Semua Bab Four Night Stand: Puck Me Zaddies: Bab 31 - Bab 40

Chapter Thirty-Two: What a House HoldsMara’s Pov I had known something was wrong long before she said a word.Mothers learned that early. Children grew older, voices steadier, lies better hidden, but the signs never really disappeared. They just changed shape. A door closing too hard. Food left untouched. The way someone looked present but wasn’t really there.I saw it in her the moment she walked through the door that afternoon.She carried anger the way some people carried grief quietly, pressed inward, careful not to let it spill. I didn’t ask questions then. Questions could wait. Safety came first, and in this house, safety meant space.The boys noticed too.Cassian always reacted emotionally. He paced more. He made noise like it could drown out whatever tension had settled in the walls. Rowan watched her more carefully, his concern quieter but no less intense. Elliot noticed patterns before people noticed emotions. Julian stayed near without hovering, his presence grounding wit

Chapter Thirty-Four: Back Under the Same RoofAria's Pov The house felt different when we got back.Not tense. Not quiet in a dangerous way. Just attentive. Like everyone inside it had already sensed something had happened and was waiting to respond the right way instead of the fast way. I noticed it the moment I stepped inside, shoes barely off before Cassian looked up from the living room couch.He didn’t ask questions.That alone told me Julian had already said something.I set my bag down slowly and leaned against the counter, letting the weight of the day settle into my body. The mall confrontation replayed again without permission, Selena’s voice cutting through the noise of strangers, the way her words had been chosen carefully to humiliate rather than argue.Julian closed the door behind us and moved into the kitchen like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. That calm was deliberate. He knew I needed grounding more than commentary.Cassian broke first.Not with anger. Wi

Chapter Thirty-Six: Tonight Is MineAria's Pov I woke up before my alarm.That alone should have told me how much today mattered to me. I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, my mind already racing ahead of my body. The party. The dress. The noise. The chance to exist somewhere that wasn’t this house, even if only for a few hours. I hadn’t realized how much I needed something to look forward to until this morning arrived and my chest felt too tight with excitement to ignore.I rolled onto my side and checked the time.Too early.I sighed and forced myself to stay in bed, but it didn’t work. My thoughts kept circling back to the same thing. Tonight. The way the lights would look. The music. The crowd. The possibility of feeling normal, just for a while. Not watched. Not protected. Just… there.Eventually, I gave up and got up.The house was quiet, still wrapped in that early-morning calm where everything felt suspended. I moved carefully, showering, dressing, doing small ta

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Borrowed ConfidenceAria's Pov The feeling didn’t leave.That sense of being watched stayed with me even as the music shifted and the crowd grew louder. I tried to shake it off, telling myself it was just nerves, just the echo of the note sitting too heavily in my mind. Still, my eyes kept moving on their own, scanning faces, searching for something I couldn’t quite define.Ethan noticed.“You’re not really here,” he said quietly.I forced a smile. “I am. Just… distracted.”He nodded like he understood more than he was saying. We stood close enough that conversation didn’t require raised voices, but far enough that no one could mistake us for anything more. That boundary mattered to both of us.The music slowed briefly, and people shifted partners. Someone brushed past me, hard enough that I stumbled a step. Ethan reached out instinctively, steadying me by the elbow before quickly letting go.That was when she appeared.Selena didn’t come from the side. She step

Chapter Forty: When Silence Watches BackAria's Pov I didn’t sleep well.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same thing again the man at the bar, unmoving, unbothered, watching me like the night belonged to him. He hadn’t followed. He hadn’t chased. He hadn’t rushed. That was the part that unsettled me most.Fear I understood. Panic made sense.Control did not.Morning came too quickly. Sunlight slipped through the curtains, soft and harmless, like it hadn’t been present for what happened the night before. I lay still for a while, listening to the house wake up. Cabinets opening. Footsteps. Cassian’s voice drifting faintly up the stairs, already loud, already alive.Normal sounds. Familiar sounds.They grounded me more than anything else could.When I finally went downstairs, everyone was already there.Cassian leaned against the counter, eating straight from the pan like he hadn’t learned manners a day in his life. Rowan sat at the table, scrolling through his phone, posture rela