LOGINLevi POVIt had been two days since my mother was discharged from the hospital. I had brought her back to my apartment, and two days now — two days of silence. She hadn’t so much as looked at me, hadn’t spoken a single word in my direction, hadn’t so much as acknowledged I was in the room with her.I moved around the kitchen in a rush, trying to put together something edible, and failing spectacularly. This was my third attempt. The first batch had burned. The second had come out so under-seasoned it was basically inedible. Cooking had never exactly been my strong suit, but I figured if I just kept trying, kept putting in the effort, maybe she’d notice.After what felt like hours, I gave up on the soup entirely and ordered in instead. I’d already broken her heart enough for one lifetime — no need to poison her with my cooking on top of it.The order arrived half an hour later, still warm. I carried it down the hall, set it outside her door, and knocked twice.“Ma.” I knew, with near
Lorenzo POVShe was right. I wouldn’t have been sorry.“I’m sorry,” I said again, because that was all I had left to offer her. Nothing but the same hollow word, over and over, with no real weight behind it.Was I sorry for sleeping with her son? No. I couldn’t make myself feel that, no matter how hard I tried to summon it standing in front of her.Was I sorry she was hurt because of what we’d done? Yes.Would any of it stop me from seeing Levi again?Never.“You can leave”. She whispered. “I’m sorry,” I said again, even though I knew by now it meant nothing to her. “I really hope you won’t take any of this out on Levi. He’s already destroying himself over what happened tonight, and he doesn’t deserve more of it than he’s already given himself.” I paused, gathering whatever was left of my nerve. “I also want to be honest with you, because I think you deserve that much at least — I’m not going to stop going after him. I wish I could tell you I would. I wish I could promise you that a
Lorenzo POV I had purposely lured Bethany here to get Levi out of the hospital. I didn't even confirm with her if she had done it yet but from the look of it, Levi don't here. He would hate me so much more if he finds out I came here again.Fuck. Recalling the tears in his eyes as he said that one word breaks my heart all fucking over again. I don’t think I can stay away from him.Fuck that. I don’t even think I can let him stay away from me. Yes, I’m toxic, I’m selfish and all of the fucking worse thing in this world but I’d do anything not to give Levi up. I can't.But I had also promised him that everything would end once he said that one word. There’s a lot of fucking time I had pushed him and he never for once said it. I don’t want to hurt him. I never meant to hurt him. But I also can’t make myself let him go, and for one disturbing second, some dark, ugly part of my mind whispered something I immediately hated myself for thinking — that maybe if his mother just disappeared
“He died because of you!”“You’re selfish!”“Are you happy now?”“You got exactly what you wanted.”“You took him away from your mother!”“All because of a stupid painting kit!”I clamped both hands over my ears.“No…”The voices only grew louder.“If you hadn’t begged for it, none of this would’ve happened.”“He only went out because of you.”“He died because you couldn’t wait.”“You killed your father.”“You killed him.”“You killed him.”“You killed him!”I squeezed my eyes shut.“N-no…”“All this could’ve been avoided if you hadn’t wanted that painting kit so badly.”“Now you don’t have a father.”“And you’ve taken away the only thing that ever made your mother happy.”“No… stop it”. I covered my ear. “Y-you said… you said it wasn’t my fault”. I whispered. Silence. Then another voice.Cold. Mocking. “Were you really stupid enough to believe that?”“No, it wasn’t—” My mother finally spoke, her voice slicing clean through the noise still ringing in my head. “It’s never been your f
"Mother, please let me explain." I begged desperately. She squeezed my hand, firm despite how fragile her grip felt. "What's there to explain, Levi?"I leaned closer when she reached for my face, and she wiped a tear from my cheek with her thumb, the gesture so tender it made the guilt cut even deeper.Why won’t she hit me? I wanted her to vent out her anger on me. To call me a disappointment, to hate me. Why won’t she just hate me?"What's there to explain?" she repeated, quieter. "Tell me.""It's not—" My words failed completely. What *was* there to explain? That I hadn't meant to fall for her husband's son? That none of it had started the way it looked, even if it had ended up exactly there?That I had met him first before she married his father?"How long?""Mother.""Just tell me. I'm fine." Her voice was steady, but her eyes weren't."I met him two days before your wedding." The words came out like they'd been dragged from somewhere I'd buried them.A small, broken laugh slippe
“Doctor!”I was already on my feet before he had fully stepped out of the emergency room.“How is she?”He removed the stethoscope from around his neck and offered me a small, reassuring smile.“You can relax.” The words alone nearly made my knees give out.“She’s stable.”I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding.“She went into shock,” he continued, “but we’ve managed to stabilize her. We’ll be moving her to a private ward shortly. Once she’s settled, you’ll be able to see her.”“Thank you.” I nodded repeatedly, my voice shaky. “Thank you so much.”He gave me one last nod before his expression turned serious.“Just one thing.”I looked at him immediately.“She has a heart condition, so it’s important not to do anything that could overstimulate her emotionally. No arguments. No upsetting conversations. She needs to stay as calm as possible while she recovers.”“Yes.”I nodded again.“I understand.”“Good.”With that, he walked away, leaving me standing alone in the c







