Chapter 336: Thank You for Choosing Me

"You were the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. Not just because of your face, or because of how you looked, but because even beneath all that sadness... you still looked gentle. Kind. And unbelievably beautiful."

Matteo let out a quiet, slightly embarrassed laugh. "So..." He rubbed his thumb gently across the back of Adrian’s hand. "I did something that probably makes me sound like the biggest creep in the world."

A small, fond smile tugged at the corners of Adrian’s lips, but, honoring his promise, he remained completely silent.

Matteo chuckled softly against his shoulder. "I secretly took a picture of you."

Before Adrian could even process the confession, Matteo gently squeezed his hand. "Don’t look at me," he murmured, his voice warm with a smile. "Look at the sky."

Confused, Adrian slowly lifted his gaze.

For a brief moment, there was nothing but the vast expanse of darkness. Then, from beyond the edge of the rooftop, tiny, brilliant lights began to rise into the night. First one, then another, followed by dozens more. Within seconds, hundreds of illuminated drones hovered above the crashing ocean, their lights dancing gracefully through the cool air.

Adrian stared in absolute amazement. "What..."

High above the water, the drones began to shift into a seamless formation. The tiny lights moved with perfect, calculated precision until, little by little, a massive image took shape against the stars.

Adrian’s breath caught in his throat.

It was him. Sitting alone at a small restaurant table, his head slightly lowered as he quietly ate his meal, completely unaware that anyone in the world was watching him. It was the exact moment Matteo had just described. The memory hung beautifully across the night sky, glowing above the ocean like a moment perfectly frozen in time.

Adrian slowly turned his head to look at Matteo, his eyes wide with disbelief and pooling with unshed tears. "...You actually kept it?"

Matteo smiled shyly, holding him a little tighter. "I told you. I couldn’t help myself."

You are impossible, Adrian thought, letting out a wet, breathless laugh. Even though Matteo’s mother had gently revealed pieces of this story to him before, hearing the raw, undeniable truth directly from the man holding him felt entirely different. It settled deep in his chest, overwhelmingly warm and profoundly real.

Matteo smiled softly into his hair. "And that’s only the beginning."

He let out a quiet breath, the memories washing over him as they stood beneath the glowing image in the sky. "After that day... I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I kept telling myself it was just curiosity. I convinced myself that if I saw you just one more time, the feeling would disappear."

A soft, self-deprecating laugh escaped him. "It didn’t. If anything... it only got worse."

Adrian listened quietly, his fingers still wrapped tightly around Matteo’s, anchoring him to the present as he poured his heart out.

"The second time I saw you, you were leaving a building. You looked like you had just finished delivering some work. You walked straight past me without even noticing I was there," Matteo murmured, his gaze distant. "I wanted to stop you. I wanted to ask your name. But I couldn’t. I didn’t even know why. I just stood there and watched you walk away."

Matteo lowered his gaze, smiling faintly. "Then, fate kept putting you in front of me. I’d see you at different places. Sometimes at a café. Sometimes walking home after work. Sometimes standing alone, waiting for a bus. There were moments when you looked so happy... and moments when you looked like the entire weight of the world was resting heavily on your shoulders. I never understood why, but every single time I saw you... I just wanted to know if you were okay."

He paused, his thumb gently stroking the back of Adrian’s hand. "I even asked about you."

Adrian’s eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise.

"You were working for a friend of mine at the time," Matteo explained with a fond smile. "So, one day, I asked him about you. I told him straight up, ’I like that guy.’"

A chuckle rumbled in his chest. "He looked at me like I’d completely lost my mind. He asked if I was serious, and when I said yes... he just sighed."

Matteo turned Adrian’s head slightly and looked deeply into Adrian’s eyes, the humor fading from his expression. "He told me, ’Matteo... he’s straight. And even if one day he realizes he likes men, someone like him would never choose someone with your reputation.’"

The words lingered in the cool night air, heavy and sobering.

"I laughed at first," Matteo admitted. "I asked him, ’What do you mean, someone like me?’ And he looked me straight in the eyes and said, ’Adrian has a clean heart and a clean image. You’re living in darkness. Why would someone like him choose someone like you?’"

Matteo fell silent. For the first time that night, a shadow of genuine pain flickered in his dark eyes.

"I won’t lie to you... Those words stayed with me. For days. For weeks. I kept asking myself if that was really who I was."

He offered a small, bittersweet smile. "And then... I found myself thinking something I’d never, ever thought before." His voice dropped to a devoted whisper. "I thought, ’If becoming a better man is what it takes to deserve him... then I’ll change.’"

Adrian’s breath hitched, his eyes immediately filling with fresh tears.

"I didn’t care how difficult it would be. I didn’t care how long it took," Matteo vowed, his voice thick with emotion. "I just wanted to become someone you could be proud to stand beside."

He looked down at their joined hands, tracing Adrian’s knuckles reverently. "Before you, Adrian, I wasn’t a good man. I lived every day like tomorrow didn’t exist. I drank. I slept around. I did drugs. I never believed in relationships. I was the type of man who spent one night with someone and never looked back." He smiled weakly, lifting his eyes to meet Adrian’s. "But then I met you. And for the very first time... I didn’t want one night. I wanted forever."

A single tear slipped down Adrian’s cheek. Matteo immediately reached up, gently wiping it away with his thumb.

"There were nights when I’d see you sitting all alone. Nights when I watched you waiting in the cold for the bus after a long day,"

Matteo whispered. "I remember wondering, ’Why doesn’t he drive? Doesn’t he earn enough?’ I had absolutely no idea what you were carrying. I didn’t know about your past, or how much you’d sacrificed just to survive. I only knew that every time I saw you, it took everything in me not to walk over and ask if you were alright."

He smiled softly, the tension in his shoulders finally easing. "If I told you every story... every single moment I secretly watched over you before we officially met... we’d still be standing on this roof when the sun came up."

A wet, breathless laugh escaped Adrian despite the heavy tears rolling down his face.

At that exact moment, the haunting melody of The Night We Met slowly faded away. For a brief, suspended second, the rooftop fell completely silent, save for the rhythmic crashing of the ocean waves below.

Then, another melody began to play. It was soft, gentle, and beautifully dreamlike.

🎵Blue by Yung Kai 🎵 drifted through the night air, wrapping around them like a warm embrace.

Matteo looked up at the starlit sky for a moment before returning his gaze to the man he loved. His expression was filled with a depth of warmth and absolute adoration that Adrian had never seen before.

"There are still so many things I want to tell you," Matteo whispered, his voice trembling with raw sincerity. "But before anything else... I need to thank you."

Adrian remained perfectly silent, honoring the promise he had made.

Matteo gently lifted their joined hands, pressing a kiss to Adrian’s knuckles. "Thank you for walking into my life. Thank you for choosing me."

His voice trembled slightly. "I know loving me wasn’t easy. You could’ve walked away so many times. You could’ve looked at my life, my reputation, everything that came with me... and decided I just wasn’t worth the risk. But you stayed. You stayed when most people would’ve run."

His eyes glistened beneath the warm golden lights. "I know being with me cost you more than you’ll ever admit. You’ve cried because of me. You’ve worried because of me. You’ve been dragged into terrible danger because of me. And even then... you still reached for my hand."

A single tear broke free, rolling down Matteo’s cheek. "Adrian... I don’t think you’ll ever truly understand what that means to me."

He let out a shaky breath, his grip tightening. "Before I met you, I didn’t think I deserved to be loved. I thought a man like me was meant to live and die alone. I convinced myself that maybe this was my punishment. I have blood on my hands. I’ve made decisions I can never take back. Some of them were necessary, but some of them still haunt me. There are nights when I can’t sleep because I remember every face."

His voice dropped to a shattered whisper. "I never wanted you to carry that darkness with me. I only ever wanted to protect you from it."

He reached up, his thumb gently wiping away the tears that were now streaming freely down Adrian’s face. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry for every time I made you cry. I’m sorry for every night you were scared because of me. I’m sorry for every moment you wondered if loving me was the wrong decision."

He lowered his head, resting his forehead against Adrian’s. "You deserved someone whose life was simple. Someone whose name wasn’t feared. Someone who could’ve given you peace from the very beginning."

A sad, self-deprecating smile touched his lips. "But instead... you got me."

Silence settled heavily between them, wrapped only in the haunting notes of the music.

When Matteo spoke again, his voice was steadier, grounded by an absolute, unshakeable resolve. "I can’t erase my past. I can’t pretend I’ve always been a good man. But I can promise you my future."

He slowly took Adrian’s hand and placed it flat over his chest, right above his racing heart. "This... belongs to you. It always will. No matter what happens. No matter what tomorrow brings. No matter how difficult life becomes. I will choose you. Again. And again. And again. For the rest of my life."

His warm smile returned, brighter this time. "You once asked me what love means. I didn’t know how to answer you then. But now I do. Love... is waking up every morning hoping you’re the first face I see. It’s wanting to come home because I know you’re waiting for me. It’s hearing your laugh after the hardest day of my life and feeling like everything is going to be okay. It’s realizing that all the success in the world means nothing if I can’t share it with you. It’s protecting you... not because I have to, but because loving you makes it impossible not to."

He leaned in closer, his breath ghosting over Adrian’s lips.