Mateo stayed awake through the hours after dark.
Over on the couch, he watched cracks in the ceiling paint stretch like spiderwebs. From down the hall, hushed words slipped through the bedroom gap - Jade, then Bambi, answering back. Their tones brushed close, warm in a way that tightened his chest. A quiet heat built beneath his ribs, slow, sour.
A bond lingered between them. Not spoken, just felt. Something passed when their eyes met. Quiet. Heavy. Real.
A piece missing him entirely.
A truth buried just beneath the surface. Hidden details that slipped past his notice. Facts sitting there waiting to be seen. Clues scattered where he failed to look.
Something inside him bent the thought, then ran it back, slow, until it soured. It stayed there, rotting piece by piece.
Some gave up what they carried inside. Others traded pieces under moonless skies.
Without him.
Behind his back.
Something inside him twisted, slow and sharp, each moment heavier than the last.
Morning light crept through the blinds, but he was already gasping, air thick like wet cloth. Out he burst, door crashing shut behind him, wood shuddering as if struck by a fist.
Out past the second corner stood Lucas's place, a tight space where smoke clung to the walls like old news. Bare-chested, he pulled the door wide, fingers raking his belly while a beer dangled loose in his grip.
"You look like shit," Lucas said cheerfully.
Mateo pushed by without a word, dropping heavily onto the worn couch. The moment he sat, he said they were lying with men just to get cash
Lucas stopped short. A laugh burst out. "The two together?"
Mateo's jaw clenched shut. Yes, he said without sound
"Damn," Lucas chuckled. "Can't say I didn't see it coming. I told you."
Mateo fixed his eyes on him like a blade drawn slowly. A cold look crawled across his face.
Lucas raised his hands in surrender. "Relax. I'm just saying… girls like that? They get tired of broke boyfriends."
His breath caught once more - guilt twisted with rage, mixed in tight dread. A sharp pull behind his ribs, like strings yanking under skin. Heat rose without warning. Not now, he thought, but it came anyway. Every feeling knotted deep, refusing to loosen.
"We're supposed to be a team," Mateo muttered. "We've always been a team. But now they're making decisions without me. Doing things behind my back. Hiding money." His voice cracked. "Why would they hide money?"
A flicker crossed Lucas's face when money came up.
He leaned closer.
"How much did they make?"
"I don't know." Mateo shook his head. "They won't tell me."
Lucas's eyes gleamed. "Maybe they don't trust you."
Mateo stiffened, as if struck.
Lucas pressed on, voice low and oily. "Maybe they think you can't provide for them. Maybe they think you're dead weight. Probably because they know you gamble away your salary"
Mateo gulped, each syllable carving a hollow inside him.
Yet Lucas kept going.
"Luckily," he said, grinning slow, "I have a solution."
Mateo lifted his gaze, voice tight. What answer could there be?
Lucas spoke without fuss. A loan, he suggested.
Mateo blinked. "What?"
"A loan. A big one. The kind that gives you capital to flip." Lucas grabbed a cigarette. "You can start a business. A real one. Not those part-time scraps that barely cover groceries."
Mateo hesitated. "My credit is garbage."
"Then don't take it in your name," Lucas said casually.
Mateo froze.
Lucas smirked.
"You've got Jade. Clean credit. Good name. People trust girls like her."
Mateo moved his head sideways. There's no way she would say yes
Lucas leaned back, blowing out smoke. "Brother, she's already sleeping with strangers for rent. What's signing one little paper?"
Mateo flinched again.
Lucas kept talking, peeling back Mateo's doubts like layers off an old wall.
"This is your chance to step up. Provide. Show them they don't need to - " he gestured vaguely
" - do what they're doing."
Mateo felt his heartbeat rise. Right where his pride was weakest, the comment landed - precise. A breath caught, sharp.
That old grin of hers flashed in his mind, the way it did back then.
Bambi shifts closer, meeting his hand once more.
The trio stood complete.
