All Chapters of The Ice Between Us : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

CIEL'S POV I whispered my own name, watching the white smoke of my breath mix with the arena's frozen air. The numbers above me blazed red and final. 98.7. First place. Regionals. Perfect score.The crowd roared. My blades had carved history into the ice tonight, and for three glorious seconds, I let myself smile. Not the polite, practiced curve my mother taught me. A real one. Wide. Warm. Directed right at the judge's table, specifically at Judge Harrison, who'd given me the only 10.0 of the night.That smile cost me everything."Get. In. Here."My mother's voice cut through the cheering like a blade through flesh. I turned. Mara Laurent stood in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms, her face a perfect mask of porcelain calm. But I knew the cracks. I'd spent eighteen years memorizing them.I followed her.The door slammed behind us, rattling the metal frames of the lockers. The crowd's noise vanished, replaced by the hum of fluorescent lights and my own ragged breathing."What the

DERICK’S POVI arrived at Blackwood Academy like I owned the place.Because technically? My father's money had built half of it. The east wing. The new dormitories. The state-of-the-art ice maintenance system that kept the rink frozen year-round. Every brick, every beam, every goddamn lightbulb had Blackwood stamped on it somewhere.So when my Porsche slid into the reserved parking spot, the one with my name already on it, I didn't feel like a new student.I felt like a king returning to his throne."Mr. Blackwood." The director met me at the entrance, sweating through his cheap suit. "Welcome. Welcome. We're so honored to have you—""Save it." I tossed him my keys. "Park it. Don't scratch it. And point me to the rink."He pointed. I walked.The main arena was cavernous. Cold. Smelled like frozen water and desperation. A few skaters dotted the ice, practicing their spins and jumps. Amateurs. None of them mattered.I scanned the crowd.There. Center ice. Silver-blonde hair catching the

DERICK'S POV I didn't sleep.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. That flicker of pain before the ice returned. The way his hands trembled when he walked away. The sound of my own voice screaming that word into the crowd.Disease.I'd called him a disease.And the worst part? I still wasn't sure if I was lying.The sun crept through my window like a guilty witness. Pale. Accusing. I'd spent the night on the bathroom floor, surrounded by shattered glass from my phone, replaying every second of the party on a loop.My heart hadn't stopped pounding since I touched his wrist.I was still on the floor when my door slammed open."Get up."Leo. My best friend. The only person on this campus who actually gave a damn about me."Go away.""Get. Up." He grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet. His eyes went wide when he saw my face. "Jesus, Derick. You look like death. What the hell happened last night?"I told him. Everything. The roses. The confession. The way Ciel saw through it all. T