All Chapters of The Ice Between Us : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

DERICK'S POVThe drive to the warehouse took twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of silence, of Leo's shaking hands on the wheel, of Ciel sitting rigid beside me with his jaw set and his eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. No one spoke. The only sound was the hum of the engine and the occasional crackle of ice beneath the tires.When Leo finally pulled into a gravel lot behind an abandoned skating supply store, I felt my chest seize. The building loomed against the night sky, its windows dark, its walls tagged with old graffiti. A single light burned in the back."They're inside," Leo whispered. "They said to come alone.""You brought both of us," Ciel said flatly. "That's not alone."Leo's face crumpled. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do."I pushed open the car door and stepped out. The cold air hit my face, sharp and bracing. Ciel followed, his skates still slung over his shoulder, his breath clouding in the dark."Stay behind me," I said."I'm not hiding.""I'm not asking

CIEL'S POVThe papers were signed before midnight.Warren had untied me from the chair after Derick and Jess left. He'd watched me with those dead eyes while I pressed the pen to the page and wrote my name over and over. Withdrawal from Nationals. Transfer of the Laurent rinks. A statement about mental health that made me sound broken and grateful for the Blackwood family's support.I signed them all."Smart boy," Warren said, gathering the documents into a folder. "Your mother will be pleased."I didn't answer. I just stood there, my hands still shaking, the echo of Derick's voice still ringing in my ears. He'd begged me to come with him. And I'd told him to go.Now I was alone with the devil's errand boy."You'll be escorted back to campus," Warren continued. "You'll speak to no one about this. And if anyone asks, you withdrew voluntarily. Understood?""Understood."He walked me to the door, his hand never straying far from the gun at his hip. The cold air hit my face like a slap. A

CIEL'S POVThe recorder sat dead in my palm, its red light gone. The voice still echoed in my head, taunting and cruel. Tell him, Derick. Tell him the truth about why you're really here. Or I will.I looked at Derick. He hadn't moved. His hand was still wrapped around my arm, his fingers cold and trembling."What truth?" I asked. "What haven't you told me?"Derick's jaw tightened. He let go of my arm and stepped back, his chest rising and falling in short, uneven breaths. The room felt smaller, the air thick with everything unsaid."The notes," he said finally. "I left them because I couldn't stand seeing you in pain."I nodded slowly. "I know that now.""Do you?" He looked at me, and his blue eyes were bright, almost wild. "Because I need you to understand something. I didn't leave those notes to make you trust me. I didn't leave them to win points. I left them because I was standing in those bleachers at two in the morning watching you bleed into your skate, and I couldn't breathe.

CIEL'S POVThe note trembled in Derick's hand. Red ink bled into the creases of the paper like tiny rivers. Wait until they see what's buried under the ice."What does that mean?" Derick asked.I couldn't answer. My throat had closed up. Because I knew exactly what was buried under the ice. I'd known for years."Ciel." He grabbed my shoulders, his eyes searching my face. "What is it? What's under the ice?"The sirens were closer now. The rock lay on the floor between us, cold and accusing. Somewhere outside, footsteps crunched through snow. Multiple people. Coming toward the shed."We have to go," I whispered. "Now.""Not until you tell me what's going on."I looked at him, and for a moment, I considered lying. It was what I'd always done. Hide the truth, bury the weakness, smile through the pain. My mother had taught me well.But I was so tired of hiding."The rink," I said. "Under the ice. There's something buried there. Something my mother made me promise never to tell anyone."Der

CIEL'S POVThe sirens split the night like a blade through ice.We ran down from the rooftop, my legs barely feeling the stairs, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might crack my ribs. Derick was beside me, his hand gripping mine, pulling me forward. Jess and Leo followed close behind, their footsteps echoing in the stairwell.When we burst out of the dormitory, the campus was alive with flashing lights. Red and blue painted the snow in frantic strokes. Police cars surrounded the rink. Officers in heavy coats stretched yellow tape around the perimeter. And in the center of it all, standing alone on the ice with her arms crossed, was my mother.She'd already been there when the police arrived. That's what one of the officers told us when we tried to get past the tape. She'd been standing at the edge of the rink, perfectly still, like she'd been waiting for them to come.Now she watched the officers work, her face a mask of porcelain calm. But I knew the cracks beneath. I'd spent ei