This story is written from a female reader point-of-view.
You and James Gordon are friends, and have been for nearly a year now, and you're good with that. He's your former science teacher, and now that you're back working at your old high school as a newly-qualified teacher, you're getting to know him more than you ever dreamed of. Science was always your favorite subject when you were a student and Mr. Gordon always made lessons interesting.
He's quiet and shy, and unsure of himself, but you saw beyond that a long time ago. You've seen him for who he really is, and he's done the same with you. You're a duo, even though you're very different people. You're twenty-one and he's in his late forties. Handsome and in good shape, with dark brown hair that's streaked with silver. You had a raging crush on him when you were a student, and now those feelings have deepened. Especially since he confessed that he's just broken up with his long-term partner.
Perhaps that's why you've been feeling so conflicted lately, you've been thinking differently about him, and you're afraid that he'll find out. If there's something you don't want, it's him withdrawing from you, back into his shell. It had taken you so long to lure him out of it. And that may be the reason why you've begun to avoid him a little, you don't want to admit it to yourself, but you are not spending as much time in the lab with him any more, and sometimes you avoid him deliberately because you're afraid you'll give away your feelings. The way your heart beats a little faster every time he accidentally touches your arm, or brushes by you in a hurry.
When he talks you sometimes find yourself simply spacing out at the sound of his voice, completely missing what he says. He notices, you know, and he probably doesn't understand. Maybe, just maybe, that's why you're on your way to the science lab right now, guided by mostly intuition.
When you enter the lab, silently as always, he's sitting by his desk with his face buried in his hands. You can see by the way his shoulders are shaking that he's crying, silently. It cuts your heart to see him like this, and your quick steps against the floor alerts him to your presence as you near him, wanting nothing more than to comfort him. He lifts his head and dries away the tears, rejecting your touch by pushing your hand away when you reach out for him. You look hurt, but he looks away from your eyes, away from your pleading gaze.
"James, please..." Your soft voice makes him turn his head away from you and he bites his lip, trying to fight the urge to pull you close. You don't know how much you tempt him, and he doesn't want to scare you away. Now you'd begun to distance yourself, and that was probably best. He didn't want you to feel guilty and reach out for him in pity.
No, that was the last thing he wanted. "Please... Leave." He mumbles, and your heart feels like it'll break in two. But your determination doesn't waver. "No." You say, and he stiffens in the chair as though you've hit him. "I won't leave you, James." You reach out and place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. You can feel warmth radiating from him, beneath the lab coat and the white shirt. You longed to rip it off him, to convey to him just how much you wanted him, how much you loved him, but you didn't dare.