CHAPTER 39: THE COLDER THE FALL THAT FOLLOWS

The theater lights flickered on, harsh and sudden after two hours of soft, cinematic glow. Cassian blinked, disoriented, like he’d been pulled out of a dream he didn’t want to leave.

He yanked his hands back from Leonel and Aiden like they’d burned him, cheeks flaming. On screen, the credits rolled some sappy piano melody still playing but all he could hear was his own heartbeat, loud and unsteady in his ears.

Aiden stretched with an exaggerated groan, arms over his head. "So," he said, grinning sideways at Cassian, "robot shark next time, or should we go full rom-com and ugly-cry together?"

Cassian ducked his head, but a small smile tugged at his lips. "As long as you don’t steal my popcorn again."

"Never," Aiden said solemnly, hand over his heart. "I merely... redistributed the snacks for optimal enjoyment."

Leonel just watched them, arms crossed, but there was a softness in his eyes Cassian hadn’t seen before not possessive, not intense, just... warm. Like he was happy to be here. Happy to be with them .

They filed out of the theater into the cool evening air, the city humming around them. No one said much. Just walked side by side down the sidewalk, shoulders occasionally brushing, the silence comfortable in a way it hadn’t been in weeks.

At the bus stop, they leaned against the shelter, waiting. Aiden scrolled through his phone, but his foot tapped rhythmically against Cassian’s sneaker just a light, steady contact, like he needed to remind himself Cassian was there.

Leonel stood a little closer than usual, his presence solid and quiet beside Cassian, like a wall between him and the rest of the world.

When the bus finally rumbled up, it was nearly empty. They took the same seats as before Cassian in the middle, Leonel by the window, Aiden on the aisle. But this time, no one reached for his hands. No one pressed close. They just... existed together, in the quiet space between everything else.

After a while, Cassian spoke, voice low. "I... I really liked today."

Aiden glanced at him. "The movie?"

"No," Cassian said, looking down at his lap. "Just... being with you guys. Like this. No drama. No overthinking. Just... fun."

Leonel turned his head, studying him. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Me too."

Aiden nudged Cassian’s shoulder with his own. "We should do it more often."

Cassian smiled a real one, small but bright. "Yeah. We should."

The rest of the ride passed in easy silence. When they got off near their apartment complex, the streetlights cast long, golden shadows across the pavement. Crickets chirped in the bushes. Somewhere, a dog barked.

They walked up the path to their building, the three of them falling into step like they’d done it a thousand times.

At the front door, Cassian turned. "Thanks, guys. For... everything."

Leonel’s gaze softened. He took half a step closer, hand lifting like he wanted to touch Cassian’s face brush his hair back, cup his jaw, something. Cassian held his breath.

Behind him, Aiden shifted, warmth radiating against his back like an anchor.

For one suspended heartbeat, the world narrowed to this: two people who made him feel safe, standing so close he could lean into either of them and be caught.

But then Leonel dropped his hand. Aiden stepped back.

"Get some rest," Leonel said, voice rough.

"Yeah," Aiden added, softer. "You earned it."

They turned and headed inside without another word Leonel to his room, Aiden to the kitchen for water leaving Cassian alone on the doorstep.

Not because they didn’t care.

But because they cared *too much* to push.

Cassian let out a slow breath and went to his room, the warmth of the day still clinging to his skin like sunlight.

He changed into sleep shorts, brushed his teeth, climbed into bed. But sleep wouldn’t come. His mind kept replaying it all the fight in the classroom, the crowded bus, the way their hands had felt in his during the movie, the quiet walk home.

For the first time in forever, he hadn’t felt like a burden.

He’d just felt... wanted.

Not as a villain. Not as a plot device.

Just as Cassian.

He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, a small, tired smile on his face.

His phone buzzed against the nightstand, sharp in the quiet dark.

Cassian reached for it automatically, expecting Aiden’s dumb meme or maybe Leonel checking in. But the name that lit up the screen made his stomach drop.

Lucian.

