CHAPTER 165

CHAPTER 165
The sky is overcast, with a gray pressing over the small cemetery on the hill. The wind blows gently through the trees, rustling the leaves.

Lucas stands quietly in front of a simple gravestone.

Trent Emerson. Gone too soon.

The soil around the grave is still, and a few wilted flowers lie beside the headstone.

Lucas stands with his hands deep in his coat pockets, the cold biting at his exposed skin, but he doesn't care.

He sighs and swallows the heavy lump in his throat.

“Hey,” he begins, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “It’s…” he lets out a shaky breath. “It's been two weeks already. I should have come early, but I guess I was too scared.”

He steps closer, kneeling beside the grave. “I keep asking myself what I would say if I saw you again. If I had the chance, but now that I'm here, I don't even know where to start,” he gives a weak laugh. “Typical, right?” 

The wind blows again, stirring his shirt and tousling his hair. Lucas looks down, his fingers curling into the grass, his eyes getting glassy. “I'm sorry, Trent. For everything. For not seeing how hurt you were and taking your love for granted. I'm sorry for not stopping things before they got bad. And for not being able to save you,” his voice cracks

“You were trying to love me and make me live again, but I was so caught up in my storm that I didn't see how much you truly loved me. I don't regret choosing Sebastian because it's him I love so much, but you're gone; I never wanted you to die like this.”

Tears well up in his eyes and spill freely down his cheeks.

“I loved you,” he whispers. “Maybe not in the way you wanted… but I did. You were a light I never thought I needed, but I let you down.”

Lucas reaches into his pocket and takes out a small silver bracelet, one of the many gifts Trent got him. He places it gently on the headstone.

“If there’s such a thing as a second life, if we ever get that chance, I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll be better. I’ll love you right. I’ll protect you the way I should have, or maybe you deserve better than me.” 

He gets up on his feet. “Goodbye, Trent. Thank you for everything. I hope wherever you are, you’re at peace.”

He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath as if trying to seal the memory into his bones. Then, slowly, Lucas turns and walks away—never looking back.

~

Lucas arrives back at the hospital, heading to room 208, where Sebastian lies hooked up to machines. 

Lucas pulls the chair closer and sits down. He reaches out and holds Sebastian’s hand in his own.

“I’m back,” he says softly. “I know you probably can’t hear me, but I’m not going anywhere. I will always be here.”

He carefully wipes Sebastian’s face with a warm cloth, adjusts his blanket, and gently combs through his hair with his fingers.

“I went to see Trent,” Lucas whispers, resting his chin on his forehands on the side of the bed. “Said goodbye, finally. I told him I will make things right, but—you-you can’t leave too, okay? I can’t lose you ever. I won’t survive it.”

He leans forward, resting his forehead gently against Sebastian’s arm.

“Just come back to me. Please.”

And so, as the days passed, Lucas never left. He sleeps in the chair, talks to Sebastian every day, reads to him, cleans his face, and whispers every hope, every fear, and every love he feels, and through it all, Sebastian sleeps—silent and still. 

And it hurts worse than Lucas thought it would. How much longer will he wait?

~

In a private room across the hall, Ciel sits by Xerxes’s bedside, eyes fixed on the man he loves as the doctor checks on him.

Xerxes stirs lightly in his sleep but goes still again; he's been doing that a lot since the treatment started three weeks ago, but he never wakes up. 

“You shouldn't worry too much, Mr. Reid. Mr. Laurent is responding to the treatment better than we thought, and it's wonderful news,”  Dr Martin beams. “We have never done something like this before, but this could be a breakthrough.”

Ciel nods as he stares at Xerxes's pale face, his dry lips, and an IV running through his arm, the fluid dripping slowly.

Dr. Martin soon leaves.

“I don’t care how long it takes,” Ciel whispers. “I’ll wait for you to wake up and be normal again, Xerxes. I’m not going anywhere.”

He reaches forward, gently taking Xerxes’s limp hand in both of his.

“I keep thinking about the first time we met,” he says, chuckling faintly. “I was so damn annoying, but I think I fell in love with you way before I admitted it to myself.”

Ciel stares at him, eyes heavy with exhaustion but burning with fierce determination.

“You’ve always been stronger than anyone else. Even when your family tried to break you. Even when you were poisoned by the people who should’ve loved you most.”

His jaw tightens. “And they’ll pay for what they did to you.”

He stands up, carefully placing Xerxes’s hand back on the bed. “I already started.”

~

Two days later, the news breaks out.

Marina Laurent, widow of influential businessman Alastor Laurent, is arrested and taken into custody for charges related to first-degree murder and poisoning with intent to kill.

Her son, Liam Laurent, allegedly confessed and cooperated with the investigation, implicating his mother in the premeditated poisoning of her husband and the attempt to do the same to her son Xerxes.

Ciel stands outside the courthouse, staring at the chaos as Mrs. Laurent is led in, handcuffed and red-eyed.

She pauses, and her eyes meet Ciel's. “You think you’ve won?”

Ciel smirks. “I believe I've won.”

“You think my son will thank you for this?”

Ciel steps closer to her, voice low and deadly. “He won’t have to. He will wake up to a world where you no longer hold power over him; that's enough.”

The officers pull her away, dragging her through the doors.

Camilia is detained too, charged with conspiracy to cover up a crime and obstruction of justice.

As the doors shut behind them, Ciel exhales a breath. “You’re safe now, Xerxes. I did what I promised.”

~

It's late when Ciel returns to the hospital. He steps into the room, but he freezes at the sight of Xerxes's eyes fluttering.

“Xerxes?” Ciel calls softly, heart racing as he gets closer.

There is no response, but Ciel sees it— the faint movement. Hope immediately surges through his chest like wildfire.

He rushes to the bed, kneeling beside him.

“You hear me?” he whispers urgently. “Xerxes, if you can hear me…you’re safe now. They’re gone. Your mother, Camilia, can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Ciel…” Xerxes’s lips barely move, his voice a faint breath.

Ciel’s eyes immediately fill with tears. He grips Xerxes’s hand tightly and kisses it over and over.

“I’m here. I never left.”

He whispers. Maybe he imagined it, but Xerxes' smile twitches into a small smile before his eyes shut again, and he goes unconscious.

Ciel will never let go.