Balanced.
His.
Finding the moment right, Lucas moved closer without a sound. Then he struck.
"You get the money. Flip it. Pay back the loan. Done. And you become the provider again."
That night, while Jade stood by the sink scrubbing plates, Mateo walked through the door. Bambi wasn't around - she was still on shift. Silence filled the rooms once more, yet something had shifted; his mind now held a clear direction. Instead of drifting, he carried purpose in how he moved. The calm didn't unnerve him this time - it waited, like breath before speech.
Yes," he whispered quietly.
Her eyes lifted, cautious. It was Mateo…
"I'm not here to fight." He approached slowly. "I know things have been… messed up. And I know I haven't been helping the way I should."
A small release crept into her shoulders.
"I want to fix it," Mateo continued. "I want to help. I want us to be good again."
A hush fell over her at the gentle sound of his words.
A soft touch passed between them as he reached for her fingers. The moment hung without sound.
"Lucas knows someone who gives loans. Small business loans. Easy approval. No collateral."
That frown said trouble. Mateo…
"If I get the loan," he pressed, "I can start something real. A small delivery business. A car hire service. Something steady."
She hesitated.
Mateo softened his voice further. "Ja… I want to take care of you both again. I want you to stop doing things that hurt you. Let me fix this."
Something flickered in her gaze - tiredness tangled with longing, edged by dread.
"Why do you need my name?"
"My credit is ruined," he admitted honestly. "But yours - you're everything they want to approve. Please… trust me."
Something inside gave way when she heard those words.
She loved him.
Despite everything.
Even now, her eyes found the child beneath the grown-up face.
Quiet had stretched between them for some time before Jade dipped her head, just once, like waves pulling back from shore.
"Okay," she whispered.
Mateo let out a breath, slow and deep, shoulders dropping as if the air had carried away something heavy. His arms tightened around her, not gentle but sure, like roots gripping soil after a storm. She stayed still, solid beneath his hands, while the silence between them stretched wide and soft.
That money came from somewhere else, not a bank - he kept that part quiet around her.
It never came out of his mouth how rough those loan guys could be - men from Eastern Europe who played hardball when payments slipped. Not a word about their threats made it through.
It never came up when they talked - how the charge grew each month, doubling without pause.
It never crossed his mind to admit the truth. She remained unaware of his uncertainty. Without a clear direction, he stayed silent. That lack of preparation went unmentioned. The conversation simply drifted elsewhere.
Later would have to sort itself out. For now, his arms stayed around her.
Becoming certain he acted for their good.
Later that week, Jade showed up with Mateo at the building where the loan paperwork waited. The morning had grown quiet by then, sunlight pressing against glass doors. Inside, chairs lined a narrow room where someone called their names. Steps echoed as they moved forward together, past a desk cluttered with folders. A window above spilled light onto floor tiles cracked near the baseboard. Neither spoke much while sitting down. Forms arrived on clipped boards, pens handed over without ceremony.
It never felt like a real workplace. Just four walls pretending to be something more.
A single table stood at the center when the warehouse doors creaked open. Men lined the shadows, their eyes fixed on Jade without blinking. She moved slowly, though none of them looked away. The air stayed heavy, each breath louder than the last.
Mateo gave her fingers a light press. Nothing more than forms to sign
On the paper, Jade's name appeared tiny.
Footsteps slowed under its weight. Chains felt lighter than what she carried.
Mateo whispered once more, just under his breath, how this choice would shape what came next.
For their survival.
For their love.
Out past the warehouse doors, with Jade's fingers shaking against his own, a new feeling slipped into Mateo's ribs without warning.
A seed of fear.
A hush carried fear. A quiet spread unease. Silence held tension. Stillness brought worry. The air felt heavy.
He ignored it.
He had to.
Besides, maybe he hadn't noticed…
That moment unraveled everything they'd built. One choice, then silence. Their futures hung broken in the air. Nothing fit together after that.