The bus doors were open.
People got on.
People got off.
The driver was already waiting impatiently.
But Lea only noticed all this on the side.
Her gaze remained fixed on Noah.
“Anything else?” she asked.
Noah nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
For a moment, no one said anything.
The bus driver honked briefly.
“Get on or stay outside!” he shouted through the open window.
Lea and Noah looked at each other at the same time.
Then they had to laugh.
The tension dissolved for a moment.
They got on and sat in the back of the bus.
This time it was almost empty.
Outside, the rainy city passed by.
Inside, the engine hummed quietly.
Noah looked at his hands.
Something he always did when he found a conversation difficult.
Lea had noticed that by now.
“So?” she asked cautiously.
Noah took a deep breath.
“My parents have been arguing for weeks about Hamburg.”
Lea remained silent.
She immediately felt that this would not be an ordinary conversation.
“My father really wants to take the job,” Noah said.
“And your mother?”
“She doesn’t, actually.”
Lea nodded slowly.
“That’s why the messages?”
Noah looked up surprised.
“You noticed that?”
“A little.”
“So you are watching me after all.”
“Don’t start that again.”
Noah smiled briefly.
But the smile quickly disappeared again.
“They argued again last night.”
He looked out the window.
“And today too.”
Lea didn’t know exactly what to say.
Sometimes there is no perfect answer.
So she simply said:
“I’m sorry.”
Noah nodded.
“Thank you.”
They were both silent for a while.
This time the silence didn’t feel uncomfortable.
Rather honest.
Then Noah suddenly said:
“That’s why I wanted you to hear it from me.”
Lea looked at him.
“Why?”
Noah hesitated.
For the first time, he really seemed unsure.
“Because ...”
He broke off.
“Because?”
Noah laughed nervously.
“This is harder than I thought.”
“Welcome to my everyday life.”
This time his smile lasted a little longer.
Then he became serious again.
“Because what you think matters to me.”
Lea’s heart immediately beat faster.
Much faster.
She hoped no one could hear it.
“Oh.”
That “Oh” again.
Her brain seemed to consist of only one word in important situations.
Noah shook his head laughing.
“You say Oh often.”
“I know.”
“Kind of cute.”
Lea was suddenly very glad that it wasn’t very bright in the bus.
She was pretty sure her face had turned red by now.
The bus stopped at a traffic light.
A few passengers got off.
The rain had almost stopped by now.
Between the clouds, a piece of blue sky even showed.
“May I tell you something honest?” Lea asked after a while.
Noah nodded.
“Always.”
Lea gathered her courage.
“When you told me about Hamburg ...”
She hesitated briefly.
“... it affected me more than it probably should have.”
Noah said nothing.
He just listened.
“And I think,” Lea continued, “that’s why I was pretty confused the last two days.”
Silence again.
But this time it was Noah who seemed nervous.
“Confused?”
Lea nodded.
“Yes.”
She looked out the window.
Then back at him.
“Because I don’t want you to move away.”
The words were spoken.
Finally.
A part of her wanted to jump out of the bus immediately.
The other part was relieved.
Noah looked at her.
For a long time.
Very long.
Then he smiled.
Not surprised.
Not astonished.
But as if he had hoped exactly for that.
“Good,” he said quietly.
Lea blinked.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
His smile grew a little wider.
“Because I don’t want there to be only a group project between us.”
Lea’s heart jumped.
A very big jump.
But before she could answer, the bus braked.
Their stop.
Of course.
Of all times now.
The doors opened.
Some passengers stood up.
Noah and Lea didn’t move an inch.
“The timing is really bad,” Noah murmured.
“Catastrophic.”
“Absolutely catastrophic.”
Both had to laugh.
But the stop was left behind them.
The bus drove on.
And neither of them had pressed the button.