Elliot sat on the couch with the ring in his palm, tracing the engraving with his thumb.

E.H.

His initials were carved inside Roman's ring.

Elliot had seen Roman wear it hundreds of times and never thought to ask about it. Now he could not make himself put it down.

He arrived at the studio early the next morning. Roman's car was already outside.

Elliot found him alone in the green room, reading the day's script. He closed the door and held up the ring.

"What is this?"

Roman set the script aside. "I told you. It's yours."

"You said it was meant for me. That explains nothing."

Roman stood. "Elliot—"

"Tell me the whole thing for once. My initials are inside a ring you've worn for eight years, and you slipped it into my pocket without saying anything."

Roman looked toward the door.

"Say something."

"I don't know how."

Elliot gave a humorless laugh and turned away.

Roman caught his wrist before he reached the door.

Elliot pulled free and stepped into the empty hallway. "Don't touch me."

"You aren't listening."

"You aren't talking."

Roman followed him out. "You want the truth?"

"Yes."

"I bought that ring before graduation."

Elliot stopped.

"I planned to give it to you that night." Roman's voice had grown rough. "I waited outside your apartment for hours."

Elliot stared at him. "Why didn't you call?"

"I did. You blocked my number."

The answer silenced him.

"You deleted me from everything and disappeared," Roman continued. "I assumed you had made your choice."

"I didn't know you were waiting."

"You didn't ask."

Roman stepped closer, and Elliot retreated until his shoulders touched the wall.

"What were you going to tell me?" Elliot asked.

Roman's hands trembled at his sides.

"Everything."

"That still tells me nothing."

"I had wanted you since our first year." Roman forced the words out slowly. "I kept trying to get close to you. Every attempt made you hate me more."

Elliot remembered the coffee left outside his bedroom during exams, the jacket over his shoulders in the library and Roman appearing at every audition without explaining why.

"You made it easy to hate you," Elliot said. "You walked around like nothing could touch you."

"I was terrified of you."

Elliot's breath caught.

Roman's gaze remained fixed on him. "I didn't know what to do with how much I wanted you. Silence felt safer."

"It wasn't."

"I know."

Roman raised his hands and placed them carefully against Elliot's face.

"Can I?"

Elliot gave no verbal answer.

He grabbed Roman's shirt and pulled him forward.

Their mouths met hard enough to send Roman back against the opposite wall. Elliot followed, one hand twisted in Roman's shirt and the other in his hair.

Roman held Elliot's waist and waited.

Elliot kissed him again.

Years of resentment collapsed into heat, pressure and shared breath. Elliot bit Roman's lower lip, and Roman's grip tightened.

Footsteps approached.

They separated as a production assistant rounded the corner carrying a clipboard. Her gaze moved from Roman's disordered hair to Elliot's untucked shirt.

"Wardrobe needs Elliot," she said.

"I'm coming."

She left quickly.

Elliot pressed a hand over his face. "She saw us."

"She saw us standing in a hallway."

"My hands were under your shirt."

Roman tried to straighten his collar. His fingers were shaking.

Elliot noticed. "Why are you shaking?"

Roman looked at him. "You kissed me without a script."

The words settled heavily between them.

Roman stepped forward and tucked Elliot's shirt back into his trousers. His touch had lost the urgency of the kiss.

"Go to wardrobe," he said.

Elliot caught his hand before he could withdraw it.

Roman waited.

Elliot released him.

"I'll see you on set," Roman said.

He walked away, leaving Elliot alone with burning lips and Roman's ring closed inside his fist.

The production assistant handed Elliot a clean shirt without mentioning the hallway.

He changed in front of the mirror. His lips were swollen, and a faint mark had appeared near his collar.

He buttoned the replacement shirt high enough to hide it.

Roman was already on set when Elliot arrived. He stood beside Priya, reviewing the blocking for their next scene.

He did not look over.

Elliot took his mark.

"Action," Priya called.

Roman crossed the set as Julian, caught Noah by the waist and delivered his line. When he kissed Elliot, his movements followed their choreography exactly.

Elliot kissed him back with enough force to change the rhythm.

Roman's fingers pressed into his side.

"Cut," Priya called. "Perfect."

Roman released him.

Elliot left the set and locked himself inside the nearest bathroom. He gripped the sink and studied his reflection.

The mark on his neck showed above his collar.

He touched it and remembered Roman's question.

What were you going to tell me?

The answer had been in Roman's shaking hands and in the ring Elliot still carried.

He wanted Roman again.

That realization frightened him less than it should have.

Later that afternoon, Elliot heard the production assistant speaking to Dana near the wardrobe trailer.

"I saw Roman and Elliot in the hallway this morning."

Dana's expression hardened. "Did anyone else see them?"

"I don't think so."

"Keep it that way."

The assistant hesitated.

Dana lowered her voice. "You saw two actors rehearsing. That's all."

The assistant nodded and walked away.

Elliot released the breath trapped in his chest.

Roman stood at the far end of the corridor, watching him.

Neither of them moved.

A security camera blinked above the green-room door.

Elliot followed Roman's gaze toward it.

A small red light remained on.