Summaries & Analyses
Quizzes
NEWReading Tools
Chapters 17-25Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental illness, self-harm, substance use, and sexual content.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Nikolai”
Nikolai wakes up in his penthouse bed and realizes that Brandon must have carried him there after he fell asleep. Disappointed to find Brandon gone, Nikolai discovers that even the bedsheets have been changed, erasing Brandon’s scent. He texts Brandon, and they have a flirty exchange where Brandon admits that he wants Nikolai to join him for his morning run. After Nikolai sends several explicit texts, Brandon reveals that he has ordered breakfast to be delivered to the penthouse.
Later, Nikolai learns that his family and friends were worried by his disappearance. He meets his cousins Killian, Maya, and Mia at a coffee shop, but he’s evasive about where he was. A former hookup named Simon arrives and acts clingy, sitting on Nikolai’s lap. Across the shop, Nikolai spots Brandon with Brandon’s cousin Creighton and their friend Remington. Brandon sees Simon with Nikolai, becomes visibly upset, and leaves without a word. Alarmed by Brandon’s reaction, Nikolai shoves Simon off and rushes outside, but Brandon is already gone.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Nikolai”
Later that day, Nikolai returns to the penthouse to find Brandon waiting. Brandon throws a pack of condoms at Nikolai and tells him not to spread sexually transmitted infections. When Nikolai stops him from leaving, a furious Brandon pins him against the wall. Nikolai provokes him, asking if he’s jealous over Simon, and Brandon punches him in the face. Brandon declares that they’re “done.”
Nikolai clarifies that he always uses condoms and that their night together was an exception, adding that he hasn’t been with anyone else since their university initiation. Brandon admits that he also hasn’t had sex with anyone other than Nikolai in six months. Nikolai kisses him, and they end up in the bedroom. After they have sex, Nikolai asks Brandon to be exclusive. Brandon is resistant but reluctantly agrees before locking himself in the bathroom, leaving Nikolai feeling shut out.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Brandon”
Two weeks later, Brandon reflects on his “addiction” to Nikolai, which alternates between intense encounters at the penthouse and painful, sleepless nights apart. He’s in his art studio, struggling to paint and fighting the urge to self-harm. He paints orderly, detailed landscapes, but he increasingly regards these paintings as mediocre and emotionally lifeless—a means to hide from his truer, more chaotic self. He recalls a text argument from that morning where Nikolai skipped their run to retaliate against Brandon for ghosting him the previous night.
A text from Annika informs him of a fire at the Heathens’ mansion. She asks Brandon and Remington to pick up an unconscious Creighton, who was injured after saving her. At the mansion, Annika explains that Nikolai saved Jeremy but also beat up Creighton. Brandon spots a soot-covered Nikolai on a balcony, and they share a tense look. Back home, Brandon texts Nikolai, who says he’ll only be “okay” if Brandon comes to the penthouse. Brandon agrees. While waiting, he cooks and falls asleep, waking to find his head in Nikolai’s lap. They reconcile, and Brandon feels a rare moment of peace as they watch TV together.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Nikolai”
A few weeks after the fire, Nikolai is restless. Killian, suspecting that Nikolai is in a secret relationship, leads him to a coffee shop where they find Brandon with Glyn. Nikolai sits with Brandon, and they flirt via text while Killian and Glyn are distracted. Killian loudly speculates that Nikolai is exclusive with Simon, which makes Brandon visibly tense.
Brandon retreats to the restroom, and Nikolai follows. In a stall, Nikolai performs oral sex on Brandon. Afterward, Brandon confronts Nikolai about the Simon rumor, and Nikolai retorts that the rumor is Brandon’s fault for demanding secrecy. When they return, Landon has arrived and is openly hostile toward Nikolai. Landon acts possessive of his brother, who is too afraid of being discovered to defend Nikolai. Disgusted, Nikolai leaves. He then receives a text from Brandon suggesting that they keep their distance. Fed up, Nikolai breaks things off and tells Brandon to delete his number.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Brandon”
Two weeks after the breakup, Brandon is spiraling. His self-harm has intensified to the point where he recently lost consciousness. He has withdrawn from friends and lacrosse. While contemplating another act of self-harm, he receives a supportive text from his father, Levi, which stops him. Brandon reveals that he drunkenly contacted Nikolai the previous night; Nikolai initially feigned ignorance before calling him for a tense conversation.
