Chapter 97 Unspoken Things
Luna’s POV
I didn’t expect things to feel… normal. Not after everything, not after the forest, not after Kai’s eyes glowing like something not human, and not after Ethan’s lips almost touching mine. And yet, here I was. Sitting in class, with pen in hand and pretending like my life wasn’t unraveling thread by thread.
“Luna?”
I blinked. The classroom snapped back into focus. The whiteboard. The faint scratch of chalk. The low murmur of students shifting in their seats. “Are you with us?” the teacher asked.
I nodded quickly. “Yes.”
That was a lie. I hadn’t heard a single word. My thoughts were still stuck somewhere between last night and something I didn’t want to admit.
Because the truth was that, I couldn't stop thinking about both of them.
And that was the problem. Kai hadn’t shown up, not to the first period and not to the second.
By lunch, the absence sat heavily in my chest. Too loud and too wrong.
I told myself it didn’t matter. That I didn’t care and that after what happened… I shouldn’t care. But my eyes still kept drifting to the doors.
Still waiting and still hoping.
‘Stupid.’ I thought to myself.
“Looking for someone?”
Ethan’s voice slid into the seat across from me before I even saw him.
I stiffened. “I’m not,” I said.
He raised a brow slightly, like he didn’t believe me. Like he knew better.
“Right,” he murmured.
Something about the way he said it made heat rise to my face, a combination of annoyance and embarrassment. Something else I didn’t want to name.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said quietly.
“Why?” he asked. “Because people might talk?”
“They already do.”
“And?” He leaned back slightly, studying me. “You care now?”
I hesitated. That was the worst part. Because I wasn't used to it. But now… Now everything feels exposed and fragile. “I just don’t want more attention,” I said finally.
Ethan’s gaze softened, just slightly. “You’re not as invisible as you think you are, Luna.”
My chest tightened, then I looked away. “I never wanted to be seen,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I know.”
Silence settled between us, it was not awkward and not heavy.
It was just… there. And somehow that felt more dangerous than anything else. “About last night….”
“Don’t.”
The word came out too fast and too sharply. Ethan paused.
I swallowed, forcing my voice to steady. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. Not the kiss, not the way I didn’t pull away. Not the way a part of me wanted it and not the way another part of me still belonged somewhere else. Ethan studied me for a long second. Then he nodded. “Okay.”
Simple with no pressure and no push. And somehow… that made it worse. By the end of the day, the tension hadn’t left. If anything, it had settled deeper under my skin. Classes blurred, voices faded, and still, No Kai.
That scared me more than I wanted to admit. Because silence from him didn’t feel like distance. It felt like something was building. I was halfway to the gates when I felt it. That pull, it was sharp and familiar.
My steps slowed and my heartbeat picked up. No… Not here. Not now.
I turned, and there he was. Kai. He was standing across the street, like nothing had happened and like everything had. My breath caught for a moment and for a second….Neither of us moved. Then I crossed up close, and he looked… the same. And completely different. His eyes were blue again and clear. But there was something behind them now. Something quieter and something… careful. “You came to school,” I said.
It sounded stupid the moment it left my mouth. “I didn’t go in,” he replied.
Of course, he didn’t. Silence stretched and too many things unsaid and too many things we didn’t know how to say. “You’re okay?” I asked.
His jaw tightened slightly. “I’m here.”
That wasn’t an answer. “You almost…”
“I know.”
The words cut me off clean and final. Then I swallowed and my chest felt tight again. “I didn’t mean to,” he added, quieter now.
Something in my chest cracked. Because I believed him and that was the problem. “I almost kissed Ethan.”
I don’t know why I said that. Maybe I wanted to hurt him, maybe I wanted the truth to sit between us where we couldn’t ignore it or maybe I just didn’t want secrets anymore. Whatever the reason. The words landed hard and Kai went still. Completely still, the air shifted, it was not violent and not dangerous, it was just… sharp.
“Did you?” he asked.
His voice was calm. Too calm. “No.”
Then another pause. “Did you want to?”
That one….That one hit deeper. I opened my mouth and closed it.
Because I didn’t know how to answer that without breaking something.
And maybe I already had. “I don’t know,” I admitted.
Honest, messy, and real. Kai let out a slow breath, then he looked away for a second and then back at me. And when his eyes met mine again, there was something raw in them. Something unguarded. “That’s worse,” he said quietly.
My chest tightened. “I didn’t plan it,” I said quickly. “It just…happened.”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Things tend to do that around you.”
There was no accusation in his voice. But there was pain, and I felt it. God…I felt it. “I didn’t trust you.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and then his expression shifted barely. But I saw it. “I know,” he said.
“And I still don’t fully understand what’s happening with you,” I continued.
“That makes two of us.”
“I was scared.”
“You should be.”
That stopped me and I stared at him. “That’s not helping.”
“It’s not supposed to,” he said.
Silence again and then….“I didn’t leave because I didn’t care,” he added.
My breath caught slightly. “I left because I was trying not to hurt you again.”
That…That broke something soft, quiet, and deep. The wind picked up slightly around us and was familiar and alive. But this time…It wasn’t chaotic. It was steady. Like it was listening and waiting. “So what now?” I asked.
Kai studied me. Really studied me, like he was trying to memorize something. Or decide something. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
That honesty hit harder than any answer could have. Because it meant that we were both standing on something unstable together. And not together at the same time. “I can’t lose control like that again,” he said.
“You didn’t choose it.”
“That doesn’t change what happened.”
My chest tightened again. “No,” I whispered. “It doesn’t.”
We stood there. Too close, but not close enough. Everything between us stretched thin, fragile. One wrong word and it would snap. “Are you going to stay away from me?” I asked quietly.
There it was. The question I didn’t want to ask. But I needed to.
Kai didn’t answer immediately; instead, his gaze dropped briefly and then lifted again straight to mine. “I should.”
My heart sank. “But you won’t,” I said.
Not a question, it was knowing and something flickered in his dark eyes.
Soft and dangerous. “No,” he said.
And somehow, that felt like both a promise and a warning. Because whatever was happening to him, whatever was inside him, it wasn’t gone. And whatever was happening between us…That wasn’t ending either. Not even close, and that scared me more than anything else.