Ibu Sambung Untuk Shanaya

Lilian’s POV:

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, breathing like someone who’d just run a race. My hands kept fidgeting with my hair even though it already looked fine. What I needed wasn’t perfect hair, what I needed was courage. The kind that didn’t slip through my fingers the moment Leon looked at me.

Leon. My stepbrother. The only problem my body refuses to ignore.

For a whole year, I’d been trying to understand him, and every day he confused me more. He talked to no girl, looked at no girl, flirted with no girl. And because I refused to believe a man that handsome could ignore women for no reason, I convinced myself he must be gay. It sounded crazy, but it made sense to me. Why else would someone like him avoid every girl like she was invisible?

And it wasn’t like I didn’t try to test him.

I walked past him on days I knew I looked good, my waist tight, my curves clear. Sometimes I even bent down near him, or “accidentally” brushed past him, waiting for a reaction, any reaction. But Leon never looked twice. He didn’t stare, didn’t turn his head, didn’t even blink. He just walked past me like my body was air.

Every time he ignored me, the frustration grew sharper. 

But today my friend’s voice kept replaying in my head. “I swear he’s gay. No straight guy behaves like that.”

The moment she said it, I felt a spark of something sharp and hot inside me. I didn’t know if it was jealousy, or pride, or maybe a little of both, but it pushed me into this bathroom. Pushed me to stop running from the truth.

If anyone was going to break through Leon’s walls and truly see him, it would be me. And if he was hiding something beneath all that silence, I wanted to be the one who pulled it out of him.

I stepped out of the bathroom, ready to confront him or at least ready to pretend I was brave enough to do it. But as soon as I opened the door, he was standing right there, his tall frame blocking my way.

I froze.

His eyes lifted from his phone and flicked toward me. Cold, sharp and enough to make my pulse jump.

“Watch where you’re going,” he said.

I lifted my chin. “Maybe you should watch where you stand.”

His eyebrow arched slightly, like he was amused but trying not to show it. “What do you want from me, Lilian?”

I hated how steady his voice sounded. Meanwhile, mine was trapped somewhere between my throat and my heart.

“I want to talk about something,” I said, forcing the words out.

“About what?” he asked, folding his arms.

“About… us.”

He actually laughed. The sound was low and it vibrated somewhere deep inside me, which annoyed me even more.

“There is no ‘us.’” He tilted his head. “Who put that idea in your head?”

“Maybe there could be,” I snapped before I could stop myself. “Unless you’re gay. Which you probably are.”

His expression went still.

“Gay?” he repeated slowly. “That’s what you think?”

“It’s what everyone thinks!” I blurted out. “You never talk to girls. You never look at them. You act like they don’t exist.”

“And that means I’m gay?”

“It means you’re something,” I fired back. “Because no guy avoids every girl like you do.”

For a moment, we just stared at each other, the air between us growing heavy. His jaw tightened as he took a step closer. Then another. His eyes never left mine.

“Maybe,” he said quietly, “I don’t waste my time on girls who don’t matter.”

My heart thudded hard.

“And maybe,” he added, voice even lower now, “you’re wrong about me.”

I swallowed. “Prove it.”

That was all it took.

Leon reached past me, grabbed my wrist gently but firmly, and pulled me back into the bathroom. The door closed with a soft click, but the sound felt like thunder inside my chest.

My back hit the cool wall. His body didn’t touch mine, but the heat coming off him was enough to make me dizzy.

“Are you sure you want me to prove it?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

My breath caught. “Y-yes.”

He moved closer, slowly, deliberately, until I could feel his warmth surround me. His scent hit me next. Clean. Warm. Familiar in a way I didn’t want to think too deeply about.

My pulse raced, loud enough to hear.

His fingers brushed my jaw, tilting my face up toward him. That single touch sent a jolt through my entire body, and I hated how much control he suddenly had over my breathing.

“Lilian,” he murmured, “you have no idea what you’re asking.”

Maybe I didn’t. Maybe I was playing with something too big, too dangerous. But right now, all I cared about was the way he looked at me, like he had been holding himself back for far too long.

“I know enough,” I whispered. “And I’m not scared of you.”

A small, dark smile curved on his lips. “You should be.”

His hand slid to the side of my neck, warm and steady. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My whole body felt alive, like it was waiting for something to happen, something I wasn’t sure I could ever come back from.

For a single moment, everything stopped spinning. It was just the two of us caught in a heat so sharp it felt like the air was burning.

My knees went weak under the weight of his nearness. The air around us felt charged, thick enough to touch. My fingers gripped the sink behind me, trying to steady the trembling in my legs.

His forehead touched mine lightly, and I felt his breath mix with mine. I closed my eyes, feeling a rush of something wild move through me.

But right when everything felt like it was tilting into something we couldn’t undo.

A loud crash echoed from outside.

We both jerked toward the door.

“What was that?” I whispered, heart pounding.

Leon didn’t answer immediately. His eyes shifted toward the hallway, sharp and alert. The moment between us shattered like a falling glass.

We stayed frozen for a second, both trying to catch our breath.

Then another sound came.

A voice.

Someone approaching fast.

Leon’s hand dropped from my neck. The warmth disappeared instantly, leaving me cold and shaken.

His jaw tightened. “Stay here,” he said quietly.