Adrian's POV The week before the wedding arrived with a kind of energy that hummed through every part of our home. The smell of fresh flowers filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of coffee brewing in the kitchen, boxes of decorations and carefully packed favors lined the hallway, each labeled in Noah’s meticulous handwriting. It felt like we were standing at the edge of something monumental, not just a wedding, but the culmination of everything we had fought for, survived, and built together. I woke that morning with Noah curled against me, his breath warm against my chest, his hand loosely gripping mine. The soft light of dawn slipped through the curtains, casting our room in shades of gold. For a moment, I just lay there, holding him, breathing in the quiet before the whirlwind of the day began. When he stirred, his eyelashes fluttering open, the first thing he did was smile at me. It wasn’t a big, dazzling grin, just a soft, intimate curve of his lips that still manage
Adrian's POV The morning light streamed through the half-finished windows of our new home, painting golden streaks across the dusty wooden floors. It had been weeks of renovations, weeks of planning and decision-making, and now, finally, the place was starting to look less like a construction site and more like the dream Noah and I had envisioned together. I stood in the middle of the living room, taking it all in. The fresh paint still carried a faint, clean scent that mixed with the earthy aroma of sawdust. The walls were warm and inviting, the kind of colors that made a space feel like a sanctuary. Through the wide glass doors, I could see the backyard, where the grass had just been trimmed and the first blooms of spring were beginning to push through the soil. Noah was outside with the dog, laughing as he chased the little ball we’d bought just last week. His laugh carried through the open door, rich and unrestrained, and it tugged at my heart. For a moment, I just stood there
Noah and Adrian's POV The news of the publisher’s interest still hummed between us like a soft current, filling our home with quiet joy. The last few days had been a whirlwind, but now that the initial excitement had settled, we found ourselves simply sitting together, letting it sink in. We sat across from each other in the living room, sunlight spilling through the curtains in golden streaks, catching on the steam rising from our coffee mugs. The little dog we’d adopted, scrappy and full of life, lay sprawled between us, snoring softly. The house felt alive with warmth, laughter, and a sense of peace we hadn’t always known. It struck us both how far we had come. There were nights when we had doubted we’d ever reach this place of calm. Nights filled with Adrian’s quiet sobs and my (Noah’s) own nightmares, nights where sweat and terror clung to us as we clawed through memories of pain and loss. There were days when love felt fragile, when we weren’t sure it was enough to hold us
Adrian's POV The morning after Noah and I spent the night beneath the stars, I woke with my heart still full, my thoughts lingering on the confessions we’d shared. The warmth of his arm draped over me, the steady rhythm of his breathing beside me, and the quiet hum of life beyond our bedroom walls felt like a promise of everything we’d fought to build. For the first time in what felt like forever, there was peace, a peace we’d both bled for, cried for, and nearly lost countless times. But beneath that peace was a quiet flutter of nerves that wouldn’t let me go. It had been growing for weeks now, whispering in the back of my mind every time I sat down with my journal or opened my laptop to write. The book I’d been working on wasn’t just words anymore. It wasn’t just a private record of our journey or a way to untangle the mess of my past. It had become something bigger, something that might actually mean something to others. And that terrified me. I slid carefully out of bed, not
Noah's POV The night was quiet, wrapped in a blanket of soft darkness, the stars scattered like diamonds across the sky. I sat on the balcony, my knees drawn up as I hugged them loosely, staring out at the endless stretch of night. The soft hum of the city below was distant, muted by the height of our apartment building and the calm that came with being here with Adrian. It felt surreal, thinking back to where we had started and where we were now. My life had changed in ways I never imagined possible. I remembered the nights I used to lie awake, drowning in doubts, wondering if love like ours could ever survive the storms it faced. I had been so scared back then, scared of losing him, scared of losing myself. Yet here we were, stronger, closer, more certain than ever before. Behind me, the sliding glass door opened with a quiet sound, and a rush of cool air swept past me. I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Adrian. His presence had a way of announcing itself, warm and grou
Adrian's POV The morning sun streamed through the curtains, warm and golden, spilling across the bed where Noah still slept soundly beside me. His arm was draped across my chest, his breath slow and even, our new dog curled up at our feet like he had always belonged here. The quiet hum of the house filled me with a sense of peace, a stark contrast to the chaos we had survived just months ago. I carefully shifted out of bed, not wanting to wake either of them, and padded quietly to the kitchen to make coffee. As the machine hummed, my phone buzzed on the counter. I glanced at the screen and froze for a second when I saw the name flashing there: Tito Ortiz. My godfather. I hadn’t spoken to him properly in years, not since the ugly fallout that had left a rift between us. My chest tightened as memories rushed back — sharp words spoken in anger, misunderstandings neither of us had been willing to untangle, and the cold silence that followed. With a deep breath, I answered. “Hello?”