Chapter 37 FINALS WEEK
Alex
Finals week hit like a truck.
Alex had three papers due, two exams, and a group presentation he’d barely prepared for. His brain felt like mush. His eyes burned from staring at textbooks. Coffee had stopped working two days ago.
And Elias was graduating in eleven days.
Eleven days until the ceremony. Until Elias wasn’t a TA anymore. Until they’d have to figure out what came next.
But first, Alex had to survive finals.
“You look like death,” Des said, not looking up from his own laptop.
“Thanks.”
“When’s the last time you slept?”
Alex tried to remember. “Tuesday?”
“It’s Friday.”
“Oh.”
Des closed his laptop. “Okay. That’s it. You’re taking a break.”
“I can’t. I have my econ exam in six hours.”
“And you’ll fail it if you don’t sleep. Come on. Nap. Two hours. I’ll wake you up.”
Alex wanted to argue. But his body was already shutting down. He fell onto his bed fully clothed and was asleep in seconds.
He woke up to his phone buzzing. Elias.
Elias: How’s studying going?
Alex: Just woke up from a nap. Exam in 3 hours.
Elias: Want company? I can bring coffee.
Alex: You have your own finals
Elias: Done. Turned in my last paper this morning.
Alex: Show off
Elias: Want me to come over or not?
Alex: Yes please
Twenty minutes later, Elias showed up with coffee and bagels. He looked tired but lighter. Like a weight had lifted.
“You’re done with everything?” Alex asked.
“Everything. Thesis submitted. Papers graded. I’m officially finished with my master’s.”
“How does it feel?”
“Weird. Good weird. Scary weird.” Elias handed him coffee. “Eat something. You need fuel.”
They sat on Alex’s bed while Alex forced down half a bagel and tried to review his econ notes. Elias quizzed him on concepts. Corrected him when he got things wrong. Made studying almost bearable.
“You’re going to do great,” Elias said.
“I’m going to pass. Maybe. If I’m lucky.”
“That’s the spirit.”
The exam was brutal. Three hours of supply and demand curves and equations Alex could barely remember. He left the classroom feeling like his brain had been wrung out.
Elias was waiting outside.
“How was it?” he asked.
“Terrible. I definitely failed.”
“You didn’t fail.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re smarter than you think you are.”
Alex wanted to believe that. But exhaustion made everything feel worse.
They went back to Elias’s apartment. Alex collapsed on the couch. Elias brought him water and a sandwich.
“Two more exams,” Alex said. “Then I’m done.”
“When?”
“Monday and Wednesday. Then summer.”
“Then us,” Elias said quietly.
“Yeah. Then us.”
The words hung between them. Heavy with possibility and fear.
Elias’s lease ended June first. The same day his new job started. He was already looking for apartments. Had asked Alex, carefully, if he wanted to look together.
Alex hadn’t answered yet. Moving in together after four months felt fast. But also inevitable.
“Have you thought about it?” Elias asked. “The apartment thing?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That it’s too soon. That we’ll move in together and realize we drive each other crazy. That this whole thing will fall apart because we rushed.”
Elias sat next to him. Took his hand. “We don’t have to decide now. You have finals. I have graduated. We can figure it out after.”
“What if I want to but I’m too scared to say yes?”
“Then we go slow. Maybe I can get my own place and you can stay in the dorms next year. Maybe we spend a few nights a week together and see how it goes.”
“Would that be okay? If I said not yet?”
“Of course. I don’t want you doing anything you’re not ready for.”
Alex’s chest felt tight. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now rest. You have two more exams to survive.”
Alex slept for twelve hours straight. Woke up Monday morning feeling almost human. His literature exam was at 2 PM. He spent the morning reviewing notes and trying not to panic.
This one mattered. Lit was his major. He needed at least a B to keep his GPA up.
Des wished him luck. Sana sent encouragement texts. Elias drove him to campus and kissed him before he went in.
“You’ve got this,” Elias said.
The exam was essay-based. Three questions about contemporary American literature. Alex’s brain actually worked this time. Words flowed. Arguments formed. He wrote until his hand cramped.
He left feeling cautiously optimistic.
Wednesday’s exam was easier. Introduction to Psychology. Multiple choice. Alex finished early and spent the extra time second-guessing his answers.
But then it was done. Finals were over. The spring semester was complete.
He walked out of the exam hall into bright sunshine. The campus was emptying. Students are heading home for the summer. Packing cars. Saying goodbyes.
His phone buzzed.
Elias: Done?
Alex: Done. I’m free.
Elias: Come over. Let’s celebrate.
Alex walked across campus. The quad was mostly empty now. The rose arch from Valentine’s Day was gone. Just grass and sidewalks and the ghosts of February.
Four months. That’s all it had been since he sent that first letter.
Four months and everything had changed.
Elias answered the door grinning. Pulled him inside. Kissed him hard.
“You survived,” Elias said.
“Barely.”
“Still counts. I’m proud of you.”
“I haven’t even gotten my grades yet.”
“Don’t care. You made it through. That’s what matters.”
They ordered Chinese food and ate it on the couch. Elias told him about graduation plans. The ceremony was on Saturday. His parents were coming. His sister.
“Do you want to meet them?” Elias asked carefully.
Alex’s stomach flipped. “Your family?”
“Yeah. I mean, if you’re ready. No pressure. But they know about you. My sister’s been dying to meet you.”
“What did you tell them about me?”
“That you’re amazing. That I love you. That you’re the reason I stayed.”
“Oh.”
“Too much?”
“No. Just scary. What if they don’t like me?”
“They will. But if you’re not ready, that’s okay too.”
Alex thought about it. Meeting Elias’s family felt huge. Official. Like making a statement about what they were.
But they were together. Really together. Maybe it was time to stop being scared.
“Okay,” Alex said. “I’ll meet them.”
Elias’s smile could have lit up the whole apartment. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. But if they hate me, I’m blaming you.”
“Deal.”
That night they celebrated properly. Not just Elias’s job or Alex’s finished finals. But everything. The whole impossible journey from anonymous letters to this moment.
After, lying in bed with Alex’s head on his chest, Elias said, “I’m glad you sent that first letter.”
“Me too.”
“Even with all the complications? All the stress?”
“Especially with all of that. It means it mattered. It means we fought for this.”
“We did fight for it.”
“And we won.”
“Did we?”
“We’re here, aren’t we? Together. That’s winning.”
Alex pressed closer. “I’ve been thinking about the apartment thing.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not ready to move in yet. But maybe next semester. If things are still good.”
“Things will be good.”
“You sound very sure.”
“I am sure. I love you. That’s not going to change.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Alex fell asleep to the sound of Elias’s heartbeat. Steady and sure and real.
Tomorrow would bring graduation week. Meeting Elias’s family. Figuring out summer plans.
But tonight was perfect.
And for the first time in months, Alex wasn’t scared of what came next.
He was ready for it.