hide it anymore."

Nio looks at him, startled. "You think I love him?"

Beam shrugs, smiling gently. "You're not exactly subtle."

Nio thinks about that. About Tee's smile. His protectiveness. The way he said I'm not letting go of you.

Maybe Beam's right.

But if he is, then the next part is scarier - saying it out loud.