Chapter Text
Colin shouldn’t have been here.
He knew that.
He wasn’t stupid. He had gone over it a thousand times in his head, had heard Ava’s warnings loud and clear, had told himself he wouldn’t - couldn’t - do this.
But then there was Noah.
Noah, with his sharp mouth and sharper mind. Noah, who knew exactly what he was doing when he leaned in too close, when he looked at Colin with that unreadable expression, when he said things that weren’t quite invitations but felt like them anyway.
And Noah knew.
Of course, he knew. He had known long before Colin had even fully admitted it to himself. He had seen the way Colin lingered. The way he reacted. Noah was good at pulling people in.
And Colin - God help him - let himself be pulled.
It happened fast-
One second, they were talking, low voices and sharp tension buzzing between them. The next, Colin had Noah pinned against the wall, mouth crashing against his in a kiss that was just as much frustration as it was want.
Noah didn’t push him away. Of course, he didn’t.
Instead, he pulled him closer.
It was a disaster from the start.
It had started in a quiet corridor off the dorm’s common room.
Scratch that, it had started long before that. Maybe even before Colin fully understood what he was getting into.
College had been a fresh start, or at least that was what he’d told himself. New city, new classes, new people. He hadn’t expected to be rooming with Joel, who was all business and numbers, the kind of guy who practically breathed finance and market trends. Colin barely understood half the things Joel talked about, but Joel, despite his awkwardness, had a way of pulling people into his world - sheer force of nature. And that was how Colin had ended up at that party, Joel dragging him along under the pretense of networking.
That’s where he had met Noah.
Noah, who even then, among the people in his semester, had seemed out of place. Not because he didn’t belong - he clearly did - but because something about him was different from the rest. He wasn’t like the others, all clean-cut and eager to impress. He had this air of knowing too much, like he was playing along with a script only he could see. He didn’t seem like someone who’d study economics, and Colin wasn’t wrong. Noah had a way with stories, a knack for filmmaking, but he was here trying to live a life that wasn’t quite his own, an attempt to please parents who didn’t understand him.
They had hit it off immediately.
But Noah was complicated.
One moment, he was teasing, pushing, flirting like it was second nature. The next, he was distant, closed-off, unreadable. Even after weeks of knowing him, Colin only knew two things for sure: One, Noah liked his coffee black. But even then, Colin wasn’t sure if he actually liked it that way, or if it was just something he did because it was simple, straightforward - because two, Noah was far from being an open book.
Ava had warned him. “Don’t get too close,” she had said. “It never ends well.” Ava, who somehow balanced between Joel’s logic and Noah’s chaos. Colin didn’t know how she got caught up between the two, but she had, and she still loved them both, even when she looked like she was ready to walk away for good.
But none of that had stopped Colin.
And now, Noah’s fingers tangled in Colin’s shirt, pulling, dragging, pushing until there was barely any space between them at all. His mouth was sharp, biting, teasing, testing, like he wanted to see just how far Colin would let this go.
And Colin let it go too far.
He shouldn't have.
But Noah tasted like trouble and heat and something Colin had no business wanting this much.
That evening, the tension in the common area had been palpable. It happened when the dorm’s corridors had emptied into the dim glow of a quiet hallway. The late evening light filtered through narrow windows, casting long trembling shadows on the floor. Colin was heading to the library for a late night study session when he saw Noah standing there by the doorway, leaning casually against the wall. Noah’s eyes, always so calculating and amused, now held an intensity that Colin couldn’t ignore. For a moment, the air seemed to crackle with unspoken challenge.
Noah had broken the silence first. “You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?” His tone was low and teasing, edged with something that sounded almost vulnerable.
Colin’s heart had pounded. He was aware that every encounter with Noah was a battle of wits and wills - a game he usually played cautiously. But tonight, something in Noah’s posture, that fleeting softness in his eyes, pulled him in. “I… maybe,” Colin replied, voice quiet, betraying a mixture of defiance and something deeper he wasn’t ready to name.
Noah had pushed off the wall and stepped closer, reducing the distance until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder. “You know, I don’t mind if you stop running for a while,” he said, his words careful yet charged. His hand brushed against Colin’s arm, his fingers trailing in a pattern that was both teasing and intimate. The contact sent a jolt up Colin’s spine - a signal that Noah was no longer merely toying with him, but daring him to cross the line.
“You think you can hold back forever, huh?” Noah murmured, stepping closer so that the distance between them nearly vanished.
Colin’s breath hitched. “Maybe not,” he replied softly, trying to steady the tremor in his voice.
For a long, suspended moment, they simply stood there in silence. The air between them thick with unspoken tension - a promise of what might happen if either one finally gave in to the inevitable. Noah’s eyes danced with a familiar, dangerous spark, and Colin felt every fiber of his tense in response. His mind raced with all the warnings Ava had given him about getting too involved with Noah, about how dangerous their connection could be. But at that moment, none of that mattered. All he felt was Noah’s innate magnetism pulling him into his orbit.
Noah was laughing into the kiss, a low, breathless thing, like he knew just how royally Colin was screwing himself over, and loved every second of it.
“You gonna stop?” Noah murmured against his lips, taunting.
Colin’s hands clenched against his hips. He should. He really should.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he kissed Noah harder.
Colin’s hands roamed Noah’s back, feeling the taut muscles beneath his shirt, the warmth that belied the cool detachment Noah usually displayed.
