جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 200

Elliot’s POVI didn’t even think when I drove over to his place. I told myself I wasn’t going to, that I was done hovering around like some lost kid waiting for scraps. But there I was anyway, parked across the street from my father’s house, staring at the front door like it might open and give me the answers I’d been choking on for months.The house looked the same as it did when he moved in, Perfect. Too perfect. Like it was staged, like it was pretending nothing had gone wrong. I hated that about it. About him. He always managed to look like everything was under control when, in reality, nothing was.I sat there gripping the steering wheel, telling myself I’d get out, march across the street, knock on that damn door, and finally force him to talk to me. But before I could even open my door, I saw him.My father.He stepped outside fast, his head down, his keys in his hand like he was already halfway gone. He didn’t even glance back at the house. Didn’t notice me sitting right the

River’s POVThe café was too warm. That’s the first thought that settled in my head after Daniel left. Warm in that heavy way, like the air had thickened and wrapped itself around me. The chatter of the few people inside felt louder than it should, the scrape of a chair against the floor cutting too sharp. My fingers lingered around the mug Daniel had left half full, his coffee growing cold, the ring of steam long gone.I should’ve left right after him. I should’ve walked out, let the door swing shut, and not looked back. But instead I sat there, staring at the mug, at the faint smudge of his thumbprint on the ceramic, like it meant something it shouldn’t.My chest was still tight from the weight of his words, the way he’d looked at me, like there was something more he wanted to say but couldn’t. Like we were standing on the edge of something neither of us had the courage to step into.I pushed my hands into my jacket pockets, willing myself to move. To stand. To get out of there. I

Luciana’s POVThe silence after Elliot hung up was worse than the sound of his breaking voice. It sat in the room with me, thick and restless, like it was waiting for me to do something. My phone was still warm in my hand, but the call was gone. The line had gone dead, leaving me staring at the screen as if it might light back up with his name.It didn’t.My chest felt tight, like someone had wound invisible string around my ribs and pulled. The memory of his voice replayed over and over. The way he tried to hold it together, like he always did, and then, just broke. That sound stayed with me. I’d never heard him like that before.“Come on, El…” I whispered, pressing redial before I’d even fully realized what I was doing.The line rang. Once. Twice. Three times. My heart pounded harder with each second that ticked by. Then voicemail.I ended the call before the beep, pacing across my room. My bare feet sank into the carpet, but I barely felt it. My hand kept tightening around the phon

Elliot’s POVThe night air was cool against my skin, brushing my cheeks like a quiet reminder that I was still here, still breathing. I had walked farther than I meant to, past the main streets, past the shops that were closing down, until the city grew quieter and the sidewalks emptier. My legs carried me on their own, like if I kept moving maybe I could leave the heaviness inside me behind.But it followed.It always did.Luciana’s voice was still ringing in my head. The way she whispered my name when I broke down on the phone. The way she tried to soothe me even though I could barely breathe. I hated that she heard me like that. I hated that she had to carry my pain from so far away. She deserved someone strong, not someone breaking open over things he could not control.I shoved my hands into my pockets and kept walking. Streetlights stretched ahead in a long row, pools of yellow light cutting into the dark. My shadow trailed behind me, thin and stretched, like it was trying to ke

Luciana’s POVI had set the phone down after speaking with Daniel, but the calm that should have followed didn’t come. My hands kept twitching, moving toward the device again and again, as if it could magically ring by itself. Every shadow in the room seemed longer, darker, almost mocking me with its stillness.I got up and paced, barefoot across the carpet, the soft thuds of my feet somehow louder than the world outside. My mind refused to rest. Daniel had promised he would find Elliot, but the promise felt so far away. I knew he could take care of him, but even that knowledge didn’t stop the panic coiling in my chest. The memory of Elliot’s broken voice, trembling and raw, played over and over. He had called me crying, for god’s sake. I had never heard him like that. And he had ended the call before I could even reach him.I tried calling Olivia again. Maybe she knew something new. Maybe she had found him before Daniel. But once more, the line was busy. My chest clenched painfully.