Adrian exhaled, his words trembling. “My broken heart, Logan, taught me the most. It taught me what wonders you could bring into my life. It taught me how to exist without you, even though every part of me didn’t want to. And those broken pieces, they’re what sent me to find you, to fight for you. Because my heart… it needs you. It’s always needed you. No matter how much it hurt, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not one moment. And I hated myself for saying I would. The only thing I’d do differently is hold you tighter that night. Make it last longer. Never sleep. Just talk to you until morning, because I should have known how much you were struggling.”
A painful knot formed in his chest at Adrian’s words. “Adrian,” he whispered, his voice raw. “How could you have known? Don’t blameyourself for something you couldn’t possibly have understood. I wouldn’t change a thing, either. I just wish I’d woken you up that morning and told you everything. You would’ve understood. You always did.” He pulled Adrian into another hug, holding him close, as if trying to shield him from all the pain of the past.
Logan wanted to kiss him now—needed to—but he stopped himself again. Not yet. Adrian deserved stability, not impulsiveness, and Logan’s priority was keeping him alive. He pulled back, letting himself take in Adrian’s face, every detail burned into his memory.
“We have to start,” Logan said with a smile that could melt iron, brushing a strand of Adrian’s hair behind his ear and jumping to his feet. “Let’s start by calling your doctors and setting an appointment? There’s no time to waste. We might need to fly for treatment if there are better programs but—”
Adrian flinched, shoulders tensing, the color draining from his face. “Logan, slow down,” he said, standing. “What do you mean, fly? This is Israel. The health care here is good—better than good—and it’s free. I can’t—”
“I’m not saying we have to,” Logan broke in, voice taut as wire, “but we have to be ready. If there’s a better program somewhere else, I want you to have it. I can’t read the language here, Ad. I can’t argue with doctors if I don’t understand them, and if you fall through some crack because I couldn’t fight for you, I’d never forgive myself.”
Adrian’s jaw clenched. “And if my doctors tell me the best chance is here?”
“Then we stay,” he said. “No matter what. But if there’sanywherethat can give you more, we’ll go.”
Adrian hesitated, folding his arms across his chest and taking a step back. “Lo… I don’t have the money for this. You’re talking about flying, hospitals, treatments… I… Ican’tafford it.”
“Ad, I know,” Logan said gently, stepping toward him. “It’s okay.”
Adrian dropped his gaze, his voice quieter as color tinted his cheeks. “I don’t think you do. I don’t own a car. I live with a roommate. I don’t have a steady job.” He trailed off, his embarrassment palpable.
He had been living simply, scraping by on savings and support, because he hadn’t seen a future worth planning for. He had been preparing to say goodbye. He always thought: just eleven more months, just eight more months, just six more months…counting down the moment and trying to live in the little time he’d left.
“I know,” Logan repeated, taking Adrian’s hand and leading him back to the couch. “And it doesn’t matter. It’s all on me. Every single bit of it. It’s not even a question.”
Adrian frowned, conflicted as they sat down. “I don’t like it. I agreed to the treatments, but I didn’t think it would mean leaving here and—”
“Ad,” Logan interrupted gently, intertwining their fingers. “This is the best way to save you. Please, don’t worry about the money. I’ve got it. All I want is for you to fight. Let me take care of the rest.”
Adrian stared at Logan for a moment, his heart aching at the determination and love in Logan’s eyes. Finally, he nodded, though the hesitation in his eyes was clear. Logan saw it and reached out, gripping his hands tightly. “Ad, please,” he said softly, yet his voice was steady. “It’s just money. You hold my life in your hands now,thatis what matters. Not a few pieces of paper. You’re worth so much more than any of it.”
Adrian’s gaze dropped, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s… too much.” He wasn’t referring to the money, but to everything—Logan showing up, the whirlwind of changes, the chaos he’d brought into his carefully constructed resignation.
Logan bent slightly to meet Adrian’s eyes, his voice firm but filled with warmth. “It’s far from too much. I know it’s scary, but we’re in this together. Wearetogether in this.”
Adrian’s lips curved into the faintest of smiles, a fragile thing, yet real. “I like the way that sounds,” he murmured.
“So do I,” Logan replied, his own smile radiant and genuine, lighting up his face. “So, why don’t you start by calling your doctor and setting an appointment for as soon as possible?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
“And then maybe we’ll grab something to eat?” Logan blurted, voice tripping over itself, caught between hope and fear. He took Adrian’s hand gently, grounding himself in the familiar warmth of that skin. “If… if you’d like, of course. Or, if you’d rather rest, I can head back, I mean—”
Adrian shook his head. “Do you want to maybe order in or get take-away?” Adrian asked in a calm, tentative voice.
Logan exhaled, relief flooding him, softening the tension in his shoulders. “Sure,” he nodded. “So, do you want to go make that call, and I’ll grab something to eat? I also need to get some ointment for the new tattoo.”
“Or…” Adrian put one hand on Logan’s cheek. “Or you could stay with me while I make the call. Then we can go together. Pick something up, stop by the pharmacy, come home…just…do it together?”
Logan felt tears welling up before he could stop them, the relief and the ache crashing into him all at once. “That,” he whispered, pressing his lips to Adrian’s knuckles, “sounds perfect.”
Adrian got up from the couch and walked toward the bedroom to grab his phone. As he reached the nightstand, he spotted the device and stretched for it, but before he could reach it, Logan’s voice called out softly from behind him.
“Adrian.”
He paused and turned around, and the next moment Logan was hugging him so tightly it almost made him lose his breath.
“You’re going to be okay,” Logan declared, his voice brimming with certainty. He wrapped Adrian in a hug, his arms tightening around him as if anchoring him to the world. Logan buried his face in Adrian’s shoulder, breathing him in, and Adrian felt his heart stutter in his chest.
