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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Last Updated:
2025-09-06 13:24:09
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THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
The next day came in a rush.I barely remembered waking up, or what Taylor had said as he walked me home again. His voice had been steady, like it always was, but I hadn’t really heard him. All I could manage was a half-hearted smile and a wave as he turned off toward the gym, leaving me standing there with books clutched tight against my chest.And then I was here.The wrought-iron gates of the Moretti estate loomed ahead, and before I could second-guess myself, my feet carried me through. The compound stretched wide, neatly kept hedges framing the path that led to the front door. Each step I took landed heavier than the last. My heart hammered so loud it drowned out the world, as if it were begging me to turn back.But it was too late.I shifted my glasses higher on my nose and squared my shoulders, though the motion did nothing to steady the nerves buzzing beneath my skin. Bold steps, I told myself, but every one of them felt forced. Pretend you’re fine. Pretend this doesn’t matter
THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
The front door creaked shut behind me, the faint click of the lock echoing louder than it should have. My shoes scuffed against the tiled floor, and for a moment I lingered in the entryway, my backpack heavy against my shoulder. I’d just said goodbye to Taylor outside, forcing a small smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes, pretending his steady presence had patched up all the cracks in me.It hadn’t.The air in the house felt different the moment I stepped inside, though. Not heavy, like it usually was after one of Mom’s late-night phone calls. Not sharp, like when she’d tried to swallow her nerves with coffee and silence. No, today the air hummed with something lighter.Voices drifted from the living room, bright, cheerful, overlapping in a way I hadn’t heard in what felt like forever. Mom’s laugh rose above the other, warm and unguarded. I froze. That sound alone was enough to make my heart clench.Mom never laughed like that.I shifted my backpack higher on my shoulder and stepped
THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY THREEE
The clang of metal echoed down the hall as someone slammed their locker shut. The sound jolted me, sharp and startling, but not enough to drag my head fully into the present.Taylor’s voice carried on beside me, a steady stream of words, sharp and clipped with irritation. He was pacing through some story about how someone had pissed him off this morning, something about a guy in the gym shoving past him without apologizing, or maybe it was about the math teacher who refused to give him credit for late homework. I couldn’t tell anymore. His words blurred together into background noise, like static, because my mind wasn’t here.It was back in the hallway of our house last night. Back with my mom’s trembling voice. Back with the word “divorce.” Back with him.Dad.The name alone left a sour weight in my chest, heavier than my textbooks.I dragged in a breath, tried to blink back to reality, tried to make sense of the scuffed floor tiles and the slam of lockers up and down the hallway. St
THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
The murmur of my mother’s voice drifted down the hallway, soft but edged with something sharper, something that made me pause halfway to the kitchen.She was on the phone.At first, I wasn’t listening. I thought it was one of her usual late-night check-ins with Aunt Marianne or maybe the neighbor who always called to gossip about her cats. But then I heard it, one word that made my stomach twist.“Divorce.”I froze.Her tone had gone flat, careful, the way she sounded only when she was trying to hold something together.“…yes, he filed again,” she was saying, her voice low but clear. “I signed my part years ago. He went completely out of touch after that. We were supposed to finalize everything, but he disappeared.”My throat went dry. There was no need to guess who “he” was. The air in the hall grew heavy, pressing against my chest.Dad.The word I hadn’t let myself think about in years, not really.I stepped closer, silently, the floor cool beneath my bare feet. I could hear the fai
THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
The gates loomed behind me, their iron bars glinting faintly beneath the streetlamps, but I barely noticed them. My focus was fixed forward, where Taylor stood.His figure was sharp and unyielding, almost statue-like in the pale glow of the lights. His arms were at his sides, tense, and his jaw was set. What unsettled me wasn’t his posture, it was his eyes. Those eyes, usually quick to reveal his humor or annoyance or even faint warmth, were blank tonight. Empty in a way that made the back of my neck prickle.I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.“Taylor…” My voice came out hushed, hesitant, as though speaking his name might shatter the air between us.He didn’t move at first. Just kept looking at me, cold and steady. And then, after what felt like an eternity, he spoke.“You shouldn’t walk off in the middle of the night without telling me.” His tone wasn’t loud, but it was weighted, every syllable firm as stone. “Do you realize how dangerous that was?”I blinked, startled. That was wh
THE LINE BETWEEN US CHAPTER TWENTY
I knew that voice. Low, steady, familiar in a way that hit me like a punch to the chest.Slowly, I turned.Damian.He stood a few feet behind me, shoulders slouched, a half-empty bottle of liquor dangling from his fingers. His dark hair was mussed, his shirt wrinkled as though he’d pulled it on without care, and shadows clung beneath his eyes. He looked tired, no, exhausted, like the world had drained the life from him.For a second, I forgot to breathe. I hadn’t been this close to him in weeks, not since the distance between us had grown too heavy to bridge.His gaze flickered past me, landing on Marianne across the room, glowing under the neon lights as she laughed with someone who wasn’t him. For the first time, Damian didn’t move toward her. Instead, he just stared, weariness softening his sharp features, before his eyes dragged back to mine.He staggered, his grip on the bottle slipping slightly. Instinct jerked my body forward, ready to catch him, but I stopped myself mid-step.
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