Alpha Lockwood のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

Mia:The silence between us didn’t feel as heavy as I knew it should anymore.There was a lot to be said, and yet, I knew that nothing was to be said between us as a fight. And now, I knew that this was a moment where this silence was considered more comfortable, at least for me… I knew that Nathan was having a battle of his own.He sat beside me, leaning forward, his hands loosely clasped, staring at the floor like he was trying to piece together something that refused to make sense.I didn’t push him into speaking, nor did I try to ask him to leave. I didn’t even know why I forced myself to stop from doing so, why I chose to be compassionate, but I knew that I was glad that he didn’t choose to kill someone while waiting for the chaos to unfold.“I can make coffee,” I said after a moment. “I believe that a little caffeine is going to help you think.”He didn’t look at me. “I’m fine. Right now, I don’t want to think… hell, I don’t even know how good it is going to be for me to think.”

Mia:The drive back felt… easier.Quieter even, and though the two of us didn’t say a word, there were so many words to be said. A silence that I couldn’t even think about explaining, but it was like something had shifted between us without either of us fully acknowledging it.And for once, I didn’t feel like I had to build a wall between us just to breathe.We pulled up in front of my building, the engine humming softly as the moment lingered just a second longer than it needed to.I reached for the door handle then paused.Because something in me didn’t want the moment to end like that. It was too cold and cruel for it to do so, and there were so many words to be said, words that I couldn’t even begin to try and explain.I turned to look at him, and he was already looking at me, clearly studying my expression. I hesitated for a second before clearing my throat and smiling.“You can come up,” I said.The words came out before I could overthink them.His brow lifted slightly. “Come up

Mia:I didn’t realize I had stopped stirring, not until the smell of the soup shifted just slightly and I blinked, pulling myself back into the moment.Because for a second, I had drifted enough to lose myself in everything that had been happening… and everything that still didn’t make sense.Him standing in my kitchen like he belonged there. Me allowing him here as if he did. And the fact that this just felt right in a way that I didn’t even know or want to know how to explain.I shook the thought away quickly, focusing again as I lowered the heat and turned toward the living room. That’s when I saw them… Rosalyn stood a few steps away from him, her small hands clasped behind her back like she was trying to be polite, but I could also tell that she was curious.Nathan stood across from her, looking… different, it was like he wasn’t sure how to move around her without breaking something. Brenda was already preparing the table, and I knew that we were not going to hear the end of today

Nathan:The office felt the same, it was cold and structured, like nothing shifted and nothing fell apart.I walked in early, needing something familiar, something that didn’t question me, didn’t demand answers I didn’t have, something that answered to me instead of me trying to answer to them.“Good morning, sir.” Joana was already at her desk, posture straight, eyes alert the second I stepped in.“Morning.” I said, walking toward my office.“Your documents are already arranged in your office,” she said, and I nodded, knowing that she would be noticing how things are. “Everything you need for today is prepared. And the files of the rescheduled meetings are also in your office, boss, you might need to take a look at them to reevaluate them. Mia has organized the meetings according to importance, but I told her not to intervene as you normally prefer to be the one to do it.”I nodded once. “Are the files in my office as she organized them?”“Uh… yes.” She said, hesitating for a second,

Nathan:The office emptied slower than usual. People lingered. Talked. Pretended they weren’t watching me walk out with her, they pretended not to be talking about it in the first place, not to be talking about her spending most of the day in my office despite her desk being outside like she had requested…I ignored it, and I could tell that Mia was choosing to ignore it too.Mia stepped out beside me, already reaching for her bag, clearly planning to leave on her own. “Come on,” I said.She glanced at me. “What?”“I’m dropping you home.” I said, and she shook her head at me as if she was doing her best not to say a strict and straight on no.“You don’t have to do that, you know?”“I don’t have to do most of what I do, as far as I understood from the number of times you’ve said that sentence.” I said, making her smile. “But I can assume that you take the bus home, and I want to be the one to drop you off.”“You have a life that doesn’t necessarily revolve around me, you know? And the