Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL]
Chapter 72: The Version With You In It

Chapter 72: The Version With You In It

They stepped out into late-morning light, the campus buzzing around them.

The sky was soft blue, broken by drifting clouds.

Somewhere nearby, a student played music under a tree, a mellow guitar riff blending with the breeze.

Noel adjusted the strap of his bag and walked quietly beside Luca, their pace naturally matched.

Luca glanced sideways at him.

"You always walk this fast, or are you trying to outrun how awkward you felt back there?"

Noel didn’t look at him. "I’m ignoring you."

"So, definitely awkward then."

Noel’s mouth twitched — barely. "You don’t have to announce everything."

"Can’t help it." Luca bumped his shoulder gently against Noel’s. "It’s part of my charm."

They passed the literature building, its brick wall climbing with ivy.

A couple walked ahead of them, holding hands. Luca slowed slightly.

His fingers brushed against Noel’s — not obviously, just a graze. Then again.

Noel didn’t pull away this time. Their pinkies hooked for half a second before he cleared his throat and let it go.

"I told you," he murmured. "People might see."

"I know," Luca replied, softer now. "But sometimes I don’t care."

Noel didn’t answer. He just looked down for a moment, then back up — his eyes more gentle than they were annoyed.

The dining hall came into view, its glass front catching the sunlight.

The smell of warm food drifted from the entrance — fresh bread, roasted spice, something vaguely sweet.

As they climbed the steps, Luca reached forward first to open the door.

"I’ll even let you pick the table," he said with exaggerated chivalry.

Noel raised a brow. "Are you saying that like it’s a gift?"

"It is," Luca replied, grinning. "Normally I like sitting near the window. But I’ll let you choose. Because I’m generous. And hot."

"Questionable," Noel murmured as he stepped inside— though the heat on his neck said otherwise.

They moved toward the counter, grabbing trays and scanning the lunch options.

Luca nudged Noel’s elbow. "Hey."

"What?"

He gestured at the drink display. "You want the same lemon tea again? Or are you going to live dangerously and try mango?"

Noel eyed him. "You’re the dangerous one here."

"You mean dangerous like... irresistible?"

Noel just sighed and reached for the lemon tea.

But when Luca wasn’t looking, he switched his own drink to mango.

They picked a table near the back, slightly tucked away, with a view of the courtyard through tall windows.

Sunlight filtered through the glass in dappled streaks, casting warm lines across the table and chairs.

Luca dropped his tray down with a soft thud and slid into his seat like he’d been here a thousand times. "This is cozy. I approve."

Noel set his tray down more carefully and sat across from him. "You would’ve ’approved’ no matter where I picked."

Luca grinned. "Obviously. That’s part of being agreeable on a date."

Noel gave him a dry look, then glanced at the food between them — simple campus fare, nothing special. But for some reason, it felt like more.

He stirred his rice with his fork. "You’re not going to make this weird the whole time, are you?"

"No," Luca said, unwrapping his sandwich. "I’m going to make it memorable. There’s a difference."

Noel sighed, but the edge of his mouth tugged upward. "I don’t think you know how to do subtle."

"I do subtle," Luca said. "Just... loud subtle."

They ate in comfortable silence for a minute. Students came and went, trays clinking, distant chatter filling the space but not intruding on their table.

Then Luca leaned forward, elbow on the table, voice lower now. "So... how are you feeling?"

Noel blinked at him. "About lunch?"

"No," Luca said, smiling gently. "About us."

Noel’s fork paused midway to his mouth.

He didn’t answer right away. His gaze dropped to the lemon tea sitting near his tray, then drifted out the window, watching wind ripple through the trees outside.

"I don’t know," he said quietly. "It’s... different. Being like this. With you."

"Too different?"

"No," Noel said, almost immediately. "Just... new. It feels like everything’s shifted a little. Like the usual version of my day is gone and now there’s this new one with you in it."

Luca didn’t speak for a moment. Then:

"I like that version better."

Noel looked up, surprised.

Something about Luca’s voice — quiet, firm, without the usual flair — settled under his skin.

Luca smiled — softer this time, without any teasing edge. "I mean it."

Noel looked at him for a long second, then exhaled. "You’re not what I expected."

"You expected me to mess this up?"

"I expected you not to try this seriously at all."

Luca tore a piece of his sandwich, then tossed it on his plate. "Yeah... I didn’t think I would either. Until it started to matter."

Noel’s expression didn’t change much — but his eyes did. They warmed. Quietly.

"Okay," he said, voice low. "Let’s keep trying. Day by day."

Luca nodded once. "Deal."

Their trays sat between them, mostly forgotten now.

Sunlight caught on the rim of Luca’s glass, scattering gold.

And for the first time in a long time, it felt like the middle of the day could be something gentle instead of something rushed.

Luca leaned back with a sigh. "So... when do I get the next date?"

Noel rolled his eyes. "we just have the first date yesterday."

"Details," Luca grinned. "I just want to make sure I book you before someone else figures out how annoyingly pretty you are."

Noel didn’t answer. He just reached for his tea, hiding a small smile behind the rim.

Noel leaned back slightly, fingers curled around the rim of his drink, the lemon tea long gone but still cold against his skin.

