Chapter 72 The Boy I Can’t Love
Mia's POV
"I'm really sorry, Dan," I whispered.
He shook his head gently. "You don't have to apologize, Mia. You didn't do anything wrong."
And somehow, that only made me feel even more guilty.
"I thought maybe," he said quietly, "if I stayed long enough... if I was kind enough... you'd look at me the way you look at him."
My eyes stung. I stepped forward and took his hand. "You matter to me, Daniel. I mean that."
He gave a small nod, but he did not squeeze my hand back. "But not the way I wanted to matter."
My lips parted, but no words came.
Daniel looked away again, his voice rougher now. "Just... promise me something."
"What?"
"If he hurts you again, don't protect him. Don't pretend it doesn't matter. Because it will matter to me. To everyone who has ever seen how brightly you shine when you are happy. Don't let him steal that from you again."
My breath caught as I nodded.
Daniel forced a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "That's all I can ask for."
A long pause passed between us before the school bell rang in the distance, sharp and final.
We began walking again. A little slower. A little more careful. The air between us was quieter than before.
It was the silence of unspoken things.
We were halfway to the classroom building when I stopped walking, my voice so soft it nearly vanished in the wind.
"Would it still be okay... if you kept pretending to be my boyfriend?"
Daniel froze in place, his steps halting mid stride. He turned to me slowly, confusion settling on his face. "What?"
I swallowed hard, looking anywhere but at him. "I mean, just for a little while longer. Until Liam figures things out with Stacy."
Daniel stared at me, speechless.
I continued, almost rambling now. "I know it's asking a lot. And I know it's selfish. But Stacy is not someone who will let go easily. She's used to getting everything she wants. She's not just anyone. She's a Montemayor. Her family could ruin Liam's reputation if they wanted to. That's why he asked for time to talk to her... and he promised me he would."
My cheeks flushed with shame.
Daniel did not speak right away. When he finally did, his voice was gentle, but there was a sharpness underneath it, an ache that he could not hide.
"Mia... you don't need to ask me," he said. "You know I would do anything for you."
I looked up, hopeful.
"But that doesn't mean we should," he added.
My face fell.
Daniel stepped closer, his hands in his pockets, his jaw tight with restraint. "Let's just give the Academy what it wants. A breakup. Let them talk. Let them move on. That way, when you and Liam, if that happens, no one can accuse you of cheating. You don't need more gossip tied to your name, Mia. You've already had more than your share."
My lips parted, but no words came.
"You and I both know we can't exactly say it was all fake," Daniel went on, quieter now. "And I don't think I could pretend anymore, even if I wanted to."
His words struck something deep in my chest.
I hated how I kept hurting him without meaning to. He had never once complained. Not when I asked him to pretend. Not when the rumors got worse. Not even when I looked past him every time Liam walked by.
And now, he was still thinking of me, of my name, my reputation, when I did not even know how to begin apologizing for what I had already done.
"Thank you," I said softly, my voice catching. "For everything. For standing by me when no one else did. Can I... can I still spend time with you? Just as friends?"
Daniel's gaze dropped to the ground. He shook his head.
My heart sank.
"No," he said. "Not right now."
My breath hitched.
"I don't trust myself not to want more," he admitted, his voice raw and honest. "And I can't watch you fall for someone else again. I already did once. It nearly wrecked me."
I blinked back the sting in my eyes.
"If I could teach my heart to love you," I whispered, "I would. If love was something I could just choose, Daniel... I'd choose you."
He smiled, bitter and broken. "But you can't."
I shook my head. "No."
A silence fell between us, heavy, full of everything left unsaid. The wind tugged at my hair. The bell rang somewhere in the distance, distant and dull.
"I'll always be here for you," Daniel said after a long pause. "Even if it hurts. Just not like this."
And with that, he turned around and walked away, shoulders squared, steps steady, but I could see it. The tension in his back. The way his hands clenched. The effort it took not to look back.
I stood frozen in place, watching him disappear into the crowd of students ahead.
My heart ached.
Because I knew that in a different life, one where I had not met Liam first, Daniel would have been the right choice.
But this wasn't that life.
And I had already fallen... hopelessly, helplessly, for the boy who might never catch me.
I walked alone along the cobbled path, my steps slow, my chest aching in places I could not quite name. The moment Daniel walked away, part of me wanted to call out to him. To run after him. To take it all back. To tell him I didn't deserve his kindness or his patience, not after everything.
But he was right, we needed to end it. At least in the eyes of everyone at Suncrest. So I could stand beside Liam again without the rumors swallowing me whole.
I hated how selfish that made me feel.
My heart felt heavy with it. Daniel had been my anchor through the worst of the whispers, the judgment, the isolation. He had stood by me when no one else did. I liked him as a friend. As someone who understood me.
And yet... it wasn't love.
I shook my head slowly, my lips pressing into a faint smile tinged with sadness. It felt like a lifetime ago, back when I heard Daniel was dating Belle, and how heartbroken I had been then. The ache had been sharp, but simple. Almost innocent.
I had adored that version of Daniel, the boy who smiled with crooked teeth, who knew how to make me laugh during long study hours, who always stood up for me when others turned their backs.
But now I had met Liam. And everything had changed.
What I felt for Liam wasn't soft or safe. It was raw. Fierce. It tugged at my chest in ways I didn't know my heart could bend. With him, it wasn't about fairytales or quiet comfort. It was about the storm behind his eyes when he looked at me like I was the only thing holding him together.
It was the way my pulse raced when his hand found mine in a crowded hallway. The way my world tilted slightly when he smiled, not at anyone else, but at me.
It terrified me. Because it was real. It wasn't the sweet crush kind of liking I once mistaken for love. It was deeper than that. More dangerous. More consuming. And despite all the risks, all the pain it might bring, I couldn't stop myself from falling.
There were no words to explain what Liam made me feel. But it wasn't infatuation. It wasn't a passing flutter in my chest.
It was the kind of love that made me brave enough to lose my pride and terrified enough to guard my heart.
I wrapped my arms around myself as the morning breeze brushed past me, and for the first time in days, I let myself hope. That maybe this time, Liam meant it when he asked for another chance.
My smile faded the moment I turned the hallway and caught sight of the locker area.
My footsteps slowed as a cold shiver ran down my spine. I didn't need anyone to say a word. My instincts screamed it. The air was too still. Too pointed. And then I saw them.
Stacy stood in front of my locker with her arms folded tightly across her chest, her expensive shoes glinting beneath her perfectly tailored uniform. Her usual entourage, Chloe, Belle, Trish, and Kim, flanked her like trained wolves waiting to strike.
And they all turned at once when they sensed my presence. The certainty settled in me that I was exactly who they had been waiting for.