Eli's POV
It was raining again.
The type of rain that blurred the city into watercolor. Eli sat by the window of their favorite café, two mugs of hot chocolate in front of him—one untouched.
He hated how used to waiting he'd become.
Riven was late. Again.
The rain slid down the glass like a timeline of all the moments Eli had swallowed his hurt in silence.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then, finally—the doorbell jingled.
Riven.
Soaked, slightly out of breath, in a black hoodie with his hair clinging to his forehead. His eyes immediately searched for Eli, and the second their gazes met, guilt clouded his expression.
Eli offered a small, tired smile.
"I ordered your favorite," he said softly, pushing the mug toward him.
Riven didn't sit right away. He stood there for a beat, as if unsure he still deserved the space across from Eli.
"I'm sorry," Riven murmured as he sat down. "My father—he—things got out of hand."
Eli stirred his drink slowly. "You don't have to explain. Not if it hurts you."
"But I want to," Riven said. "You deserve to know."
And for once… he meant it.
---
Riven's POV
Riven hated vulnerability.
He was raised to believe that showing emotion was a weakness. That appearances were everything. That silence was safer than truth.
But Eli's silence now—this quiet, heavy kind—was unbearable.
"My father found a picture," he said. "Of us. On your rooftop. He said… things I don't want to repeat."
Eli didn't look shocked. Just… resigned.
"I figured," he whispered. "That's why you've been pulling away."
"I didn't mean to," Riven said. "I'm trying so hard to be brave, Eli. But some days… it feels like I'm two people. The one I am with you. And the one I have to be for him."
Eli finally met his eyes. "And which one are you right now?"
Riven blinked. Swallowed hard.
"I don't know," he confessed.
---
Eli's POV
That answer hurt more than it should've.
Because Eli had already chosen.
He had chosen Riven.
In every sketch. In every dream. In every lonely moment when he could've walked away—but didn't.
He didn't say all of that.
He just reached across the table and gently took Riven's hand.
"It's okay," he said. "You don't have to be ready. But I can't keep standing at the edge waiting for you to jump with me."
Silence.
Then:
"I want to jump," Riven said hoarsely. "But what if I fall first?"
Eli gave a bittersweet smile. "Then I'll catch you."
---
That Night
They didn't say goodbye.
Riven walked Eli home in the rain, umbrella forgotten, hands occasionally brushing but never holding.
The silence between them had changed.
It wasn't full of fear anymore. It was full of choice.
A fragile, trembling choice.
When they reached the door, Eli looked up at Riven.
"I don't need promises," he said quietly. "I just need honesty."
And Riven nodded.
"I can't give you forever," he whispered, voice breaking.
Eli smiled. "Then give me today."
And in the hush of the rain, they kissed.
Not like a beginning.
Not like an end.
But like something in between.
Something real.
---
Bonus Chapter: The Letter I Never Sent
Riven's POV
> Dear Eli,
You'll never see this. Or maybe one day, I'll find the courage to hand it to you. But tonight, I need to write it—if only to make sense of the ache I carry every time I look at you.
The truth is… you scare me.
Not because you're loud. You're not. You're quiet in that kind of way that feels like music when the world forgets how to sing. You walk like you don't want to be seen, and love like you don't believe anyone would stay.
I see you. I always have.
But when I see you, I also see everything I've never allowed myself to want. Softness. Freedom. A future not chosen by my family, but by my heart.
With you, I feel like I could be that version of myself.
The one that laughs at 2AM. The one that paints memories in stolen glances. The one that doesn't have to wear armor just to feel safe.
But I don't know how to be that person without hurting the one I've been forced to be.
I'm afraid.
Afraid I'll disappoint you.
Afraid I'll stay too long in your light and forget how to live in the shadows again.
Afraid that loving you might make me lose everything else I've built.
And yet…
I keep choosing you. In every silence. In every text I type and delete. In every time I show up late and hate myself for it.
I choose you even when I don't say it.
Even when I shouldn't.
Eli… if someday I learn how to stay—
Know that it's because you waited for me.
Not with pressure. Not with pain.
But with quiet belief that I could become something more than broken.
And if I can't be that person...
Then I hope someone else finds you.
Someone braver.
Someone who won't need a letter they'll never send.
—
R
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