Across from him, Luca had one leg folded under the other, watching him — not saying anything for once, just... being there. Present. It was the kind of quiet that didn’t ask for more.

Then Noel’s phone buzzed against the table.

He glanced at it, expecting something small — a notification, a reminder.

Alex: You still coming to the library today?

Noel exhaled through his nose.

Luca leaned forward. "Everything okay?"

Noel nodded. "Yeah. Just Alex. He asked if I’m still heading to the library."

Luca tilted his head. "Are you?"

Noel hesitated. "I told him I might. I usually do after this class."

Luca’s fingers drummed once on the edge of his tray. He looked down, then back up again.

"You should go," he said, light but sincere. "If you usually do, don’t change your day because of me."

"I already changed it," Noel replied, voice quieter than before.

Luca’s lips quirked. "Yeah, well... I’m glad. But still—go hang out with your friend. I’ll see you after?"

Noel didn’t reply immediately. He tapped back a quick response to Alex.

Noel: Yeah, I’m coming. Be there in fifteen.

Then he slid the phone away and looked at Luca.

"You’re okay with it?"

Luca shrugged with an easy grin. "I’ll survive. But only if you send me a picture of your deeply focused library face."

"You’re ridiculous."

"Obsessively," Luca replied, then added with a wink, "Also very patient and supportive. Boyfriend material."

Noel stood, grabbing his tray and trying not to let the smile creep too far. "I’ll message you when I’m done."

"Please do," Luca said, gathering his own tray. "So I don’t worry you ran off with someone hotter from the econ section."

Noel chuckled. "Good news for you — no one in econ smiles like an idiot over mango juice."

Luca gasped dramatically. "You noticed?"

Noel rolled his eyes but looked back once as he walked toward the tray return.

Luca was still sitting there, his face tilted toward the window, eyes trailing after him — with that rare kind of softness that made everything feel real.

The sun had slipped behind a cloud by the time Noel stepped out of the dining hall, and the warmth of midday had softened into a cooler breeze.

Students moved lazily across the walkways — a few riding bikes, others sprawled beneath trees with textbooks open and mostly ignored.

Noel adjusted his bag on his shoulder, phone tucked loosely in one hand. He didn’t walk fast — didn’t feel like it.

There was no rush in his steps, just the quiet hum of after-lunch clarity, the kind that made things feel settled.

But underneath that calm was a question he hadn’t answered yet: was he moving toward something new—or away from what he used to be?"

He could still feel the ghost of Luca’s gaze as he turned back earlier.

The way it had lingered. The way everything about lunch felt different than it used to.

He tugged lightly at the strap of his bag and exhaled.

By the time he reached the library, the main doors stood open, and the inside greeted him with soft light and cooler air — a stillness that immediately slowed his pulse.

Noel moved through the front foyer, nodding to a staff member at the desk, and headed toward the far side reading area — where Alex usually claimed a corner near the windows.

He found him there — hunched slightly forward, tapping at his laptop, brows knit in that focused way that made him look almost too serious for his own good.

Noel knocked gently on the edge of the table. "Hey."

Alex looked up, surprise flickering across his face before it eased into something more neutral. "Hey. You came."

"Yeah." Noel slid into the seat across from him. "Sorry it took a while."

Alex shook his head. "No problem. I was half-expecting you to bail."

Noel gave him a look. "Why would I bail?"

Alex shrugged, eyes flicking back to his screen for a moment. "I don’t know. Figured you were... busy or something."

Noel didn’t answer right away. He opened his notebook and pulled a pen from his pocket, clicking it once. "I had lunch."

Alex paused. "With Luca?" The way he said it — light, but not quite — told Noel everything.

Noel looked up. "Yeah."

Alex gave a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes, then leaned back as if putting distance between them was easier than asking what he really wanted to. "That’s new."

Noel didn’t confirm or deny it. He just let the silence stretch gently between them before flipping to a blank page in his notebook.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

Alex took the cue, turning the laptop toward him. "Just outlining for our psych presentation. It’s a mess."

Noel nodded, leaning forward to glance at it. "Let me see."

They settled into a slow rhythm — back to what they knew. Words spoken in half-murmurs.

Pens tapping. Screens glowing. But this time, there was something Noel wasn’t saying.

Something different about him — even Alex could feel it, though he didn’t bring it up again.

He just watched Noel when he wasn’t looking. Quietly.

And thought about how some things change — and how fast people can become someone else’s.

"Okay," Noel said, scanning Alex’s screen. "This section here—about behavioral patterns—feels a little too vague. Want to tighten it?"

Alex nodded, fingers already moving on the keyboard. "Yeah, I wasn’t sure how deep we should go into the comparative examples."

"You don’t have to do a full breakdown," Noel murmured, flipping a page in his notebook. "Just frame the difference in how each subject responded under environmental stress. Keep it clean. Focused."

Alex nodded, but his eyes lingered on Noel a beat longer — wondering when exactly he stopped being part of that version of "usual."

Alex glanced at him. "You always sound like a professor when you say stuff like that."

Noel smiled, but a beat later, his pen stilled—realizing how easily they had fallen back into old patterns, even as everything else quietly changed.

"I take that as a compliment."

"It was."

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