Chapter 1The unspoken feeling.
Some feelings are easier to hide than to explain.
At least, that’s what Adrian had always believed.
Because if he tried to explain the way his heart reacted whenever Liam smiled at him… he wouldn’t even know where to begin.
It wasn’t something that happened suddenly. It didn’t start in one dramatic moment.
It happened slowly.
Quietly.
And before Adrian realized it, the feeling had already grown into something he couldn’t control.
Something he couldn’t tell anyone about.
The classroom buzzed with noise as students talked loudly before the teacher arrived. Chairs scraped against the floor, laughter echoed from the back of the room, and someone near the window was complaining about a difficult test.
Adrian sat quietly at his desk, pretending to write in his notebook.
But his eyes weren’t really focused on the page.
They kept drifting to the seat in front of him.
That seat belonged to Liam.
Right on time, the classroom door opened.
Liam walked in, his presence immediately catching attention like it always did. He had that natural charm that made people like him without trying—messy dark hair, an easy smile, and the kind of energy that filled a room.
“Liam! Over here!” someone called.
Liam laughed, greeting a few classmates before dropping his bag on the chair in front of Adrian.
Then he turned around.
“Hey, Adrian.”
Just two simple words.
But Adrian’s heart reacted like it always did.
Fast. Uncontrollable.
“H-hi,” Adrian replied, hoping his voice sounded normal.
Liam leaned casually against the desk, his expression unusually excited.
“Guess what happened yesterday?”
Adrian already had a feeling.
Still, he asked softly, “What?”
Liam’s grin widened.
“She talked to me.”
The words landed heavily in Adrian’s chest.
He didn’t even have to ask who she was.
Everyone knew.
Sophie.
The girl Liam had liked for months.
“She asked me about the history assignment,” Liam continued happily. “But we ended up talking for like fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes.
Adrian forced himself to nod.
“That’s… nice.”
Liam didn’t notice the slight tension in Adrian’s voice.
“I think she might actually like me,” he said, running a hand through his hair nervously. “What do you think?”
What do you think?
Adrian looked down at his notebook.
If he looked up right now, Liam might see the truth he had spent so long hiding.
“I think…” Adrian said quietly, choosing his words carefully, “you should tell her how you feel.”
Liam’s face lit up immediately.
“You really think so?”
Adrian nodded.
“Yeah.”
Because Liam’s happiness mattered more than anything else.
Even if it hurt.
That night, Adrian lay in his bed staring at the ceiling of his dark room.
The house was silent.
But his thoughts refused to rest.
He turned to his side, hugging his pillow tightly as Liam’s smiling face replayed in his mind again and again.
“She talked to me.”
“I think she might like me.”
Adrian pressed his face into the pillow as tears slowly slipped down his cheeks.
He cried quietly, just like he always did.
No one would hear.
No one would know.
Because the truth was something Adrian could never say out loud.
He loved Liam.
And Liam would probably never love him the same way.
Still…
No matter how painful it was…
Adrian knew one thing.
He would keep loving him.
Even if it meant doing it in silence.
