VELVET CHAINS REVIVE

The studio was silent.

Morning light crept in through the high windows, catching on the dust that danced in the air. The scent of old thread, paint, and velvet lingered. It should've felt like home.

It didn't.

Ayden stood at the worktable, fingers twitching, sketchpad open but untouched.

He hadn't slept. Not really. A few hours on the couch. Dreams filled with static and empty stages.

Behind him, the door creaked.

Footsteps.

He didn't turn.

"You came early," he murmured.

Luca didn't answer at first. The silence stretched between them like fabric pulled too tight.

"I couldn't sleep either," Luca said finally, voice hoarse. "Didn't want to leave it like that."

Ayden slowly turned, arms crossed.

Luca looked like hell. Tousled curls. Hoodie wrinkled. Eyes rimmed in sleepless red.

But Ayden knew he didn't look much better.

"You're mad," Luca said. "Say it."

"I'm not mad," Ayden said evenly. "I'm—"

"Don't lie to me, Ayden."

Ayden slammed his palm on the table, loud and sudden.

"I'm not mad!" he snapped. "I'm scared!"

That stopped everything.

Luca froze.

"I'm scared," Ayden repeated, quieter. "Because this was the one thing we weren't supposed to mess up. Us. And now it feels like I don't know where you end and I begin. And the world's pulling at us like we're a headline, not people."

"I didn't mean to say it like that," Luca whispered. "I was joking. Nervous. I thought they'd get it."

"I know you didn't mean it," Ayden said, voice sharp. "But it still hurt. And then I hated myself for being the kind of person who cares what a stranger on the internet says about the person I love."

Luca blinked.

"You love me?"

The words dropped like pins.

Ayden inhaled slowly, eyes glassy but defiant.

"Yes," he said. "I love you. I think I've loved you since you drew a heart in chalk on my fabric board the second week of class."

Luca's voice broke. "You yelled at me for that."

"I wanted to kiss you for it."

They stood in silence.

The pain didn't vanish.

But the air changed.

Luca took a step forward.

"Then tell me where we go from here," he said. "Because I'm not going to be perfect. And you're not going to stop being complicated. But I want this. I want you."

Ayden looked up, something cracking in his chest.

"We stop pretending we have to be perfect," he whispered. "We let ourselves be messy. Loud. Human."

Luca reached for his hand.

Ayden let him.

"Does that mean you'll let me apologize with my mouth tonight?" Luca teased softly.

Ayden rolled his eyes.

But he didn't say no.

Later, as they sat side-by-side on the studio floor, surrounded by loose pins and crumpled fabric, Luca leaned into Ayden's shoulder.

"Glass and flame," he said quietly.

"What?"

"That's what we are. Fragile, volatile, and impossible to ignore."

Ayden smiled. "Yeah. And somehow still holding together."