Chapter 23 Chapter 23
Sunday evening came wrapped in that heavy quiet that always settled over the Winfield house when everyone had said too much already. Cass had spent the afternoon hiding in her room, pretending to study while blinking back tears she refused to admit she shed. Her mother had slammed doors twice and muttered loudly about responsibility and embarrassment like Cass had personally placed the weight of the world on her shoulders.
By the time the sky darkened to a deep blue, Cass felt emptied out. She needed air. She needed anything that was not the suffocating walls of her home.
She grabbed her jacket and slipped out the back door before her mother could yell again. She crossed the yard and headed down the street with no real plan. She just wanted quiet. She wanted to breathe without feeling watched or blamed.
Her phone vibrated.
It was Lena.
Are you alive or do I need to come drag you out by your hair?
Cass actually smiled. A real one. Small but real.
I am walking. Needed space.
Where?
Cass told her. Two minutes later, Lena replied.
Good. Stay put. I am coming.
Lena arrived in a rush of fast footsteps and a messy bun that looked like she had argued with it and lost. She wore pajama pants with little strawberries on them and slippers that slapped loudly against the pavement. She stopped right in front of Cass, breathing hard.
“You look like someone stole your soul,” Lena said softly.
Cass shrugged. “Sunday.”
“No,” Lena whispered. “This is not Sunday. This is hurt.”
Cass blinked away the stinging in her eyes but Lena saw it anyway. She always did.
“Tell me what happened.”
Cass hesitated, then exhaled everything she had been holding inside. Her mother’s anger. Her father’s absence. The humiliation at school. The rumors. The constant pressure from all sides. The fear of breaking under it all.
Lena listened without interrupting, her eyes soft but fierce. When Cass finished, Lena placed a gentle hand over hers.
“You are not alone anymore,” she said. “Not ever again. I am here and I stay. Understand?”
Cass swallowed hard. “I do not want to be a burden.”
“You are not,” Lena said. “But if you ever say something like that again, I will smack you gently but firmly.”
Cass let out a breathy laugh. “Gently and firmly?”
“Yes. Both.”
They stood in silence for a moment. Then Lena glanced around. “Where are we going? Because you look like someone who needs warm food and possibly a hug that might break several ribs.”
Cass wiped her eyes. “I do not want to go home yet.”
“Then stay with me tonight,” Lena said immediately. “My mother loves guests. She will feed you until you forget your own name.”
Cass hesitated. “I do not want to intrude.”
“You are not intruding. You are saving me from boredom. Come.”
Cass opened her mouth to protest but stopped. Because for the first time in a long time, she felt like someone wanted her around. Not tolerated her. Not judged her. Wanted her.
She nodded.
“Okay.”
What Cass did not know was that Jace Woods had been standing across the street the entire time.
He had gone looking for her after sensing something was wrong. He had not planned to approach her. He just needed to see that she was safe. But when Lena showed up and wrapped Cass in comfort he could never offer out loud, he stood frozen.
He watched the girl he liked walk away with someone who understood her without needing explanations. Someone who made her smile in ways he only dreamed of.
Jace felt a strange burn rise inside his chest. Jealousy mixed with relief and something hollow he did not want to name.
He turned toward home again, trying to quiet the storm in his head. He could still hear Marvin shouting inside the house from earlier. He could still taste the frustration of the fight that had almost happened in the kitchen before he stormed out. The Woods household had its own brand of chaos and none of it gave him the strength he needed for Cass.
He wished he could tell her everything. That he cared. That she mattered. That she was not alone.
But he had no place. Not when she had Lena. Not when Cass barely let him near her walls anymore. Not when he still did not know how to break out of his own.
He walked home with his hands shoved in his pockets and a heaviness in his chest he did not know how to shake.
Meanwhile, Cass followed Lena into a warm house that smelled like cinnamon and fresh laundry. Lena’s mother welcomed her with a hug that Cass did not expect but instantly needed.
They ate dinner together. They watched a silly show together. They laughed until Cass forgot she had cried earlier.
Later, in Lena’s room, the two girls lay on the floor facing each other.
“You know,” Lena whispered, “you do not have to pretend with me.”
Cass felt something inside her loosen. “I have spent so long pretending I am fine that I do not know how to stop.”
“I will teach you,” Lena said simply. “One day at a time.”
Cass felt her throat tighten. She nodded, even though her eyes blurred again.
They talked until midnight. Then Lena fell asleep first, snoring softly. Cass stared at the ceiling, feeling strangely safe. Less alone. Less broken.
But she also remembered her mother’s warning.
Be careful who you trust. People always leave.
Cass rolled to her side and pulled the blanket up to her chin, shutting her eyes tightly.
She wanted Lena to stay. She wanted Jace to stay too, even though she could not admit it. But wanting people meant losing them eventually. Wanting meant hurting.
And Cass Winfield had hurt enough.
She whispered into the darkness. “Please don’t leave.”
She did not know who she was talking to. Lena. Jace. Herself.
But she meant it for all of them.