CHAPTER 4

Aiden barely slept.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Raven’s silhouette under the streetlight.

Quiet. Still. Waiting.

He hated how his chest tightened at the memory.

He hated how part of him wanted to walk over last night and say something, anything.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

Not when the past still burned under his skin.

Aiden dragged himself out of bed, washed his face, and stared at his reflection.

His eyes were puffy.

His thoughts were a mess.

His heart… worse.

I can’t let him get close again, he told himself.

But the universe clearly didn’t care.

---

At the Café

By the time Aiden arrived at work, the morning rush was already starting. He took orders, made drinks, forced smiles that didn’t reach his eyes.

Everything was normal.

Until it wasn’t.

The bell above the door chimed and his heart dropped.

Not again…

But it was again.

Raven stepped inside, dressed in a dark shirt that clung to him a little too well, sleeves rolled up, revealing veined forearms Aiden wished he didn’t notice.

He walked straight to the counter.

No hesitation.

No waiting.

No pretending.

Just Raven.

Unavoidable.

Unchanged.

Too familiar.

Aiden inhaled shakily. “Raven, please. You can’t keep coming here.”

“I can,” Raven said calmly. “And I will.”

Aiden’s pulse jumped. “Why?”

Raven leaned in close enough that Aiden felt the warmth of his breath.

Close enough that Aiden had to grip the counter to stay steady.

“Because every time I look at you,” Raven murmured, “I realize how much I threw away.”

Aiden’s breath hitched.

“Don’t say things like that,” he whispered.

Raven’s gaze darkened not in anger, but emotion.

Raw, restrained, deep.

“You deserve the truth,” he said.

Aiden took a step back. “Truth? You mean the same truth you hid years ago?”

That hit hard.

Raven’s jaw tightened.

Pain flickered through his expression quick, almost invisible.

“I left to protect you,” Raven said quietly. “It wasn’t because I didn’t care.”

Aiden laughed bitterly.

“Protect me? Is that what you call vanishing without a word?”

Raven didn’t look away.

He never looked away from him.

“I was being watched,” Raven said. “Followed. Used. If I stayed near you, they would’ve gone after you next.”

Aiden froze.

His lips parted, but no words came out.

Raven continued, voice lower now almost trembling.

“I didn’t leave because I wanted to,” he said. “I left because loving you was the one weakness they could destroy me with.”

Aiden’s chest tightened painfully.

“Raven…”

He didn’t know what he meant to say.

He didn’t know what he felt.

But he remembered the nights he cried, wondering if he wasn’t enough.

He remembered standing in the rain, waiting for someone who never came.

“You should have told me,” Aiden whispered. “You should have trusted me.”

Raven stepped closer.

“I was seventeen, Aiden. Seventeen and scared of losing the only good thing in my life.”

His voice softened.

“You.”

Aiden’s breath trembled.

The café suddenly felt too small.

Too quiet.

Too warm.

Raven’s hand lifted slightly as if he wanted to touch Aiden’s cheek but wasn’t sure he had the right.

“Aiden…” he murmured.

Aiden’s heart raced.

Faster.

Hotter.

But before anything could happen,

The café door opened, and a customer walked in.

Aiden jolted and stepped back.

The moment shattered.

Raven exhaled slowly, eyes burning.

“This isn’t over,” he said softly.

Aiden hated how his body reacted.

Hated how his chest tightened.

Hated how a part of him wanted Raven to say more.

He whispered, barely audible:

“Raven… I don’t know if I can handle you coming back into my life.”

Raven’s expression softened into something dangerous something real.

“Then let me prove you can,” he murmured.

And with one last look, a look that left Aiden trembling, Raven turned and walked away.

Aiden gripped the counter, his knees weak.

Because for the first time in years…

The truth didn’t hurt as much as he expected.

It scared him more.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***