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practice had ended hours ago, but the ache in your legs still pulsed with every step as you stumbled back into the dorm. the air was thick with leftover takeout and faint perfume, that strange mixture of lived-in exhaustion. somewhere down the hall, laughter flared for a moment before disappearing into the slam of a door. by the time your shoes were off, the whole place felt like it had exhaled, letting the silence stretch long and heavy.
you should’ve gone to bed, but her voice caught you, tugging you sideways into karina’s room instead. you were sprawled out across her blanket like you owned the space, hair messy, hoodie slipping off one shoulder, bruises dotting your knees from practice. you were complaining, words tumbling fast, half a rant and half a performance.
“who even thought this choreography was a good idea? my knees are seconds away from breaking.”
karina leaned against the headboard, phone balanced in her lap, pretending to scroll. but she wasn’t reading anything. she was watching you, eyes darting between the movement of your mouth and the way your hands gestured wildly.
“you’ll live,” she teased, lips tugging up.
you shot her a look, dramatic, and flopped back onto the mattress. “you sound like a villain.”
her laugh slipped out easy, but it was only half real. you didn’t see how her gaze lingered a beat too long, tracing the slope of your nose, the way your smile tilted lopsided when you tried not to laugh at yourself.
time blurred. the dorm quieted, doors shutting, footsteps fading. your rant softened, words dragging. the rise and fall of your voice slowed until mid-sentence, your eyelids dipped. one moment you were half-propped on your elbow, the next your head tipped sideways, landing against karina’s arm like gravity had made the choice for you. karina stilled. her chest tightened, her breath caught.
you were warm against her, your cheek brushing her shoulder, your hair tickling the side of her neck. she could smell your shampoo - faintly sweet, something familiar - and she hated how much comfort it gave her. hated, because it wasn’t hers to want. she should’ve nudged you awake, told you to go to your own bed. that’s what a leader should do. that’s what a friend should do. but her body wouldn’t move.
instead, she stared.
at the soft curve of your jaw, the faint shadow of a bruise above your collarbone from rehearsal, the way your lips parted slightly as your breathing evened out. your lashes brushed against your cheek, impossibly long. she let her gaze linger shamelessly because, for once, you couldn’t catch her.
the silence pressed in. her hand shifted under the blanket, fingers twitching toward yours, stopping just shy of touching. the space between them burned.
“you don’t even know, do you?” the words slipped out of her mouth like a secret too tired to stay hidden. her voice was barely louder than her own breathing.
she exhaled slowly, the sound shaky. “you make me calm, even when you’re driving me insane. you walk into a room and it feels like everything’s okay.” her throat tightened, but she didn’t stop. “and i can’t… i can’t tell you that. not when we’re like this. not when the whole world is watching.”
she bit down on her lip, hard, grounding herself in the sting.
you shifted in your sleep, body pressing closer against her, a small sound catching in your throat. karina’s heart slammed. for a terrifying second, she thought you’d heard.
but your breathing evened again. still asleep.
her fingers hovered above yours, so close she could feel the ghost of your warmth. if she curled them just a little, she could thread them through, pretend you’d reached back.
she didn’t. she couldn’t.
instead, she let her forehead fall the barest inch until it brushed yours. one fragile contact, one breath of closeness. it was nothing. it was everything.
and then she pulled away, staring at the ceiling until her eyes stung, the weight of unsaid words pressing into her ribs.
she stayed awake long after the streetlights outside blinked into grey dawn.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
the alarm on your phone cut through the quiet, shrill and merciless. you groaned, shifting before you even realized where you were, half-burying your face against her shoulder.
karina forced a laugh, casual, steady. “guess my bed kidnapped you.”
you mumbled something incoherent, stretching lazily, hoodie slipping further down your arm. your hair was a mess, your eyes puffy with sleep, and you were still the most unfair thing she’d ever seen.
“your bed’s better than mine,” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes.
“i’ll start charging you rent." she shot back, lips quirking.
you grinned, already unlocking your phone, scrolling through notifications as if nothing had happened. as if the night before hadn’t cracked her wide open.
karina sat there, watching the space you’d left on the blanket warm with your shape, memorising how the sunlight caught in the strands of your hair.
her secret tightened in her chest, unspoken like always, tucked back where it belonged - between silence and dawn.