Lana's POV:

Jude drags me away like she’s pulling me out of a fire, but I swear the flames follow. 

I can still feel his breath on my skin.
Still feel the echo of his words.
Still feel the way my pulse refused to behave the moment he stepped toward me, like my heart forgot who it belongs to.

The crowd noise fades behind us, engines cooling, boys shouting, someone cheering a late victory, but all I hear is him.

You terrify me.

My steps falter. 

Jude notices immediately. “Don’t even start,” she mutters.

“Start what?” My voice shakes more than I want it to.

“The downward spiral your stupid heart is about to take.” She tightens her grip on my wrist. “I’m not babysitting you while you cry over the school tyrant.” 

“I’m not crying.”

“You will.” Jude scoffs. “You’re already doing the face.”

I shove her shoulder. “I’m not doing a face.”

“You’re doing the face,” Evelyn calls from behind us, skipping to catch up. Her grin is too wide for someone who just started a juice war. “The oh-no-I-like-the-scary-boy face. Very tragic. Very poetic.”

Stella joins too, hugging her arms to her chest like she’s cold, though she’s clearly just enjoying the show. “It’s cute,” she says softly.

“It’s not cute,” Jude snaps. “It’s dangerous.”

“It’s both,” Stella shrugs.

I glare at all of them. “Can you stop? It wasn’t… whatever you think it was.”

Evelyn bursts out laughing. “Girl, I saw the way he looked at you. Aiden Reeve looked like he wanted to set the world on fire and hand you the ashes.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks. “Shut up.”

“No,” Evelyn says proudly. “I don’t shut up. Especially not for romance. I’m morally obligated to narrate it.”

Jude groans. “There is no romance. She needs therapy.”

“Yeah, the hot kind,” Evelyn adds. “The kind that kisses you against a locker.”

Stella giggles. “I hope so.”

I wish I could say they’re exaggerating, that what happened back there wasn’t that intense, that I didn’t feel the ground tilt under me the moment he leaned closer, that I didn’t think he was going to kiss me, that I didn’t want him to.

But lying to them is one thing.

Lying to myself? Impossible.

My heartbeat still hasn’t slowed.

We reach Evelyn’s car first, her pink-with-butterflies monstrosity that somehow still looks expensive because of course her father bought it.

“Shotgun!” Stella yells.

“No,” Jude says. “I get the window seat.”

“No, I—”

“Both of you shut up.” Evelyn unlocks the doors. “Lana gets front. She’s emotionally unstable.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t care,” Evelyn says. “Get in.” 

I sigh but obey because I don’t have the strength to argue. My legs feel like they’re made of warm jelly, and my mind keeps replaying the moment over and over like a movie reel stuck on a dangerous scene.

The door closes, muting the noise outside.

Evelyn starts the engine. “Alright. Start talking.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Bullshit,” Jude mutters from the back.

Stella leans forward between the seats. “He looked at you like… like you were gravity.”

I press my fingers to my forehead. “Stella, please—”

“No, she’s right,” Evelyn jumps in. “And you looked at him like you were about to either faint or climb him like a tree.”

Jude groans loudly. “I want to walk home.”

“Too late,” Evelyn says sweetly. “You’re here, trapped with us, so let Lana confess her sins.”

“I’m not confessing anything.”

They all stare at me.

Three pairs of eyes, three different intentions. 

Jude is protective, stern. Evelyn, nosy and excited. Stella’s soft and dreamy.

I look out the window instead. The road glows under streetlights, blurry and gold. My reflection in the glass looks like someone I barely recognize.

Someone who’s losing a battle she never wanted to fight.

I whisper, barely audible, “He scares me.”

Jude nods sharply. “Good. Stay afraid.”

Stella touches my shoulder gently. “He scares you because you care.”

“No,” I say quickly.

“Yes,” Evelyn counters instantly. “And that’s okay.”

I shake my head. “It’s not okay. He’s—he’s Aiden. He’s chaos. He’s… too much. And I don’t want to want, or even care.”

“And you like too much,” Evelyn says. “You just pretend you don’t.”

I swallow hard. Because she’s not wrong.

I like too much.

I like the way he looks at me like I’m the answer to a question he never knew he had.

I like the way his voice drops when he says my name.