A commotion interrupts him, and he discovers Creighton brutally beating Landon. Brandon tries to intervene, but Eli restrains him. As Brandon tries to figure out why his brother is being assaulted, Remington arrives and announces that Nikolai is tied up in their basement. Creighton has been seeking revenge against Jeremy over a family secret, and Landon confesses that he drugged and kidnapped Nikolai, Jeremy’s closest friend, to use as bait to lure Jeremy.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Nikolai”
A week after being kidnapped, Nikolai reflects on the incident. He reveals that he forced his own throat onto Creighton’s blade to avoid being used as leverage against Jeremy. Now recovering, he’s alarmed to learn that his sister Mia is friends with Brandon, as he fears that Brandon has hidden motives and is using his sister as part of another revenge plot. He’s hurt that Brandon never visited him in the hospital. He has been obsessively stalking Brandon online and in person.
Currently, he’s watching Brandon volunteer at a charity. He texts him, and they argue briefly before Nikolai asks if Brandon truly wants them to be over. Brandon admits that he tried to move on but failed. Nikolai tells him to meet at the penthouse and reveals that he’s across the street. They ride there together on Nikolai’s Harley during a rainstorm. At the penthouse, Nikolai gives Brandon an ultimatum: Their relationship can continue only if Brandon stops leaving every night. After a tense internal struggle, Brandon climbs into Nikolai’s lap and kisses him.
Chapter 23 Summary: “Brandon”
Brandon kisses Nikolai passionately, feeling alive for the first time in weeks. After they have sex, he agrees to stay the night. While Brandon dries Nikolai’s hair, they talk. Nikolai explains that his manic episodes and inability to sleep in beds are long-standing issues. In turn, Brandon reveals that he identifies as asexual and never enjoyed sex or felt desire for anyone before Nikolai.
They discuss their families and past relationships. Nikolai confesses that his jealousy over Brandon’s exes is a new and powerful feeling for him. Brandon admits that his own past relationships were meaningless. That night, Nikolai falls asleep soundly in the bed beside Brandon, who’s struck by this deviation from Nikolai’s stated habit.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Brandon”
Brandon wakes up in Nikolai’s arms at seven o’clock, having missed his daily 5:30 am run for the first time in eight years. He begins to panic, but Nikolai’s embrace calms him. After breakfast, they talk. Brandon admits that he lied during a party game about having been in love, confessing that he only said it because of the intense way Nikolai was looking at him. Nikolai offers to let Brandon top him if he ever wants to experiment, but Brandon confirms that he prefers bottoming and enjoys relinquishing control. Their conversation ends when Nikolai initiates another round of sex.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Nikolai”
Over the next week, Nikolai becomes increasingly obsessed with Brandon, even stalking him at a grocery store. There, he stumbles upon his cousin Gareth in a tense confrontation with an older professor, Kayden Lockwood, whom Nikolai realizes is Gareth’s secret lover. Later, Brandon catches Nikolai following him, and they walk to the penthouse together. Inside, Brandon initiates a passionate reunion.
That night, Nikolai falls asleep on the floor waiting for a late Brandon, who lies down beside him upon arriving. When they wake, Brandon gets jealous over an old photo of Nikolai with a woman on Instagram. Nikolai is thrilled by his possessiveness and comments on the photo to shut it down. They share intimate details, with Nikolai revealing that a Russian phrase he told Brandon means “I can’t live without you” and admitting that he has counted Brandon’s eyelashes (589). In return, Brandon notes that Nikolai’s face is perfectly symmetrical. They cuddle, and Nikolai realizes that he’s irrevocably in trouble because of his feelings for Brandon.
