The morning began in familiar silence. Nox was already gone by the time Leo woke up. The faint smell of smoke lingered, mixed with strong, bitter coffee—a signature trail Leo was beginning to notice more. The balcony door was ajar, letting in the cool autumn breeze. The clock blinked 6:47 AM.
Leo shuffled to the kitchen to find two plates covered with metal lids. Toasted bread, eggs cooked the way Ash liked, and a third plate with simple oatmeal—Nox's. He didn't leave a note. He never did.
Leo opened the fridge and smiled faintly at the neatly stacked cans of black coffee. He pulled one out, added a new can he'd picked up the day before—a rare import, the kind Nox always drank when he thought no one was watching. He left it beside Nox's workstation.
As lectures began, Ash noticed Leo's strange mood. During lunch, Leo was distracted, checking his phone, looking toward the door.
"You're unusually quiet. Did Nox say something?" Ash asked.
Leo shook his head. "No. He barely talks."
Ash tilted his head. "You're starting to act like when we first met. All distant and broody. Is something wrong?"
"No," Leo said, then after a beat: "I just... owe him."
Ash let it go, but something sat wrong in his chest. That invisible thread was pulling again.
Nox moved through the underbelly of the art building like smoke.
He passed through the old maintenance hall and into his modified control room. The walls blinked with live camera feeds. He tapped into the university's registry and paused.
"Too many new IDs... No names. No schedules. Not on payroll."
His fingers flew across the keyboard, decoding one breach, then another. A map blinked red where Leo had walked last night.
"Sloppy... They came that close."
He looked up at the feed of the common room. Leo was laughing. Ash was leaning in too close.
Nox's violet eyes narrowed. "Still safe. For now."
He exhaled through his nose and closed the laptop with finality. Routine. Always routine.
4 a.m. rooftop workouts. Coffee. Quick shower. Mask on. Baggy hoodie. He became a shadow again.
That evening, Leo climbed the stairs to the rooftop.
He carried two cups of coffee—one for himself, one for the ghost in their house. Nox sat cross-legged on the edge, cigarette in hand, eyes lost in the clouds tinted orange by city lights.
Leo sat a few feet away and placed the coffee beside him.
They didn't speak for a long while.
Finally, Nox said, voice quiet behind his mask, "Don't mistake my silence for permission."
Leo glanced at him. "You didn't have to save me."
"You're not the first idiot I've patched up."
Leo gave a soft laugh. "Still. I'm sorry I made you bleed."
Nox said nothing. But his hand tightened on the edge of the ledge.
Leo let the silence stretch again, until it hummed.
Later that night, Leo's phone rang.
His father.
He stepped out to the stairwell and answered. "Yeah?"
The Glow Above
Leo stared at the light leaking from the rooftop window like it held the answer to a question he hadn't dared ask. His father's words echoed in his ears.
"He doesn't hesitate. If Phantom helped you, it was a decision, not weakness. But if you get in his way—he won't flinch."
Leo tightened his grip on the phone, knuckles white. The rooftop light didn't flicker. Someone was still up there. He sighed, speaking into the quiet, "That's the thing. I don't think he ever would."
He didn't sleep that night. Instead, he scrolled old messages, half-written replies, and never-sent apologies. When morning came, his eyes were red, and he moved on autopilot.
Still, he bought Nox's preferred brand of coffee on the way to class.
—
Nox ignored the cup on the table.
Leo placed it carefully on the corner of his desk during a break between lectures. Nox sat there, oversized black hoodie draped over him like armor, head low, cap shadowing his eyes. Mask on. Always on. No sign he'd even noticed.
"Guess he's not a morning coffee guy," Ash joked lightly beside Leo, trying to ease the tension. "You sure he's not secretly solar-powered?"
Leo gave a dry chuckle but didn't respond. He noticed Nox's fingers pause over his sketchpad—just a second—but it was enough. He had noticed.
Later, Leo helped carry some canvases during studio lab. One of them was Nox's.
"You dropped this," Leo said, carefully holding out the edge.
Nox didn't reach for it.
"Don't," came his voice, low, flat, nearly emotionless. "I don't need help."
"You're bleeding," Leo murmured before he could stop himself. "Your hand."
Nox looked down. A tiny cut from the sharp canvas edge. Nothing serious. But it made Leo feel worse.
"I said—don't," Nox repeated. This time, he took the canvas, but his hand brushed Leo's briefly—cold and calloused. Like touching a ghost. Or maybe a wall.
Leo didn't try again.
—
That evening, Leo sat at his desk, reading over their assignment notes while Ash hummed beside him. Ash had started to notice the change.
"You're acting like you saw him shirtless or something," Ash teased, popping a chip into his mouth.
Leo nearly choked. "What?"
Ash tilted his head. "You're weirdly fixated. You keep watching him like he's a sculpture that's gonna move."
Leo didn't answer.
"You're not… like, into him, are you?"
Leo laughed. It felt real this time. "no ,You're still my favorite idiot."
"You better buy me dinner before saying things like that."
—
That night, Nox stood on the rooftop, smoking his usual cigarette, violet eyes scanning security footage on his phone. Breaches were increasing. That was a problem. Leo's presence in the school was like a beacon.
Then he heard soft footsteps.
He turned. Leo stood by the doorway, hoodie half-zipped, breath caught in his throat.
"Didn't you say not to sneak up here?" Nox asked, voice quieter than usual.
"You didn't take the coffee," Leo said simply.
Nox turned away, exhaled smoke into the wind. "It's not about coffee."
"I know," Leo said, stepping closer. "It's about distance."
"You're getting better at reading people."
"No. Just you." Leo hesitated. "You told me to stop running. But I think you're the one running now."
Silence.
"I don't expect anything," Leo added. "But I want you to know I'm here. Even if you don't want me to be."
The cigarette burned out. Nox crushed it underfoot.
Then, without looking at Leo, he said, "You're safe because I'm between you and the world. That doesn't mean we're close."
Leo didn't argue. He just nodded and stepped back, leaving Nox alone in the wind.
—
Downstairs, Leo lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Ash already snored softly nearby.
He whispered to the dark:
"Nox. You're the only one who stayed."
End of Chapter 51