I like the way he stands too close, like he’s trying not to touch me and failing.

I like the way he makes me feel wanted, seen, and terrified all at the same time. 

The car is warm, but a chill crawls up my spine anyway.

“What did he say to you?” Jude asks quietly.

I don’t look at her. “Nothing.”

“Lana.”

I exhale shakily. “He said I terrify him.”

The car goes dead silent.

Then Evelyn grips the steering wheel like she’s physically restraining herself from screaming. “OH MY—”

“Don’t,” Jude warns.

“I HAVE TO,” she shrieks.

Stella gasps, covering her mouth with both hands. “That’s… that’s intimate.”

“Shut up,” I murmur, hiding my face in my hands. 

Evelyn hits the brakes a little too hard at the next stop sign. “He said you terrify him!”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t immediately throw yourself into his arms?!”

“Ev—”

“Girl!” Evelyn hits my arm. “That’s a love confession if I’ve ever heard one.”

“It is not—”

Jude interrupts. “It’s an obsession confession.”

Evelyn gasps louder. “Even better!”

“It’s not better!” I choke out.

Stella folds her hands over her heart. “It’s kind of romantic. In a… deeply unhinged way.”

“Yes,” Jude says. “Precisely why she needs to run.”

“I’m not running,” I say before I can stop myself.

Silence.

All three of them stare at me.

Evelyn’s grin grows slowly. Wickedly. “So you like him.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You implied it.”

“I didn’t—"

“You so did,” Jude says. “He’ll chase you if you run away anyway.” 

Stella nods softly. “It’s okay to like him.”

My throat tightens. “No. It’s not.”

They exchange a look, the kind of look that says they understand something about me that I’m still avoiding.

Stella speaks first, gently. “He makes you feel something.”

Jude speaks next, sharp. “He makes you reckless.”

Evelyn finishes, delighted. “He makes you feral.”

I sink into my seat, feeling myself unravel. 

Because the truth?
The real truth?

He makes me alive.

We reach my house sooner than I expect. Evelyn pulls into the driveway, headlights washing over the front porch steps.

“Text if you need us,” she says softly.

“Or if you need an alibi,” Jude adds.

“Or if you want to stalk him,” Evelyn says.

“Eve,” I hiss.

“What? I support women.”

Stella hugs me quickly. “Don’t overthink tonight, okay?”

Too late.

I step out of the car, my legs still weak, my heart still too fast. The cold air wraps around me like a warning.

The girls watch until I reach the door.

I open it.
Walk inside.
Close it quietly.

The house is dark.

Safe.

Quiet.

I lean my back against the door and finally let out the breath I’ve been holding since the moment he touched my hair.

Aiden Reeve is mysteriously dangerous.

And for the first time, I’m worried I’m not strong enough to stay away.

I walk up the stairs slowly, my hand brushing the banister, my pulse still pounding.

In my room, the soft light of my desk lamp makes everything feel softer; my books, my sheets, the little pressed flower he doesn’t know I kept from weeks ago.

I sit on my bed.

My phone buzzes.

I freeze.

Heart leaping.

The screen lights up.

Satan: Home?

I stare at the message for a long moment.

Too long.

Long enough to know the truth.

My fingers tremble as I type back.

Lana: Yes.

A pause.

He’s typing.

And typing.

And then, it appears.

Satan: Good.

One word. Simple.

I drop my phone beside me, exhaling shakily into the dark.

I shouldn’t want him.

But I do.

God help me, I do.  

I turn off my lamp, crawl under my blankets, and stare at the ceiling like it has answers.

It doesn’t.

It only has shadows.

And every shape reminds me of him.

His shoulders.
His mouth.
The angle of his jaw when he’s trying not to look at me.
The way he said you terrify me like it wasn’t supposed to slip out.

I flip onto my stomach, shove my face into my pillow, and groan.

Why did he have to say that?

Why couldn’t he stay predictable? Something mean, cold, a little rude with a sprinkle of danger?

Why did he have to go and be honest?

Honesty ruins everything. 

Because honesty lingers, it echoes. It burrows under your skin and refuses to leave, like it’s carving out a home in the walls of your ribs.

My phone buzzes again.

My heart launches into orbit.

But when I grab it, it’s a notification.

Not him.

