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Twenty seven

Author: Laura
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-14 00:28:07

Aria

Before either of us could fully process what was happening, Hope was already running.

Marcel left my side instantly, meeting her in front of the stage. He scooped her up, holding her tight against his chest as she wrapped her legs around him. She was shaking with sobs, clinging to him while he kept rubbing her back, whispering something only she could hear.

The music cut off, but it didn’t matter. Hope’s cries and shout filled the hall and everyone was already looking at us

Then came the gentle chorus of awws from the crowd like everyone was collectively happy

Marcel glanced at me, giving a small nod for me to follow. We slipped backstage, the three of us huddled together. He set her down on top of a speaker so they were almost eye level , and I stood beside them.

"We’re both here," he said softly, brushing her tears away with his thumb. "I’m sorry I was late. I had to pack the car…it took a minute."

"Mr King, the other kids are waiting…" the event organizer began, but Marce
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  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Eight

    AriaI shouldn’t have looked back.But the air felt heavy and strangely pulled, like a physical weight had shifted in the room.It was like something invisible had tugged at my attention with a quiet, magnetic insistence that refused to be ignored or pushed aside.I darted my eyes toward the back row, my breath catching in my throat before I even found what I was looking for.Marcel was already watching me.He wasn't staring with the wide-eyed intensity of a stranger; it was more subtle than that.He was just... aware—sitting there with a calm, predatory patience, looking like he’d never stopped knowing exactly where I was in the room.His posture was relaxed and entirely too comfortable for a lecture hall, with one arm draped over the back of the seat beside him and his long legs stretched out into the aisle.He made the cramped, wooden furniture look like a minor inconvenience rather than a limitation to his frame.When our eyes met, he didn’t smile or offer a friendly greeting.He

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Seven

    Aria's POVI was already ten minutes into regretting my life choices when Taylor leaned over and whispered, “If I fail this class, I’m suing the university for emotional damage.”I snorted, elbowing her lightly. “You say that every semester.”“And yet I remain traumatized,” she replied, scribbling something that looked more like a cry for help than notes. She began aggressively shading in the margins of her notebook, her pen scratching against the paper in a frantic rhythm that matched the restless energy of the room.The lecture hall was half-full, the kind of class where attendance technically mattered but no one really listened. The professor droned on about cognitive behavioral frameworks, his voice steady, monotonous, almost soothing if you weren’t actively trying to stay awake. It was a thick, syrupy sound that seemed to coat the room in a layer of boredom, making the air feel stale and heavy with the smell of cheap coffee and old wood.I was trying.Barely.My mind kept drif

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Six

    Marcel's POV The kiss wasn’t gentle.It was sudden, hungry, like something I’d been holding back finally snapped loose. My hand cupped the back of her neck, thumb brushing the soft skin just below her ear, and she froze for half a heartbeat before her lips parted under mine. A small sound escaped her, surprise, maybe relief, and then she was kissing me back, tentative at first, like she was testing whether this was real.Her hands came up to my chest, fingers curling into my shirt, not pushing away but not quite pulling closer either. Reserved. Careful. I felt it in her, the hesitation, the way she held herself back even as her body leaned in. I slowed, gentled the kiss, giving her room to breathe, to decide, knowing that I sprung this up on her. When I pulled back just enough to look at her, her eyes were wide, lips swollen, cheeks flushed in a way that made my chest tighten.“I’m sorry,” I said, voice rougher than I meant it to be. My forehead rested against hers for a secon

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Five

    MarcelThe rink was loud in the way only a packed arena could be with skates carving ice, sticks clacking and the crowd buzzing like a live wire. Cold air burned my lungs as I pushed off, my muscles falling into familiar rhythm. This was supposed to be the one place my head stayed clear.It wasn’t working.“Marce, focus,” Micheal barked from my left as we lined up for the face-off.“I am,” I said, though it came out automatic.The puck dropped. I reacted on instinct, stick snapping down, legs driving. We broke right, the opposing winger chasing hard. I cut across the blue line, dumped the puck deep, and peeled back to cover. My body did what it had been trained to do for years, even while my mind was somewhere else entirely.Aria.The name slipped in without permission.I saw her the way she’d looked that night, all pale and shaky with eyes too big for her face. I’d pulled her back from the edge... literally. The feel of her weight in my arms had surprised me. She’d been light

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Four

    AriaMy face shut down as soon as Taylor finished talking.“What more do they want from me?” I snapped, my voice shaking despite my effort to keep it steady. “Wasn’t it enough that they took literally the only thing I had left, even after I explained everything that happened with the school board? They can all go to—”“Wait, Ria, hold on.” Tay cut in quickly, not letting me finish. “They actually said they need you to come back to school and meet with the administrative officers.”I froze.“They’re calling me back?” I repeated slowly.“Yes.”“To meet them?”“Yeah. That’s what the email they sent to me said.”My brain stalled. Completely. It felt like someone had dumped a box of puzzle pieces into my head and shaken it hard. Nothing fit. Nothing made sense.“I don’t get it,” I muttered. “They already made their decision. Why didn't they just email me directly?"“I don't know,” Taylor said carefully. “But maybe this is a good thing?”Or maybe it was just another way to humiliate me in p

  • Divorce ?... That's Foreplay    Forty Three

    Aria’s POVWhen I finally came out of the bathroom, the room was quiet.Too quiet.The bed was made—too neat for how we’d left it. The curtains were still half-drawn, sunlight slanting in the same way as before, but the place felt different. Empty. I stood there for a moment, towel still wrapped around my hair, waiting for him to step out of somewhere I couldn’t see.But he wasn’t there.My chest dipped in a way I didn’t expect. I told myself it was relief. That this was better. Cleaner. Easier to explain to myself later. But the disappointment sat stubbornly under all of that, heavy and uninvited.I dressed slowly, giving him time to come back even though I knew that was pointless. His phone was gone. His clothes too. Nothing left behind that proved he’d even been here, except the memory pressed into my skin.I sat on the edge of the bed and let myself think—really think—for the first time since the accident.Before all this, I’d believed I was careful. Smart. I avoided danger. I

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