Chapter 20 20

Chapter 20 20
Aria's POV
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The sun hadn’t fully risen, but the streets were already awake.

I ran my fingers through my damp hair, tugging it into a messy ponytail, and yanked my backpack onto my shoulders.

My body still ached from the night before, from the way my legs had screamed, from the exhaustion that weighed on every muscle.

But sleep was a luxury I couldn’t afford, not today.

Not when Jaxon might be somewhere in the crowd, somewhere on campus, unaware—or worse, pretending he didn’t notice me.

I shoved my feet into sneakers and bolted out the door, letting the cool morning air hit my face, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep, of fear, of everything.

My heart still thumped erratically, a mixture of adrenaline and worry from last night. I needed to see him, to hear his voice, to know he was okay.

And maybe…maybe to make sure he remembered me, remembered that I existed, even if Aria’s presence had somehow moved me further into the background.

I ran past the familiar streets, past the coffee shop where the barista always gave me a sideways smile, past the rows of sleepy dorms that hadn’t yet stirred to life. I kept my eyes sharp, scanning every corner.

Last night had proven that I couldn’t trust shadows. I couldn’t trust any sound.

Every rustle of leaves, every distant footstep, made me flinch.

And yet, I kept moving forward.

Campus appeared in the distance, its large stone steps and familiar fountain coming into view.

My chest constricted. I scanned the crowd as I approached, looking for him, desperate to catch a glimpse.

My stomach twisted into knots when I finally saw him.

He wasn’t alone.

He was holding her hand. Aria.

My stomach dropped, a lead weight pressing me down. My first instinct was to turn and run, to hide and pretend I hadn’t seen it.

But no. I had to face it. I had to see for myself how easily he could reach out to her, how naturally he could make space for her, and how utterly irrelevant I seemed in comparison.

“Jaxon!” I called, my voice barely carrying over the morning chatter of students.

His head didn’t turn. His eyes didn’t soften.

He didn’t even pause.

Aria’s hand was still in his, her fingers laced tightly around his, and he walked as if I weren’t there, as if my voice was nothing more than a background hum.

My throat tightened. My hands shook.

My heart, for the first time, cracked just a little.

And then it broke fully, in small, silent shards.

I opened my mouth, desperate. “Jaxon, I need to—”

He ignored me completely.

He didn’t glance, didn’t hesitate, didn’t offer even the smallest flicker of recognition.

And for a fraction of a second, I felt what I had never allowed myself to feel before: heartbreak.

Not the kind you patch over with anger or pride, but real, raw heartbreak.

A cold, biting fear settled over me then, like a shadow creeping along my spine.

My entire body stiffened. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach, in the back of my throat. I was a creature exposed, vulnerable, endangered.

The thought hit me like ice: what if this wasn’t just a passing moment?

What if Jaxon…if he had already started moving on without me, without any thought of the nights we had shared, the moments we had protected each other, the silent understanding we once had?

I shook my head, trying to push it down, trying to force myself to move forward, to approach him, to make him see me.

But every step I took felt heavy, like wading through water.

Every heartbeat echoed in my ears, louder than the footsteps around me.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t let myself be the desperate one, not here, not now.

So I stopped. I let him and Aria fade into the distance, walking together, perfectly matched, perfectly oblivious to the storm they had left behind in me.

The rest of the day passed in a blur.

My classes, my professors, even the students around me..all of it faded into gray.

I couldn’t focus.

Every word they said, every note I tried to take, bounced off me like I was a ghost in my own life.

And the image of him, his hand in hers, followed me relentlessly.

By the time evening came, I made a choice. The club?

No

I ignored the messages blinking on my phone, ignored the calls from J. Marcus insisting it was safe, insisting that it would be good for me to perform. I couldn’t.
My body was drained, but more than that, my heart was drained.

My mind was a mess of fear and anger and confusion.

I sat on my bed, arms wrapped around my knees, staring at the walls. Why had he stopped caring? Was it me? Was it something I had done wrong? Or…or was it her? Aria. My chest tightened.

My hands shook as I scrolled through old messages, old memories, trying to find a reason, trying to make sense of why he could look at her and not me.

What had she done to him that I couldn’t?

The thought twisted inside me like a knife.

Was it her smile, her touch, her easy way of being in his world?

Was it something I had never given him?

Something I had never realized he wanted?

My pride battled with my fear.

My anger rose, hot and sharp, but it was tangled with this raw, hollow ache in my chest that wouldn’t let go.

I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging at the strands.

I wanted to scream, to shout, to throw something across the room.

But my voice caught in my throat.

I wanted to shake him, make him look at me, make him see what he was doing to me.

But I couldn’t.

Not like this.

I leaned back against the wall, my eyes closing.

The club’s neon lights, the thrum of the music, the adoration of the crowd

I had felt alive there, powerful, untouchable.

But now?

Now, I felt small. Insignificant.

Like my blood, my power, my very presence didn’t matter.

And still, beneath the fear, beneath the heartbreak, a slow, simmering anger began to build.

I would not let myself disappear quietly.

I would not let Aria or anyone take him from me without a fight, without a challenge.

But the fear lingered, gnawing at me.

If he could look at her and not me…then what did that mean for me?

For the bond I thought we had?

The night deepened.

I thought of the club, of the music, of the crowds, and my fingers itched to touch the microphone, to feel the power thrumming through me again.

But not tonight. Not tonight.

My pride wouldn’t allow it, not when my heart was in tatters.

I grabbed my phone again, staring at the blinking screen, ignoring the texts and calls that piled up.

I thought of going to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.

My mind refused it.

Thoughts of him, of her, of the empty spaces he had left in me, swirled relentlessly.

I pressed my forehead against the cool window, the city lights below glowing faintly, mocking me. I was alive, but I felt like I had been carved out from the inside. Hollow. Exposed. Afraid.

I didn’t know how long I sat there, staring at the streets, watching the world move without me.

I didn’t know how long the ache lingered in my chest, the mixture of fear, heartbreak, and anger.

All I knew was that the first step toward understanding…toward confronting this…would have to come tomorrow.

And when tomorrow came, I would have to find him.

But soon.

Because I couldn’t let him or Aria forget that I existed.

Because I couldn’t let fear win.

And somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, I realized something.

The war between us had only just begun.