Adam slept poorly, suffering from heartache of his own doing, and dreamed of Alec in restless, discordant dreams. He was more quiet and withdrawn the next day, avoiding flirtation and ignoring any hints of flirtation from Alec.

Ignoring his crush did nothing to ease it, and Adam suffered constantly with yearning, but he wasn’t ready to make a move on Alec when they’d only know each other for few days, and Alec had only just been almost-dating someone else.

A few days passed like that, as Adam settled in and figured out a good balance between his school and his work for the institute. He was looking for Alec to start another evening working on the ley line, but when he found him it was behind a piano, playing something beautiful. Surprised, Adam almost walked back out, feeling the tightness in his chest of attraction to Alec, but he didn’t want to risk being overtly rude. Approaching hesitantly, Adam watched him as he played, not wanting to interrupt this.