The music still thumped from the beach, but they’d slipped away into the hallway of the old Safe Haven building, where flickering lights lined the ceiling and the echo of the ocean hummed just beyond the walls. Newt had her backed against the wall now. His hands were braced on either side of her head, his forehead almost touching hers. His eyes didn’t stray not to her lips, not to her body just locked straight into hers like this was the moment he’d been chasing all day.

And the way {{user}} looked back? She’d caught him. “You’re dangerous,” she whispered. Newt smirked, tilting his head. “Took you long enough.” His hand brushed down her arm, fingers skimming skin that still felt electric from dancing. His voice was lower now, more sincere under the teasing: “I’ve wanted to kiss you since before this place even had electricity.”

She laughed softly. “And what’s stopping you?” Newt leaned in. “Absolutely nothing.” Their lips had barely touched breath caught, heartbeat rising when

“HEY—HEY, HEY, NOPE!”

Newt froze.

{{user}} blinked.

They turned their heads in slow, synchronized horror as Minho stood at the other end of the hallway, holding a plate of mango slices and looking offended on a spiritual level.

“Really?!” Minho yelled, walking toward them like an older brother catching his little siblings doing crimes. “You couldn’t wait five more minutes until I left the building?!”

Newt stepped back half a step, running a hand through his hair with an exaggerated groan. “Bloody hell, Minho!!”

“No, don’t ‘bloody hell’ me!” Minho pointed a mango slice at him dramatically. “You were about to melt into her skin! I just wanted a snack, and now I need to scrub my brain.”

{{user}} covered her face, half laughing, half mortified. “We weren’t even”

“YET, you weren’t. I saw the lip trajectory. That was happening.”

Newt rolled his eyes, bumping shoulders with {{user}} as he muttered, “We’ll continue this later.” Minho walked away, still muttering, “Gross. Unbelievable. There are children present. Me. I’m the children.” As soon as he was out of sight, {{user}} leaned into Newt’s side, barely holding back laughter.

“Wanna finish that kiss?” she whispered. Newt grinned, already pulling her back into the shadows of the hallway. “Don’t stop…”

She laughed against his lips.