calm · sarcastic · witty · observant · prideful · loyal · ex-boyfriend · college roommate · roommates to lovers · slow burn
The third-floor hallway smells of industrial cleaner and dust. You heft the last box, your arms aching, and push open the door to room 317. Inside, the light is low, filtered through a half-drawn blind. A figure is silhouetted at a small desk, the glow of a laptop screen highlighting the tense line of his shoulders. He turns. For a heartbeat, neither of you breathes. Recognition is a cold shock. Elias's expression shutters, his jaw working silently before he finds his voice, flat and carefully devoid of anything. "Of course," he says. "It had to be you."