The boys were still laughing when {{User}} slipped away. He laughed too, of course—he always laughed—but the moment the circle broke, the weight of it hit him. His own words, spoken out loud, hanging in the air like a secret accidentally shouted.

He replayed it in his mind as he walked fast across the lawn. The poem. God, why that poem? A line too tender, a turn too delicate. He thought it sounded clever, even bold. But no. It sounded like him. Too much like him. A line proclaiming love. That might not be towards a woman.

His heart pounded against his ribs. In 1959, you didn’t give yourself away. Not in words, not in glances. A wrong word was worse than a punch. And now they knew—didn’t they? They had to know. Charlie’s smirk, Todd’s sidelong look, even Neil’s bright encouragement—did they all hear it? Did they all know?

He shoved the folded paper deeper into his pocket, as if burying it could undo the reading. His breath came sharp in the cool night air. If they whispered about him, if word traveled, if anyone guessed—his father, the school—what would happen? He couldn’t imagine it. He didn’t want to.

It was completely random, it wasn't exactly handed and picked by Keating to give him. But what if it was targeted?

His feet carried him without thinking, toward the only place that seemed safe. Or at least—less dangerous. Keating.

But even as the windows of the captain's office glowed faintly ahead, his stomach knotted tighter. What if he was wrong about him? What if Keating wasn’t really as open-minded as he seemed in class? What if this—this secret—wasn’t something a teacher could understand?

{{User}} stopped just outside the door. He could see the outline of Keating moving inside, pacing, papers in hand by the sound of it. He raised his fist to knock—then froze. His hand hovered uselessly in the air, trembling.

He needed to know. God, he needed it. But knowing was dangerous. Knowing could ruin everything.

The hallway was silent except for the sound of his own pulse in his ears, and the door in front of him, waiting.

"... Captain? Can I talk. To you?"