Third Person's POV.
The next evening, the architecture department hosted a celebratory party at a luxurious downtown hotel for its graduating students. Ohio, determined to yank Gemini out of his year-long funk, practically dragged her best friend along.
Gemini walked into the crowded, buzzing room and his heart immediately sank. Percy was there. Not only was Percy, who usually skipped such events, present, but he was accompanied by the rumored ex—a stunning, elegant lady whose presence was a heavy confirmation of the campus gossip.
The party was lively; the food was great, and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. Gemini meticulously avoided Percy, keeping to the edges of the room and sticking close to Ohio for the most part of the evening. He watched Percy from a distance, seeing him laugh easily with his ex and various professors. Percy looked incredibly handsome, successful, sophisticated, and completely unattainable.
After a while of pretending to have a good time, Gemini couldn't hold it anymore and headed to the restroom. He was standing at the sink, splashing cold water on his face, trying to stop the insistent heat that rose every time he thought of Percy and his date. Suddenly, a hand gripped his arm—hard, fast, and familiar—and dragged him backward. Before he could make a sound, he was pulled into the nearest bathroom stall, the lock clicking shut behind them.
Gemini looked up, completely shocked, and saw Percy standing before him. The intimacy of the tiny space was overwhelming. Percy's eyes were intense, almost desperate, the same deep, aching green that has haunted Gemini's dreams for months.
They looked at each other for a long, strained while without speaking. The silence was thick with the weight of months long separation and the unresolved pain of their breakup.
Percy finally broke the quiet, his voice low and raspy. "Are you not going to congratulate me for graduating?"
Gemini found his voice, managing a strangled whisper. "Congratulations, Percy. I heard you graduated top of your class."
Before Gemini could ramble another nervous word, Percy closed the distance. He reached out, cupping Gemini's jaw, and kissed him. It was a deep, hungry kiss—a reckless, desperate collision that poured everything they had bottled up into the moment: his longing, his ache, his frustration. The kiss wasn't gentle, it was punishing and possessive, a fierce refusal to accept the separation. Gemini's hands instinctively gripped Percy's grey lapels, responding to the urgency that had been buried for twelve long months.
Percy finally pulled back, resting his forehead against Gemini's, both of them breathing hard. The moment was electric, intoxicating, and utterly wrong.
"We can't," Gemini whispered, the words shaking with his own suppressed desire. He placed his hands flat on Percy's chest, trying to create some space between them.
Percy ignored the protest, his hands sliding down to grip Gemini's waist. "Don't tell me what we can and can't do," Percy commanded, his voice raw. He looked into Gemini's eyes, his own shining with frustration. "I can't do this anymore. I don't want us to stay separated, Bunny. Don't make me leave you again."
Percy revealed a plan he'd been going over for months, his voice low and utterly sincere. "I'm done with school for now. I don't have to go back to work for Mother's company right away. I can find a research project here at the university, something to keep me here until you're done with school. I'm ready to stay here with you, here in the city, instead of moving to Geneva where my mother wants me to go. When you're done with school, we can go wherever we want. Just say the word and I'll stay."
The truth of those words landed Gemini with a sickening thud. This was the ultimate sacrifice. Percy was willing to change his entire life's trajectory, abandon his inheritance path, and defy his mother's expectations—all for him.
"No. You can't. That...," Gemini said, the realization settling in, cold and painful, "is exactly why we can't be together, Percy." He pushed harder against Percy's chest, forcing a painful inch of separation. "Don't you understand? I don't want you to lose anything just because you want to stay with me! I won't be the reason you throw away your life, your career, your future! I can't be your downfall, Percy."
Percy stared at him, his face crumpling as the reality sank in. He had offered everything, and Gemini was still refusing, still choosing to protect Percy's future over their shared happiness.
Upset and heartbroken, Percy didn't argue this time. He just dropped his hands, took a shaky breath, unlocked the stall door, and left again, disappearing back into the safety of the crowd, leaving Gemini alone in the tiny, echoing stall.