All Chapters of A Story That Doesn’t Belong To You: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Ryan Carter had grown used to the hush that followed his speeches.The way eyes trailed after him, curious or sympathetic, depending on the topic.He’d learned, over months of training his voice, to harness that silence turn it into a challenge or a comfort.But nothing prepared him for the eyes that locked onto him in the auditorium that afternoon cold, calculating, and unblinking.He was late, of course. The panel on student advocacy had dragged on twenty minutes longer than scheduled. By the time Ryan slipped into the near empty back row, the stage lights had dimmed and the audience was filing out.He apologized to the woman beside him. She barely glanced up.Then he spotted him standing in the aisle two rows ahead, leaning against the wall like marble.Tall. Broad shouldered. Expensive looking tweed blazer over a crisp white shirt untucked on one side, just enough to look casually stylish. His hair was dark and slicked back, but deliberately tousled at the front. A gold signet

Rain spattered against the library windows, blurring the brick courtyard beyond. Ryan Carter leaned against the sill, watching the rivulets trace uneven paths down the glass.The hush among the stacks usually soothed him, but today it only amplified the tight coil in his chest.He hadn’t seen Adrien Fairchild since their tense hallway standoff. In theory, that should have brought relief an opportunity to put the dangerous obsession behind him. Instead, emptiness had settled in his bones, reminding him that the past never truly leaves you.A soft click behind him made Ryan whirl around. Chris, his roommate, stepped into the reading alcove, dripping from the rain.“You made it clear you’re staying late,” Chris said, shaking water from his hair. “I thought you might want company.”Ryan forced a half smile. “Thanks.”Chris dropped his backpack onto the floor and sat on the edge of a nearby table. “Who was that guy you texted about?”Ryan stared at the window. “Adrien. He’s complicated.”C

The world didn’t feel safer just because Adrien was gone.Ryan stood in the hallway outside the student affairs office, a thin file still clutched to his chest. The meeting had been brief, procedural. Adrien had been officially suspended, pending further investigation. The words echoed in his ears like the staccato beat of a broken metronome pending further investigation. Not expelled. Not gone for good. Just on pause.Chris leaned against the wall next to him, arms crossed, his gaze sharp and protective. “You okay?”“I don’t know,” Ryan whispered. His fingers tightened around the file. “It doesn’t feel over.”“It won’t for a while,” Chris said, tone gentler now. “But this was the right move. You did the hard part.”Did he? Ryan wasn’t sure. The hard part wasn’t giving the report. The hard part was the waiting the empty air that Adrien used to fill with glances that made Ryan’s skin crawl, the twisted letters, the bruising stare. That silence felt like it was holding its breath now,

Campus felt different now. The air was lighter, conversations seemed less hushed, and for the first time in days, Ryan wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder. Adrien’s suspension had created a temporary calm. But beneath that quiet, something festered a tension Ryan could feel in the way his fingers twitched when he typed, in the way his phone buzzed with blocked calls and strange messages he refused to open.Chris had started sleeping on the floor again, despite Ryan insisting he didn’t need to. “It’s just until you feel okay again,” Chris would say, rolling out his blanket next to Ryan’s bed and cracking a joke to lighten the mood. But the truth was, Chris didn’t trust that Adrien was truly gone. Neither did Ryan.Daniel had grown quieter too. He still texted, still showed up to walk Ryan to class, but there was something restrained about him now, like he was afraid of pushing too hard. The night Adrien was suspended, Daniel had held Ryan’s hand the whole walk back from the a

The sky looked deceptively calm that morning.Pale blue, a few scattered clouds, birds chirping like nothing had happened as if the world hadn’t tilted sideways under Ryan’s feet the night before. He stood outside the cabin with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, the chill in the air brushing against his skin like fingers he hadn’t given permission to touch.Adrien had found a way to reach him again.The photo had been like a slap. Not just because it exposed something Ryan had only ever dared to think in private, but because it proved Adrien still had access. Still knew how to strike where it hurt most.Behind him, the cabin door opened.Chris stepped out barefoot, hair tousled, hoodie zipped halfway, holding two mugs of coffee. He offered one to Ryan wordlessly.“Thanks,” Ryan murmured.They stood in silence. Birds. Wind. A branch creaking high above.Then Chris said, “I’ve been thinking.”“Yeah?”“If he still has your journal, and he’s still close enough to send you pictures…