Chapter 84 Ae

Chapter 84 Ae
CHAPTER TEN — NON-NEGOTIABLE

Richard shows up to the press conference uninvited, standing at the back like he owns the room the way he owns everything else.

A reporter near the front leans into her microphone. "Caleb, is there any truth to reports this relationship is managed for PR?"

The room goes quiet.

"Mia's not a talking point." Caleb's voice stays steady. "She's non-negotiable."

The room buzzes. Phones lift. Someone in the back actually laughs in disbelief.

After, Richard corners him near the exit, voice low enough that only I catch it standing a few feet away.

"Non-negotiable." He spits the word like it's something distasteful. "Do you understand what that does to leverage?"

"I meant it."

"Your mother meant things too." Richard's voice drops further. "Look how well that worked out for her."

"Don't."

"Attachment is what got her killed, Caleb. Not the aneurysm. Years of softness before it, letting people matter more than they should."

He walks away before Caleb can answer, leaving him braced against the wall like the words hit harder than any hit he's ever taken on the ice.

I find him by the vending machines a few minutes later, jaw still tight.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

"You're not fine."

"No." He exhales slow. "I'm not."

"What did he mean, about your mom?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head. "Old history. Doesn't matter right now."

"It clearly matters."

He looks at me a long moment, something unguarded crossing his face before he catches it. "I'm tired of pretending you're strategy," he tells me instead, "when you're the only part of any of this that's actually made sense."

I don't have an answer for that. My phone buzzes in my pocket, then buzzes again, then again.

"What is it?" he asks.

I turn the screen toward him. Non-negotiable is trending, thousands of posts already stacking under it, his quote screenshotted a hundred different ways.

"Guess that word's going to follow us for a while." His mouth quirks despite everything.

"Guess so."

Neither of us moves to leave the hallway right away, phones still buzzing, the whole internet deciding what his four words meant before either of us has figured it out ourselves.

Chloe finds me an hour later, practically vibrating. "You're trending. Actually trending. Not just school gossip trending, real trending."

"I saw."

"Non-negotiable." She rolls the word around like she's testing how it feels in her mouth. "That's not a line you feed reporters, Mia. That's a line you mean."

"I don't know what he meant by it."

"I think you do. I think you're just scared to admit it out loud." She bumps my shoulder. "What did his dad throw at him after? You looked pale."

I hesitate before answering. "Something about his mom. About attachment getting her killed, not the aneurysm."

Chloe's face goes serious. "That's messed up, Mia. Even for him."

"I know."

"Is Caleb okay?"

"I don't think so. But he won't talk about it."

"Give him time." She squeezes my arm. "Some things take longer to admit out loud than others."

That night, my phone buzzes once more before I fall asleep.

Thank you for finding me today. At the vending machines.

You don't have to thank me for that.

I do, though. Not everyone would have.

I read the message twice before setting the phone face down, the word non-negotiable still trending somewhere out there, still meaning more than either of us has fully admitted yet.

In the morning, Coach Daniels pulls me aside before practice, unusual for him.

"You saw the clip?"

"I saw it."

"Whole locker room's talking about it. Some of the guys think it's good for morale. Others think it's a distraction." He crosses his arms. "What do you think?"

"I think it's not really my business to have an opinion on it."

"Everything involving that boy's focus is your business right now, whether you like it or not." He studies me the way he studies game film, looking for the thing everyone else misses. "He's different since you started managing this whole fake arrangement of his. Sharper on the ice. More present at practice."

"That's not because of me."

"Isn't it?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just claps me once on the shoulder and heads toward the rink, leaving me standing there with a question I don't have a clean answer for.

I think about it the rest of the day, Richard's voice about attachment and softness looping under everything else, and wonder exactly how much damage a father can do to a kid before that kid stops believing love and control are the same thing.

Caleb finds me after last period, bag over one shoulder, expression unreadable.

"My dad called again." His jaw stays tight. "Wanted to know if I'd reconsider. If non-negotiable really meant what it sounded like."

"What'd you tell him?"

"That it meant exactly what it sounded like." He leans against the lockers. "He hung up on me. Didn't even argue. Just hung up."

"Are you okay?"

"Honestly? Yeah. First time in a while I've felt okay after a call with him." He studies me a moment. "You didn't ask me to admit any of that today, you know. At the press conference."

"I know."

"I just wanted you to know I meant it. Not for the headlines. For real."

"I believe you."

Something eases in his shoulders, like he'd been bracing for me to doubt him. "Good." He falls into step beside me toward the parking lot, the trending hashtag still climbing somewhere out there, neither of us checking our phones again for the rest of the walk.

Chloe texts me that night, one more thought before bed.

You know your mom would want you to let yourself have this. Whatever it turns into.

I know.

I mean it. She's not going to be around forever, Mia, and I don't think she'd want you spending the good years being scared of a good thing.

I stare at that text a long time, throat tight, because she's not wrong and I know it. I don't respond right away, just set the phone down and let the words sit there in the dark, my mom's breathing steady down the hall, Caleb's texts still glowing faintly on my lock screen from earlier.

I fall asleep with my phone still in my hand, non-negotiable still trending somewhere online, and for the first time in a long time, I let myself believe the word might actually be true.

Chloe texts one more time before her phone finally dies for the night.

Whatever happens with his dad, you're not alone in it anymore. Just so you know.

Thank you for that.

Always. Now go to sleep, trending girl.

I set the phone face down, the whole day finally catching up with me at once, the word non-negotiable still glowing somewhere in my chest instead of just my notifications.