Coming downstairs, both Noah and Alison found themselves awkwardly avoiding each other’s gaze. The intimacy they had shared on the rooftop lingered between them, an unspoken tension that neither knew quite how to address. The silence stretched, punctuated only by the occasional drip of water from their soaked clothes onto the floor.
Noah finally broke the silence with a sneeze, a loud and unexpected sound that echoed through the room like a foghorn. It was an absurdly exaggerated "A-CHOO!" that sent him lurching forward and nearly knocked over a lamp on the nearby table.
Alison stared at him for a moment, wide-eyed, before bursting into laughter. The sound was contagious, and soon Noah found himself laughing as well, the tension evaporating in an instant.
"Bless you!" Alison said betwee
