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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Chaotic Obsession: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

122 Kabanata

Where Her Hair Smelled Like Goodbye

Chapter Forty-One: Johnny – Where Her Hair Smelled Like GoodbyeJohnny’s POVShe fell asleep on his chest.Breath steady. Skin still warm. Her leg tangled over his. Her hand tucked under her chin like she didn’t just rip his goddamn heart out and stitch it back together with a whisper and a kiss.And he lay there.Still.Silent.Broken.He stared at the ceiling like maybe it held answers. Like maybe if he didn’t blink, the ache in his ribs wouldn’t bloom wide and raw every time her breath ghosted against his skin.He didn’t know love could hurt like this.Didn’t know it could feel so full and hollow all at once.She was leaving.For real.Not just a break. Not a spat. Not the kind of temporary people threaten when they’re scared of getting too close.She was leaving.Mississippi would be dust in her rearview in a few weeks. Her dad’s bar, the creaky floorboards she stood behind every weekend, the smirk she gave him across the counter when she knew he was looking—it would all be over.

The Proposal

Chapter Forty-Three: Alli – The ProposalAlli’s POVThe bar was closed, lights dimmed to a low amber glow, chairs stacked upside down on every table. Her boots clicked softly against the worn floorboards as she made her last lap through the place. She touched the edge of the jukebox, paused at the sticky spot near the register where the floor always creaked.Her chest ached.This place had been her world for the last few months.A memory of her mother. A paycheck. A place to hide in plain sight.But now…It was time.Her apartment was packed. Everything she needed was in boxes, ready to be driven to Oregon before dawn. A new campus, new town, new life. Far, far from this little honky-tonk bar in Mississippi.Far from him.“Alli?”Her dad’s voice came from the back door. He stepped inside, dusty ball cap in hand. “You good, baby girl?”She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Yeah. Just… saying goodbye.”He nodded once, didn’t press. “I’ll be out in the truck.”She waited for

After She Walked Away

Chapter Forty-Four: Johnny – After She Walked AwayJohnny’s POVShe didn’t slam the door.That was the worst part.She just… walked out.Quietly.Like she hadn’t just taken the last damn piece of him with her.And then the silence swallowed him whole.The bar lights buzzed overhead, flickering like they knew something had died. The air smelled like stale beer, sweat, and heartbreak. Dust settled in the corners. A bottle clinked somewhere behind the counter as if even the building was exhaling—relieved or mourning, he couldn’t tell.Johnny sat on the floor, legs sprawled out, back against the bar.Still holding the ring.It felt ridiculous in his palm now.Tiny.Useless.Too little, too late.His fingers curled around it anyway.Like maybe if he held it tight enough, she’d turn around.Come back in.Say she changed her mind.Say Oregon could wait.Say he was enough.But she didn’t.And he wasn’t.He leaned his head back against the bar.Stared up at the ceiling like maybe God was up th

Ghosts, a Bottle, and Her

Chapter Forty-Five: Johnny – Ghosts, a Bottle, and HerJohnny’s POVThe bar sounded normal.It looked normal.Friday night crowd, boots scuffing the floor, laughter loud and aimless, beer bottles sweating on the counter. The same old jukebox playing the same old Merle Haggard song. Pool balls cracked in the back. Somebody yelled something about whiskey and losing at darts.But Johnny felt anything but normal.He was posted up in his usual corner, elbows on the bar, staring blankly at a beer he hadn’t touched. His body was here. His heart was... somewhere in Oregon. Or Mississippi. Or maybe still in her hand the way it had been when she walked out of his life with a whisper and an I love you that still rang in his ears.It had been four days.Long enough for everything to move on.But not him.He still sat at the bar like she might walk through the door again, hair in a messy bun, lip caught between her teeth, eyes full of lightning. Like she might slide behind the counter and roll tho

Five Years Later

Chapter Forty-Six: Alli – Five Years LaterAlli’s POVThe house looked smaller.Maybe because she felt bigger now—older, stretched thin by years and motherhood and loss. Or maybe it was just the weight of coming back.Five years had passed since she left Mississippi.And now she was back—for good.Because her father was gone.The funeral was over. Friends and neighbors had come and gone, casseroles dropped off on the porch like grief offerings. Her son, John Elijah, had picked wildflowers and handed them to people like it was his job.He didn’t understand that Grandpa was never coming back.And Alli hadn’t figured out how to explain it in a way that didn’t shatter her.The house was still filled with her father’s presence—old tools, his boots by the back door, the faint scent of aftershave clinging to the couch. She’d flown back from Oregon two days after getting the call, John’s small hand clutching hers the whole way.The lawyer was clear: the house and the bar were hers now.No que

