All Chapters of Fifty Shades Of Him: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The dorm was quiet that night, too quiet for comfort, too quiet for peace. Zach sat at his desk pretending to study, eyes flicking over the same sentence again and again. Nothing stuck. The silence had a weight to it, pressing down until his chest hurt. Sudan had been distant all week, colder, sharper, every word clipped short.Ever since the argument, the tension between them had turned the air heavy. Sudan avoided eye contact, his usual calm now replaced with a stillness that felt dangerous. Zach didn’t understand it. He thought maybe Sudan just needed time but time was starting to feel like punishment. He was halfway through pretending to write when he heard the sound, footsteps. Two sets, walking through the hallway and moving past their room towards the next dorm room.The door opened, followed by laughter. A low, unfamiliar laugh.Zach froze. Sudan never brought people home. Not friends. Not anyone. He turned off his lamp, heart suddenly beating faster. Voices drifted from th

The rain started just as he realized Zach was gone. Not the kind of soft drizzle that teased the earth but a full downpour, thunder crashing against the sky like punishment. The kind of rain that demanded penance.Sudan stood in the doorway of the room, one hand braced against the frame, staring at the empty space where Zach’s sneakers used to sit. The air was thick with silence, too clean, too neat. His things were gone. His scent faint but fading.He’d thought he wanted quiet. Thought he needed space to breathe after all the noise between them. But this silence felt like drowning.He grabbed his jacket, didn’t even bother with an umbrella. The rain hit him like shards of glass as he stumbled down the street, barely able to see through the blur of water and panic.“Zach!”His voice was swallowed by thunder. He didn’t know where to go first. He checked the coffee shop near campus, the library where Zach sometimes studied when he wanted distance, even the 24-hour diner where they’d onc

And somewhere between the rain and Sudan’s warmth, Zach realized that forgiveness didn’t always come in grand gestures. Sometimes it was just this, the quiet, the closeness, the promise to try again tomorrow.When sleep finally came, he felt Sudan’s arm tighten around him. Maybe they were both still broken. Maybe they’d keep breaking. But for tonight, they were here. Together. And for the first time in a long time, that was enough.Zach woke to warmth. At first, it felt like a dream, the kind you try to chase back into when morning comes too early. But the weight beside him was real, steady. Sudan’s arm lay draped across his waist, his breath brushing the back of Zach’s neck in slow, uneven pulls.For a moment, Zach didn’t move. He just lay there, counting the rhythm of Sudan’s breathing, pretending the night could hold them forever.Then he felt Sudan shift. His fingers tightened around Zach, pulling him closer, and Zach knew he wasn’t asleep.“Zach,” Sudan whispered, his voice rough

Morning had long passed, but Sudan still couldn’t shake the thought of that kiss. It hadn’t even been a real kiss, just a brush of his lips against Zach’s cheek, yet it felt like something inside him had cracked open.He’d kissed plenty of people before. Quick, thoughtless gestures meant to feed hunger or silence someone. But this… this was different. This had meaning, and it scared the hell out of him.The rest of his morning drifted by in a blur. His professor’s voice faded into background noise, words scrawled across the board that he didn’t bother writing down. All he could think about was the way Zach had looked at him after that kiss, not surprised or angry, just warm. Like he could see through every wall Sudan had built and still chose to stay.Every few minutes, Sudan’s chest tightened as if he’d done something dangerous. Maybe he had. Maybe letting Zach that close was the biggest risk he’d ever take.He’d spent years convincing himself he didn’t need anyone. When people left,

Zach scooted closer until their thighs touched. Sudan lifted the blanket, draping it over both of them. The warmth was immediate, shared.“Better?” Zach asked.“Getting there.”They stayed like that, shoulders brushing, watching the fire burn lower. At some point, Sudan’s head found its way to Zach’s shoulder. Zach didn’t move. Didn’t breathe too loud. Just let the weight of him settle.Upstairs, the house creaked in the wind. Down here, the only sounds were the fire’s soft breathing and the occasional pop of sap.Sudan’s voice came muffled against Zach’s hoodie. “Your mom’s going to come home to a half-eaten loaf of bread and two boys who smell like woodsmoke.”“She’ll live,” Zach murmured.Sudan hummed, already half-asleep.Zach reached for the remote and killed the lamp. The room shrank to firelight and the glow of the Christmas tree in the corner.“Bed soon,” Zach said softly.“In a minute,” Sudan replied, but didn’t move.Neither did Zach.Outside, snow kept falling, silent and s