The rush of wind wouldn't have ever haunted me as much as the tranquility of the ride back. Neither he nor I spoke a word. Perhaps we didn't need his words to echo in my chest like a secret I wasn't prepared to face, and the weight of his touch still hung there.
I nearly wished it hadn't when his bike gradually slowed in front of my apartment. I turned to thank him as soon as my heels touched the pavement. But Sylus's dark, indiscernible eyes tightened my throat as he gazed at me. He leant closer, his voice low enough to burn, as though he wanted to say something.
"Ella, go inside safely." My heart skipped. Just four words, but they sounded like a command. Like a promise. I nodded, fumbling for my keys under his heavy gaze before forcing myself toward the door. The silence of my empty apartment, the sound of the lock clicking felt louder than usual, almost too loud. It was meant to be empty, anyway, because I froze when I pushed the door open.
He was there. Asher. As if he had been waiting for ages, he was sitting comfortably in the living room with a glass of wine. Without saying a word, his slow, piercing gaze rose.
"Asher? Dear God, with my breath stuttering, I put a hand to my chest, and my voice cracked. "You scared me!" I closed the door behind me, a question still lingering in my mind, "Even so, how did you return to my apartment? You still have keys?"
He took a moment before responding. He swirled the dark wine in his glass, giving me that look, the kind that always made me feel a bit exposed, like my thoughts were laid bare for him to see. "The keys?" He smirked, but there was no humor in it. "You make it sound like I ever really left Ella."
My heart skipped a beat. I held onto my bag a little tighter, feeling a warmth creeping up my throat. I walked into the living room. This isn't right. He really shouldn't be here. I'm not used to so many surprises in a day. Sigh escaped my mouth, "Come on, Asher, that's not funny. You can't just hang out in my apartment like this. It'sIt's's breaking in."
He leaned back, spreading out like the couch belonged to him, like I belonged to him. His eyes flicked to my dress, to the faint mess of my hair from the wind, then back to my face. Studying. Unraveling. "Breaking in?" he chuckled low, shaking his head. "No, EL. Breaking in is what strangers do. Me? I'm just… Surprising You."
My chest constricted. The words were casual, but the weight behind them pressed sharply, suffocating. My fingers trembled against the keys still dangling in my hand. He noticed, of course, he noticed. "You're shaking." his voice softened, but the softness felt like a blade. "What happened tonight? Who was he?"
Maybe I was overthinking. My chest ached from too many collisions tonight, Sylus, that suffocating gala, now Asher. I forced myself to shake my head, offering the faintest smile. "Nothing. It was just… cold outside. And the gala was nice, I had fun." He smiled then, the kind of smile that chipped away at my tension, that reminded me of old times when we were younger, when things weren't so complicated. He set the glass down on the kitchen counter and stepped closer. My breath hitched when his hands came up, warm against my cheeks, steadying me like he always used to.
"You look so beautiful, El. A gem anyone would beg to have." The words struck somewhere deep, soft and sharp at once. His eyes flickered, not playful but heavy, almost pleading. I hadn't seen him like this in so long. Vulnerable. Restless.Anxious. He exhaled shakily, dropping his gaze for a moment before finding mine again.
"I was… feeling down. And when I found your old keys, I thought maybe I could surprise you. I didn't mean to scare you." His voice cracked faintly, lower now, almost fragile. "I'm sorry, El. Forgive me?" I swallowed hard, shaking my head not out of anger, but because I couldn't stand to see him like that. He wasn't a stranger. He wasn't someone I could just lock out, not entirely.
So I did the only thing I could to calm him down, like I used to. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him, resting my head against his chest.The sound of his heartbeat hammered against my ear, uneven, anxious. His whole body tensed at first, then softened under my hold, like the weight he carried finally had somewhere to fall.
I could feel it the storm in him, clawing, unsettled. And in that hug, I realized something that broke me a little for all the walls he built, Asher still needed me to anchor him. Just like he did back in high school.
Asher pov~
Her arms wrapped around me, and for a moment, I thought I might shatter from the simplicity of it. Five years gone, five years of silence and empty nights—and yet, in her embrace, it was as if time folded in on itself. Like I'd stepped back into the only place that had ever felt real.
"It feels like I'm back home," I breathed, the words slipping out before I could leash them. My lips brushed her hair as I added, softer, almost a confession, "You're my only person, El."The truth of it stung. Or maybe it wasn't the truth, maybe it was need, raw and selfish. Because the second she touched me, the second she let me in, I knew I couldn't survive being shut out again.
My voice shook, cracked with something that sounded like regret. "I'm sorry I left you alone for five years. I told myself you were strong enough, that you didn't need me weighing you down. But it was a lie. I see it now."
Her scent curled around me, anchoring me, soothing nerves I hadn't realized were raw. Every inch of me was taut, restless, until she touched me. And now? Now she was undoing me piece by piece, grounding me in a way that made my chest ache with relief. But under the ache, the darker truth coiled.
She doesn't see it how these words aren't just an apology, they're rope. Thread by thread, I'm binding myself back to her. Making sure she remembers the boy who was hers before anyone else tried to claim her.
