LOGINGabriel's POV I stayed pressed flat against the wall, holding my breath until I finally heard the sharp, distant click of Derek hanging up his phone. I waited another second, my heart hammering like crazy against my ribs, before I quietly crept back up the stairs. My stomach wasn't even growling anymore. The sheer panic from what I just heard had completely killed my appetite.I shut the bedroom door behind me and slumped onto the edge of the bed, my head spinning. He was definitely talking about me. My suspicions were totally right. Derek did raid my dorm. He sent people to rob me."Urghh... what can I even do about it?" I groaned out loud, burying my face in my hands. Should I report it to his dad or... nah. He wouldn't believe me anyway. I needed to find solid evidence first before opening my mouth. But then again, even if I eventually proved Derek got someone to rob my dorm, what was my actual benefit? It’s not like Derek's dad would really punish him. Before I could finish my
Gabriel's POV I stood there staring at the meal I just cooked. Honestly, it looked nice, and it actually smelled pretty good too, but I was just too scared to taste it. After that absolute disaster with the salty noodles earlier, I didn’t trust my own cooking at all. I quickly covered the pot with the lid and then, without meaning to, I looked down to my legs.I couldn't get Derek's stupid words out of my head. Pale skin."Are they really pale?" I muttered to myself, twisting my leg around to check the back of my calf. It was so annoying how easily he could make me insecure about things I have never even thought about before.I walked out of the kitchen, meeting Derek in the living room. He was sitting at the exact same spot on the couch, but this time he was hunched over his laptop, the screen reflecting in his blue eyes.I watched him for a second, my mind wandering. I have been cooking for hours but he hasn't even left his spot, he isn't paralyzed is he? I shook my head and walk
Gabriel's POV We got back to the house, and the silence from the hospital car ride just sort of followed us right through the front door. It was heavy and weird. I had ordered some outside food on the way back because, let’s be honest, my cooking from earlier was a total disaster and the guy actually needed to eat something that wouldn't kill his stomach.Derek sat at the dining table, looking unusually quiet. Like, completely shut down. It was almost creepy. He was trying so hard to eat his meal, chewing slowly and staring blankly at the wall.I stood by the counter watching him out of the corner of my eye. Why is he this quiet? He never shuts up these days. Seriously, it was making my skin crawl. Usually, he would be throwing some snarky comment my way or making fun of how I breathe, but right now? Nothing. Just the scraping of his fork against the ceramic plate, which sounded way too loud in the empty room.I couldn't take the awkwardness, so I just grabbed the small bag of grocer
Derek's POV Beep. Beep. Beep.My eyes snapped open, and a sharp, blinding wave of pain immediately spiked right behind my forehead. Everything was a blurry, out of focus smudge for a second, the morning light coming through the window hurting my retinas until my vision finally sharpened.I tried to sit up, but there was a weird, heavy weight resting right on my sternum. I looked down, a sudden spike of panic hitting my throat before I saw the mop of messy ginger hair tangled across my chest. It was Gabriel. I tilted my head slightly to the side, my neck cracking, and noticed a plastic bowl of lukewarm water and a crumpled towel sitting on the nightstand.A slow smirk pulled at my mouth. So he stayed by my side all through the night, wow.But then the irritation kicked in. I didn’t need him seeing me weak. I grabbed his shoulder and yanked him off me, probably a little too hard.Gabriel stumbled backward, blinking rapidly, his glasses slightly sliding off."Ahhhh... can't you be gentl
Gabriel's POV The noodles tasted like salt and failure, but Derek finished the bowl anyway. I sat across from him, picking at a hangnail, feeling a weird, heavy pit in my stomach. It felt wrong watching him swallow that trash.Derek raised his head, his eyes tracking me through the steam. "Aren't you going to eat?""Actually, I really can't eat that," I admitted, looking at the charred bits of spring onion floating in the broth. "It tastes awful."Derek let out a dry smirk. "And you gave it to me to eat... if anything happens to me, you know my dad will kill you, right? Even your own mum."The mention of my mother was like a physical weight settling on my shoulders. I looked at the table, my vision blurring for a second. Yeah, she would. If Derek got food poisoning from my cooking, she wouldn't ask if I was okay. She would ask how I could be so stupid to ruin her wealth ticket. She didn't love me, not the way a mother should. I was just a liability that happened to share her DNA."
Gabriel's POV I stood at the stove, squinting through the steam that was already starting to smudge my glasses. Cooking is so difficult. I mean, how do people do this every day without losing their minds? I had a YouTube video playing on my phone, propped up against a jar of salt, but the woman in the video moved too fast. The chicken hit the pan with a violent hiss, grease spitting back at me like it was angry I was even touching it. A drop of oil landed right on my knuckle, and I hissed, pulling my hand back. "Fuck..." I tried to flip the meat, but it was already stuck. The smell of charred meat started to fill the air not the good, smoky kind, but the you are about to set off the fire alarm kind. The edges were turning a bitter, ugly black. "Well, well. What exactly are you even good at?" The voice came from behind me, low and amused. I jumped, nearly knocking the pan off the burner. I reached out to steady it, and my index finger brushed the hot metal of the grate. "Shit!







