Episode Eighteen:The World Didn't End(And Neither Did We)
392 Words
The city didn’t stop moving.
Buses still hissed at curbs.
Coffee shops still opened at dawn.
The river still sliced the skyline in cold steel gray.
Nothing had changed.
And yet for Ethan—
everything had.
He woke up wrapped around Jace’s body, their legs tangled, skin warm and sticky from the night before.
Jace’s breath whispered across his collarbone.
Their heartbeat synced under the thin bedsheet.
Ethan pressed his lips to Jace’s forehead, soft, reverent.
He closed his eyes and let himself breathe.
For once—no fear clawed at his chest.
No shame.
Just him.
---
Later that morning, they walked together down the cracked sidewalk outside the studio.
Hand in hand.
No hiding.
People passed them on the street—some stared.
Some didn’t.
One man looked too long, muttering under his breath.
Jace stiffened, starting to let go of Ethan’s hand.
But Ethan held on tighter.
He stared the man down until he looked away.
Jace blinked at him, stunned.
“You okay?” Jace asked.
Ethan squeezed his fingers. "Better than okay."
And it was true.
Even when the barista at the coffee shop paused a second too long taking their order.
Even when two women on the bus whispered behind cupped hands.
Even when a coworker texted, simply:
> Didn’t know you swung that way, bro.
Ethan didn’t let go.
---
That night, they sat outside on the fire escape of the studio—two beers between them, a blanket draped over their shoulders.
The city stretched around them, buzzing with noise and light.
Jace leaned his head on Ethan’s shoulder.
Ethan rested his chin against Jace’s messy curls.
They didn’t speak for a long time.
They didn’t need to.
Finally, Jace broke the quiet.
"You lost a lot," he said softly.
Ethan smiled into his hair. "I found more."
Jace lifted his head, searching his face.
"What if it gets harder?"
"It will," Ethan said simply. "But I’m still not letting go."
Jace grinned, wide and real.
"You’re so damn stubborn," he teased.
Ethan kissed him—quick, playful, full of a joy that tasted brand new.
"You make it easy," he whispered against Jace’s mouth.
And under the flickering city lights, with the world stretching wide and uncertain in every direction—
Ethan Caldwell finally understood:
The world didn’t end.
And neither did we.
- Writer
