All Chapters of Pieces of Me He Never Protected: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The night air outside Daniel’s place was cooler than usual.Music drifted faintly from inside the apartment while voices and laughter spilled out through the open windows. It was the kind of night Josh enjoyed relaxed, loud, and free from the responsibilities he preferred to ignore.Josh leaned back in one of the plastic chairs on the balcony, scrolling through his phone while a half-finished drink sat on the small table beside him.Inside, a few of Daniel’s friends were arguing about football.Josh barely paid attention.His phone buzzed.A message from Peaches.“Did you get home?”Josh stared at the message for a second.Then he typed quickly.“Yeah. Just with the guys.”He hit send and slipped the phone back into his pocket.Simple.Everything handled.Across from him, Daniel had been watching quietly.He took a sip from his bottle before speaking.“You’re getting careless.”Josh looked up.“What?”Daniel leaned forward slightly.“I said you’re getting careless.”Josh frowned.“Wha

The restaurant had grown quieter as the evening stretched on.Most of the earlier customers had left, leaving only a few tables occupied. Soft music played in the background, barely noticeable beneath the quiet clinking of plates and glasses.Josh leaned back comfortably in his chair.Dinner had gone well.Easy conversation.No tension.No complications.Exactly the kind of evening he preferred with Diamond.Across from him, Diamond rested her chin lightly on her hand as she watched him talk.He was telling another story about Daniel something about a bet they had made during a football match.Josh laughed halfway through it.“…and Daniel was so sure he was going to win.”Diamond smiled faintly.“You and Daniel seem to get into trouble a lot.”Josh shrugged.“Not trouble. Just… situations.”Diamond tilted her head slightly.“Situations.”Josh nodded.“Yeah. Life would be boring without them.”Diamond picked up her glass and took a small sip before placing it back on the table.Then s

Josh had barely reached his room when he finally called Peaches.The phone rang twice before she answered.“Hello?” Her voice sounded softer than usual.“Hey,” Josh said, dropping his bag onto the chair. “Sorry I couldn’t pick up earlier.”There was a small pause.“It’s okay,” Peaches said, though it didn’t quite sound like she meant it.Josh sat on the edge of his bed.“What did you want to talk about?”“I just wanted to hear your voice,” she replied quietly.Josh rubbed the back of his neck.“You could have waited till tomorrow.”Peaches let out a small breath.“I know… I just felt like talking to you.”Josh leaned back against the wall.“Well, we’re talking now.”The conversation drifted slowly after that. Peaches told him about her lectures that day, about how confusing one of her courses was already.Josh responded here and there, half listening, half scrolling through something else on his phone.Across campus, Diamond was lying on her bed when her phone buzzed.A message from J

Peaches sat on the small plastic chair beside her hostel window, her phone resting loosely in her hand.Outside, the evening noise of campus drifted in students talking in the corridor, someone laughing loudly downstairs, music playing faintly from another room.But inside her room, it felt quiet.Too quiet.Her eyes moved back to the last message Josh had sent.Maybe.She read it again.And again.Peaches didn’t like the word maybe.It wasn’t yes.But it wasn’t no either.It was the kind of answer people gave when they didn’t want to commit to something.She sighed softly and leaned her head back against the wall.Josh hadn’t always sounded like this.When they first started talking — just a few weeks after she resumed school — he had been different.More available.More attentive.He used to call first.Used to ask about her day before she even mentioned it.Back then, everything had felt easy.Natural.But lately something had changed.Not dramatically.Just small things.Small pa

Diamond did not text Josh that night.Not because she was angry.Not because she wanted to punish him.But because she understood something about Josh that he himself didn’t realize.Josh was most comfortable when everything felt normal.When no one questioned him.When no one demanded explanations.When life moved smoothly without confrontation.So Diamond let it stay normal.The next afternoon, the campus was buzzing with its usual energy. Students walked in groups between lectures, vendors called out from small stalls, and the smell of fried snacks drifted through the air.Diamond spotted Josh leaning against the metal railing outside the cafeteria.He was scrolling through his phone with the relaxed focus of someone used to living inside conversations.When he noticed her approaching, his face brightened immediately.“Hey.”Diamond smiled faintly.“Hi.”Josh straightened and slipped his phone into his pocket.They began walking toward the cafeteria entrance together.“How were you