Home / Romance / Hate You, Till I Don't / Chapter Two: Unfinished Business

Share

Chapter Two: Unfinished Business

Author: Xerox
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-09 20:16:38

POV: Blake

---

Blake Monroe knew three things for certain.

One: Ave Imani hated him.

Two: She had every right to.

Three: That didn’t stop his chest from doing something deeply stupid every time she looked at him — even if that look could burn metal.

He arrived at the library ten minutes early. Not to impress her. Not because he cared. (Definitely not.) But because the last time he was late to meet Ave, he ended up with an energy drink dumped on his notes and her silent treatment for a week.

He'd deserved both.

He found a table in the far corner — quiet, hidden, and full of academic doom — and started pulling out his sketchpad and the folder they’d been assigned. A fresh project brief lay at the top.

Design a real-world prototype that addresses an overlooked daily issue. Bonus for creativity. Bonus for functionality. Extra bonus for not killing your partner.

He smirked at the last part — which he may or may not have added himself in pen.

At exactly 4:00 PM, Ave walked in.

No words. No hesitation.

She sat across from him like they were co-CEOs of a tech empire instead of two high schoolers who once made out in a closet and then didn’t speak for four months.

“I brought a draft,” she said.

Of course she did.

She pulled out a four-page outline, color-coded, with bullet points and rough designs already penciled in.

“Have you been planning this since last year?” Blake asked.

“I like to be prepared.”

Blake leaned forward, glancing over the diagrams. “Smart irrigation system?”

“Solar-powered. Minimal maintenance. Detects moisture levels and delivers water directly where needed. Could help reduce waste in areas with inconsistent rainfall.”

Blake blinked. “Okay, that’s... actually genius.”

Ave didn’t look at him. “I know.”

God, he’d missed this — not the tension, exactly. But her mind. The way it moved, fast and brutal, like a machine tuned for excellence. She didn’t just want to win. She wanted to win right.

He cleared his throat. “I brought some sketches too. For the frame. If you’re still okay with using a Raspberry Pi unit, I can wire the power source. I’ve got extra modules.”

“Show me.”

Blake passed over his sketchpad.

Ave stared for a few seconds too long. “Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just... didn't expect it to be this neat.”

“You thought I was messy?”

“I know you’re messy.”

“I’m not messy,” Blake said. “I’m chaotic-efficient.”

Ave rolled her eyes — but her mouth twitched like it wanted to smile. Almost.

And for a second, the air between them felt... light. Not like old times. But like new ones that might not end in fire.

---

Flashback — Six Months Ago

It had started at the robotics invitational in the fall. She’d been furious about a bug in her code. He’d been cocky after winning his round.

He’d teased her. She’d challenged him.

Ten minutes later, they were in the back hall of the auditorium, arguing over logic gates and circuit patterns. And then —

They kissed.

Hard. Quick. Like lighting a match just to watch it burn.

And then he ruined it.

Not on purpose. Not really. He just told his friends. Not even in detail — just enough to be stupid.

And Ave found out.

And Blake learned something valuable that day: Ave Imani never forgot. And she definitely never forgave.

Not when trust was broken. Not when pride was bruised.

And especially not when her name became a joke in the boys’ locker room group chat.

She didn’t yell.

She didn’t even call him out.

She just... stopped speaking to him.

No drama. No explosion.

Just silence — the kind that echoed louder than any fight ever could.

---

Present Day — Back to the Library

“So,” Blake said now, shifting in his seat. “Do we talk about the past or pretend we’ve always been awkward academic coworkers?”

Ave didn’t flinch. “Coworkers don’t kiss behind supply closets.”

He blinked.

Okay. Bold.

But if she was opening that door—

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Ave looked up slowly. Her gaze was sharp, but not cruel. “But you did.”

“I know.” He let out a breath. “I was stupid. I wanted to win points with the guys. I thought— I don’t know. That it didn’t matter.”

“It mattered.”

“I get that now.”

Silence stretched again, but this time it was thick with something softer — like regret, or memory, or the unspoken acknowledgment that they were still here. Still showing up.

Ave finally broke the pause. “We’re not friends, Blake.”

“I’m not asking for that.”

“Good.” She flipped to the second page of her outline. “Because we don’t have time for nostalgia. We have to win.”

Blake leaned forward. “Agreed.”

But even as they started organizing tasks, syncing documents, assigning build schedules — Blake couldn’t help thinking about that kiss.

And whether Ave had really moved past it.

Because he hadn’t.

Not entirely.

