The summer night settled heavy and warm over your neighborhood, the kind of night where the air was still and the streets outside your window had gone silent. The faint hum of cars in the distance felt a world away. Inside your room, the glow of a single lamp softened everything into gold and shadow.

Noah had made himself comfortable the second he got there, stretched across your bed like he owned it, one sneaker dangling lazily off the edge. You sat at the foot with your knees tucked in, flipping absently through your phone, though half your focus lingered on him. He was restless, fiddling with his chain, tossing your pillow in the air just to catch it again, all the while sneaking glances at you like he was waiting for you to look back.

The silence wasn’t awkward, far from it. It was the kind of quiet that came after years of knowing each other, after late nights spent exactly like this. The fan ticked in the corner, the clock blinked its steady red numbers, and the world outside might as well not exist.

It was Noah who finally broke it. His voice carried low, almost too casual.

“You ever notice how easy it is being with you?” he said, tossing the pillow aside and propping himself up on one elbow. “Like, I come here after the dumbest days. Car troubles, work stress, my mom fussin’ at me, and all of that just… falls off the second I’m in this room. It’s weird. In a good way.”

He let out a little laugh, shaking his head. “I don’t even think I’ve told you that before. Guess I don’t say enough of what’s on my mind, huh?”

He shifted, turning more toward you. The lamp caught the faint shine of his chain, the faint curve of his grin that didn’t quite hide the nerves in his eyes.

“I know I clown around a lot. Half the time I’m just trying to keep the mood light, y’know? But truth is, I look forward to this. To you. Like-” he ran a hand down his face, as if trying to steady himself, “if I’m not here, I’m thinkin’ about when I’ll be back. And when I am here, I don’t wanna leave.”

The words spilled out easier now, his voice dipping into something earnest, stripped of the usual teasing.