All Chapters of Little Dark Secrets : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

~Ava~The hallway was empty. My heart was still doing that dumb jackhammer thing, milk carton clutched like a lifeline, cold condensation dripping onto my fingers. I let out this shaky breath that sounded way too loud in the quiet.False alarm. House settling. .I turned to bolt back to my room door which was literally three steps away and slammed right into a wall of warm chest.Jax.Of course it was Jax.He didn’t even flinch. Just wrapped one arm around my waist like I weighed nothing, the other hand clamping over my mouth before I could yelp. Milk sloshed dangerously. His mouth was right by my ear, breath hot and smelling faintly of the same milk we’d both chugged like idiots.“Shh,” he whispered, all gravel and menace. “You scream, we both get grounded for life. Or worse. Your mom will make us do family therapy.”I bit his palm. Hard.He hissed but didn’t let go. Instead he hauled me sideways, away from my door, toward the guest room at the end of the hall the one nobody ever use

~Ava~The afternoon dragged on and on uncomfortable, and impossible to ignore. Chloe had been glued to Jax’s side since breakfast, posting stories of them “chilling at his place” like anyone cared, while I hid in my room pretending to study but really just doom-scrolling and hating everything. Riley kept popping in with updates like a shitty news ticker.“Chloe just asked Mom if she can stay for dinner,” Riley said, flopping onto my bed for the third time in an hour. “Mom said yes. Obviously.”I groaned into my pillow. “Kill me now.”“Too late. You already died when you dry-humped your stepbrother on the porch while his girlfriend was inside taking selfies.”“Shut up.”She laughed. “Nah. This is too good. Your life is a reality show and I’m the producer.”I threw my phone at her. She dodged.Then her face changed, eyes wide, mouth open like she’d seen a ghost.“What?” I sat up.“Chloe just texted the group chat. Her dad’s coming to pick her up. Like, now. In ten minutes.”I blinked. “

~Ava~Riley held me tight while I sobbed like a total mess on the floor, her arms wrapped around me like she was trying to keep all my broken pieces from spilling out everywhere, and I just let it all pour out, the hurt from Jax's words burning in my chest, making it hard to breathe, but she didn't say anything stupid like "it's okay" because we both knew it wasn't, she just rocked me a little and let me cry until my face was puffy and gross.I finally pulled back a bit, looking up at her through blurry eyes, sniffling, "Riley, you're the only one who gets it, seriously, everyone else would just bail or judge." She wiped a tear from my cheek with her thumb, her face all soft and close, "Hey, that's what friends are for, right, sticking around for the ugly cries." But then something shifted, her eyes locked on mine, and before I could even process, she leaned in and kissed me, soft at first but then harder, her lips pressing like she meant it, and I froze for a second, then kissed back

Ava These days the days seemed to have 18 hours and not 24 urghhh, the sun already blasting through the windows way too bright for how wrecked I felt inside, but we were all up and moving because Chloe had this big idea to make breakfast outside on the patio, like some happy family bullshit, eggs and bacon and whatever, and Riley was game, dragging me along with her usual smirk, "Come on, Ava, let's pretend we're normal for five minutes." I rolled my eyes but followed, pulling on shorts and a tank top, hair still a mess from last night, because who cared, right? Jax was probably hiding in his room anyway, nursing that blue balls situation I'd left him with.We got the grill going for bacon Chloe's insistence, she loved that smoky smell and Riley was flipping eggs on a pan we'd dragged out, me chopping fruit because I needed something to do with my hands to stop them from shaking, that mix of satisfaction and guilt churning in my gut from how I'd broken Jax last night, his tears still

~Ava~I shoved the last bite of cold egg into my mouth like it was poison I needed to get rid of fast, chewed twice, swallowed hard, then stood up so quick the chair scraped loud enough to make Chloe flinch.“Gotta pee,” I blurted, already turning toward the sliding door. “And, uh, shit, I just remembered I’ve got something urgent at school. Like, super urgent. Professor emailed about my paper draft, wants to see me right now before office hours close or whatever. I’ll be back in a minute, promise.”Riley’s eyes flicked to me, one eyebrow shooting up like she knew exactly what “professor” really meant, but she kept her mouth shut for once, just gave a tiny smirk and sipped her coffee like this was normal brunch behavior.Chloe crossed her arms, still sulky from earlier. “Now? We’re literally in the middle of eating.”“Yeah, now,” I snapped back, sharper than I meant to. “It’s school stuff. You know my grades? Future? Girl…. You know, important shit. I’ll be quick.”Chloe huffed. “Fine