The crowd outside the guest bedroom was relentless. Laughter, footsteps, and the chant that wouldn’t die:

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

Inside, Patrick Feely sat stiffly at the edge of the bed, legs bouncing, a lightsaber balanced across his lap. His cloak was bunched around his shoulders, and his hair stuck up in every which direction. His Padmé sat beside him, kicking her heels against the carpet, arms crossed but smirking like she was trying to hide her nerves.

She shifted to face him. “We could just do it,” she said, voice too casual to be real. “They won’t let up. Might as well shut them up.”

Patrick looked at her—really looked at her, sitting there in a costume that was supposed to be a joke, something funny and harmless between two best friends.

But nothing about this felt harmless to him.

He blinked slowly. “No.”

She raised an eyebrow, like she hadn’t heard him right. “Why not?”

Patrick ran a hand down his face. “Because.”

“That’s not an answer.”

His throat tightened. “Because it’s not supposed to happen like this.”

She studied him for a second. Her teasing faded, eyes searching. She didn’t ask again.

The minutes passed with the crowd still jeering on the other side of the door.

But they didn’t kiss.

They walked home together in silence.

Later, under the yellow glow of her porch light, she turned to him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Well,” she whispered, “Happy Halloween, Feely.”

She started to turn, but Patrick reached out and caught her wrist.

And then he kissed her.

Not because of a stupid game. Not because of the chant. But because he couldn’t not. Because he had been holding it in for far too long and the thought of her walking away again without knowing—really knowing—how he felt made his chest ache.

His lips moved with desperate hunger, years of what-ifs poured into a single breathless moment. She kissed him back like she’d been waiting too.

When he finally pulled away, her lips were red, her eyes wide, and her heart racing.

Patrick leaned his forehead against hers, still catching his breath.

“I meant something like that.”