Ezra's Apartment — Morning
The first thing Luca noticed was the light. Too bright. Sneaking past sheer curtains and spilling across the unfamiliar ceiling.
His head throbbed a little, dry mouth, the kind of haze that came after a long night that blurred at the edges.
He shifted.
Ezra was still asleep beside him, half-covered, one arm slung loosely over the sheets.
Luca sat up slowly, scanning the room — clean, quiet, smelling faintly of cologne and last night's perfume.
His shirt was on the floor. Jacket too. Someone's phone buzzed distantly, but it wasn't his.
He rubbed his neck and glanced around for his jeans. Found them near the edge of the bed, dragged them close.
Ezra stirred a bit, blinking up at him.
"You're leaving already?" he murmured, voice low, raspy.
"I should," Luca said, slipping his legs into his jeans, then pausing. "Thanks for last night though."
Ezra chuckled softly, pulling the sheet closer. "You're welcome, handsome. You were fun."
Luca smirked faintly, zipping up. "You weren't bad yourself."
He found his phone at last — six missed messages. Two from Jordan. One from Sophie (w/ a sun emoji). And one from Noel.
Just a single line: "Clean your mess before I throw it all out."
Luca blinked, then muttered, "Sh*t."
He scrambled to his feet, nearly knocking over.
"Thanks again!" he called out over his shoulder, already halfway to the door. "I gotta go—bye!"
The door slammed behind him a second later, his footsteps echoing down the hall in a chaotic sprint.
Dorm Room — Mid-Morning
The hallway was too quiet for Luca's liking.
He adjusted his jacket, ran a hand through his messy hair, and paused outside the dorm door. He exhaled slowly, then turned the knob like he was defusing a bomb.
Click.
The door creaked open. He stepped in carefully, trying not to let it slam.
He didn't make it two steps before—
"Welcome back."
Luca froze.
Noel was sitting on his bed, legs crossed, a closed book resting on his lap. His eyes were sharp. Unblinking. Like a predator that'd been waiting all night for this very moment.
Luca scratched the back of his neck. "Morning…"
Noel tilted his head. "Must've been a great night."
"I mean…" Luca stepped further in, dropping his keys on the desk. "It was alright."
Noel stood, calm but firm. "Glad to hear. Now—" he pointed toward the floor, "you planning to explain this mess, or should I guess what hurricane came through here?"
Luca looked around. Clothes. Food wrappers. An open energy drink from the nights ago still sitting on the table. One of his sneakers under Noel's chair.
He winced. "Yeah, uh… I was going to clean it."
"Before or after ditching the dorm without a word?"
"I didn't ditch— I just went out."
"To the club?" Noel asked, walking over to pick up an empty packet from the floor. After telling me to wait for you.?
"I forgot, okay?" Luca muttered. "It was last minute."
Noel's lips tightened. He didn't yell, but his voice was steel. "Everything with you is last minute. Clean now. Talk later."
Luca tossed his jacket on the chair. "Man, why are you so pissed about a little mess?"
Noel raised a brow. "Because I'm not your maid."
Luca bent down to grab a hoodie off the floor, muttering under his breath, "You're acting like one."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Luca said, louder this time. "I'll clean it."
Noel didn't move. Just stared at him. "You do that."
The silence between them stretched as Luca began picking up after himself.
Noel returned to his bed, reopened his book — but didn't turn a single page.
He stood up again, opened the closet, and pulled out the mop like a sword.
He held it out toward Luca. "Finish the floor."
Luca stared at it like it was a foreign object. "You serious?"
Noel didn't flinch. "Dead serious."
Luca took the mop reluctantly, dragging it over the floor half-heartedly. It screeched against the tiles.
"You're not scrubbing, you're just pushing water around," Noel muttered.
"I am scrubbing," Luca shot back.
"You're pretending to scrub," Noel corrected.
Luca exhaled through his nose, then stopped entirely, leaning on the mop handle. "You know what?"
Noel looked up from his bed. "What now?"
Luca met his eyes. "Yesterday… I waved at you."
"So?"
"You ignored me."
Noel didn't blink. "I didn't ignore you. I saw you."
"Exactly. You saw me and looked away."
Noel folded his arms. "You were surrounded by your fan club. Didn't think you'd notice."
"I noticed." Luca's tone dropped lower. "You didn't say hi."
Noel's jaw flexed. "Was I supposed to interrupt your little parade?"
"It was a wave, Noel. A simple 'hey' would've been enough."
A beat passed.
Noel stood, walked over, and took the mop back from Luca without breaking eye contact.
"You wanna talk about waves and hellos? Let's start with how you trashed this room and vanished overnight like it was nothing."
Luca looked up, wary. "I didn't vanish."
"You didn't text."
Luca's lips parted, but nothing came out.
Noel stepped back. "Exactly."
The room settled into a heavy silence again. Just the faint hum of the fridge.
Noel's voice dropped. "I waited for you. All night. And all I got was your mess."
Luca finally sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on knees. "I didn't think it'd matter to you, Noel I guess I hoped it didn't."
Noel glanced at him. "Maybe that's the problem."
Luca dragged a hand through his hair, eyes fixed on the floor. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Noel leaned the mop against the wall, arms crossed again. "It means maybe you don't think anything matters. Not the mess, not this room, not waving, not saying where the hell you went last night."
Luca looked up, brows pulling. "Are you mad I didn't clean… or that I didn't come back?"
Noel didn't answer right away.
Luca sat back, resting against the wall. "You're always acting like nothing gets to you. Like you don't care if I'm here or not."
"I don't care," Noel replied too quickly.
Luca gave a dry laugh. "Right."
Silence stretched again. Noel didn't move, but his jaw tightened.
"Luca looked at him — really looked — and for a flicker of a second, something softened. 'You didn't like seeing me with the guys, did you?'"
Noel's gaze flicked to him, sharp. "I didn't like seeing my room turned into a junkyard."
"That's not what I asked."
Noel's voice came out lower. "Does it matter what I liked?"
Luca didn't respond. He stood slowly, walked a few steps closer. Not too close, but close enough.
"It matters to me," he said.
Noel looked away.
Luca waited, then sighed. "Fine, I'll clean it right. Just… tell me if I crossed a line."
Noel finally looked at him again, expression unreadable. "You didn't cross a line, Luca."
"Then what?"
"You just… don't see the line at all."
Luca's stare hardened. "So that's what you think of me?"
Noel gave a dry laugh and turned his back. "I think you only see what you want, when you want."
"Right. Because I'm the selfish one."
"You said it, not me."
Luca's voice raised a notch. "You know what? I was going to explain. I thought maybe we could talk like actual people, but you'd rather act like a brick wall."
Noel spun around. "Explain what? That you left the place trashed and spent the night with someone you barely know?"
Luca scoffed. "You think I owe you an explanation?"
"Not anymore," Noel snapped.
A sharp pause. The air between them stiff, electric.
Luca grabbed his jacket off the chair. "Fine. I'm not doing this."
"Then don't."
Luca's eyes lingered on him for a beat—something flickering there, maybe hurt, maybe pride—then he opened the door and walked out, shutting it behind him without another word.
Noel stood alone in the silence, the mop still leaning against the wall.