LOGIN~ Evan ~ I didn’t think something like that would happen. That’s the thought that keeps repeating in my head after I heard Cole had been hospitalised, like if I say it enough times, it would become something easier to live with. I didn’t plan it. I just… didn’t stop it. There’s a difference. At least, that’s what I tell myself. The bar was Rowdy. Music drowning out conversations, bodies too close, everything blurred just enough to make bad decisions feel temporary. I wasn’t there for anything specific. Just killing time. Avoiding… everything. Then I saw him. Cole. Of course, it was him. It’s always him I wondered what he was doing here. He was standing near the back exit, talking to someone I didn’t recognise. Calm. Focused. Like the world bends according to his every whim. I hated that instantly. A quiet, steady kind of resentment that’s been sitting in my chest ever since Mara started looking at him like he was something better than me. Like h
~ Mara ~ Hospitals have a smell. I forgot that. Or maybe I trained myself to forget it. I haven’t been here since Lily caught chickenpox at school. The air is filled with the scent of antiseptic and disinfectant, like they’re trying to erase everything bad that happens inside these walls, but it never quite works. It just lingers underneath, hidden but still there. Waiting. I’m standing in the middle of it, and I can’t remember how I got here. No… that’s not true. I remember the call. I just don’t remember anything after it. “Are you… Miss Mara Collins?” The nurse in front of me looks unsure, like she’s bracing for something. I hesitated to nod , like if I don’t answer fast enough, she might take the question back and this won’t be real. “Yes. Where is he?” I asked My voice doesn’t sound like mine. She gestures down the hall. “They’re still working on him.” Working on him. Not helping. Not treating. Working. My stomach drops so hard it feels l
~ Cole ~ I’m used to noise. Engines, the low voices of people who don’t trust each other but tolerate each other presence anyway. Now I hear nothing? Silence is supposed to be neutral. Background. Forgettable. But tonight it feels… arranged. Like something is holding its breath. I should’ve noticed sooner. I should’ve— Footsteps. Slow…..Not rushed. Just… wrong. My body reacts before my mind fully catches up, shoulders tightening, hand already halfway to the knife at my back. But I’m a second too late, and in my world, a second might as well be a lifetime. The first hit comes from the side. Sharp. Fast. Not a punch. A blade. It slides in clean, like it knows exactly where to go. My breath cuts off, like someone reached inside me and turned something essential off. I stagger back, more from surprise than pain. Pain comes after. Always does. “Should’ve stayed untouchable, Ryder.” The voice is unfamiliar. That bothers me more than the knife. I tur
~ Mara ~ The house is quieter now. But not completely. There’s still a faint sound of music somewhere in the background, Eeryone left after the celebration and Cole followed them back saying he had business to take care of. But the house has settled. Like it exhaled after holding too much at once. Lily is asleep. I checked twice. She fell asleep halfway through telling me how she’s “basically part of a biker gang now,” which I’m choosing to ignore for my own sanity. The living room is a mess. Empty bottles. Shifted furniture. Proof that something big happened here tonight. Something… good. I should feel relaxed. Happy. Certain. And I do. Mostly. But there’s still something under it. That quiet thing. The one that doesn’t go away just because everything looks okay on the surface. I step out onto the porch, closing the door softly behind me. Cool air. Finally. It hits my skin, groundi
~ Mara ~ It happens amid the noise. That’s the thing. There’s music playing from a speaker someone brought, too loud and slightly off-beat. Someone is laughing like they never learned how to stop. Lily is in the middle of it all, fully adopted by chaos, sitting on the floor with two of the guys like she’s known them forever. And I’m standing in the kitchen again. Of course I am. Because apparently this is where all my life-changing moments happen now. I’m holding a cup I’m not drinking from, watching Cole across the room. He’s different here. Not in a bad way. Just… more. More solid. More certain. More him. People listen when he speaks. They move when he looks at them. And yet— He keeps glancing at me. Like he’s checking. Like he’s making sure I’m still here. I don’t know why that makes my heart race the way it does. Probably because I’m doing the same thing. Someone bumps my shoulder lightly. “Careful,” a voice says. “You look like you’re a
~ Cole ~ I don’t rush. That’s the thing. I said ten minutes, so I take ten minutes. Not nine. Not eight. Ten. Because if I show up too fast, it looks like I’ve been waiting around impatiently for her answer like it decides everything. It doesn’t. But… it matters. More than I expected. More than I’m used to admitting. I pull up outside the house, engine idling for a second longer than necessary. Just sitting there. Hands loose on the wheel. Letting it settle. Because something changed. I felt it in her voice. Clear. Certain. No hesitation. Yes. Simple word. I exhale slowly, then kill the engine. Step out. Close the door. Walk up like I’ve done a hundred times before. Because I have. But this time— It’s different. I don’t knock. I walk in. The door’s unlocked. It always is. “Mom!” Lily’s voice hits first. “He’s here!” I almost smirk. Of course, she’s announcing me like that now. Mara appears from the kitchen.
Cole After I leave her place I walked into the clubhouse already pissed off. Boots hit concrete hard, knuckles still sore, jaw tight like I was holding back a growl. The place smelled like oil, sweat, and old smoke, same as always, but tonight it felt louder. Eyes lifted. Conversations dip
Mara I slammed the bathroom door hard enough to rattle the mirror, palms braced on the sink, breath coming fast like I’d just run up three flights of stairs instead of standing ten feet away from a biker who could ruin my fucking life with a look. Goddamn it. My reflection stared back at me
Mara I slammed the bathroom door harder than I meant to and gripped the sink like it had personally offended me. My reflection looked wrecked. Not crying wrecked. Worse. Awake. Lit up in places that had been dormant for too long. My pulse was still kicking hard in my throat, my skin buzzing
Mara I knew i felt out of place when i walked in. the room and the noise, made me feel out of place. It pressed in closer, heavier, like I’d stepped into a space that already knew me. Conversations didn’t stop, but they dipped. Glances slid my way and didn’t slide back fast enough. I felt i