And Noah let him.
Noah’s response was immediate and fierce. He wrapped an arm around Colin’s neck, pulling him in, and deepened the kiss. Noah’s hands tangled in Colin’s hair, pulling him even closer, as if to merge their separate worlds into one raw, chaotic instant. It was reckless, and messy and desperate, hands sliding, mouths meeting, breath coming too fast. Noah was hot beneath his hands, sharp angles and raw want, pressing back like he was trying to take control, trying to push Colin just that one step further.
Every nerve in Colin’s body lit up as Noah's kiss shifted from playful to urgent. He tasted a strange mixture of adrenaline and something tender he’d long tried to ignore. It wasn’t a calculated move for Noah - it was raw, unfiltered, and utterly real. There was an intensity there: a desperate need to be understood. Colin’s last resolve shattered as he looked into Noah's eyes - those damn expressive eyes that seemed to hold both danger and a plea for genuine connection.
Noah wasn’t supposed to want this.
But he did.
And Colin wasn’t supposed to give in.
But he did.
It was inevitable, really.
They had been heading straight for this disaster the moment they met.
Colin knew he had to stop.
He had to.
But Noah was warm and reckless against him, fingers twisting in his shirt, pushing forward, presing deeper. Every time Colin thought he could pull back, Noah dragged him in again - like a dare, like a challenge, like he wanted to see how far Colin would let him take this.
Noah wasn’t gentle.
Of course, he wasn’t.
Noah’s hand slid from Colin’s chest to cradle his jaw, while Colin’s grip on Noah tightened as if he needed to anchor himself in this turbulent connection. For a moment, the world outside shrank to the taste of their kiss. Noah’s lips moved against Colin’s with a hunger that was both reckless and tender, he kissed like it was a game he was playing, like he was testing how far he could go before Colin snapped.
Colin was already snapping.
His grip tightened around Noah's hips, pinning him in place, swallowing the small, breathless sound that escaped Noah’s lips before he could smother it.
Noah stilled for half a second - stunned, maybe, surprised.
And then he pushed back.
Colin’s back hit the opposite wall with a thud, Noah crowding into his space, a smirk curling at the edges of his lips - triumphant, teasing, dangerous.
“You sure you wanna do this?” Noah asked, voice low, almost mocking. Testing.
Colin’s chest was heaving, his pulse racing, his hands still gripping Noah like he didn’t want to let go.
Because he didn’t.
And Noah knew it.
Colin swallowed hard. “No.”
Noah arched a brow.
Colin kissed him again. Colin’s tongue slipped into Noah’s mouth as if testing boundaries, while Noah responded with a fervor that both thrilled and frightened him. Each touch, each press, was a silent admission that despite all his games, Noah was more vulnerable than he’d ever let on.
“Stop,” Noah managed between heated gasps, his tone conflicted - part command, part plea - but even as he said it, his body betrayed him, pressing deeper into the kiss.
Noah laughed into it - because of course he did. Because he knew exactly what this meant, what it would cost them both, and still, he wasn’t stopping either. For a fleeting second, his eyes flickered with an emotion that was almost regretful. But as quickly as it came, the mask returned. Noah’s hands roamed, and his kiss turned from desperate to aggressive, a wild mix of passion and the self-destruction he was all too familiar with.
His hands dragged over Colin’s arms, curling into his collar, pushing, teasing, pulling. Colin felt that dangerous edge as well - a thrill of intimacy intertwined with the fear of what it might unleash. Still, he found himself surrendering to the moment, letting Noah pull him into a dance of chaos and connection, Noah’s breath warm against his mouth, his body dangerously close, fitting against Colin’s like he belonged there.
And Colin let himself believe it for just a second.
His head was spinning, the weight of Noah pressed against him dizzying, intoxicating. Every time Noah moved, it was like a spark set off between them, like something inside Noah was coming undone.
Noah kissed like he fought - sharp, unrelenting, unapologetic.
Colin let him take control for a moment, let Noah pull and press and push until he was the one backed against the wall again, until Noah’s hands were gripping his jaw, his breath ragged, his pupils blown wide with something Colin couldn’t quite name.
But then - suddenly, too suddenly - Noah stopped.
Just like that.
His breath was still coming fast, his fingers still curled tight in Colin’s shirt, but his expression shifted.
The teasing, the recklessness, the triumph - it all flickered.
For the briefest moment, Noah looked almost… surprised.
And that scared Colin more than anything.
Because Noah didn’t get surprised.
Noah was the one who was always so controlled.
But right then, standing there, his chest rising and falling fast, he looked like he hadn’t expected to want this as much as he did.
Colin felt the shift too.
And then it hit him.
This wasn’t just a mistake.
This was a mistake that would ruin them both.
Noah realized it at the exact same time.
His grip loosened, his smirk faltered, and suddenly, suddenly, he looked-
Scared.
Just for a second.
Just long enough for Colin to catch it.
And then - just as quickly - Noah shoved it down.
He stepped back, shaking his head, scoffing, masking, deflecting, twisting his expression into something unreadable.
“Well,” Noah muttered, too casual, too indifferent. “That was fun.”
Colin’s chest was still heaving. His pulse still thrummed in his veins.
He knew Noah was pretending.
But he let him do it anyway.
Because if he didn’t-
God help them both.