The fluorescent lights hummed overhead in the nearly empty hallway as Nze worked the combination on his locker. His fingers trembled slightly—not from the cold, but from the weight of secrets pressing down on his shoulders. The metallic clang of the locker door opening echoed against the walls, momentarily drowning out the distant chatter of students heading to their next classes.

That's when he heard them—footsteps. One set light and deliberate, the other heavy and thunderous. Nze didn't need to turn around to know it was Kitty and a hulking companion. He could feel their presence like a shadow falling over him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Kitty's musky scent that reminded him unnervingly of a predator's scent—wafted past as they walked by. The giant's footsteps almost made the floor vibrate ever so slightly, bringing back memories of that first day when Iza had collided with him. Had that only been a few weeks ago? It felt like a lifetime.

Then came the wink—quick, casual, deadly. A silent reminder of their conversation, of the price of survival. The message was clear as crystal: "Keep out of my business if you want to keep breathing." Nze's throat went dry as he pretended to be fascinated by his textbook's worn spine.

"What was that all about?"

Iza's voice made him jump. She had appeared beside him with the silent grace that once he'd found endearing but now sent a chill down his spine. How long had she been watching? Had she seen the fear in his eyes when Kitty passed?

"Oh nothing, she and I just had an..." The words died in his throat. How could he possibly explain? How could he tell Iza about the crazy ton of shit he had discovered about St. Leo?

"An...?" Iza prompted, her glasses-enlarged dark eyes searching his face. The concern in her expression made his chest ache.

"It's nothing." The lie tasted bitter on his tongue. He busied himself with arranging his laptop in his bag, avoiding her gaze.

"Hey Nze, is there something going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you barely tell me anything these days." The hurt in her voice was unmistakable.

Iza's pride wasn't just bruised; it was trampled, shredded, and left for dead along with her feelings. How could she have missed it? He'd been hanging out with them—Skyfall members, of all people. One of them must have done the imprint. Kitty, with her predatory smirk? Or Bee, with that wild, untamed energy? Either way, the realization made her stomach twist with guilt and anger.

What kind of friend was she if she hadn't seen this coming? How could she call herself his best friend and not know what was happening in his life? Sure, it wasn't like he made it easy. He didn't exactly share his innermost secrets over pizza nights. Still, she should have noticed something—a look, a word, a shift in the way he carried himself.

And okay, fine. It wasn't like he could just waltz up to her one day and be like, "Hey, I've been hanging out with werecats, and it's honestly kind of amazing." That's not exactly casual conversation. But still.

She hated herself for not being there, for not knowing. And maybe for expecting him to open up when she couldn't even do it herself. Because let's face it: she couldn't exactly tell him, "Oh, by the way, I'm a witch, and I know all this because I've been spying on your aura for weeks." That wasn't something you casually dropped into a conversation either.

And, of course, there was the tiny, inconvenient detail she tried very hard not to think about: she kinda, sorta, maybe had a crush on him. Which made everything approximately a thousand times worse.

Because now it wasn't just, "Hey, I'm mad at you for hanging out with werecats and not telling me." It was also, "Hey, I'm mad at you for hanging out with werecats and not telling me because I'm in love with you and didn't even know it until five seconds ago."

She hated how messy it all was. How tangled her feelings had become. And how, no matter how mad she was at him, she couldn't stop picturing his stupid face—the way he smiled when he was teasing her, the way his brow furrowed when he was focused, the way he always stood just a little closer than he needed to.

And now he was marked. Marked, claimed, tangled up in supernatural chaos she couldn't fix. And even if she wanted to, even if she somehow managed to untangle the mess he was in, what was she supposed to say after? "Hey, I risked my life to save you because I'm in love with you, but no pressure or anything"?

God, she was so screwed.

She didn't know who to blame more—him, for keeping secrets, or herself, for not piecing them together sooner, for not getting her own feelings in order.

Nze, on the other hand pondered what Iza had just said. He wanted to tell her everything, to share the burden that was crushing him. But Kitty's wink flashed in his memory again, and he knew that silence was the only gift he could give Iza now. Silence might keep her safe.

The hallway continued to empty around them, but the space between them felt more crowded than ever with all the things left unsaid. The police investigation into the deaths at St. Philips hung over the school like a dark cloud, their occasional presence a reminder that danger wasn't just lurking in the shadows—it was walking the halls in broad daylight, sometimes wearing a smile and natural musk.

Nze closed his locker with a final click that sounded too much like a jail cell locking. He turned to Iza, managing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The weight of his secret felt heavier than all his textbooks combined, but he'd carry it alone if it meant keeping her safe. Sometimes love meant keeping your distance, even when every instinct screamed to draw closer.

Nze's sudden shift caught Iza off guard. It was like watching someone flip a switch—the nervous, evasive boy from moments ago replaced by an echo of his old self, complete with that crooked smile she'd first fallen for.

"Tell you what, I know what we need... ice cream," he declared, the words tumbling out with forced cheerfulness that only someone who knew him well would notice. His fingers drummed against the locker door, a nervous habit he'd never quite shaken.

"What?" Iza blinked, thrown by the abrupt change in conversation. The fluorescent lights overhead caught the gold flecks in his eyes, reminding her of those first days when things between them had been simpler.

"We haven't gotten that together in ages," he pressed on, his voice carrying a hint of desperation, as if ice cream could somehow bridge the mysterious gulf that had opened between them.

"I guess," she replied, studying the way he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. When had he started carrying himself like someone expecting bad news?

"By the way, where's Pico?" The question seemed casual, but there was something in his tone—concern maybe, or relief at their friend's absence.

"Heaven knows." Iza shrugged, remembering how Pico had been just as distant lately, disappearing at odd hours with vague excuses.

"Wanna grab ice cream after last classes today? My treat," Nze offered, his smile growing more genuine, almost reaching his eyes this time.

Iza stood there, backpack strap cutting into her shoulder, and tried to understand why she had a crush on him. Was it the way he could still make her heart skip even when he was keeping secrets? The gentle way he'd bump her shoulder when they walked together? Or maybe it was moments like this—when he'd try so hard to pretend everything was normal that it made her chest ache.

She watched him now, this boy who'd somehow become a stranger and remained achingly familiar all at once. The same dimple appeared in his left cheek when he smiled, but new shadows lurked behind his eyes. His jokes still came quick and easy, but they felt like band-aids over deeper wounds he wouldn't let her see.

The hallway had emptied around them, leaving them in one of those suspended moments where time seemed to hold its breath. The distant sound of classroom doors closing and teachers beginning their lessons filtered through the air, but here, in their bubble of unspoken truths and careful pretenses, Iza found herself falling for him all over again—not despite the mysteries he carried, but because even now, even scared and secretive, he was still trying to protect their little pieces of normal.

And that, she realized, was exactly why she couldn't stop caring about him, even as he slipped further into whatever darkness had claimed him.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚

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