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What Has He Done

last update Last Updated: 2025-07-14 12:03:21

He was elbows deep under the hood of an old Ford pickup when his phone started buzzing on the workbench.

Again.

And again.

At first, he ignored it. It was Friday morning—calls meant bad brakes or blown hoses. But by the third buzz in under two minutes, something twisted in his gut.

He wiped his hands on a rag and grabbed the phone.

3 new messages.

Rick:

Bro. You see Layla’s Instagram?

Jules (from the bar):

Damn. So that’s why she was acting weird last week. You good?

Sara (mutual acquaintance):

So… uh… Layla really did it, huh?

He frowned.

Swiped to open Instagram.

And froze.

There it was.

Layla Williams – @LaylaLuxe_

A full-face selfie. Flawless. Not a tear in sight. Glossy lips. Sunglasses. The kind of photo you post when you want to look sad but untouchable.

The caption made his jaw tighten.

“Sometimes the hardest thing to do is walk away from a life that no longer fits the woman you’re becoming. After years of silence, I’m choosing myself. Separation isn’t failure—it’s freedom. #F
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  • After Hours   What Has He Done

    He was elbows deep under the hood of an old Ford pickup when his phone started buzzing on the workbench.Again.And again.At first, he ignored it. It was Friday morning—calls meant bad brakes or blown hoses. But by the third buzz in under two minutes, something twisted in his gut.He wiped his hands on a rag and grabbed the phone.3 new messages.Rick:Bro. You see Layla’s Instagram?Jules (from the bar):Damn. So that’s why she was acting weird last week. You good?Sara (mutual acquaintance):So… uh… Layla really did it, huh?He frowned.Swiped to open Instagram.And froze.There it was.Layla Williams – @LaylaLuxe_A full-face selfie. Flawless. Not a tear in sight. Glossy lips. Sunglasses. The kind of photo you post when you want to look sad but untouchable.The caption made his jaw tighten.“Sometimes the hardest thing to do is walk away from a life that no longer fits the woman you’re becoming. After years of silence, I’m choosing myself. Separation isn’t failure—it’s freedom. #F

  • After Hours   Alli – Aftermath

    Her eyes opened to light stabbing through her blinds like punishment.Her head pulsed.Her mouth was dry.And her legs were tangled in the black dress she definitely hadn’t taken off properly last night.Alli groaned, grabbing at her pillow and pulling it over her face.“What the hell happened…” she muttered, voice barely audible.Her phone buzzed somewhere under the blanket like it had been buzzing. Relentless. Angry. The digital version of a friend yanking the covers off.She fished around, knocked over a half-empty water bottle on her nightstand, and finally found her phone face down near her hip.11:42 AM.She tapped it and winced at the screen brightness.12 missed texts.4 new snaps.1 unread message from: DO NOT ANSWER.She blinked hard, rubbed her eyes.There it was.DO NOT ANSWER.She knew damn well who that was.She’d saved it like that on Monday. Because if she saw “Johnny” on her lock screen again, she’d break. And because she didn’t want to see his name if he texted drunk

  • After Hours   Alli – Taken

    She shouldn’t have gone back inside.The music was too loud. The air too thick. Her stomach twisted from too much tequila, too much regret, too many feelings she thought she’d buried hours ago. Her friends were still at the booth, one deep in some guy’s lap, the other halfway to blackout.Alli stood there like a ghost of herself.Wobbly on her heels, numb in all the wrong places, replaying the way Johnny looked at her outside like she was both his punishment and his prayer.She shouldn’t have come back in.She should’ve gone home.She should’ve—The door swung open again.She didn’t have to turn around.She felt him.Johnny.The way the bar went quiet for half a beat when he stepped in like a storm that decided not to wait anymore.He moved through the crowd like it parted just for him—tall, broad, wearing that old leather jacket that still smelled like motor oil and cedar smoke and a thousand bad decisions.She tried to walk.She really did.She made it maybe three steps toward the b

  • After Hours   Alli – Drown It Out

    Alli's POVShe didn’t mean to show up.Hell, she didn’t mean to drink this much.But after five days of silence, after seeing his truck in the back lot of The Hollow and realizing she couldn’t even have her Friday nights without bumping into her own heartbreak—Alli needed to feel anything that wasn’t him.So she let her friends drag her out.She let the tequila hit harder than it should’ve.She let herself wear the black dress—the one that made her feel like a whole new girl.Not the girl who waited.Not the girl who cried quietly into her pillow listening to voicemails she never replied to.Just the girl who was done.But now here she was.And he was standing five feet away.Looking exactly like the regret she didn’t want to face.And when she snapped at him?Tore into him with every sharp-edged word she could find?He just stood there.Took it.Like he expected it.Like he knew he deserved it.She thought it would feel good.It didn’t.It just made her stomach twist.So she turned,

  • After Hours   Midnight & Mistakes

    Johnny's POVHe hadn’t planned to stay late.In fact, he wasn’t even sure why he showed up at all—except for the tiny hope that maybe, just maybe, Alli would be behind the bar tonight. It was Friday. Her first shift back after nearly a week of silence.He’d spent five days saying nothing.No texts.No calls.No begging.Just silence for silence.But that didn’t mean she’d left his mind. If anything, her absence carved her deeper into his thoughts. And tonight… he just wanted to see her. Just see her. Prove to himself she was real, that this hadn’t all been one long fantasy spun from sweat and guilt and late-night what-ifs.So he showed up at The Hollow a little after nine, trying to look like it was just another Friday.It wasn’t.He sat in his usual seat, heart in his throat, and waited.But she wasn’t there.The girl behind the bar wasn’t Alli. Blonde, tall, maybe twenty-five, and clearly new to the crowd. She poured drinks like she was filling orders at a fast food joint—quick, no

  • After Hours   The Silence Says Everything

    The bay door had been open all day.Until it wasn’t.Johnny stood there in the late afternoon sun, one hand on the chain as he pulled it down, the creak of the track loud in the quiet shop. The echo rang out like a period on the end of something unfinished. Final. Heavy.He locked the door, wiped his hands on the back of his jeans, and tried to pretend the day hadn’t bled into disappointment.But he felt it.From the minute Layla walked in.To the minute she left.And the whole damn time in between.Alli hadn’t shown.Not the way he’d hoped.Not at all.At least, that’s what he thought… until he walked to the edge of the lot and noticed the faint outline of fresh tire tracks in the gravel near the road.And his gut twisted.She had come.She just hadn’t stayed.Because she saw Layla.And she left.That realization hit him harder than he expected. A weight behind his ribs. A hollowness in his chest that had nothing to do with the quiet garage or the fading daylight.She came to him.An

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