Chapters 17-25 Analysis
Brandon’s jealous reaction to seeing Nikolai with a former hookup, Simon, triggers a confrontation that redefines their relationship. When Brandon later confronts Nikolai at the penthouse—throwing condoms at him and eventually punching him—his outburst reveals a possessiveness that his controlled public manner can’t otherwise express. Physical aggression functions here as a substitute for emotional vulnerability, allowing Brandon to act on his feelings without naming them. Nikolai deliberately provokes this reaction, goading Brandon about Simon until his composure breaks. This dynamic, in which antagonism forces emotional honesty, is consistent with the enemies-to-lovers structure the novel follows. The confrontation is a catalyst for commitment: Immediately afterward, Nikolai asks Brandon to be exclusive. This agreement sets a pattern for them: Conflict, rather than calm communication, becomes the main way they grow closer.
The weeks following their breakup show how secrecy and silence exacerbate The Danger of Repressing Trauma. Without Nikolai as an outlet, Brandon’s self-harm intensifies to the point of losing consciousness—an escalation that makes his internal suffering physically visible. The secrecy surrounding his self-harm compounds its danger, as he spirals alone, unable to ask for help. This break from Nikolai’s constant, all-consuming attention does, however, allow other members of Brandon’s support network to come to the fore. It’s a text from his father, Levi, that pulls him back from the edge, as Levi affirms that Brandon’s family is on his side: “No matter how hard it is, I want you to remember that you have a family who loves you and would stand behind you no matter what. You’re not alone, son” (305). This supportive message is at least as instrumental as anything Nikolai does in allowing Brandon to accept himself as he is, an early sign of the value of Healing as a Group Project.
Breaking his rigid, eight-year routine—his primary tool for managing internal chaos—is a fundamental shift in Brandon’s coping. When he wakes up at seven o’clock in Nikolai’s arms, having missed his 5:30 am run for the first time in years, he initially panics. Nikolai’s physical presence calms him, suggesting that their relationship is beginning to function as a source of stability in place of the solitary self-discipline he has relied on for years. Although Brandon’s defenses are far from gone, this moment is a meaningful movement away from isolation as his primary means of self-management.
Their short-lived breakup forces Nikolai and Brandon to be honest with each other about what they want, leaving their relationship stronger in the aftermath—a convention in romance novels across most subgenres. Their interactions are no longer defined by conflict. Brandon and Nikolai’s dynamic in Chapters 23-25 is built as much through mundane domestic scenes like shared meals, Nikolai’s underwater meditation, and an argument over laundry as through confrontation. These quieter exchanges show both characters becoming familiar with each other’s habits, tolerances, and small preferences, a form of closeness that gradually supplements the intensity of their earlier dynamic.
The relationship reaches a new level of honesty when Brandon discloses that he identifies as asexual and has never felt desire for anyone before Nikolai. This is among the most significant disclosures in this section: It reframes his earlier guardedness and his history of performative relationships, and it reveals something he hasn’t named to anyone else. Nikolai responds without judgment, offering his own admission that his manic episodes and inability to sleep in beds are long-standing difficulties that he has managed alone. This exchange builds a foundation of mutual recognition that the relationship hasn’t had before, an example of Building Trust and Connection Through Self-Acceptance. Nikolai’s capacity to sleep soundly in bed beside Brandon—a departure from his established habits—registers the same shift physically. Later, the exchange of intimate observations reinforces this tone: Brandon notes the perfect symmetry of Nikolai’s face, while Nikolai reveals that he has counted Brandon’s eyelashes, recasting his obsessive attention as a form of care. Taken together, these moments mark a transition in which both characters begin to be seen more fully, not only in conflict or desire but also in the details of who they actually are.
Unlock all 58 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs