Chapter Text
—————
A week had passed since Till had found the jacket.
Seven full days.
And not once had he looked at Ivan since.
Not in class, not in the halls, not even when they both crossed paths outside the apartment building by sheer coincidence. He had walked right past him, eyes forward, expression blank.
The raven-head hadn’t said anything.
He couldn’t.
Because what could he say?
Everything he wanted to say: how sorry he was, how deeply real his feelings were, how none of this had ever been a game…would’ve sounded hollow.
Too late.
Too calculated.
So he’d stayed quiet.
And Till had walked away like none of it had ever mattered.
______
At first, Ivan had thought the silence would break on its own.
That maybe the omega just needed time.
A few days, maybe. A soft moment. A text. Something.
But each day bled into the next with nothing.
No knocks on his door. No tutoring sessions. No casual walks home. No shared dinners, no takeout, no kisses.
Just silence.
And the cold, brutal space Till had carved between them.
______
By the time Monday rolled around, the alpha hadn’t spoken more than a few sentences all day.
He went to class. Sat through lectures.
Didn’t eat.
Didn’t sleep.
When Luka finally caught him after their seminar and insisted they go back to his house for the evening, he hadn’t argued.
He just nodded.
And followed.
_____
The blonde cracked open a bottle of whiskey the moment they stepped inside his place. Ivan was barely out of his jacket before the glass was in his hand.
“What’s going on with you?” Luka asked, settling into the couch beside him. “You look like hell.”
The raven-head downed the first sip and let it burn.
“…Till found out,” he said finally.
The beta blinked. “Found out what?”
“Who I am. Who I was.”
The words hung heavy in the air between them.
“Shit.”
Ivan exhaled slowly. “Yeah.”
“You told him?”
“No. He found the jacket.”
Luka winced. “Fuck.”
“He hasn’t spoken to me since. Not one word.”
“You didn’t think maybe you should’ve told him sooner?”
“I wanted to,” the alpha stated. “But I didn’t know how.”
He rubbed his face with one hand, fingers pressing into his eyes.
“I just… wanted to be near him. I wasn’t trying to manipulate him, I swear.”
Luka didn’t say anything at first.
Then, surprisingly, “I know.”
Ivan looked up.
“I’ve seen the way you look at him,” his friend responded. “Even when we were back in school, when you didn’t even know his name, you talked about him like he was sunlight.”
Ivan let out a broken laugh.
“I don’t think he’s coming back,” he said quietly.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Luka refilled his glass without a word and passed it back before wrapping an arm around him to provide comfort.
The other leaned into it.
_____
Across the city, Till stood outside the club’s neon-lit entrance, fingers tight around his phone.
He hadn’t been planning to go out tonight.
Not really.
But something inside him had been twisting tighter and tighter all week, and now it had nowhere to go.
So he called the only person who wouldn’t ask too many questions.
Mizi picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, babe,” she greeted, her voice upbeat. “What’s up?”
“Wanna go out?”
There was a pause on the other end.
“…Are you okay?”
The silver-head forced a breath. “Just want to get out of my head. Dance a bit. Drink.”
“Right,” she said slowly. “Where should I meet you?”
“Lucid.”
“I’ll be there in thirty.”
_____
They found each other easily in the crowded room.
Mizi pulled him into a hug without hesitation, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before dragging him toward the bar. “We’re starting with shots.”
Till didn’t argue.
They downed two each, then the female alpha handed him a glass of something sweet and fizzy and leaned on the counter beside him.
“You wanna talk about it?”
He hesitated.
Then, finally, “It’s Ivan.”
Mizi blinked once.
Then tilted her head. “Okay… what happened?”
Till stared at his drink.
“I found something in his place. Something from years ago. A jacket I used to own.”
Her brow furrowed. “That doesn’t sound… criminal?”
“It was my jacket. From when I was a teenager. I gave it to this kid I found getting beat up in the rain.”
She blinked.
Slowly.
“Oh,” she said.
“Yeah,” the omega muttered. “Turns out that kid was Ivan.”
Mizi whistled low.
“Well, shit.”
“He knew,” Till went on. “He’s known since the beginning.”
His friend was quiet for a moment.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “That’s a lot.”
“I know.”
“But, like… why are you mad?”
Till turned sharply. “What?”
“I mean, okay, yeah, he didn’t tell you right away. Not great. But he clearly didn’t use it against you. You’re the one who’s been holding back this whole time, yeah?”
“That’s not the point—”
“Then what is?”
Till’s mouth opened.
Closed.
Mizi gave him a flat look. “He was a scared little kid. You saved his life, basically. You think that wouldn’t leave a mark? You think you wouldn’t have done something just as intense if the roles were reversed?”
His throat tightened.
“I just… it felt like he was chasing a memory. Not me.”
“I’ve seen you two together, and that was before you two got together,” Mizi stated. “He’s not chasing some idea. He’s chasing you. Now. Who you are now.”
The omega didn’t say anything.
“I’m not saying he’s perfect,” she added. “But I am saying you might be punishing him for feeling something big. And that’s not fair.”
Till stared down at his drink.
His hands were trembling.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
_____
He called the raven-head at 1:37 AM.
He was still standing outside the club, coat pulled tightly around him, the air sharp against his flushed skin.
The phone rang twice.
Then three times.
Then—
“‘LLo?”
Ivan’s voice was unmistakably drunk.
“Hey,” the older man responded, voice soft.
“…T—Till?”
There was a wet sound…sniffling, maybe. Then a hiccup. “Is it really you?”
Till closed his eyes.
“Yeah.”
The alpha exhaled like the wind had been knocked out of him.
“I’m sorry,” he slurred. “I’m—fuck. I messed up. I just—I missed you. I didn’t know how to—”
“Where are you?”
“Mmm…”
The sound of Ivan fumbling with something…probably the phone itself.
“Don’ remember the name,” he mumbled. “Bar with the blue lights. Luka brought me. Said I needed to—fuckin’—get distracted.”
“Put Luka on.”
A beat of silence.
Then some rustling.
“Hello?”
“Luka?”
“Professor?”
“…Yeah.”
“Oh, thank fuck.” The blonde’s voice was exasperated. “I’ve been trying to get him to go home for an hour.”
“Where are you?”
“Glasshouse. Corner of Fifth and Ravel.”
“I’m coming.”
Till hung up without another word.
And for the first time all week…he moved with purpose.
___________