All Chapters of Betrayal Between the vows : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Lucas didn’t expect the silence to feel louder than words ever could.It had been two days since the charity event, and the distance between them hadn’t shrunk—if anything, it had stretched wider. Elias moved through the penthouse like a guest, polite, careful, always just out of reach. He’d stopped trying to force conversations, and Lucas… he had stopped waiting for one.Still, it hurt. In quiet, subtle ways. Like when Elias would walk into the room and pause like he was trying to remember if he belonged there. Or when their eyes would meet across the kitchen island and both would look away too fast.Lucas had started keeping a journal again. Just scribbles, unfinished thoughts. He hadn’t written like this in years. The last time he did, Elias was asleep next to him, arm across his waist, the world outside irrelevant.He missed that version of them. The soft, unspoken kind of love.This morning, the sky was clear for once. Sunlight filtered into the apartment, casting golden patches

Lucas wasn’t expecting anyone. Not tonight. Not after the week they’d had.He was halfway through folding laundry yes, actual laundry on Elias’s pristine designer couch when the knock came. Sharp. Quick. Like whoever it was didn’t care that it was nearly midnight.He froze. For half a second, he hoped he imagined it.Another knock. Louder this time.He tossed the T-shirt onto the pile and walked to the door, barefoot, heart picking up speed with each step.Elias had gone to bed early. Said his head was killing him. Lucas hadn’t argued. He looked pale again—too pale.The knocking turned to pounding.Lucas opened it, ready to snap.But the words got stuck in his throat.“Jesse?”His best friend stood there, soaked to the bone, mascara smudged, eyes wild. She didn’t say anything at first. Just looked at him like he was something between a ghost and a disaster.“I didn’t know where else to go,” she said finally. “You weren’t answering.”Lucas blinked. “I didn’t know you were calling. My p

Lucas sat on the couch, a throw blanket draped over his legs, TV on mute, flickering light casting shadows on his face. He wasn’t really watching. Just needed something anything that didn’t feel like his thoughts. The silence lately had been louder than anything Elias ever said. The storm outside had passed, but the city still looked soaked in grief. Water streaked down the tall glass windows, and even the skyline felt distant. Cold. Elias was in the other room, door half-shut like always. Not closed enough to feel final, but not open enough to feel inviting either. That space between them it wasn’t physical. It was history, memory, pain… and something new neither of them knew how to name yet. Lucas hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the couch, but when he woke, the sky was darker, and Elias stood in front of him holding a folded blanket and a steaming mug of tea. “You always slept cold,” Elias said, voice low, almost unsure of itself. Lucas sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes. “I di

Lucas didn’t remember falling asleep. But when he opened his eyes, the room was still dark, the kind of dark that comes just before dawn. Quiet. Still. Safe.Elias was beside him.Not touching, not crowding him just there. Breathing softly. His face turned slightly toward Lucas like he was listening in his sleep.Lucas stayed still.Part of him wanted to move. To get up. To break the silence before it started feeling like something he needed. But another part the tired, aching part just wanted to let the moment be.This waking up next to Elias again it felt like old times and not. It wasn’t the same, but it wasn’t nothing either.Eventually, Elias stirred. His eyes blinked open, confused at first. Then they found Lucas. And something softened.“Did I talk in my sleep?” Elias whispered.Lucas gave a small smile. “No. You were quiet.”“I had a dream again,” Elias said, voice raspy. “We were walking on a beach. You were laughing. I couldn’t hear what you were saying, but it made me laugh

Elias didn’t sleep much that night. Not because of nightmares or noise but because of the way Lucas had kissed him. He lay in bed, eyes open, one arm folded behind his head, still feeling the warmth of Lucas’s lips. It wasn’t like the first kiss they’d ever shared. It wasn’t wild or full of fireworks. It was quiet. Steady. Honest. And somehow, that scared him more. Because something in him… remembered. Not the full picture. But how it felt to love this man. How it felt to be loved by him. The next morning, he found Lucas already awake, sitting on the balcony, legs crossed, coffee cup in hand. Hair messy from sleep. No makeup. No rehearsed smile. Just Lucas. Real and raw and beautiful. Elias stood at the door for a second, watching him. He didn’t even realize he was smiling until Lucas looked over. “Morning,” Lucas said softly. “Hey,” Elias replied. “You always wake up before the sun?” Lucas shrugged. “Some days, yeah. I like the quiet before everything starts.” Elias stepp