Chapter 98 Rekindled emotion
The car door slammed shut harder than necessary as Alex entered the car.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The city lights streaked past the windshield as Alex pulled out of the parking lot of Rock View Bar, jaw tight, knuckles white against the steering wheel.
Lucas sat in the passenger seat, head tilted back, eyes half-closed. The alcohol was wearing off just enough to let reality sink in.
The silence between them was
heavy and suffocating. Alex finally broke it. “What were you thinking?”
His voice wasn’t loud and angry.
Lucas swallowed. His throat felt dry. “I told you… I wanted to be alone.”
“So you went to a bar?” Alex shot back. “And drank something strong enough to knock you unconscious?”
Lucas turned his head slowly, blinking at him. “You had someone watching me?”
Alex was surprised but managed to ask, “Where is that coming from? Zenith?”
“So it's true. I'm not some possession you need to keep.”
Alex’s grip tightened again. “It's for your safety. Without him informing me, I couldn't imagine what Zenith would have done to you.”
“I don’t need a guard!” Lucas snapped, emotion rising now that the haze was clearing. “I’m not a child, Alex!”
“You were drunk!” Alex’s voice rose for the first time. “Pinned against a wall while that bastard had his hands all over you!”
Lucas flinched.
The image hit him fully now.
Zenith’s grip, his mouth, and the wall against his back. His stomach twisted.
“I didn’t ask him to touch me,” Lucas said quietly.
Alex exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “Then why didn’t you push him away?”
“I tried.” Lucas’s voice cracked. “I wasn’t steady. I couldn’t even see properly.”
The car went quiet again, except for the hum of the engine.
Alex’s anger shifted with less fire and more fear.
“He was kissing you,” Alex said, softer now. “And you weren’t fighting.”
Lucas turned toward him fully this time, hurt flashing across his face, eyes glistening with tears. “But I tried, Alex! I wasn’t thinking straight! I was weak and so tired from fighting! It was all your fault.”
That last sentence landed hard.
Alex glanced at him.
“I went there because I was upset,” Lucas continued. “You keep caging me like your pet. Watching my every move and controlling everything. I just wanted one moment where I didn’t feel caged.”
Alex’s chest tightened. “Baby don't sound like that. You think I'm caging you?” he asked quietly.
Lucas looked away. “Sometimes it feels like it.”
The words cut deeper than Zenith’s taunt ever could. Alex slowed the car slightly, his voice losing its edge. “I was scared.”
Lucas frowned faintly.
“When Dan told me you were drinking something strong, I knew something was wrong,” Alex admitted. “And when I walked into that restroom…” His jaw flexed again. “It felt like you're about to be eaten by a snake. It felt like I'm losing you.”
Lucas stared at him. “You didn’t lose me,” he whispered. You're pushing me away.
Alex glanced at him again, vulnerability flickering beneath the dominance. “I can’t stand the thought of someone touching you.”
“And I can’t stand the thought of not being trusted,” Lucas replied.
Another silence stretched but this one felt different. It was raw and honest.
They pulled up in front of the house. Alex turned off the engine but didn’t move.
“Did he hurt you?” Alex asked again, this time barely above a whisper.
Lucas shook his head slowly. “No, but he scared me.”
Alex leaned back in his seat, exhaling long and slow. “If I hadn’t gotten there…”
“But you did,” Lucas interrupted softly.
Their eyes met in the dim light of the dashboard. The anger had thinned, replaced by something fragile. Lucas reached out hesitantly and placed his hand over Alex’s clenched fist on the console.
“I don’t want protection that feels like a cage,” he said. “I just want you.”
Alex’s fingers loosened under his touch. “But I don’t want freedom that puts you in danger,” Alex replied.
They sat there, inches apart, tension still alive, but no longer explosive. Just unresolved but real.
Outside, the night was quiet.
Inside the car, everything between them had shifted. And neither of them knew yet whether it had broken… or deepened.
Alex stepped out first and came around to Lucas’s side before he could even reach for the handle.
“Easy,” he murmured, slipping an arm around his waist.
Lucas leaned into him without resistance. They walked into the house slowly, the earlier storm replaced by a quiet, intimate stillness. The door clicked shut behind them, sealing them into their own world. The tension from the car still lingered, but softer now.
Lucas stopped halfway to the stairs. “Alex.”
Alex turned immediately. “Hmm?”
Lucas hesitated, then looked up at him with something vulnerable in his eyes. “Can I get a hug?”
The question was so simple yet it nearly broke him. Alex didn’t answer with words.
He took a step forward and pulled Lucas into his chest, wrapping both arms tightly around him. Not possessive or protective, just hugging him.
Lucas melted into the embrace, his hands sliding around Alex’s waist, gripping the back of his shirt as if grounding himself. His cheek pressed against Alex’s chest, right over his heart.
They stayed like that for several long seconds, breathing, feeling, and reconnecting.
Alex lowered his chin to Lucas’s hair. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Lucas squeezed him slightly. “Me too.”
When Lucas tilted his head up, their faces were inches apart. His eyes were clearer and softer.
“Kiss me,” Lucas said quietly.
Alex didn’t hesitate as his heart thudded happily. He cupped Lucas’s face and kissed him gently. At first, it was slow, careful, as if asking permission again.
Lucas answered by deepening it.
The kiss grew warmer, more emotional than urgent. Days of unspoken fear and frustration melted into it. Alex’s hands slid to Lucas’s back, pulling him closer. Lucas’s fingers tangled in Alex’s shirt.
Alex tilted his head, kissing him again and again, lingering this time. His restraint began to thin as relief and desire tangled together.
Lucas let out a soft laugh against his lips.
Alex paused. “What?”
“Are you getting carried away,” Lucas teased, brushing his thumb over Alex’s cheek. “Take it easy.”
Alex’s expression softened immediately, though his eyes were still dark with feeling. “You asked for a kiss.”
“Yes, I did,” Lucas smiled, gently tracing his jaw. “Not a takeover.”
Alex huffed quietly, resting his forehead against Lucas’s. “You’re impossible.”
“And you still love me,” Lucas replied softly.
Alex leaned in and kissed him again, slower this time, controlled, savoring instead of claiming.
Lucas sighed contentedly before pulling back slightly. “I’m feeling really hot,” he murmured, tugging lightly at his collar. “I need a shower.”
Alex’s gaze dipped instinctively, then returned to his eyes. “Are you sure you can stand straight?”
Lucas smirked faintly. “If I fall, you will catch me.”
Alex brushed his thumb along Lucas’s cheek once more, gentler than before. “Go shower,” he said softly. “I’ll get you something warm for after.”
Lucas nodded, then leaned in for one last quick kiss.