Chapter 64 : Get a Life Hayden
HAYDEN’S POV
If someone told me yesterday that Stephen and I would spend twelve straight hours studying together without killing each other, I would’ve laughed in their face.
Yet here we are.
Day one of preparation starts with him ripping apart my entire understanding of economics.
“Wrong,” Stephen says flatly.
I glare at the paper between us. “You didn’t even look at it.”
“I don’t need to.” He taps the notebook with his pen. “Your formula is already incorrect.”
I stare at him. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And you’re skipping steps…..again.”
I groan loudly and drop my head back against the couch. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Stephen doesn’t even bother pretending. “A little.” Of course he is.
The living room floor is covered in books now. My books, his books, printed lecture notes, and empty coffee cups. We’ve basically turned the dorm into a war zone of economics.
Stephen sits across from me at the table, perfectly composed as usual. His sleeves are rolled up and his hair is slightly messy from running his hands through it earlier, but he still somehow looks put together.
Meanwhile, I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.
“You’re not even trying,” he says.
“I’ve been trying for six hours!”
“You’ve been complaining for six hours.”
I throw a pen at him and he catches it without even looking up.
Show-off.
“Focus,” he says calmly. “If you don’t understand derivatives, the entire model collapses.”
“I hate derivatives.”
“No, you hate putting in effort.”
I sit up straighter. “Okay, that one was uncalled for.”
Stephen glances up at me and for a moment his expression softens just slightly. “Then prove me wrong.”
I stare at the problem again. Fine.
If there’s one thing about Stephen, it’s that he never backs down and something about the way he is watching me right now makes my stubborn streak flare to life.
I grab the pen again. “Watch,” I mutter.
I start working through the equation slowly this time, actually writing out each step as he told me to.
Five minutes pass and Stephen stays quiet, then..ten minutes.
I scribble the final number and shove the paper toward him. “There.”
He studies it carefully and my heart pounds harder than it should.
Finally, he nods once. “Correct.”
I blink. “Wait… seriously?”
“Yes.” Something weird happens in my chest. Stephen slides the paper back toward me. “You’re not stupid, Hayden. You are just dumb, sometimes.”
I lean back in the chair, staring at him. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
But I can see the corner of his mouth twitch.
The hours pass faster after that, we argue less, well… slightly less.
Stephen explains things in that annoyingly patient way of his, and for the first time, I realize he’s actually a really good teacher. Which is… irritating.
“You should’ve done this weeks ago,” he says while sketching another graph.
“I had things going on.”
“You mean parties and fucking Lilian?” he glared at me.
“I mean having a life.”
He snorts softly and I grin.
“You smiled,” I said immediately.
“I did not.”
“You definitely did.” I shrugged.
“Focus.” But something about the atmosphere has changed.
Yesterday we were practically ready to punch each other. Now we’re… talking, actually talking.
Around midnight we’re both exhausted.
The dorm is quiet except for the sound of pages turning and the occasional scratch of Stephen’s pen.
I stretch my arms over my head. “My brain is melting.”
“That’s called learning.”
“I liked life better before learning.”
Stephen chuckles under his breath. I stare at him. “You laugh more than people think,” I say.
He doesn’t look up from the book. “You talk more than people should.”
Fair.
I lean forward across the table. “You know something?”
“What?”
“You’re not as unbearable as I thought.”
That finally makes him look up. “And you’re not as hopeless as I assumed.”
“Wow,” I say. “Are we bonding?”
“Don’t push it.” But he’s smiling again. It’s weird.
Stephen and I have lived in the same house our whole lives, but this feels like the first time we’re actually seeing each other.
Not rivals and competitors. Just… brothers, or something like that.
The night before the exam arrives faster than expected. We’ve spent two straight days studying.
It was two days of equations, graphs, and caffeine. My brain feels like it might explode.
Stephen sits beside me on the couch reviewing one final practice test. I finish the last question and drop the pencil.
“That’s it,” I say. “I’m done.”
He checks the answers as silence fills the room.
Then he exhales slowly. “You’ll pass.”
I stare at him. “You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
The relief that floods my chest is almost overwhelming.
I laugh quietly and lean back against the couch. “Holy shit.”
Stephen closes the notebook. “You actually worked for it.”
“I know,” I say. “Terrifying experience.”
He shakes his head, amused. For a moment neither of us moves. The room is dim now, lit only by the small lamp beside the couch.
I turn toward him and he is closer than I realized.He is close enough that I can see the faint tiredness in his eyes and notice how warm his shoulder feels against mine.
Something strange settles in the air. My stomach tightens while Stephen looks at me.
The moment stretches longer than it should. My pulse starts racing.
Why is my heart beating like this? His gaze drops briefly to my mouth.
And suddenly I realize how close we are.
The tension in the room shifts into something unfamiliar and dangerous.
Stephen leans forward slightly. I don’t move. My breath stops. What the hell is happening?
For a split second, it feels like the world goes completely silent and then….I stand up abruptly.
The movement breaks the moment instantly.
Stephen blinks, clearly startled. “I…uh…” I run a hand through my hair, my thoughts scrambling. “I need air.”
His brows knit together. “Hayden….”
“I’ll be back.”
Before he can say anything else, I grab my jacket and head for the door. My heart is pounding violently in my chest.
The hallway air hits my face as I step outside the dorm.
I stop walking halfway down the corridor. What the hell was that? Stephen almost—No.
My chest tightens as my mind replays the moment over and over again.
The way he looked at me and the way everything suddenly felt charged.
It was confusing and terrifying.
I press my hands against the back of my neck, breathing out slowly.
“Get it together,” I mutter to myself.
Tomorrow is my exam. That’s what matters. Not… whatever that was.
Still… As I stand there in the quiet hallway, one thought keeps circling in my head.
If I hadn’t stood up—Would he have actually kissed me?