Chapter 1: The Final Mission
Space had always been Ethan Carter’s destiny.
As a decorated astronaut and mission commander, he had spent his life training for the impossible—walking on distant planets, surviving the cold silence of the cosmos, pushing the limits of what humanity could achieve.
But he never expected Atlas Vega to be his greatest challenge.
Atlas was the crew’s flight engineer, a brilliant but reckless genius whose name was whispered through every space agency. He could fix anything, pilot any ship, and break every rule without hesitation.
He was also the last person Ethan wanted on his mission.
“This isn’t a playground,” Ethan snapped as they prepared for Mission Horizon, the first deep-space voyage to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. “You follow my orders, or you don’t belong here.”
Atlas smirked, leaning against the control panel. “Relax, Commander. I’m here to make sure you don’t crash and burn.”
Ethan exhaled sharply.
Six months in deep space with this man?
This was going to be hell.
Chapter 2: The Distance Between Us
Days blurred into weeks aboard the Celestial Dawn, the spacecraft carrying them through the void.
Ethan was discipline. Atlas was chaos.
Ethan followed schedules down to the second. Atlas wandered into the control room at odd hours, drinking coffee and reprogramming flight protocols just because he could.
“You’re impossible,” Ethan muttered after finding Atlas tinkering with the gravity stabilizer—again.
Atlas grinned. “And you’re predictable. Where’s the fun in that?”
Ethan scowled, but he couldn’t deny it—there was something intoxicating about Atlas’s defiance.
Something dangerous.
Something he couldn’t afford to feel.
Chapter 3: The Cold Silence of Space
Trouble came in the form of a solar flare.
The warning alarms blared, shaking the ship as radiation surged toward them. The impact fried half their systems, including oxygen regulators.
“We need to repair the exterior panels,” Ethan said, voice steady despite the crisis. “I’ll do the spacewalk.”
“No.” Atlas grabbed his arm. “I’ll go.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes. “I’m the commander.”
“And I’m the engineer,” Atlas shot back. “This is my job.”
Ethan clenched his jaw, but there was no time to argue.
Minutes later, he watched through the airlock window as Atlas floated into the void, tethered only by a thin cord, his silhouette small against the vastness of space.
Ethan had never feared space before.
But watching Atlas out there, fragile and breakable?
For the first time, he felt real fear.
Chapter 4: The Kiss That Defied Gravity
The repair worked.
But Atlas barely made it back inside before the airlock sealed, collapsing against Ethan, his breaths ragged.
“Damn,” Atlas chuckled weakly. “That was close.”
Ethan didn’t think.
Didn’t hesitate.
He grabbed Atlas by the collar and kissed him.
It was desperate, messy—two forces colliding in zero gravity.
When they pulled apart, Atlas blinked. “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”
Ethan’s breathing was uneven. “Neither did I.”
Atlas smirked, gripping Ethan’s suit. “Do it again.”
And Ethan did.
Chapter 5: Falling Without Landing
Love in space was impossible.
There were no cities to run away to, no excuses to hide behind. Just them, floating in the endless dark, knowing that someday they would return to Earth—where gravity, rules, and reality would pull them apart.
But for now, in the silence of the universe, they had each other.
And that was enough.
Epilogue: Stars in Our Eyes
Months later, when they landed back on Earth, cameras flashed, reporters swarmed.
Ethan was supposed to step forward, deliver the official speech.
Instead, he grabbed Atlas’s wrist and murmured, “Come with me.”
Atlas grinned. “Thought you’d never ask.”
Because love wasn’t about staying grounded.
It was about finding someone to fall with—no matter where the stars took them.
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