The silence that followed Leo's words was even more awkward than before. Rylan opened his mouth to speak but no words seemed to come out in his defense.

With a soft sigh that was filled with disappointment and a little bit of sadness that he tried his best to hide, Leo again moved to open the car door.

He had no idea about what he was really expecting with their meeting but it was definitely not the two of them being awkward and staying silent without speaking anything.

"Leo..."

Rylan once again stopped his mate from climbing out of the car and leaving him alone. It had taken a lot of courage for him to face Leo and talk to him about their situation, he could not let the chance go waste just like that.

"I... I did not... reject you that day..." He started speaking but then stopped when he felt Leo stiffening beside him. His eyes moved to look at the handsome face of his mate but Leo was looking out of the window, hiding his face and expressions from him.

With a deep breath, Rylan decided to continue, "Ever since I joined the High School, the two of us were unable to become friends because of our family backgrounds but we were never enemies. We used to tease each other, challenge each other and even... support each other on some rare occasions."

He stopped for a second to tighten his hold on Leo's hand before speaking, "You always used to find reasons to boss me around since you were my senior and also an Alessandro... I... I remember how we grew closer but kept acting like we still despised each other in front of others. That day... when you... I - I didn't reject you! At least that was not my intention..."

-

[Flashback - ]

"You are finally here!" Rylan whispered as he pulled Leo behind the large black screen that was hiding them from the prying eyes of the captain of the Football team.

The two of them had successfully irritated the young blonde to such a length that he was dying for revenge. At the moment, he barely cared that his opponents were the Young Masters of the two very powerful families. He just wanted to vent out his anger and frustration.

Leo hurriedly nodded his head while he tried to grasp some much-needed oxygen. As soon as he found out that Rylan was trapped inside the auditorium with Max, the Football team captain, he immediately ran to save his secret friend.

The two of them watched as Max gave a final look around the back room before he finally gave up and left the hall, making the boys let out deep sighs as they relaxed against the wall where they had been hiding behind the screen.

"It's weird. I'm feeling like he gave up too easily." Leo muttered as he looked at his friend with raised eyebrows.

Rylan smirked in reply before he opened his palm and showed a concealment spell that was slowly fading away.

Leo shook his head as he stared at the silver-haired boy with blue-grey eyes in front of him. His natural silver hair and beautiful eyes were the first things that had caught Leo's attention when they first met.

He noticed that his heart was still beating rapidly and his breathing wasn't calming down at all. But this time, the reason behind his adrenaline rush was not running but the young handsome boy in front of him.

He was so lost in gazing into Rylan's beautiful eyes that he did not even realize that one of his hands had moved to rest on Rylan's left thigh. The way Second Young Master Sullivan was staring back at him made Leo bit his lower lip as he moved his face closer to him.

Leo felt his breathing escalating as he realized what he was about to do, what he wanted to do. Their faces were so close that he could feel Rylan's warm breath fanning his face.

He moved to close the mere centimeters of distance that was left between their faces but just when his lips were about to touch Rylan's soft and pink lips, the boy suddenly moved his face away, stopping Leo in his tracks.

The push that followed next not only made Leo lose his balance as he fell on the hard cold floor but it also pulled him out of the sweet dream that he had been dreaming.

Guilt, embarrassment, sadness, and humiliation took over him as he found Rylan staring back at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

He wanted to speak, to say something but had no idea what he was supposed to say. Words refused to come out of his mouth and the next thing he knew, Rylan was running out of the hall, leaving him behind in the dark and cold auditorium.

Everything changed after that incident. The two of them returned to ignoring each other as neither of them was able to face the other person. They kept avoiding each other as they were not sure of what else they were supposed to do.

And the worst part was that only one month later, Leo completed his senior year and left the high school, creating even more distance between the two of them.

-

Present -

"That day I moved away because I was surprised and... probably not prepared, not because I was horrified or disgusted. It's not like I never felt attracted to you."

There it was, he finally confessed that he too had feelings for Leo back then, and suddenly, Rylan felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulder.

Leo finally turned to face Rylan as he could not believe his ears. But looking into his blue-grey eyes, there was no doubt that he was speaking the truth.

"Are you... you are not saying that you..." It appeared like he was unable to find the right words to ask what he wanted to know.

"That's right, Leo. Back then, you were not the only one who fell for someone who was your opponent, I was also not safe from your charms."