Secrets aren't meant to stay quiet forever.
The ensuing days after the rooftop terror blurred together in stolen glances and sly smiles. Fah and Tawan were careful. At least, Fah tried to be so. Tawan clearly enjoyed flirting with the edge to find out how much they could get away with before they were caught.
At the canteen, Tawan would touch Fah's hand under the table and grin when Fah nearly choked on his rice. In late-night study sessions, Tawan would move in too close, speaking mistakes in Fah's ear just to witness him blushing.
Despite his complaining, Fah let him. Every risk was rewarded: a rooftop kiss, a muffled laugh in the dark, and an unfamiliar heat he'd required.
Secrets, however, last only so long.
When they left the engineering building one evening, voices floated around the corner.
".I swear, I saw them," one of them whispered. Fah froze.
"Fah and. Tawan?" another asked, his tone astounded.
Yes! Up there. They were too close. I think they're—"
The voices cut off as footsteps approached. Fah panicked and pulled Tawan into a narrow crevice between the stairwell and the wall. It was cramped, and the darkness enveloped them.
Tawan leaned back against the wall, resting, while Fah pushed against him, trying not to breathe with any specific force. His heart thumped hard as the two students passed by, still conversing.
As soon as the footsteps had vanished, Fah exhaled unsteadily. "We're finished. They discovered it."
Tawan's head tilted, a grin on his mouth. "Not unless you begin screaming the truth in the middle of Mrs. Sonders' class."
"This isn't funny," Fah breathed.
But Tawan's hand inched up his arm, warm and comforting. "Hey. Relax. Rumor is sound. Let them gossip."
Fah's response vanished when Tawan leaned in and kissed him quickly—recklessly—right there in the shadows. It wasn't their usual long rooftop kiss, but the thrill and danger of it made Fah's knees weak.
"You're insane," Fah muttered when they pulled apart, though his voice was softer now.
"Maybe," Tawan said, brushing his thumb against Fah's jaw. "But I'm insane about you."
Fah winced, caught between laughing and the need to kiss him again. Instead, he pulled Tawan's collar roughly, pulling him back into darkness where their kisses and whispers encountered each other unseen but never actually safeguarded.
For somewhere outside, the whispers had already begun.