CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
MASON
Sleep didn’t come easily in a room like this.
Not because it was uncomfortable.
Because it was shared.
And because every small sound suddenly meant something.
The lamp was still on.
Dim enough to feel like it shouldn’t matter, bright enough that it did anyway.
Rowan had shifted back to her bed at some point, sitting cross-legged with her phone again.
Not really using it.
Just holding it.
I was on my bed too.
Still fully dressed.
Still not sleeping.
Jace would’ve called this stupid.
He’d be right.
The room had settled into a strange kind of stillness.
Not peace.
Just pause.
Like neither of us had decided what came next.
Then her voice broke it.
“Do you ever actually sleep?”
I didn’t turn my head immediately.
Then I did.
“No.”
That earned a small look from her.
Not surprise.
Just confirmation of something she already suspected.
“Because of basketball?” she asked.
“Mostly.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
She nodded slightly, like she accepted that without trying to fix it.
That was new.
Most people tried to fix things.
She didn’t.
That should’ve been a relief.
It wasn’t.
Rowan
He wasn’t lying.
That was the problem.
People usually softened things when they talked about pressure.
Mason didn’t.
He just said it like it was part of physics.
I adjusted my position slightly on the bed.
The room creaked faintly.
That sound felt too loud.
“You always this quiet at night?” I asked.
“Depends.”
“On what.”
He paused.
Longer than before.
“On whether I’m thinking too much.”
I almost laughed at that.
Almost.
“Seems like you’re always thinking too much,” I said.
That got a reaction.
Not visible.
But real.
A slight shift in his posture.
Like I’d hit something accurate again.
“Maybe,” he said.
I tilted my head slightly. “That’s not an answer.”
“It is,” he replied. “Just not the one you want.”
That made the room feel smaller again.
Not physically.
Just… awareness.
Mason
She stood up suddenly.
Not fast.
Just decided.
Walked toward the desk.
Not mine.
Not hers.
Just the shared space between.
I watched without meaning to.
She opened a drawer.
Paused.
“Do you have a charger?” she asked.
“Bag,” I said.
She nodded once.
Walked toward it.
That was the first problem.
Not her asking.
Her moving.
Because now the space between us mattered differently.
She knelt slightly beside my bag.
Unzipped it.
Simple movement.
Normal.
Except I noticed how close she was to my side of the room.
Closer than she needed to be.
I stood up without thinking.
That was mistake number one.
Rowan
I didn’t hear him move until he was already there.
Not close.
But closer.
I paused with the charger in my hand.
Looked up slightly.
He was standing behind me.
Not blocking.
Not touching.
Just there.
“Got it,” I said, holding it up slightly.
He didn’t respond immediately.
That pause again.
Then:
“Yeah.”
That was it.
But he didn’t move away.
That was the problem.
So neither did I.
For a second too long.
I realised I was still kneeling beside his bag.
He was still standing behind me.
And the room suddenly felt like it had no edges.
Mason
She was too close.
Not in a dramatic way.
Just proximity that didn’t feel accidental anymore.
She stood up slowly.
Turned slightly.
And for a moment—
we were facing each other in a space that wasn’t big enough for that.
She handed me the charger.
Our fingers didn’t fully touch.
Almost did.
Didn’t.
That “almost” was worse.
I took it.
Didn’t step back immediately.
Neither did she.
That was the second mistake.
Rowan
I should’ve moved.
I didn’t.
Because he didn’t either.
And I was starting to realise something I didn’t like:
If one of us didn’t break it—
it just stayed.
The air felt different here.
Not heavy.
Just aware.
I finally stepped back first.
Too controlled.
Too quick.
Like it meant nothing.
It didn’t.
Mason plugged the charger into the socket near his bed.
Still not speaking.
Still not resetting the room.
That silence came back again.
But different now.
Because something had shifted inside it.
Mason
She went back to her bed.
I stayed standing for a second longer than I needed to.
Then sat down again.
The charger was plugged in.
But I wasn’t looking at it.
I was thinking about something I didn’t want to name.
The way she didn’t step away quickly.
The way I didn’t either.
Jace would’ve said something about that.
Probably something stupid.
But accurate.
I leaned back slightly.
Rowan was already on her bed again.
Phone in hand.
But I knew she wasn’t really looking at it anymore.
Because neither was I.
And that was the problem now.
Nothing was happening.
But everything had already started.