Not even close.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Forty-One: Final Four Teams

    POV: Blended (Ave + Blake)Ave — The Announcement RoomThe walls of the auditorium felt like they were pressing inward as the screen lit up. Her hands were cold. Her heart wasn’t.All four remaining teams stood at the front, shoulder to shoulder like chess pieces. Judges on one side. Audience on the other. Pressure everywhere.Her fingers brushed Blake’s by accident.He didn’t move.Neither did she.Not when the projector blinked to life, not when the first finalist name was called. It wasn’t them. It was Raven’s team.Predictable.She looked to her left and saw the smirk on Raven’s face. Arrogant. Inevitable.> Don’t look at her. Look forward.And she did—just as the second finalist team name appeared.Not them.Only two slots left.Then—> “Third finalist: Team Halcyon—Ave Santiago and Blake Monroe.”The room didn’t explode. It didn’t need to.Just one loud gasp from Nia in the back.One quiet, sharp inhale from Blake beside her.One pulse racing through Ave’s ribs like it wanted to

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Forty: We Were Always Gonna Burn

    POV: Blended (Blake + Ave) --- Blake – Friday Night, Robotics Lab (Again) The lab wasn’t quiet anymore. Not after that kiss. The hum of the prototype. The click of Ave’s fingers brushing the metal frame. The chaos inside his chest. Blake hadn’t planned it — the kiss. But he didn’t regret it. Not one bit. Ave was sitting three feet away from him now, legs folded under her, eyes on the circuitry like nothing had happened. But her posture was all wrong — too still. Too aware. “I’m not going to apologize,” he said. Her hands paused. “For what?” “You know what.” Ave didn’t look at him. “You should.” Blake blinked. “Wait—what?” She finally met his gaze. Not cold. Not angry. Just… shaking slightly beneath the surface. “You should apologize,” she said slowly. “Because now we can’t go back.” Blake’s chest tightened. “I don’t want to go back.” “That’s not the point.” He sat up straighter. “Then what is the point?” Ave’s voice lowered to a whisper. “We were fine. We had a

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Thirty-Nine: Late-Night Lab Glow

    POV: Blended (Ave + Blake) --- Ave — Friday Night, Robotics Lab The clock read 11:42 PM. The rest of the school was long dark, long quiet, but the tech lab pulsed with low fluorescent light and hums from the soldering iron. Ave sat cross-legged on the floor, her hair pulled into a messy bun, fingers steady as she aligned the final moisture sensor. Blake sat beside her, legs stretched out, coding tablet on his lap. He was focused, mouth slightly parted, brows furrowed in concentration. They hadn’t said much in the last hour. Not because they were avoiding anything. Because this… was them now. Tethered. Uncomplicated. At least for tonight. > Final qualifier in two days. One prototype. One pitch. One chance. But right now, Ave wasn’t thinking about the judges. She was thinking about how Blake kept passing her tools without her asking. How their rhythm hadn’t broken all night. How being near him no longer made her skin crawl with memory, but glow with something warmer.

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Thirty-Eight: Rebuilding the Team

    POV: Blended (Ave + Blake) --- Ave — Saturday Morning, School Makerspace The lab felt unfamiliar, even though she knew every corner of it. Ave stood at the door, her eyes flicking to the memory boards pinned on the walls — circuit drafts, competition snapshots, student notes in crooked handwriting. She used to walk in here fueled by fire. By pressure. By spite, sometimes. Now? She wasn’t sure. What she did know was this: they had three days until the final qualifier. And she couldn’t do it without Blake. Not because she needed his code or build skills. But because the project — their design, their rhythm — had been made by both of them. Pulled together from their stubborn pride and late-night troubleshooting and, whether she liked it or not, the strange gravity between them. She spotted him near the soldering station, hunched over a board, earbuds dangling. Blake turned when she walked in. There was a beat of silence. Neither of them moved. Then he reached into his bag

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Love Letter in Code

    POV: Ave --- Ave didn't expect anything when she opened her email that night. She certainly didn’t expect to see a single-line message from Blake with a subject line that read: > For the girl who never stops solving. No “hey.” No signature. No emojis. Just a string of letters and numbers: > 01101000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110100 Binary. Of course it was binary. Her brows furrowed. She copied and pasted it into a translator without hesitation. The result made her freeze. "heart" That was it. One word. No explanation. Ave stared at the screen. She’d expected Blake to maybe apologize for the last few awkward encounters. Or tease her about how she still double-checked his code. Or pretend like nothing had happened between them at all. But this? This was Blake being... sincere. Quiet. Vulnerable. And it scared her more than anything. --- The next morning at school, Ave couldn’t stop thinking about the message. It played on repeat in her head like a radio stuck on the

  • Hate You, Till I Don't    Chapter Thirty-Six: The Apology Tour

    POV: Blake---Monday Morning — School HallwayBlake Monroe had never cared much about reputation.Not until he saw what losing Ave had done to his.Not in the public way — not the gossip, not the ship edits or the muttered “remember when they kissed?” rumors still bouncing around the halls.It was deeper.He felt like a fraud walking around the robotics lab. Like a stranger sitting in class. Like everything he touched lately carried the weight of what he didn’t say, what he didn’t fix.So he made a list.Names. Faces. Apologies.People he had to face before he could even think about winning Ave back.---Stop 1: Jamie RiversJamie was Ave’s friend, the one who always had a camera in her hand and sarcasm in her mouth. She also happened to be the person who caught Blake staring at Ave one too many times before everything fell apart.He found her near the art wing.“I come in peace,” Blake said, holding up his hands.Jamie raised a brow. “And I come with pepper spray. State your purpose

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status