To the two boys I like: Burn me the safe way のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

The room was too quiet. That was the first thing Elena noticed once the frantic energy died down. The air conditioning hummed a low, expensive tune, moving the scent of Liam’s laundry detergent around the space. It was clean. It was sterile. She lay there, the heavy duvet pulled up to her chin, feeling the weight of Liam’s arm draped over her waist. It should have felt like a cocoon. It should have felt like the safest place on earth."You okay?" Liam’s voice was a low rumble against her hair. He sounded satisfied. More than satisfied. He sounded like a man who had finally put his world back in order.Elena forced a breath out, her chest feeling tight under the blankets. "Yeah. Just tired.""I get it," he murmured, his fingers tracing idle patterns on her shoulder. "It’s been a long day. A long week, honestly. But I was thinking... maybe this weekend, you should come over for dinner. Like, officially. My parents are doing this small thing, nothing crazy, but I want them to see us. Re

The air backstage tasted like old pennies and stale sweat. It was thick, heavy enough to sit in the back of your throat and stay there. Noah sat on a rusted folding chair, the kind that groaned every time he shifted his weight. He was back. Back in the basement, back in the dark, back in the one place where pain actually made sense.He took his phone out. It was a habit now, a twitch. The screen glowed, mocking him. There they were—the unread messages. A long, desperate column of blue bubbles that Elena hadn’t even opened. He’d poured everything into those texts. Truths he didn't even know he had. Pleas. Explanations about Ashley and the setup that felt like they were written in a language she’d forgotten how to read.He sighed, the sound lost in the dull roar of the crowd through the cinderblock walls. He shoved his hands through his hair, gripping the roots until it hurt. He was so angry. Not at her, not really. He was angry at the world that kept pulling them apart, and he was

The neon sign outside the bar flickered with a tired, buzzing sound that made Jojo’s head ache before she even stepped inside. It was one of those dives on the edge of town where the floors were perpetually sticky and the lighting was designed to hide mistakes. Jojo clutched her purse, her fingers brushing against the laminated edge of the fake ID she’d paid way too much for. Beside her, Dusty looked just as twitchy, pulling at the collar of his jacket."You sure about this?" Dusty whispered, his eyes darting around the dim interior. "If my dad finds out I’m using a forged government document to buy cheap tequila, he’ll actually sell my car. I’m not joking.""Relax, Dusty. Just act like you’ve been doing this since you were twelve," Jojo muttered, though her own heart was thumping against her ribs.They pushed through the heavy wooden door. The smell of stale beer and old cigarettes hit them like a physical wall. It wasn't crowded yet, just a few scattered souls at the back tables a

The final bell didn't just ring. It felt like an alarm going off in Elena’s chest, a sudden, vibrating panic that made her hands shake as she shoved her notebooks into her bag. The leather strap caught on her locker door. She yanked it. Hard. A page tore in her binder, but she didn't care. She just needed to get out.The plan was simple enough. Run to the parking lot, bypass the student cars, and get on the transit bus that headed down toward the south side. Noah's apartment. It was three miles away, maybe four, but the bus stopped right at the corner of his block. She could be there in twenty minutes. She had the cash for the fare crumpled up in her palm, sweating against her skin.She rushed through the heavy double doors of the main building, the humid afternoon air hitting her like a wall. She took three steps down the concrete path before a voice stopped her cold."Elena!"She closed her eyes for a split second, her stomach dropping into a hollow, frozen pit. Liam.He was jogg

"Noah," she breathed against his lips, her voice small, almost lost in the dark room. "Make love to me. Please."He went entirely still. His hands, which had been anchoring her hip against the cushions, gripped her a little tighter, then hesitated. Slowly, he pulled back. Just an inch or two. His dark eyes searched hers in the dim twilight filtering through the dusty blinds, his breathing ragged, his chest rising and falling fast.He looked confused, almost scared, the jagged little cut near his temple catching a sliver of street light.Then his mouth was back on hers before she could even finish the breath. It was deep, heavy, the kind of kiss that made your ears ring and the rest of the world just turn into gray noise. Elena had her fingers buried in his hair, pulling him down, her chest heaving against his bare ribs. The fabric of the sofa scratched at her arms but she barely felt it. Everything was just skin and heat and the desperate need to erase the last few weeks."El, wait