I buried my face against her shoulder, inhaling, almost desperate. If she lets me go now, I'll lose her all over again. And I can't. I won't.
Ella POV~
"Feeling better now?" I asked softly, my voice lighter than I felt, a smile tugging at my lips. The kind of smile that carried years of memories, all tucked neatly between us. He nodded, eyes searching mine, and for a moment I almost forgot how long it had been. How much had changed.
"Thank you," I added, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, "for… this dress. For helping me tonight. It meant more than you know." The words came out warm, genuine, because they were true. No matter the ache of the past, he'd been there steady when I needed it. Just like before.
Asher POV~
Her gratitude slipped into me like sunlight through a crack in the wall I'd built. The smile, the way her voice wrapped around thank you God, I'd missed this. I'd missed her. "You don't need to thank me," I murmured, tilting my head, letting a faint smile curve my lips. My gaze swept over her, lingering on the way the fabric hugged her, how the color mirrored the fire in her eyes. "Seeing you like this… it's enough. I'd do it all over again, El. Every time."
And maybe I said it like it was nothing, but underneath… the truth thrummed in me, sharp and dangerous. Every gift, every gesture it wasn't kindness. It was a chain. A thread binding her back to me..I was there for her before anyone, and she was mine to begin with...
----
As the night slipped quietly into memory, Asher left soon after, his presence like smoke—clinging, faintly suffocating, but gone before dawn could catch it. Yet his shadow lingered, unshaken. Sylus, on the other hand, was still drowning in that night. The memory of her—red gown against the moonlight, her laughter woven with music, the fragile weight of her warmth pressed against him—became his new religion.
All three lives had tangled into a knot impossible to loosen: one man carried the ache of longing and desire, another cloaked his claim in tenderness laced with manipulation, and in the center stood Ella, unaware of the storm brewing around her.
A month passed. The world kept moving, yet Sylus found himself orbiting hers. Ella fell back into her routine early mornings at the flower shop, long days that wore at her shoulders, nights where exhaustion dragged her under. And every weekend, without fail, Sylus appeared at the shop. Sometimes for a bouquet, sometimes with no reason at all, other than to see her—just to admire the way sunlight caught her hair or the tired but soft smile she gave him when she noticed him standing there.
He prayed for her. Prayed that she might find rest, that her hands wouldn't blister from work, that life would be gentler on her. And the irony was not lost on him.
For a man who had never believed in gods, who had scoffed at the very idea of love, who carried himself as if carved from demons and stone—he was learning what it meant to worship. And every second of that worship was both agony and salvation.
-----
SYLUS POV~
The day had been nothing but numbers and endless meetings, the weight of work pressing down on me like it always did. My office was quiet except for the low hum of the city outside, my desk littered with papers I had no interest in finishing.
Then my phone buzzed. A small notification lit up the screen. almost ignored it—until I saw her name. Ella. [How are you doing?]Followed by a little cat sticker, its wide eyes too innocent, too playful for someone like me.
My lips twitched before I even realized it, a chuckle slipping past me. A grin spread across my face, uninvited, unstoppable. Damn her. I leaned back in my chair, letting the tension in my shoulders loosen for the first time that day. She had thought of me. Out of everyone in her world, me.I stared at her message, thumbs hovering over the screen longer than they should. What the hell was I supposed to say? I'm losing my mind over you? That your name feel like the only thing worth living through this dull existence for?
Instead, I typed something simple.[Nothing, just my work eating me alive ] with an exhausted Wolf sticker, [Are you checking up on me?] I sent, half-teasing, half-curious. The three dots blinked for a moment, and then her words appeared.
[Well… yeah. I felt like I should.]My throat tightened. Just six words, but they hit like a punch to the gut. She felt like she should. No one ever checked on me. No one ever gave a damn if I was drowning in my own chaos. Not my friends like this, not my family, not anyone in this hollow empire I'd built. But her? She thought of me in the middle of her day. She reached out, not because she had to, but because she wanted to.
For a moment, I just stared at the screen, the curve of her words burning into me. My grin softened, shifting into something else something fragile, something I didn't want to name.God, Ella. If you only knew what you were doing to me.
[Then keep doing it,] I typed back before I could stop myself. [I don't mind being checked on. Especially by you.] I hesitated, finger hovering over send, then pressed it anyway. Her reply came with a playful sting. "Don't get used to it, Morano. I was just making sure you're alive."
I smirked at the screen, but deep down, it didn't feel like just that. She didn't realize what her words meant to me how much space they took up in a heart I'd sworn was made of stone. I didn't text back right away. My fingers hovered, tempted to keep her talking, but instead I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. The thought of her, the sound of her laugh, the way her eyes had softened that night… it was all I could think about.
So, later that evening, when my phone buzzed again, I already knew it was her.
["Did you eat?"] Two simple words. But to me, it felt like a rope pulling me out of the dark.I exhaled a laugh, shaking my head. No one had asked me that in years.
["Not yet,"] I typed back. Her answer came quickly [ Good. Dinner's on me. Meet me at 8?] And just like that, I was hers for the night.