Chapter Twenty-Five
Archie
Archie jolted awake to the sharp buzz of his phone vibrating across the nightstand. The screen glared in the dim room: Rafael. He blinked, sat up, and swiped to answer, voice still thick with sleep.
“Hey…everything okay?” Archie asked.
Rafael’s voice was low and cautious, which was never a good sign. “I didn’t want to wake you, but…Brogan got arrested. Disorderly behavior. It was at the town motel. Jade was there. I don’t know what happened—they’re both fine, just…thought you should know when you don’t see him at home.”
Archie sat there, trying to make sense of the words. “Wait—what? He was with Jade?”
“Yeah,” Rafael said. “I don’t know what the fight was about. Don’t give a fuck either. Brogan had no damn business with Jade when he’s with you. Listen, if you need to get out of there, Andrew and I have the guest room.”
Archie rubbed his eyes, brain struggling to catch up. “No, I’m okay. Thanks, though. I’m fine here.”
But he wasn’t. Not really. He stayed on the line a few more seconds after Rafael hung up, just staring at the wall, the stillness in the room suddenly louder than it had been before.
When he finally got up, he moved on autopilot.
He made coffee because it was something to do, something to hold, then he sat down in the living room, mug clutched in both hands, steam curling into the quiet.
His thoughts were a mess—fragments and what-ifs stitched together by too little sleep and too much feeling.
Why hadn’t Brogan said anything? Not even a text?
Was it bad? Had something between him and Jade happened, something Archie wasn’t supposed to know?
The motel part dug in like a splinter. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it was hard to ignore.
The image of Brogan and Jade in some too-bright room, yelling loud enough to get cops involved…
it made Archie’s stomach twist. Not because of jealousy exactly, but because it meant something was spiraling, and Brogan hadn’t told him.
That was what stung the most.
They were supposed to be figuring things out, even if it was messy. Even if neither of them had the right words. And yet, Brogan had vanished into whatever this was—whatever Jade was—without looking back.
Archie stared into his coffee. The taste had gone bitter. Part of him wanted to believe there was some simple explanation, some misunderstanding. But another part…that part was already preparing for something worse.
And he hated he didn’t know which part was right. He called Andrew to talk to him.
“Are you okay? Rafael told me everything,” Andrew asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to make of Brogan going to Jade’s motel room in the middle of the night. Why would he do that? I trusted him.” Archie blinked back the tears that threatened to spill, a lump forming in his throat.
“I know Brogan a lot better than Rafael does. He sees black and white, but I look deeper. He’s a good guy. I know there must be a reason he went to Jade’s motel. He wouldn’t lead you on. Trust him,” Andrew said.
“I’ll figure it all out once he gets home.”
“Rafael said his lawyer showed up, so he’ll be out soon. Learn to talk to each other instead of throwing accusations at each other.”
“I will and thanks.”
Archie sat on the couch, one leg tucked beneath him, the other bouncing just enough to rattle the lamp behind him.
The quiet was too loud—the kind that stretched and buzzed at the edges of his mind.
His thumb scraped at the fabric of the pillow in his lap, wearing it threadbare without even realizing.
He kept glancing at the door, as if Brogan’s key might turn sooner if he stared hard enough. But it didn’t. So, his thoughts wandered, as they always did when silence had too much room to breathe.
Archie’s mother’s face came first—soft smile, warm hands, gone too early.
Then the echo of his father’s boots the last time he saw him.
No goodbye, no explanation. Just gone. Prison had swallowed him like it didn’t even need a reason.
Archie remembered standing in their empty kitchen with a crumpled college acceptance letter in one hand and nothing in the other.
No one to call. No one called. His father had been gone for weeks.
Now Brogan had disappeared too. A jail cell and silence between them. Archie tried not to take it personally, but he wasn’t great at that sort of thing.
The door opened with an echoing click.
Brogan stepped in slowly, eyes tired, and his movements slower than usual. Archie sat up, heart thudding in an awful, nervous rhythm.
Brogan didn’t go to the bedroom, didn’t throw his keys in the dish. He just walked over and sank beside Archie, their legs brushing.
“We gotta talk,” Brogan said, voice low.
