🖤
It didn't take long, it never does.
By midday, everyone knew not officially, not announced but confirmed because in a place like this people don't need statements.
They read everything in the details the way he looked at her, the way she didn't avoid him, the way neither of them pretended anymore and that was enough.
"You didn't even try to hide it." Adrian stood by the doorway, arms crossed, watching Caleb.
Caleb didn't look up from his desk. "I wasn't planning to."
A pause. Adrian let out a quiet chuckle. "That's new."
Silence because it was before everything would've been controlled, managed, hidden but now there was no point.
"And?" Caleb asked.
Adrian raised a brow. "And what?"
"The reaction."
Adrian smirked slightly. "Half impressed. Half shocked." A pause. "And a little scared."
That made Caleb look up. "…Scared?"
Adrian shrugged. "You're different." A pause. "They don't know what that means yet."
Silence because neither did he not fully.
Across the office, Cassy felt it too. The shift, the awareness, the quiet attention every time she moved. It wasn't hostile, it wasn't judgmental but it was… there, constant.
"You're brave." A voice beside her. She turned. Lena. A colleague from another department.
Cassy blinked slightly. "…Brave?"
Lena smiled faintly. "Most people wouldn't do that." A pause. "Not here."
Cassy considered that then said quietly, "I'm not doing it for them."
Lena nodded slowly. "Yeah." A small smile. "I can see that."
Later, Cassy stepped into Caleb's office again not hesitating, not checking who was watching just… walking in and that alone said everything.
Caleb looked up and this time there was no pause, no distance just recognition. "…Hey."
Cassy smiled slightly. "Hey."
Silence but this one it wasn't about what changed, jt was about what stayed. "They know," she said softly.
Caleb nodded. "I figured." A pause. "Does it bother you?"
Cassy thought about it then shook her head. "No." A small pause. "It just feels… different."
Caleb leaned back slightly. "Different how?"
Cassy stepped closer. "Like we don't get to just figure this out quietly anymore."
That was true because now everything had weight, visibility, expectation.
Caleb nodded slowly. "That doesn't change what we're doing."
Cassy met his gaze. "No." A pause. "But it makes it harder."
Silence because that, that was the reality. This wasn't just two people figuring things out anymore. It was two people doing that while everyone watched.
"Then we deal with that too," Caleb said. Simple, firm not dismissing it just accepting it.
Cassy studied him. "…You make that sound easy."
A faint pause. "It's not," he admitted. Another pause. "But neither is walking away."
Silence. That landed because she knew that too.
Cassy exhaled softly. "…Okay." A small pause. "Then we deal with it."
Caleb nodded. "Together." And that word it held now more than before because it wasn't just about feelings anymore, it was about facing everything that came with them.
Outside, the whispers continued. The looks didn't stop, the curiosity grew but inside that office, none of it mattered as much because what they had wasn't quiet anymore, wasn't hidden, wasn't easy but it was real.
And real things they don't stay untouched when the world starts watching, they get tested.
And now that test had begun.