THE LINE WE WEREN'T MEANT TO CROSS

*Chapter 13: Outside the Building*

The night air hit different once we stepped outside.

No fluorescent lights. No department silence. Just the low hum of Ibadan traffic from the main road and the faint smell of rain that never came.

Elias walked beside me, hands in his pockets, not saying anything. Like he was giving me space to back out if I wanted to.

I didn’t.

“You’re quiet,” he said finally, as we reached the parking lot.

“So are you,” I replied.

He laughed, low and a little relieved. “I don’t know what to call you now.”

“Lena works,” I said. “It always did.”

We stopped by my bike. I wasn’t in a hurry to unlock it.

He looked at me like he was still waiting for me to tell him to stop.

“I’ve thought about this moment a lot,” he said. “Mostly in the worst way. Getting fired. Ruining your degree. Losing you.”

“You didn’t lose me,” I said. “You just stopped lying to both of us.”

That got him. He stepped closer, but didn’t touch me. Not yet.

“Lena,” he said, and my name sounded different coming from him now. No title. No distance.

“Yeah?”

“If we do this, we do it right. No hiding. No office doors. No excuses.”

I nodded.

“Then let’s do it right.”

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the first time he’d touched me without a reason. It was careful. Like he was still afraid I’d pull away.

I didn’t.

“Walk me to the gate?” I asked.

He smiled.

“Only if you let me walk you home next time.”

We left the building behind us, and for the first time, there wasn’t a door between us at all.