Chapter 37: Too Late to Stay
The door clicked shut behind Luca, and silence followed.
Noel stood still for a second, eyes fixed on the space Luca had just occupied.
Then he turned, grabbed the dish towel again, and folded it neatly—once, twice, unnecessarily precise.
He placed it down, then sat on the edge of his bed, phone in hand, screen blank.
A soft exhale escaped him.
So, Kian.
The name settled in his chest like a weight he hadn’t agreed to carry.
He didn’t know much—just enough to understand that Kian wasn’t just some random friend.
There was a weight in Luca’s voice when he said the name, a subtle shift Noel had picked up on immediately.
He leaned back against the wall, one leg pulled up, scrolling aimlessly on his phone.
His feed was filled with study memes, art references, a few texts from Alex. He barely registered them.