Chapter 60 Another secret untold
Alex took in some air and lowered his voice a bit.“Stop hurting yourself. Please.” He took another breath, then said it…clear and final. “I’m in love with him.”
Nathan shook his head violently. “No. No, you can't, you’re just obsessed,” he insisted, tears spilling over. “He saved your life, yes, but you don’t know him. You can’t let some stranger into your life just because of a favor…”
“Will you stop?” Alex snapped, frustration breaking through. “The person who found him testified that he’s a good person. That’s enough. Just… end this.”
Nathan wiped his face with his hand, voice trembling. “Does he even feel anything for you? Are you sure he could love you?”
Alex didn’t hesitate. “I’ll give him time. I will wait for him.”
“No, Alex…please you can't…”
“Yes, I can,” Alex said firmly. “You stop. I don’t love you enough. So just… leave.”
Nathan opened his mouth again, voice breaking completely. “No, please don't…”
But the words never finished. With a sob, Nathan turned and ran for the door, yanked it open, and disappeared into the hallway, without looking back.
The silence he left behind was louder than everything he had said.
Alex slumped back into the couch, his hands covering his face. “I'm sorry Nat, I don't love you enough to choose you.” He muttered, his voice shaky.
With that, he picked up his phone and car keys and headed to his parents' home.
At Nathan’s place, the soft beep of the door code sliced through the quiet apartment just as Lucas stepped out of the bathroom, a towel slung low around his hips, steam still clinging to his skin.
His heart jumped straight into his throat. He hurried to the sitting room door and stood still, his eyes focusing on the door..
Then the beep sound came again, followed by the faint click of the lock disengaging.
Lucas’s breath caught. No one was supposed to be there. Did Nathan give the code to someone else? Panic flared. His eyes darted to the bedroom, searching for anything he could grab for defense.
His pulse hammered as the door slowly pushed open.
“Nathan?” he called, uncertain, his voice tight. The door swung wider and there he was.
Nathan stepped inside like a ghost…eyes red, lashes wet and shoulders slumped as if something heavy had crushed him. His face was streaked with tears, his expression hollow and shattered, nothing like the confident man Lucas had seen before.
Lucas stared, stunned. He was expecting him in two days but there he was. “Nathan…?” He said almost in a whisper
Nathan didn’t answer right away. He just stood there, breathing unevenly, staring at Lucas like he was seeing him for the first time.
“I was going to surprise you by coming back earlier but got surprised instead.” He laughed bitterly.
“I didn’t know what else to do to convince him,” Nathan whispered finally, his voice breaking. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t stay in his heart.”
Lucas’s fear softened instantly, replaced by confusion and a cautious concern. He tightened the towel around himself and took a step closer. “What happened?”
Nathan laughed bitterly, the sound jagged. “His lifesaver,” he said, tears spilling again. “He has found him.”
Lucas stopped short. Before he could respond, Nathan wiped his face roughly and looked away, shame and heartbreak warring on his features. “He chose him,” he muttered. “Just like that.”
The words landed hard. Lucas swallowed, the weight of the words settling deep in his chest as the door clicked shut behind Nathan…sealing them both inside a moment Lucas had never prepared for.
Lucas stood rooted for half a second longer, the weight of Nathan’s grief pressing the air thin between them. Then he moved.
“Come,” Lucas said softly, already guiding him by the arm. His touch was careful, non-threatening. “Sit down.”
Nathan didn’t resist. He let himself be led to the couch like someone running on empty, shoulders slumping the moment he sat. His hands trembled as he scrubbed at his face, but the tears refused to stop.
Lucas glanced toward the bedroom, then back at him. “Just stay here,” he said gently. “I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared down the hall, heart pounding harder with every step. Inside the bedroom, he quickly pulled on a shirt and sweats, his hands unsteady as he dressed. His reflection stared back at him…eyes wide, breath shallow. “Alex,” his mind whispered. “What have you done?”
Moments later, Lucas returned.
Nathan was hunched forward, elbows on his knees, fingers locked together like he was holding himself in one piece. He didn’t even look up when Lucas sat a short distance away.
“He said since he met his lifesaver,” Nathan muttered bitterly. “Everything changed.” A shaky laugh escaped him. “Funny how fast ‘everything’ can change, right?”
Lucas’s chest tightened. He chose his words carefully. “Sometimes… things fall into place in ways we don’t expect.”
Nathan scoffed. “He didn’t even tell me who he was. He just talked like that person suddenly mattered more than months of us.” His voice cracked again. “Do you know how that feels?”
Lucas nodded slowly. “I can imagine.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy but not hostile.
“I loved him,” Nathan whispered. “I thought if I held on, maybe he could love me for real. But I thought wrong. You told me to stop but I didn't listen, silly me, right”
Lucas leaned forward resting his forearms on his thighs. “No, you’re not silly. You got carried away by emotion and that doesn’t disappear overnight,” he said quietly.
Nathan finally looked at him then, eyes red and searching. “He said I wasn’t enough for him?”
Lucas shook his head without hesitation. “This isn’t about you not being enough. My late grandma once said, ‘sometimes people don’t leave because something is wrong… they leave because something inside them finally woke up.’”
Nathan swallowed hard, blinking rapidly.
Lucas kept his gaze steady, his voice calm, deliberately neutral. He didn’t say Alex’s name. Didn’t say I’m the lifesaver. He buried the truth deep and focused only on the man breaking apart beside him. He moved closer and hugged him.
“You’re allowed to hurt,” Lucas continued. “But don’t let his choice rewrite your worth. You’re a beautiful guy, and there is someone out there who will die for you.”
Nathan’s hands circled around Lucas. And for the first time since he arrived, he leaned on him letting the exhaustion overtake the storm inside him.
“I didn’t expect to be away from him tonight,” he admitted quietly. “Now I'm alone.”
“You’re not alone,” Lucas said, simple and sincere. “Just because I can’t bang you doesn't make me invisible hmm.”
Nathan chuckled faintly, eyes closing as another tear slipped free—unaware that the very person comforting him was the one standing at the center of everything he had just lost.
Lucas sat there, filled with mixed emotions of fear for himself and pity for Nathan. He listened to Nathan’s breathing even out beside him.
When they broke up the embrace, they both rested their heads on the couch.
The storm had drained from the room, but the aftermath lingered, thick and suffocating.