And just like that, Archie’s brain short-circuited. He’s leaving. He’s gonna say this was too much. That I’m too much. That we’re not working anymore. Jail or Jade changed him. Or maybe it reminded him he doesn’t need this, doesn’t need me.
He nodded, because words were too risky. If he opened his mouth, they might all fall out messy and desperate.
Brogan didn’t look away. “I should’ve told you. Last night…I left because Jade sent me a message saying he needed to get to Dublin. Said his sister had been in an accident, and he needed cash for a flight.”
Archie blinked. That wasn’t what he’d expected. Not even close.
“I didn’t tell you ’cause I knew how it sounded.
Like I was bailing on you for him again.
” Brogan rubbed his face. “I was just going to give him the ticket, maybe drive him to the airport. But it was a setup. He wanted a fight, I think. We argued. It got loud, and then someone called the cops. I didn’t do anything to him, Arch. Not this time.”
Archie swallowed around the lump in his throat. “You just disappeared. You didn’t call. I didn’t even know if you were okay.”
“I know.” Brogan’s voice cracked right down the middle. “That’s on me. I froze. And when they cuffed me, all I could think about was you…waiting…thinking I left.”
Archie let out a shaky breath. “I thought you didn’t want this anymore. That you figured out I wasn’t worth staying for.”
Brogan flinched. “Don’t say that.”
“I thought you were like my dad,” Archie said, quieter now. “Like I was going to have to get used to being alone again.” A tear slid down his cheek, cool and unexpected against his skin.
Brogan turned toward him, reaching hesitantly. “You’re not anyone I’d walk away from. I didn’t leave you. I got pulled into Jade’s mess again, and I should’ve told you everything as soon as he called, but I never left you.”
Archie looked at him, really looked, and saw it—the regret, the guilt, the stupid earnest way Brogan always tried to fix things with his whole being.
So Archie leaned in, not all at once, but enough to close the space between them. He wrapped his arms around Brogan, and Brogan just collapsed into him like he’d been waiting for permission.
“I was so scared,” Archie mumbled into his shoulder.
“I know. Me too,” Brogan whispered. “I’m not going anywhere, Arch. I promise.”
They sat like that for a while—Archie clinging to Brogan like he was afraid he might disappear again if he let go, Brogan holding on just as tightly. No words. Just the quiet thud of their hearts syncing up.
Eventually, Archie pulled back, not far, just enough to see Brogan’s face. His throat was thick with everything he hadn’t said yet.
“When I was a kid,” he said, voice low, “after my mom died, I used to have this dream—felt real every time. I’d wake up, and she’d be there in the kitchen, making pancakes like nothing happened. I’d think it was all just a bad dream. But then I’d go to hug her, and she’d vanish. Every single time.”
Brogan’s brow creased. His hand didn’t leave Archie’s.
“Then when my dad got locked up, I didn’t even get that dream. He just…didn’t come back. No warning, no note. Just empty air where he was supposed to be. I graduated, got my diploma, stood outside the school like an idiot, hoping maybe he’d show. But no one did.”
Brogan swallowed hard. “You never told me that.”
Archie’s laugh was hollow. “Didn’t want you to think I was some sad, broken charity case.”
“I don’t.” Brogan’s voice was fierce now. “I think you’re strong as hell. You survived all that on your own and still showed up for people. You showed up for me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
Archie looked away, jaw tight. “That’s the thing, Brogan. When you left, it felt like…confirmation, I guess. Like I was always going to be the one people walked out on.”
“I didn’t walk out. I know it felt like that, and I’ll carry that mistake—but I need you to believe me when I say I wasn’t trying to leave you.
” Brogan gripped his hand tighter. “And I’m not going to.
Not now. Not ever. If Jade tries pulling some mess again, I’ll shut it down before I even pick up the phone.
I’ve got no reason to chase him when everything I want is right here. ”
The dam behind Archie’s eyes cracked, tears welling fast and hot. He blinked them away like they were betraying him.
Brogan leaned in, pressing his forehead gently to Archie’s. “I’m sorry. For all of it.”
Archie nodded, lip trembling. “Just…don’t vanish. Don’t leave me waiting.”
“I won’t.” Brogan’s arms came around him again, full-bodied and certain. “You’re not alone anymore. You don’t ever have to be.”