Unbroken: A Love That Defies the World – by L.J. Hart – Chapter 7: Midnight Confessions

Unbroken: A Love That Defies the World – by L.J. Hart – Chapter 7: Midnight Confessions

It was close to midnight when Ethan stirred awake. Nathan lay beside him, his chest rising and falling with soft, steady breaths. The room was dim, illuminated only by the sliver of moonlight slicing through the curtains.

Ethan traced lazy circles on Nathan’s bare chest, his thoughts tangled.

“Nathan,” he whispered softly.

Nathan blinked awake, voice husky from sleep. “Hmm?”

“Do you ever think about… what happens after?”

Nathan turned his head to face him, eyes gentle. “After what?”

“After… all of this. After school. After we leave this place.”

Nathan’s lips curled into a faint, sleepy smile. “All the time.”

Ethan swallowed hard. “What do you see?”

Nathan reached out, cradling Ethan’s cheek. “I see us in some little city where nobody gives a damn who we are. I see you smiling, not hiding. I see us falling asleep in each other’s arms every night without fear.”

The tenderness of the vision made Ethan’s throat ache. “Do you really believe we can have that?”

Nathan leaned closer, their foreheads pressing together. “I believe we have to. Because if we don’t… all of this—everything we’ve endured—what was it for?”

Ethan closed his eyes, a tear slipping free. “I want it. I want that so badly.”

“We’ll have it,” Nathan whispered fiercely. “But you have to stay strong, Ethan. Even when it feels impossible.”

Ethan’s voice trembled. “It already feels impossible.”

Nathan pulled him fully into his arms, wrapping him in warmth. “Then let me be strong for you when you can’t. We take turns, okay? That’s how this works.”

Ethan clung to him, breathing in his scent, needing the steady heartbeat beneath his ear. Nathan always made it sound so simple. But inside, Ethan still feared the storm growing closer every day.

And yet, wrapped in Nathan’s embrace, he allowed himself — if only for tonight — to believe in the future Nathan painted.

A future where love wasn’t a secret.
Where they weren’t hiding.
Where he could finally just be.

As sleep pulled him under once more, Ethan whispered into the darkness:

“I love you, Nathan.”

And he felt Nathan smile against his hair, his voice soft and full of promise.

“I love you too, Ethan. Always.”

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