LOGINLeander POV I wake up like I have been thrown back into my body, no slow rise, no soft shift from sleep to awareness. One second, there is nothing, and the next, there is pain. Sharp, hot, and alive.My hand flies to my chest before I even understand what is happening. My breath comes out rough and uneven, like I have been running, but I have not moved. I am in my bed, in my room, in the dark. The clock beside me reads 3:07 AM, and the world is quiet, but my body is not.The burning spreads from my shoulder, deep, under the skin, like something pressing outward and demanding to be felt. It is not an injury, not something physical. I grit my teeth as the word comes before I can stop it.The bond.I sit up slowly, my back pressing against the headboard. My chest rises and falls too fast, and the room feels too still, like it is watching me. This has happened before, but not like this, not this strong. Usually, it is a pull, a quiet awareness, something subtle I can ignore if I try har
Avelin POVThe apartment feels smaller when he is here.It is not the walls, not the furniture, nothing has changed. But when Leander stands in my kitchen, broad shoulders filling the narrow space, his presence quiet but heavy, the air shifts. It grows warm and full and too full.I keep my hands busy because if I stop, I will feel everything at once."Cut it thinner," I say, pointing at the carrots on the board. My voice comes out steadier than I expect. "They cook faster that way."Leander glances down at the knife, then back at me. "I know how to cut vegetables," he says, without arrogance, just calm certainty.Still, I cross my arms. "You're cutting them unevenly."A pause, and then he adjusts, just like that. The slices become even, clean, and precise.My breath catches before I can stop it, because that is how Shen used to do it.I turn away quickly, reach for the pan, and pretend I need to check the oil. The sound of the knife against the board continues behind me, steady, cont
Leander POVI should have left after dinner. That would have been the logical choice, clean, simple, safe. Instead, I am sitting on Avelin's couch while a children's program plays softly in the background, colors shifting across the small television screen. The volume is low, almost unnecessary, just enough to fill the silence that might otherwise grow too loud between us.Avelin sits on the opposite end. Not far, but not close enough either. There is space between us, careful space, measured space, the kind that feels intentional even if neither of us says it out loud.I rest my arms loosely on my knees, leaning forward slightly, watching the screen without really seeing it. "This is his favorite show?" I ask. Avelin nods. "He won't sleep without it," he says quietly. I glance toward the hallway. "He's already asleep." "For now," Avelin replies. "He usually wakes once." I file that away automatically, another detail, another thing I should not be remembering.We sit like that for
Avelin POVDinner was not part of the plan. It never is with him. Leander is supposed to come for the visit and spend time with Shen. Then he is supposed to leave before the sky turns dark. That is the rhythm we built. That is the boundary I told myself I could survive.But tonight Shen fell asleep early. He fell asleep too early. One moment, he was talking about the park and a dog he saw. He talked about how Papa runs slower than him while looking completely serious. The next moment, his words softened and slowed and stopped entirely.I carried him to bed, and Leander followed quietly. We both stood there for a moment while watching Shen breathe. He looked slow, peaceful, and safe. Leander reached out without thinking and pulled the blanket higher over Shen's shoulder. His fingers lingered a second longer than necessary as he smoothed the fabric. That small and careful touch hit me harder than anything else because Shen used to do that. He did it always. He did it every night.I turn
Leander POVThe first Saturday doesn't feel like a routine. It feels like a test.I arrive earlier than I need to. I tell myself it's because I value punctuality. After all, I don't like wasting time, because schedules matter, but none of those reasons explain why I'm standing outside Avelin's house, staring at the door like something inside me is hesitating.It's a small house. Quiet. Nothing like the places I'm used to. No guards, no cameras, no distance. Just a door. Just a life I don't remember, but somehow cannot ignore.I lift my hand and knock.The door opens quickly. Avelin stands there like he's been waiting. His eyes meet mine, and for a second, something shifts in the air between us , not tension, not discomfort. Something deeper and unfinished."Good morning," he says softly."Good morning."We both pause. Neither of us moves.Then… "PAPA!"A small body slams into my legs. I look down instinctively. Baby Shen is clinging to me like he belongs there, like this is normal, e
Avelin POVThe building feels different at night. A certain weight settles over the quiet. During the day, everything presses in: voices, footsteps, whispers, glances that linger too long. But now the world has stepped back just enough for me to breathe.I stand outside his office door longer than I should, hand hovering.I don't know why I'm nervous. I've stood in front of him before. Talked to him, argued with him, cried in his presence. But this feels different because today he chose me. Not quietly, not privately, not in half-measures. He said it to the world.My husband.Those words haven't stopped echoing in my head since I read them. My chest tightens just thinking about it. I close my eyes, steady myself, and knock. Once. Soft.A pause. Footsteps. Then the door opens, and there he is.Leander, not behind a desk or across a room, but right in front of me. Close enough that I can see the details, I try not to look at them too long because they hurt. The familiar line of his jaw.
Aveliin POVMorning should have felt lighter after the storm, but it didn’t. The sky had cleared, yet the air still carried the weight of what had just passed. Dampness clung to everything: the porch, the railings, the stones in the yard, residual evidence of the rain that refused to leave. Inside
Shen POVThe silence stretched between us, warm and fragile beneath the stars.“You’re very certain about things for someone who knows almost nothing about me.”A faint smile touched his lips. “I told you…I know the things that matter.”We sat there on the steps, the cold creeping in slowly as neit
Avelin POVI found him on the floor at three in the morning. Not collapsed, not injured, just sitting with his back pressed against the wall beneath the window. His knees were drawn to his chest, and his forehead rested against them. I could see the tremors shaking through his body from the doorway
Avelin POV That night, I don’t sleep. Not really. I stay close to him, one arm around his body, my hand resting over his chest, feeling his heartbeat, too fast, even in sleep. Even when he’s still. It’s as if his body senses something his mind has not yet caught up to. He begins muttering, initia







