"I know the timing's shit.I know you just ended things with him and you're dealing with the kids and the last thing you need is me complicating things further."He sets down the screwdriver and looks at me directly."But I can't pretend anymore.I can't pretend I don't feel what I feel when you're around."
"What do you feel?"
"Like I've been holding my breath for years and I can finally breathe again."
The honesty in his voice makes my chest tight with longing.Because I know exactly what he means.Being around him feels like coming home, like finding a piece of myself I didn't know was missing.
"The kids..."
"Are asleep.And this conversation is between us."
He's right.Whatever this is, whatever we're dancing around, it's separate from our responsibilities to the children.It's about us, about the connection that's been simmering beneath the surface for years.
"I was engaged to someone else," I say weakly.
"Were.Past tense, and we both know that engagement was a mistake long before you figured it out."
"How could you possibly know that?"
"Because I watched you at every family gathering for two years.Watched you smile when you were supposed to smile, laugh when you were supposed to laugh, play the part of the perfect fiancée.But you never looked happy.Never looked like yourself."
"And how would you know what I look like when I'm myself?"
"Because you're being yourself right now.With the kids, in this house, even when you're fighting with that asshole.You're more alive than I've ever seen you."
He's right, and the knowledge of it scares me.Because being myself around Hades means acknowledging feelings I've been running from for years.
"This is complicated," I say.
"Everything worth having is complicated."
"The kids need stability.They can't handle more upheaval in their lives."
"Who says there'd be upheaval?I'm not going anywhere, Angel.With or without this thing between us, I'm here for them.For you."
The promise settles something anxious in my chest.Whatever happens between us personally, he's committed to this makeshift family we're building.
"I need time," I say finally."To figure out what I want, what's best for everyone."
"Take all the time you need.I'm not going anywhere."
But even as he says it, even as he goes back to assembling the bookshelf like we didn't just have a conversation that changed everything between us, I can feel the pull.The gravity that's been drawing us together for years, finally strong enough to be acknowledged.
Later, after he's gone to his own room and I'm alone in the guest room he's set up for me, I find myself going through a box of old photos from Marcus and Calla's house.Family barbecues, birthday parties, holiday gatherings spanning the past five years.
And in almost every picture where Hades and I are in the same frame, we're looking at each other.
Not at the camera, not at the people around us, but at each other.Like the rest of the world disappeared whenever we were in the same room.
The evidence of our attraction is right there in glossy four-by-six form, undeniable and obvious to anyone who cares to look.
How did I not see it before?How did I convince myself that what I felt for him was just harmless attraction, that what I had with Ethan was real love?
I pick up one photo in particular, from Calla's birthday party last year.Hades is laughing at something I'm saying, his face more open and relaxed than I've ever seen it.And I'm looking at him like he's the most fascinating person in the world.
Like I’d already fallen halfway without noticing, and the rest of me just caught up.
The realization hits me like a physical blow, because it's true.I've been in love with Hades for years, and I was too scared, too committed to the safe path, too worried about what people would think to acknowledge it.
