Chapter 77 Denial?

Chapter 77 Denial?
Daxton's POV

It had been two days. Two days since Alan disappeared.

And two days since Milie stopped being herself.

At first, I told myself she was just worried. Anyone would be.

Alan was her friend, and a neighbor too.

But the longer he stayed gone… The quieter Milie became.

She stopped arguing with Sammy properly, and stopped laughing loudly.

She was busy checking her phone every few minutes. 

Every few minutes, she'd unlock it, and then lock it back; disappointment was written all over her face. 

I noticed all of it. Of course I did. I noticed everything about her; still, I kept my patience.
Because love also meant trust, and it was Milie. 

I trusted her more than anyone, until she broke something inside me.

That afternoon, after class, I went looking for her near the parking lot.

She wasn't there. I checked the cafeteria. Nothing.

Then I ran into one of her classmates.

"Milie?" the girl frowned. "She left halfway through class."

My brows furrowed immediately. "Left?"

"Yeah. Looked kinda rushed."

Something about that instantly felt wrong. I got worried about whether her parents were okay.
I called her. No response. 

I called again. Nothing.

By the fourth call, my chest had already started tightening.

Then finally— her message arrived. 

Milie: Hey, I'll call you tomorrow. 

Tomorrow? I stared at the screen. Since when did Milie postpone talking to me?

Especially when she knew I was worried?

I called again. She hung up again. 

I texted her. 

Daxton: All okay?

She replied instantly.
Milie: Yeah, yeah. 

Such a short reply was so unlikely of Milie. I just hoped she was fine. 

By evening, even Sammy had no clue where she was, and that scared me more.

I waited another hour before finally driving to her house.

Aunty had opened the door. The moment she saw me, surprise crossed her face.

"Daxton?"

"Aunty, Milie? In her room?" I entered, already making my way up. 

"You didn’t know?" 

Those words made my stomach sink.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"That she went to Alan?" 

A strange silence followed. For a second, my brain genuinely stopped processing.

"...What?"

"She went to his grandparents' place."

My grip tightened around my car keys. "His grandparents?"

"Yeah… crazy girl." 

I stared at her. She quickly continued, probably noticing the change on my face.

"They had some misunderstanding."

"She just wanted to apologize."

Apologize. The word echoed weirdly inside my head.

I nodded slowly. I didn't have the energy to know further. 

I acted normal and somehow managed to leave without letting anything show on my face.

But the second I sat inside my car, something cracked. My heart hurt immensely. 

A tear rolled down without realization. 

I couldn't sleep that night. I kept trying to reason with myself.

"You're overthinking. She's just worried about him. That's all this is, nothing else." 

"Alan disappeared suddenly. Of course she'd go. Of course she'd panic."

But another voice inside me kept whispering— Then why didn't she tell you?

Why hide it?

Why did Aunt know before you did?

Every possible scenario ran through my head, and none of them ended well.

The heaviness I felt that night was unbearable. 

The next morning, I saw Alan's car parked near campus.

The moment I saw it… I knew Milie had come back too. I thought she would come to the class, but she didn't. 

Later, I found myself searching for her. I didn't want to call or text her. 

I needed to talk to her face-to-face. 

After looking everywhere, she was found in an unusual place, where Milie would've never thought of going.

Library. Not alone, but with Alan. 

For one second, neither of them noticed me. Alan sat beside her instead of across from her.

Milie was looking at him with a warm smile—the kind she'd been missing for two days.

Alan said something quietly. She laughed softly.

Then— He reached across the table and took her hand.

His thumb slowly brushed across her knuckles.

And Milie? She didn't pull away.

My entire body went still. For one stupid second, I wanted to blame Alan for everything. 

But who was he to me? No one. 

Milie was mine. I would expect her to be honest. 

But nothing about that moment looked fake.

If anything, they looked like two people trying to hold something together.

My chest tightened painfully.

Still, I kept telling myself— "She's my Milie. She wouldn't betray me. She wouldn't. Right?"

Then Alan noticed me first. He pulled his hand off her awkwardly, and then her eyes met mine. 

And the moment she saw me—Everything changed.

Her smile disappeared instantly. She stood up so fast her chair nearly fell backward.

"Daxton—"

I couldn't do this there. Not in front of him. Not when I felt like my entire chest was splitting open.

So I turned around and walked away as fast as I could. 

I heard her footsteps behind me almost immediately.

"Daxton, wait."

I kept walking.

"Please."

Finally, I stopped. But I didn't turn toward her immediately because I was scared.

Scared that if I looked at her right now, I'd see the answer I was not ready to listen to. 

"Daxton?" She called again. 

I finally looked at her and found her terrified. Like she already knew what she had done wrong. 

"Can we go for coffee?" she asked softly.

Coffee. For some reason, that almost broke me.

Because it sounded so normal, so careful, as if she wanted to soften things, compensate for the things she hid from me. 

"Not today." My voice came out rougher than intended.

I started walking again. 

"Daxton—"

I kept moving. If I stayed another second, I would've asked the question I wasn't ready to hear the answer to.

So I left. And for the first time in years, I went home not wanting to see anyone. 

Not even the person I would've craved to see every chance I got.