Lily had been sitting by himself, lost in his thoughts. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus. His mind kept drifting back to Ezekiel, to last night, to the way everything had changed.
He tried calling his friend Zerachariah again and again.
No answer.
The silence made the ache in his chest even worse.
Then his uncle called him.
"The boss forgot his glasses in the conference room," he said. "He needs them tonight. Go and take them to him."
Lily hesitated. He didn't want to go. He couldn't explain it, but just the thought of seeing Ezekiel made his heart feel too heavy.
Still, he nodded. "Okay."
The hallway was quiet when he reached the room. He knocked.
No response.
Slowly, he opened the door.
Inside, Ezekiel was there — not looking like himself at all. He seemed distant, restless, as if something inside him was tearing him apart.
Lily placed the glasses on the table.
"I just came to drop these off," he said softly.
He turned to leave.
Then Ezekiel spoke.
"Why… why can't I forget you?"
Lily froze.
"Every time I think about you, it hurts more," Ezekiel said, his voice shaking. "Do you think it's easy?"
His hands trembled.
"What's wrong with me?" Ezekiel whispered.
The air in the room felt heavy.
Lily stepped back, tears filling his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Ezekiel moved closer, caught in emotions he couldn't control.
Lily's breath shook.
"I miss you… I'm not done yet… I'll be careful…"
Something in Ezekiel finally cracked — and he stopped himself, realizing how close he had come to crossing a line that could never be undone.
Both of them were trembling.
This was the beginning of the pain.
The beginning of something that would change everything.
Jeremy was in his room, standing in front of the picture of Lucas on his wall. He was confessing everything to it, pouring his heart out like the picture was listening.
"Why can't you notice me?" he whispered.
"Why is it so hard for you to talk to me? Am I not enough? Why can't you love me?"
All the pain Jeremy had been carrying inside him spilled out into the quiet room. He kept speaking to Lucas's picture, letting out everything he had never been brave enough to say.
Outside, Lucas was walking past the door.
Something about it caught his attention — the way it was slightly open, the sound of Jeremy's voice. Out of concern for his brother, he gently pushed it open.
And he heard everything.
Every word.
Lucas froze, his heart pounding. He had never seen Jeremy like this — the depth of emotion in his voice, the way he looked so desperate and broken. It frightened him.
He slowly tried to back away.
But Jeremy noticed him.
"Wait," he said, turning around. He moved quickly and pulled Lucas back into the room.
"I know you're trying to leave," he said, "but don't go."
Lucas shook his head.
"Jeremy, stop. You're not okay. You've been drinking."
That was when Lucas truly understood — Jeremy wasn't in his right state of mind.
Lucas tried to step away.
Something happened between them — something heavy and painful that neither of them was prepared for.
Jeremy suddenly broke down, tears streaming down his face.
"I won't forgive you," he cried. "You can't hurt me like this."
But even through the pain, something else burned in his eyes — something he couldn't control.
Desire.
And it was stronger than the hurt he felt for Lucas in that moment.
That was the point where everything changed.
The house was still.
Too still.
It was the kind of silence that didn't mean peace — only that something had broken quietly, somewhere no one could see.
Lily lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Ezekiel's arms had once felt like safety, like warmth he had never known before. But now, every memory of that closeness made his chest tighten. Love and fear had tangled together inside him, and he no longer knew where one ended and the other began.
He wanted Ezekiel.
And he was afraid of him.
Across the mansion, Lucas sat alone in his room, the door locked. The weight of what he had overheard in Jeremy's voice — the longing, the desperation — pressed against his heart. The person he trusted most had become someone he could not understand.
He hated being trapped.
And now, he was.
Jeremy stood on the other side of that door, knowing he had ruined everything. Love had turned into something ugly in his hands. He told himself he would give Lucas space, that he would do better — but the truth was cruel:
He had already lost him.
And then there was Ezekiel.
Standing by the window, he watched the lights of the house glow softly in the dark. Lily had brought him something he had not felt in years — peace. But peace had slowly begun to turn into something sharper, something that wanted more than it should.
He did not mean to want Lily so badly.
But he did.
Four hearts.
One house.
All broken in different ways.
Love had touched them all — not gently, not kindly — but like a wound that refused to close.
And as the night deepened, one truth became clear:
What had begun as comfort was becoming something dangerous.
Something no one would be able to walk away from.