The Bar Door Opens

Chapter Forty-Seven: Johnny – The Bar Door OpensJohnny’s POVHe hadn’t meant to turn down that road.Didn’t realize what he was doing until the rusted old sign came into view—"Mitchell’s Tavern," still hanging on despite years of rain and heat and ghosts.He eased the truck to a stop in the gravel lot, the engine ticking as it cooled.The bar wasn’t open.Not yet, maybe not ever again.But the lights were on.Johnny killed the engine, sat there for a second, heart already drumming against his ribs. The bar had been shuttered since Ed passed two weeks back. He’d heard the news through town whispers, offered his condolences to a few mutuals, even considered showing up to the funeral.But he hadn’t gone.It felt too raw. Too tangled in memories he hadn’t untied yet.Still, the lights being on today?He had to see.The bell over the door didn’t chime anymore, but it squeaked enough for her to hear.She turned from behind the bar, hair twisted up in that messy bun he remembered too well,

The Ghosts That Stayed

Chapter Forty-Eight: Johnny – The Ghosts That StayedJohnny’s POVHe knew the boy was his.He didn’t need Alli to say it.He’d seen it in the kid’s face the second he stepped into the bar. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same fire behind the stare.John.It wasn’t a question.It was a punch to the ribs and a whispered answer to five years of what-ifs.He leaned back against his truck, parked halfway between the highway and the edge of nowhere, fists clenched on his thighs. His jaw locked tight as the memories flooded him—starting with the last night they’d ever stood in that bar together.He had gotten on one knee.In the same place where they’d flirted, fought, fallen apart, and collided too many times to count.He’d pulled a ring out of his pocket, no plan, no speech—just desperation. A last-ditch effort to keep the only girl who’d ever made his chest ache with something other than regret.“Alli, marry me.”She’d cried. God, she’d cried. And she kissed him like she wanted to say yes—but she

He Comes to the Door

Chapter Fifty: Alli – He Comes to the DoorAlli’s POVShe hadn’t turned the porch light off yet. The house still smelled like lemon cleaner and the familiar comfort of old wood, and her nerves still hadn’t settled from the conversation with her son.She hadn’t expected to see Johnny again so soon.Not tonight.Not with her heart still raw and her son asleep down the hall with his daddy’s face.She had just settled into the worn armchair in the living room, a mug of chamomile tea cooling in her hands, when she heard it.A knock.Low. Firm.Twice.Her heart leapt into her throat.She stood slowly, her fingers clenched tightly around the ceramic cup as she walked to the door.She knew who it was.Knew the way her heart stuttered.Knew the way her breath caught in her chest.She opened it anyway.And there he was.Johnny.Leaning against the doorframe, hands in his jacket pockets, eyes impossibly blue beneath the porch light. That same dark T-shirt stretched across his chest, but now he l

The Questions She Never Asked

The room was dim, lit only by the glow of the hallway light and the soft hum of the fridge.Johnny sat on the edge of her dad’s old couch, hands clasped together, shoulders broad and heavy with everything he hadn’t said in years.She hadn’t expected him to show up tonight.She definitely hadn’t expected him to sit in her living room like a memory she never asked to resurrect.But here they were.And the air between them still felt like fire.“You said to ask,” she said, arms crossed loosely over her chest. “So I’m asking.”Johnny looked up, nodding once.Her voice was steady. “Layla’s baby. Was it yours?”He exhaled through his nose and looked down at his hands. “No.”“You’re sure?”“Yeah.” His voice was gravel. “We both knew she was pregnant before you left. Hell, it was on Instagram before she even told me.”Alli flinched at the memory—Layla posting the ultrasound photo with a cryptic caption and tagging no one, but everyone in town whispering like they already knew who it belonged

One Word

Chapter Fifty-Two: Johnny – One WordJohnny’s POVHe hadn’t moved in ten minutes.Alli’s hand was still in his, her head tilted back against the couch cushion, her eyes closed. Not asleep—just quiet. Like the storm inside her had finally calmed enough for her to breathe.Johnny didn’t say a word. He couldn’t.Because if he did, he might break the moment.He might admit how badly he wanted to pull her against him.How he hadn’t stopped loving her for a single day.How it killed him to think about the years he’d missed with the little boy asleep down the hall.His son.The creak of a door broke the silence.Johnny turned his head.Small bare feet padded softly on hardwood. A sleepy figure appeared in the hallway, rubbing one eye, hair mussed up in soft golden curls.John.The boy stopped in the doorway when he saw them.Big blue eyes blinked slowly as he processed what he was seeing—his mama on the couch, holding hands with a man he barely knew but couldn’t stop staring at.Johnny sat u

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