Chapter 41: Everything changed

Milie's POV.

I forgot everything when I was with Alan. With him, things felt lighter and easier.

He understood me in ways I didn't even understand myself.

He didn't rush me, didn't force me, didn't make me feel small. In fact, he stood by me from day one.

I still hadn't accepted myself completely, but what I felt with him was real.

Our chemistry, our comfort, the way we were just being ourselves, all of it.

The line between fake and real had been blurred.

I was still laughing, completely lost in that moment, when Daxton's voice cut through everything.

"Enough." It was sharp, loud, and unfamiliar.

My laughter died instantly. I froze, stared at Alan, and then at Daxton.

The moment I saw his face, something inside me sank.

He wasn't just angry. He was hurt, deeply hurt.

"Dax…" I got up instantly and walked toward him without thinking. "Are you okay?"

I reached for his hand, but he yanked it away with intensity that I stumbled back.

His face was flushed, veins popping out along his neck, and his chest rising and falling like he was trying to contain something too big to hold in.

Sammy stepped down, confused and surprised. "Bro, what’s going on? Why are you acting like this?"

"This is how I am," Dax snapped, his voice harsh, almost unrecognizable.

"Tell me, what should I do?"

The room went silent. Sammy and I exchanged looks.

"I think I should leave," Alan said quietly.

"Thank you," Dax shot back instantly. "That would be great."

"Dax, what's wrong?" I asked again, my voice cautious this time.

His eyes locked onto mine, and there was something in them that made my heart tighten.

"What happened?" he said, his tone edged with mockery. "You feel bad for him?"

For a second, anger flared inside me. I wanted to shake him, force him to stop, to come back to himself.

But I swallowed it. This wasn't the Dax I knew. Something deep was hurting him.

Something else was breaking through, and I wanted him to let it out.

Alan moved to walk past me, and before I could think, I held his hand.

"Dax, don't drag him into this. You have no right to insult him."

Alan went still. I felt the shift in him, the surprise, the quiet acknowledgment. But when I looked back at Dax, the look on his face made my chest ache.

"Do you see it, Milie?" His voice cracked. "Where your priority lies?"

My grip loosened immediately. I let go of Alan's hand as if it burned me and stepped toward Dax.

"I'm sorry… Dax, but that's not true."

"It is Milie."

Tears blurred my vision before I even realized they had fallen.

He grabbed my arms, his fingers pressing too tightly into my skin.

"You don’t need me anymore, Milie. He’s replaced me completely."

"No, no... That’s not true," I whispered.

"It is, Milie."

Instead of responding, I winced as his fingers pressed harder. "Dax… you're hurting her," Sammy said.

He instantly released me with a jerk.

Alan stepped forward, balancing me, and gently caressed my arm where Dax had gripped it.

"Dax, have you gone crazy?" Sammy snapped, moving closer. “What the hell is wrong with you?

"You're hurting the one person you've protected for life."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I leaned into Sammy, my body trembling as everything inside me collapsed.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"Nothing," Sammy said firmly, wrapping his arms around me. "You did nothing wrong."

Alan didn't say anything. He just walked away.

I watched him leave until I heard a dull thud. I turned to see that Dax had dropped to his knees.

He laughed weakly, tears slipping down his face. "Yes. I am crazy."

No one spoke. "I'm crazy for her," he said, his voice breaking completely. "I can't… I can't see her with anyone else."

Everything inside me went still. My eyes went wide, not sure if I heard right.

Sammy crouched in front of him, stunned. "What did you just say?"

Dax didn't respond.

"Dax, answer me," Sammy asked again, a bit louder.

He still didn't respond.

"DAX!" Sammy shook him.

Dax lifted his head slowly, his eyes red, his expression shattered.

"I love her," he said. "I love her like hell, Sammy. And I would rather leave than watch her with someone else."

My body went numb. I sank onto the steps, unable to hold myself up.

"What?" Sammy whispered, sitting down hard. "No… that’s not possible. Tell me you’re joking."

Dax shook his head. "For six years, I've been joking. To myself. To both of you. The more I tried to stop, the worse it got."

"Six years." The words echoed in my head like something unreal.

"She's our Milie," Sammy said, pushing him in disbelief. "Like family…like sister, like our own… how could you even think like that?"

"I tried, I tried a lot—"

"Enough!" I screamed, crying, and covering my ears. I couldn't listen anymore.

Everything felt wrong. Twisted. Broken.

Memories flashed through my mind—us as kids, growing up together, sleeping under the same blanket, sharing everything without a second thought.

Every hug, every moment, every touch suddenly felt… different.

"How…" my voice trembled, my hands clutching my head. "What did I do…?"

Dax moved toward me and cupped my face, his hands trembling. "Listen to me, Milie. I tried. I swear I tried. But I couldn't stop. I couldn't—"

"Don't," I turned my face away. "Please, Dax… don't."

"Talk to me," he pleaded, his grip tightening. "I can't live without you."

"Leave me," I said, barely able to breathe. "Please… just leave me."

His hands loosened, and it was enough for me to get up and run.

I ran out of the room, past the patio, onto the road, out of everything I thought I knew.

I didn't know where I was going. I just… kept running, until my body gave up.

I collapsed near a wall by the roadside. Tears poured out, uncontrollable.

Memories flooded in—every moment we had shared, every laugh, every fight, every piece of my life that had him in it.

"With this… how do we go back?" I cried into the empty night. "How do we become what we were?"

"But he is my Dax. My constant. The one person I never questioned."

"I can't think of my life without him. I can't lose him," I panicked. "No, no, I can't, but how do I stay now?"

I rested my head against the wall, tears falling endlessly.

"Why, Dax…? Why?"

His smile… the way his eyes always softened when they found me… the way he would lift me without a second thought—like I was something precious, something his.

Every memory rushed back all at once.

And for the first time, they didn't feel simple anymore.

They felt heavy and fragile.

Like I was on the verge of losing something I had always believed would stay forever.

A fear settled deep in my chest, tightening with every breath.

Because the truth was—I didn't know who I was without him.