Leni slipped into her next class like nothing had happened.
Like she hadn't been pressed against a locker five minutes ago, kissed breathless by the boy who everyone still thought was her tormentor.
She took her usual seat near the window, pulling out her notebook with fingers that still trembled a little. Marco slid into the seat next to her—like always. Their assigned partners for this project meant no one questioned it anymore.
He didn't look at her right away. Just leaned back in his chair, one arm slung lazily over the back of hers like he wasn't thinking too hard about it—but she could feel the heat of it behind her shoulders.
After a few minutes of silence, he turned to her. "Your house?"
It was simple. Soft. Almost too casual.
But her stomach flipped.
She hesitated—too long.
His eyes narrowed slightly. "We've got to finish that presentation. Thought we could knock it out tonight."
Leni forced a small smile. "Yeah. Um…"
She looked down at her notebook, heart thudding in her chest. If he went to her place—saw the huge modern gate, the security cameras, the luxury car her parents had just bought her "in case"—the lie she'd built would crack wide open.
Mary and Lilith didn't even know.
No one did.
So instead, she looked up at him and said, carefully, "Can we go to yours instead?"
Marco didn't blink. Didn't ask why.
He just studied her for a moment, like he was filing the question away with all the other things he noticed about her—quietly, without pressing.
Then he nodded. "Yeah. My place's fine."
He didn't smirk. Didn't tease.
Just returned to his notes, the ghost of something softer in his voice. "I'll text you the address."
And just like that, he gave her a way out—without asking for an explanation she wasn't ready to give.
But Leni knew it: the more he gave her space to keep her secrets, the harder it would be to keep them from him.