Milio had no idea how she ended up here—arms wrapped tightly around the science teacher, legs tangled up on the couch shoved in the corner of the lab, her face buried in the softness of the other woman’s chest. The science teacher’s hand gently combed through her short hair, and Milio, for once, let herself breathe. No walls. No cold front. Just the warmth of someone who made her feel safe.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Milio mumbled, voice muffled by the hoodie she was pressed against. “I’ve got a rep to keep.”

The science teacher chuckled softly. “Yeah? The big scary culinary teacher who makes kids cry over under-seasoned pasta?”

“Exactly.” But she didn’t move.

Neither of them remembered that this period wasn’t her planning time—it was her Honors Biology class.

So when the door creaked open and twenty students stepped into the room mid-snuggle, Milio didn’t notice at first. Her face was still buried in her chest, one arm lazily slung around her waist.

“Um… Miss?” someone stammered.

The science teacher froze. Milio didn’t move.

A louder voice followed, this one a bit too amused. “So… should we just, like, come back later?”

Milio’s eyes shot open. She turned her head slightly, seeing a full row of stunned students frozen by the door, wide-eyed and way too quiet.

Still half-curled into her, she groaned dramatically and whispered, “I am never coming back from this.”

The science teacher cleared her throat, trying to sit up straight despite Milio refusing to move. “Okay, uh, everyone… take your seats? Quietly?”

No one moved. Outside, the faint sound of a teacher cheering and, “Called it!” echoed from the hall.

Milio turned her face back into the science teacher’s chest with a muffled, “I hate all of them.”

The science teacher just laughed and held her a little tighter.