The cafeteria was crowded, but Noah always chose the table at the back. Not for privacy, but because from there he could see the exit without drawing attention. It was an old habit, almost automatic.

He had one of the many pending reports open in front of him, though he wasn’t reading it. The coffee had gone cold a long time ago.

“May I?”

The voice pulled him out of his thoughts. It was Nicholas Lawson, holding his cup with both hands, as if he didn’t want to invade the space between the question and the answer.

“Y-yes… of course,” Noah replied, his eyes widening when he realized who it was.

Nicholas sat across from him, leaving one chair of distance. Not too close. Noah noticed the gesture, though he didn’t know why it caught his attention so much.

Several seconds passed in silence.

“Sebastian was harsh today… well, almost always,” Nicholas finally said, without dramatics.

Noah tightened his fingers around the cup.

“It’s normal…”

“It wasn’t, man,” Nicholas interrupted, never taking his eyes off him.

It didn’t sound accusatory, nor condescending. Just a fact placed on the table.

Noah lifted his gaze. For a moment, he thought about lying, softening everything as he had learned to do. But something in Nicholas’s expression —attentive, calm— stopped him.

“He… demands a lot,” he finally said, revealing nothing about his past or his connection to his boss. “He always… has.”

Engineer Nicholas nodded, as if he had already anticipated that answer.

“Mmm… I suppose. And you always respond like that?”

Noah frowned.

“Like what?”

Nicholas hesitated for barely a second.

“Apologizing for things that aren’t mistakes.”

The sentence lingered between them, fragile.

Noah didn’t respond. He looked at the coffee, then the report, and then at nothing.

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Nicholas added, understanding that his question had made him uncomfortable without intending to offend. “I just wanted to say it.”

That ‘you don’t have to’  echoed more than Noah expected.

“Y-yeah… thanks,” he murmured without looking at him.

The engineer smiled faintly and decided to change the subject.

“Are you rewriting the report?”

The man blinked several times when Nicholas changed the topic, grateful for his support.

“Yes. He wants a new version by tomorrow.”

“Do you want help?”

Noah looked at him again and shook his head almost immediately.

“No. I don’t want to… cause you problems. I can do this on my own.”

“It wouldn’t,” Nicholas replied, once again with that firm tone, without pressure.

“Think about it,” he said, standing up from his chair. “I’ll be here a little longer.”

And he left without insisting.

Noah watched him walk away, feeling something strange in his chest: not relief, not fear… maybe something in between. Even so, he understood that for the first time since he started working there, someone had offered him help without expecting anything in return.

***

The hours passed, and Noah ended up staying later than usual. The building was almost empty when he heard footsteps behind him.

He sensed the presence and thought it was Sebastian, but the voice took him by surprise. It was deep, very masculine and… soft.

“Hey! I knew you’d still be here.”

Nicholas left his coat on a chair and approached the desk.

“Nic… Nicholas! You…,” Noah said, eyes wide open because of how close he was. “I know you said that…”

“I didn’t come for the report,” Nicholas replied, looking him in the eyes. “I came because you shouldn’t be alone with this.”

Noah looked at him, surprised and embarrassed.

“I-I can handle it.”

“I know,” the man beside him nodded, and sat in front of the screen, reviewing it in silence.

“But handling it doesn’t mean it isn’t wearing you down.”

Noah didn’t respond. The comment had touched something far too precise.

“May I make a suggestion?” Nicholas continued, leaning back against the chair.

“Yes.”

“Not as a correction, but as… an option.”

Noah nodded, eyes fixed on his colleague, attentive to his guidance.

***

They worked together without talking too much. Nicholas pointed out specific things, but never imposed —he wasn’t like Sebastian. When Noah hesitated, he waited. When he got it right, he made it clear. If he made a mistake, he corrected it without mockery or malicious comments.

However, at one point…

“This is fine,” Nicholas said firmly. “Don’t change it.”

But Noah froze, rereading his explanations.

“Mr. Cross would say that…”

“Sebastian isn’t here,” the engineer interrupted again, without harshness, but the sentence was simple and definitive.

Noah leaned back in his chair, exhausted, rubbing his eyes as he read Nicholas’s suggestion.

“Why are you doing this?” he suddenly asked, without judging him.

His colleague didn’t seem surprised, but his answer was blunt.

“Because I see you.”

Noah let out a brief, bitter laugh. If Nicholas knew the truth, in his mind, he wouldn’t even speak to him —just like everyone else.

“There’s so much I can’t explain, and so much I don’t know how you’ll take once you know about me.”

Nicholas looked at him carefully. For a second, he seemed to debate internally.

“No,” he admitted. “Not completely.”

There was a silence between them that lasted longer than Noah would have liked, but something about Nicholas captivated him, made him feel different compared to his colleagues, and even compared to Sebastian.

“But I understand enough to know that you don’t deserve the way he treats you,” Nicholas whispered, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

The silence that followed was different from others. Not uncomfortable, not at all heavy.

“I wasn’t always like this,” Noah said suddenly. “Before… I was difficult too.”

Nicholas didn’t react, nor did he judge him.

“People change,” he said. “Sometimes to survive.”

Noah closed his eyes for a second, processing his words.

“Do you think someone like that… can really change?”

Nicholas thought before answering and then spoke again.

“Yes,” he said. “But not when they keep punishing themselves.”

Noah opened his eyes but didn’t reply, though deep down—very deep down—he knew he was right and felt grateful.

The engineer placed the report on Noah’s desk and stood up, stretching his arms with a bit of carelessness. Then he yawned without manners and looked at him again.

“Get some rest. Tomorrow will be another complicated day.”

Noah smiled faintly and nodded as he watched him leave.

Near the elevator, Nicholas stopped and spoke without looking back.

“And Noah…”

“Yes?” he replied, looking at him as he stood up to gather his things.

“You’re not alone. Even if you don’t want to believe it yet.”

When he left, Noah remained frozen by his sincerity, and then looked at the screen. The report was better, all thanks to someone he had barely met that very day.