He hadn’t saved the number but he knew it by heart. Too many late-night taunts, too many smug "goodnight, bunny" texts He’d never blocked it. Part of him had always been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Now it was here.

His thumb hovered over the notification. He almost didn’t open it. Almost powered the phone off and buried it under his pillow like he had that night in the library.

But he tapped it.

Lucian: You looked happy today. Like you finally belong.

Below it, a photo.

Cassian’s breath caught in his throat.

It wasn’t from the theater. It was from outside their apartment taken just minutes ago, from across the street. The angle was slightly elevated, like Lucian had been standing on the low brick wall near the bus stop, phone raised, watching them like a predator studying prey.

The streetlight cast a golden halo around the three of them. Cassian stood in the center, head tilted back mid-laugh, eyes crinkled with a joy so rare it felt foreign. Leonel was on his left, hand hovering near his shoulder not quite touching, but close enough that anyone could see the intent. Aiden had his arm loosely slung around Cassian’s waist, pulling him in like it was the most natural thing in the world.

They looked... whole.

Like they fit.

And in the bottom right corner, Lucian had added a line in crisp, mocking script white text against the night sky:

Found your family, bunny?"

Cassian’s blood turned to ice.

He knew that nickname.

Knew the way Lucian used it sweet on the surface, venom underneath.

Knew that smile he must’ve been wearing when he took the shot, when he typed those words, when he hit send.

Lucian hadn’t just been watching from afar.

He’d been close. Close enough to hear them laugh. Close enough to see the way Leonel’s eyes softened when Cassian smiled. Close enough to notice how Aiden’s fingers curled into Cassian’s shirt like he was afraid he’d vanish.

And now he had proof not just of affection, but of trust. Of belonging.

Cassian’s hands trembled as he stared at the image this perfect, fragile moment twisted into evidence. Into leverage. Into a threat wrapped in a photograph.

Because Lucian didn’t see love.

He saw a crack in the armor.

A vulnerability he could exploit.

Just like he saw in the drama he always see how to destroy them rather then how to keep them alive

Cassian locked his phone and pressed it hard against his chest, as if he could smother the panic rising in his ribs. Outside, the night was still no wind, no cars, just the distant hum of the city breathing.

But inside, everything felt like it was tilting.

The warmth from the movie, the bus ride, the walk home it was all gone. Washed away by a single message from a man who thrived on breaking things that dared to be happy.

Cassian sat up slowly, the sheets pooling around his waist. His first instinct was to delete the message to erase the proof, pretend it never happened. But his thumb hovered over the screen, frozen.

What if Lucian sent it again? What if he posted it somewhere? What if he showed it to them to Leonel and Aiden with some twisted caption like "Look how easily he plays you both"?

The thought made his chest ache.

He glanced at his bedroom door slightly ajar, just like always. Down the hall, soft light spilled from under Leonel’s door. Aiden’s room was dark, but Cassian knew he wasn’t asleep. He never was this early.

For a wild, desperate second, he wanted to run to one of them. Show them the photo. Say, "He’s watching. He knows. What do we do?"

But he stopped himself.

Because what if they looked at the photo and saw something he didn’t? What if they realized how *much* he leaned on them how he’d let himself be held, touched, wanted and decided it was too much? That he was too messy, too greedy for their attention?

He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them, breathing hard.

Outside, a car passed. The streetlight flickered.

His phone buzzed again.

He flinched.

Another message from Lucian.

Lucian: Don’t worry, bunny. I won’t tell them... yet. But Saturday’s party? You’ll want to be careful who you smile at. Some bonds break faster than you think.

Cassian’s throat tightened.

Saturday. The rooftop party. Jace would be there. Rayan. Half the drama department. And now Lucian armed with this photo, this knowledge, this power.

He turned off his phone completely this time, tossing it onto the nightstand like it was burning his hands.

But the image was already burned into his mind: the three of them, laughing under the light, unaware they were being watched.

Unaware their happiness had just become a weapon.

He closed his eyes remembering his past from the orignal world he was from

When you get too happy with someone, it’s like daring the universe to notice. The higher you rise in that warmth, the colder the fall that follows.