Chapter 37 Lines You Don’t Cross
Chapter 37 Lines You Don’t Cross
POV: Rafe Vega
The house is quieter now.
Not silent.
Just…
settled.
The kind of quiet that comes after too much noise.
After too many emotions hit at once and finally decide to sit down.
Nico is still in the pool.
Because of course he is.
Fully dressed.
Still arguing with Elena like he didn’t just get pushed in ten minutes ago.
“You planned that,” he accuses.
“You deserved it,” she fires back.
“That’s not a reason.”
“That’s the only reason.”
Dylan and Matteo are leaning against the edge of the pool now, half in, half out, talking about something football-related that sounds important and completely useless at the same time.
Maya and Sofia are sitting closer together than before.
Quieter.
Not left out.
Just…
processing.
Everyone is.
Even if they don’t say it.
Even if they’re laughing.
Even if they’re pretending this doesn’t change everything.
Because it does.
I lean against the railing, watching it all.
Taking it in.
Memorizing it without trying to.
Because something in me knows—
this version of us?
It doesn’t last.
Not like this.
Not all in the same place.
Not all at the same time.
“Stop thinking like that.”
I glance to my right.
Valeria.
Standing there like she always has been.
Like she belongs in this space.
In my space.
“I didn’t say anything,” I tell her.
“You didn’t have to.”
That—
that almost makes me laugh.
“Mind reader now?” I ask.
“Only when it’s obvious.”
I shake my head slightly.
But she’s not wrong.
She’s not wrong about anything lately.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
I don’t answer right away.
Because I don’t know how to say it without making it sound worse than it is.
Or more real than I want it to be.
“That this changes things,” I say finally.
Her expression doesn’t fall.
Doesn’t break.
She just nods.
“Yeah.”
No denial.
No pretending.
Just truth.
And somehow—
that makes it easier.
“Doesn’t mean it breaks anything,” she adds.
I look at her.
Really look.
Because that matters.
More than anything else right now.
“Yeah,” I say.
Because I want to believe that.
Because I need to believe that.
We stand there for a second.
Not talking.
Not moving.
Just…
there.
Together.
And it’s enough.
For now.
“Alright, I’m freezing,” Nico complains loudly, dragging himself out of the pool.
“No one told you to stay in there,” Elena says.
“You literally pushed me in.”
“Details.”
Dylan laughs.
“You’re pathetic.”
“Says the guy who almost slipped getting in.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“It absolutely did.”
The tension breaks again.
Just like that.
Because that’s what we do.
We don’t sit in things too long.
We don’t let it get too heavy.
We find a way to laugh.
Even when we shouldn’t.
Especially when we shouldn’t.
“Hey,” Maya calls out suddenly.
Everyone looks at her.
She hesitates.
Just for a second.
Then—
“Promise me something.”
The tone shifts.
Again.
Quieter this time.
Real.
“What?” Nico asks.
“All of you,” she says. “Promise me we don’t let this… fade.”
No jokes.
No interruptions.
Just that.
Sofia looks at her.
Then at the rest of us.
“She’s right,” she says softly.
Dylan nods.
“Yeah.”
Matteo exhales slowly.
“Yeah.”
Elena crosses her arms
Like she’s about to argue.
Then doesn’t
“Fine,” she says. “But we’re not doing that fake ‘we’ll talk every day’ thing.”
“Why not?” Nico asks.
“Because we won’t,” she says bluntly.
That lands.
Because she’s right.
Again.
“But we will show up,” she adds.
That’s the difference.
“That matters more.”
Silence settles over us again.
Not heavy.
Just…
honest.
“I can do that,” Dylan says.
“Same,” Matteo adds.
Sofia nods.
“Yeah.”
Maya looks at me.
Then at Valeria.
“Especially you two,” she says.
I frown slightly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She smirks just a little.
“Don’t act like you don’t know.”
I glance at Valeria.
She’s already looking at me.
And yeah
we both know.
This—
whatever this is between us—
it’s not something that fits easily into distance.
Or change.
Or anything simple.
“Not going anywhere,” I say.
Not loud.
Not for everyone.
Just enough.
Just for her.
She doesn’t answer.
But she doesn’t need to.
Because I see it.
In the way she looks at me.
In the way she doesn’t look away.
In the way she believes me.
And that—
that matters more than anything else tonight.
Later, people start leaving.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
Like no one wants to be the first one to break it.
Dylan and Matteo go first.
Early practice.
Or at least that’s the excuse.
Maya and Sofia stay a little longer.
Talking.
Laughing.
Holding onto something they don’t want to let go of yet.
Nico finally disappears inside to change.
Elena follows him.
Probably to argue some more.
That leaves—
me.
And her.
Again.
The house is quieter now.
The pool still.
The air cooler.
“You staying?” I ask.
She nods.
“Yeah.”
Good.
Because I’m not ready for her to leave.
Not tonight.
Not after everything.
We sit side by side.
Not touching.
But close.
Close enough.
“Today was a lot,” she says.
“That’s one way to put it.”
She lets out a small breath.
“I thought I was ready for it.”
“And?”
“I wasn’t.”
I nod.
“Yeah.”
That’s honest.
That’s real.
“That doesn’t make it bad,” I add.
She glances at me.
“I know.”
A pause.
Then—“I’m glad it was you,” she says quietly.
That catches me off guard.
“Yeah?”
She nods.
“Yeah.”
Something in my chest tightens.
Not bad.
Just—real.
Because I don’t say things I don’t mean.
And I don’t feel things halfway.
“Good,” I say.
Because I don’t have a better word for it.
Because that one carries enough.
We sit there for a while.
Not talking.
Not needing to.
Just…existing in the quiet after everything.
And for once—it doesn’t feel like something is about to fall apart
It feels like something is building instead.
Slow.
Uncertain.
But real.
And maybe—that’s enough.