My eyebrows furrowed as I looked over the words on my computer, trying to connect the dots and make the scrambled jargon of Machiavelli make sense so I could write a stupid essay about it for my philosophy class. I even read it both in English and Italian hoping that reading it in its native tongue would make it make more sense and reveal something that had been lost in translation.

I had no such luck.

I let out a monstrous groan as I dropped my face into my hands, thankful that there was no one else around me. I'd been sitting in the same spot in the library since five-thirty, and it was now nearing midnight. The coffee that I'd ordered had run out long ago and exhaustion had sunk its hooks into my flesh, slowly dragging me under. It also didn't help that I had an eight am class the next morning. But I couldn't rest until I at least had an outline for my essay, especially because I needed a rough draft done before six pm the following day so my TA could have enough time to review it and give me feedback so I could rewrite it before it was due.

But I couldn't do any of that if Machiavelli's stupid over-saturated, overly prestigious words made no sense to me.

I felt a pit open up in my chest, a feeling that I knew all too well. An anxiety attack. Usually when I felt it coming, I would run to my fathers for comfort, or even Ian, but my dads were back in New York and Ian was at Carnegie Mellon studying acting, all of them hundreds of miles from the library I sat in in Evanston.

Nevertheless, I swallowed the feeling down and continued trying to work through my issue. I was in the middle of reading a paper summarizing the material in a way that was vaguely making sense before I felt someone's hands land on my shoulders. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I turned around, half expecting a library aid coming to kick me out, but that wasn't the case.

"Woah, Romeo. I didn't mean to scare you," Tyler softly said as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, still standing behind me. "I was just getting worried. It's super late, you hadn't come back, and you weren't answering your phone, so I came to check on you."

"Well, you gave me a heart attack instead," I said with a slight chuckle.

He scoffed as a small grin tugged at the edges of his lips. "Well, I'm sorry, Addison Michael. I'll try to avoid doing that next time." He pressed a soft kiss into my hair before he looked at my computer. "You're still working on this essay?"

I let out a sigh. "Unfortunately so. I don't understand philosophy, it's so confusing! Do we exist, or don't we? Do we have free will or not? Is God real or is it just an evil demon just trying to fuck with our perception of reality? Ugh!"

I took off my glasses as I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Damn near pushed myself into an anxiety attack, and I'm still nowhere near understanding it all."

"Awe, baby," Tyler gently cooed as he held me slightly tighter. "I wish there was something I could do to help. I mean, maybe I can. I took philosophy in high school, although we didn't do Machiavelli. But, I did have to write papers, and since this is the first one you have to do, I can help you get into the philosophy mindset of writing if you want."

I let out a sigh of relief as I opened my eyes and tilted my head all the way back so that I could look at him since he was still standing behind me. "Per favore, amore. Grazie (Please, love. Thank you)."

"You're welcome," he said as he held my head in his hands and leaned down to place an upside-down kiss on my lips. I grinned against the kiss as it lingered for a moment before he pulled away. "Let's go home, yeah?"

I mutely nodded before I slid my glasses back on and shoved my computer, my notebooks, and my pens into my backpack. Once I was all packed up, I stood up and slid my hand into Tyler's, still in love with the way our hands perfectly fit into one another's. As we walked out, we passed a few other students scattered throughout the library, all looking as stressed as I had been as they typed on their computers or scribbled in their notebooks.

Ah, the sweet life of a college student.

Even though we were almost halfway through our first semester, it still felt surreal. We were in college. Together, just like we'd always wanted. We'd both settled on Northwestern since it was the most affordable option for both of us due to our scholarships, and luckily, our request to be roommates was approved– likely because they had no knowledge of us being together.

Besides the obvious perk of going to college with the one I loved, it was comforting to have a friend to go through the hard transition with. Yeah, I had other friends that I'd made during my time in Evanston, but it was a relief to have someone there who already knew how to hold you just right during a panic attack or say the right thing on what feels like your worst day. To just have a friend who knew you.

As we walked to our dorm, I took in the incredible beauty of the campus at night. It was still and the sky was clear, revealing the diamond-like veil of stars that twinkled in the night. I could hear the water of Lake Michigan gently lap against the shore, creating a soft symphony. I could see the lights of the bustling Chicago right across the lake, a city that offered me comfort through its familiarity to back home. There was a slightly cool breeze that moved through the air, causing me to pull Tyler's sweatshirt that I'd stolen from him closer to my body.

"How was your day?" I asked as I ran my thumb across his knuckles after we'd walked in a few minutes of silence.

"Pretty good," he said. "My math teacher is still a pain in the ass though. He really expects us to spend six hours outside of class on the digital study guide. Like what? He does realize I have four other classes right? And the thing that makes it even more frustrating is that the class is super easy! Why do I need to spend six hours on problems like 'what's the area of a yard?' And 'find the volume of x shape'? Honestly such a waste of time." He left out a huff of frustration and I kissed the back of his knuckles in an effort to comfort him.

One of the many things I'd learned about Tyler was that he did not like to waste time doing things just to do them. He wanted to do things that were actively helping him and others, thus, these gen ed classes were very frustrating for him, especially because he couldn't do any audio-related classes until next semester.

"I'm sorry, Ty. That does sound annoying."

He shrugged. "I mean, I guess I can't complain compared to that weird shit they have you doing in philosophy. Besides, I blew off steam at practice today, so that helped a lot." Both Ty and I had given up football once we started college, but Tyler had joined the kickboxing club, and as horny as it sounded, he looked incredibly sexy doing it.

"How about you? How was your day?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Same old, I guess. After I finished general English and my biology class, I took a nap before I went to the library. Now we're here. Nothing too eventful."

"We can change that if you want," Tyler suggestively said as he dramatically wiggled his eyebrows. I scoffed as I rolled my eyes, though I didn't fully reject the idea. One of the many perks of rooming with your boyfriend hundreds of miles away from your parents: complete and utter privacy.

Before long, we were in our dorm room, a place that had quickly begun to feel like home. Our room was very cozy and familiar. When we'd initially moved in with our parents back in August, we'd tried to maintain as "innocent" of a front around our parents as we could as we moved in. Initially, there was a clear "Addison" side and a clear "Tyler" side, and though they both knew that we'd slept in the same bed together multiple times (among other things), we wanted to let them stay in denial, at least, until they left and we could do things that way we wanted to. The first of which being combining our beds into one giant bed. I'd even snuck the bedding for a full-sized bed into my stuff– how my nosey dads didn't notice, I had no idea.

Our desks were right next to each other, and we even made room for a TV on top of a bookshelf that housed a DVD player, a PlayStation, and some of the figurines we'd gotten from our trip to Disney World including our ears and a framed picture of us kissing in front of the castle.

I'd been given full control over decorating, so I hung a few fake ivy vines from the ceiling to add color to the otherwise bland cream-colored walls. I also added a mix of simple line art posters with some small posters of the anime that Tyler had gotten me hooked on. I made our storage spaces both functional and cute, while also avoiding clutter. I utilized the space under our new combined bed to store Tyler's audio equipment and my art supplies and added a soft rug in the middle of the room with cute comfortable chairs that could easily be folded and stowed away if the occasion called for it. I also definitely broke the "no candles allowed" rule, and even had one sitting on the window sill next to our little succulent we'd decided to name Fred.

Though the space was considerably smaller than the space we'd had back home, I was beyond grateful to start the new phase in our relationship: living together. And although a part of me had been kind of scared, especially after hearing the horror stories of partners moving in together too soon and ruining their whole relationship, a larger part of me had known that Tyler and I could handle it. Luckily, I'd been proven right thus far.

Once we stepped in, I hung my backpack next to Tyler's on the hook on the back of our door before I kicked my shoes off, exhaustion quickly consuming me. "Hey, Ty?" I said as he gripped the bottom of my sweatshirt and I lifted my arms above my head.

"Hm?" He hummed as he fully took it off before I started working off my pants.

"Then next time I sign up for philosophy during freshmen orientation, slap me."

Tyler chuckled as he began to put on his own pajamas. "I'll slap your ass. Nowhere else though."

"Deal," I conceded before I slid on my pajama pants, opting to remain shirtless like I usually did before I slid my phone and my glasses into our bedside caddy. My attention fell to our window that perfectly overlooked the lake and the busy city across from it. I found myself wandering over to it as I marveled in the beauty of it all. I was blessed to be spending the next four years with the boy I loved, studying what I loved, in a city I was quickly falling in love with. There were truly no limits to what we could do, and what we would do. The vast expanse in front of me was proof, and I was beyond excited to see how we'd turn the place upside down.

I was pulled from my thoughts as Tyler wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. His bare chest felt warm and comforting against my bareback. I hadn't even realized he turned off the lights. "What are you thinking about, Romeo?" His voice was low and oddly sexy as he spoke.

"How happy I am to be here with il mio re," I answered honestly as I turned to look at him.

A beautiful smile spread across his gorgeous face as he gently turned me around so that we were chest to chest "I'm happy to be here with you too, Romeo." Without another word, his lips were on mine. He easily overpowered me, though I didn't really fight him for it. His body language told me he was feeling dominant and after the stressful day I'd had, I wouldn't mind being dominated.

He led me back until I was stopped by my desk pressing against the back of my legs. In one swift movement, he picked me up and placed me on the desk, causing a few papers and notebooks to crumple under me, not that either of us cared. He started kissing me harder as he slid his hands below my pajama pants over my erection, teasing me in a way that only he could. I let out a soft moan as I leaned into his touch. He slowly kissed along my jawbone toward my neck, and I knew that if his mouth found the right spot on my neck as his hand moved against my crotch, I'd be a lost cause for the rest of the night.

"Tyler," I softly said, causing both his hand and his mouth to move harder against me, momentarily filling my brain with white noise. Another breathy moan escaped my lips and a part of me desperately wanted to give in to him. "Ty," I tried again, causing him to hum. "I have class at eight. I need some sleep."

"We can make this fast," he said, his lips brushing against my neck as he spoke. "Or, you can miss one class. Maybe two."

His words made me grin as he straightened up so we were face to face. The look in his eyes asked me a silent question: What do you want to do?

My answer came in the form of a small smile as I held his face in my hands, gently stroking his strong cheekbones. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he instantly responded before he pressed a soft kiss against my lips, the complete opposite of the hunger he'd been kissing me with mere moments ago. As we slowly started diving back into the deeper waters we'd been in, I put my hand on top of Tyler's that had stopped and gently urged him to keep going. I felt him smile against my lips and in an instant, I was off of the desk and in the bed.

Since the first time we'd slept together, he'd really gotten to know my body, especially what really got me going, and this time was no different. He was taking his time, teasing me to the point of bursting, but never letting me quite get there. He was starting to kiss down my chest as he slowly untied my pajama pants when the worst thing possible could've happened.

My phone rang. And based on the ringtone, we both knew I couldn't ignore it.

He let out a groan of frustration before he reached across me into our little bedside caddy where I'd put my phone and handed it to me showing my Papa's name flashing across the top. I clicked answer and held it up to my ear.

"Hell–"

"Addison Michael, why the hell haven't you called your father or I today?"

"Dad–"

"Nope, no excuses. You had us worried sick about you!" Papa said, an exasperated tone clinging to his voice.

"I wasn't! I knew you were probably busy today, but your father is a drama queen–Ouch, Madison!" I heard Padre say in the background before he was interrupted by the sound of skin hitting skin, likely Papa hitting him in the arm or something to keep him from exposing how concerned Papa was. I had to suppress my chuckle. Out of both of my fathers, I expected my Padre to be the one that would call me every five seconds and be worried about every little thing, especially because that was how he'd been when they stayed for a week to help us move in. However, Papa– unsurprisingly to Padre and Tyler– ended up being the one that was overly worried and needed to know what I was doing every second of every day. Usually, I found it endearing but sometimes– such as times between Tyler and I– I found it annoying.

"I'm sorry, dad, but I have a really stressful paper due soon and I spent all day working on it. I wasn't ignoring you or anything like that on purpose, okay? Promise."

"Oh, baby," Papa cooed, his voice softening. "I'm sorry. I know college is a tough transition, especially for such a good school like that and I wish I could help it's just... I don't know. You're our first to go off to school and you're so far away, and you know I watch those crime shows–"

"– didn't Padre tell you to stop watching those–?"

"– and I just get so worried about you. And I miss your big head, as annoying as you are." A chuckle tagging itself to the end of his sentence, causing me to chuckle as well.

"I miss you two, Papa. I miss all of you. Look, I can give you a full update about everything tomorrow, but I was about to go to bed–"

"Good night Mr. Madison!" Tyler loudly said so that my father could hear him, causing him to chuckle again.

"Tell Tyler I said good night. Good night to you too, Addison. Love you."

"I love you guys too. Give Padre a hug for me."

"Will do. Now get some rest. You have an early class tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, dad. Bye."

"Bye, son."

And with that, the line clicked dead. I sighed as I slid my phone back into the bedside caddy before I turned to Tyler. "I think that was the universe's sign for me to not skip a class or two tomorrow," I lightly joked.

A groan of annoyance was pulled from Tyler's lips. "Right when we were getting to the good part."

"You'll have plenty of other opportunities, Tyler," I said as I started getting under the covers.

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he slid under the covers with me and pulled my body into his. As I got comfortable in his arms, my attention was drawn back to the window that overlooked the city.

"You see all that out there?" I softly asked as I pointed out the window. "We're going to conquer it, just me and you."

"Um hm," he hummed in agreement as he kissed behind my ear. "It's all ours."

"It's ours," I whispered before I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift to sleep where I dreamt of all of the amazing things I could do with the boy I loved in the city that was now ours.

The end.

***

And that, my friends, concludes the main story of Break In My Heart! I hope you enjoyed this epilogue, and thank you all for riding out this insane journey with Ty and Addi. I'll start on the character Q&A and bonus chapters next week, but I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this book. It had its fair share of mistakes, but thank you all for your encouragement and engagement. This book and its predecessor are my favorite books I've written ever and you guys make me enjoy every second of it!

But yeah, I'll see you guys again soon, and have a Happy New Year! Also, comment your favorite moment/ moments in this book. My favorite moments were the night that Tyler told Addison about his family life and their time at the All-State game. Alright, have a fun and safe new year!

Love y'all– Jordan :)