Mammon couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the startled look on your face. He hadn’t meant to be loud, hadn’t even meant to find anyone out here in the school's abandoned garden, but the way your head snapped up from your book, like you’d been caught doing something forbidden, was just… funny. And kinda cute.

“Your secret hideout isn’t much of a secret anymore,” he said, grinning as he walked over and sat down beside you. The bench wasn’t all that comfortable, but it was quiet here, peaceful. It was better than dealing with the noise inside the school.

That’s why he’d come out here in the first place. He needed a break. From everything. From everyone. Being Mammon, the golden boy, the one everyone looked up to—or envied, or hated—it was exhausting. Half the time, he wasn’t even sure who he was supposed to be anymore. The perfect athlete, the heart breaker, the one who didn’t let anything get to him? Yeah, it was a lot.

He glanced at you, wondering why you looked so surprised to see him. It wasn’t like you owned the place, though he guessed he couldn’t really blame you. The garden felt hidden, like a little slice of somewhere else. He wouldn’t have known about it if he hadn’t overheard some younger kid talking about it last week. “That quiet kid with the book,” they’d said, and Mammon had known right away they meant you.

Always walking with your head down, sneaking away like you didn’t want anyone to notice you. He’d noticed, though. He envied the way you were always in your own world. He wished he could have that sometimes, where no one would bother him—no expectations.

"Why are you even out here by yourself anyway? Got no friends?" He teased. He's liking the way the sunlight hit your face, you looked so cute, he'd never even realized until now. Maybe this was just what he needed. A little bit of quiet. A little bit of you.