Chapter 7 Chapter 7
I looked at him, taking in the hurt in his expression. “Why did you not.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Because I was scared. Because I did not want to hurt her. Because I thought I could control everything.”
“You cannot control everyone’s feelings,” I said. “You cannot fix this with words.”
He stepped closer. “But I can try to fix it with actions.”
“I am tired,” I whispered. “Tired of being painted as the villain. Tired of being the one who pays the price.”
He reached for my hand. I pulled back.
His shoulders slumped. “I miss you.”
“You do not miss me,” I said. “You miss the idea of me. The version of me that made you feel something new.”
“That is not true,” he whispered.
“Maybe not,” I said. “But I need time. I need space to breathe without you standing there twisting everything inside me.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. “I will give you time.”
His voice broke as he added, “But I am not giving up.”
I looked away. My eyes burned, and I blinked hard. “You cannot wait for me forever.”
“I can,” he said.
“It will hurt,” I replied.
“It already does,” he whispered.
We stayed in silence for a long moment. Then he stepped back, as if letting me go physically would help me breathe.
“Take what you need,” he said. “I will be here.”
He walked away before I could say anything else.
Tessa returned and sat beside me. She let me rest my head on her shoulder without asking questions.
The day passed in a blur after that.
I thought the worst was behind me.
I was wrong.
That night, a video began circulating.
A clip of me and Kylen outside the house, standing close. His hand nearly touching my cheek. My face tilted up. The moment we shared. The one that ruined everything.
Someone captioned it with venom.
She deserves the betrayal she gets.
And beneath it.
Some girls just cannot keep their hands to themselves.
The comments were even worse.
By midnight, my name was being dragged again. More brutally than before.
My chest felt hollow. My throat tight. I stood outside on the porch of my aunt’s house, hugging myself against the cold.
The stars overhead looked sharp and cold.
A car pulled up quietly.
I closed my eyes.
Kylen stepped out, breath misting in the air. He looked exhausted and frantic.
“Lenora,” he said, voice shaking. “I know you saw it.”
I did not respond.
He came closer. “This is why I did not want you to face this alone.”
I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. “This is why I need to be alone.”
He reached out, but I moved back.
He stopped immediately.
“Tell me how to help,” he said softly.
“You cannot,” I whispered.
He inhaled sharply, as if the words cut him. “I am trying to do the right thing.”
“The right thing would have been stopping all this sooner,” I said. “Before it turned into blood sport.”
He shut his eyes. “I know.”
“I need time,” I said. “And I need to learn how to live without breaking every time I hear your name.”
He opened his eyes, and they glistened under the porch light. “I do not want you to live without me.”
“You might have to,” I said.
He looked at me with devastation that almost pulled me back in.
Almost.
Then he stepped back slowly.
“I will wait,” he said. “But I will not disappear.”
He left before I could collapse.
When he drove away, the night felt too quiet.
And for the first time, I wondered if love could survive the damage we had already done.