Pathetic disappointment twists in my stomach. 

I toss the phone away and roll onto my side, staring at the faint moonlight bleeding through my curtains.

Aiden Reeve said I terrify him.

Me.

Terrify him.

The boy who terrifies half the school. 

The boy who smiles like it’s a sin. 

The boy who bruises knuckles and never apologizes.

The boy who glares like he’s deciding whether to fight or walk away before he ruins something. 

The boy who looked at me tonight like I was both.

I press my palms to my warm cheeks.

This is bad.

This is very, very bad.

Because if he really meant what he said, it means someone’s going to get hurt.

Probably me. 

I fall asleep with that thought in my head.

My alarm screams at me, but honestly? It’s unnecessary.

I barely slept.

My dreams were all fragments, blurred images of his eyes, his hands, the way his breath brushed my cheek like a secret. And there was no sign of my usual night terrors, which I’m grateful for. 

By the time I’m dressed, my stomach is in knots. I can’t eat. I can barely think. Every thought is a circle, looping back to him. Being alone in this big ass house doesn’t help too much.

Mom and dad left for the business trip yesterday, and Layla left too, so I’m kind of alone for the next two weeks or maybe even a month. They might just come back a little before my birthday.  

That’s so reassuring. 

I drive to the ‘best’ school in France, and when I step onto campus, when the frost bites the air and my boots crunch on the pavement, I feel him. 

Before I see him. 

Before I hear him.

Before anything.

Like a tug in my chest, a warning, an electric shift in the gravity around me.

My pulse stutters.

My feet slow.

Then Jude appears out of nowhere, grabbing my elbow.

“Don’t even think about him,” she orders immediately. 

“Jude, I wasn’t—"

“You were,” she snaps. “Your face is literally in the shape of his name.”

“That’s not—”

Evelyn materializes on my other side like a chaotic fairy godmother. “Did he text you again? Did he confess? Did he propose? Please tell me he proposed. I need news.”

Stella arrives last, breath clouding in the cold. “Morning,” she says softly, handing me a little packet of strawberry candy. “For your emotional support.” She pulls me in a hug. She loves hugs. 

I take one with a smile, hugging back. “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome. You look like you need it.” She pulls back. 

We walk through the courtyard together, and that’s when I see him. 

He’s there.

Leaning against the railing near the main entrance.

His uniform clings to him, neat, ironed, and made just for him. His bag slung over one shoulder. Eyes scanning the crowd, but stopping the second they land on me.

It hits me like a punch to the chest.

Everything inside me goes hot. Then cold. Then hot again.

Jude mutters, “No. Nope. Absolutely not. Turn around.”

Evelyn squeals. “He’s doing the stare!”

Stella clutches her books tighter. “He looks different today.”

He does. He looks… strained, focused, dark.

Like he didn’t sleep either.
Like the night chewed him up and spit him out the same way it did me.

I can’t look away.

Neither can he.

The crowd moves around him, past him, like he’s a fixed point in the universe, unshakable. But when I move, even the tiniest bit, his head tilts.

Tracking me. Always tracking me.

My legs feel weak.

Evelyn nudges my side. “Go.”

“What? No!”

“Go,” she repeats. “He’s waiting.”

Stella nods. “He won’t leave until he talks to you.”

Jude groans. “Don’t encourage this.”

But they’re right.

He’s waiting.

His jaw flexes, his fingers curling around the strap of his bag.

And when I take one hesitant step toward him, his shoulders drop, like he’s been holding tension all morning and finally lets it go. 

My pulse jumps.

I walk.

He pushes off the railing and meets me halfway, the space between us filled with everything we’re trying too hard to ignore.

“Hey,” I say softly.

My voice barely comes out.

He hears it anyway.

His eyes darken. “You look tired.”

“So do you.”

He huffs a breath, not quite a laugh, not quite annoyance, something in between.

“Did you sleep?” he asks. 

“Not much.”

He stares at me for a long second. “Because of last night?”

I lie. “No.”

His jaw tightens.

He steps closer, too close.

Every nerve in my body lights up.

And another.

Until I can smell his cologne.

Until I can feel heat radiating from him.

Until my heart is climbing out of my chest like it’s trying to reach him first.

My lips part in a silent breath.

He lifts a hand, but doesn’t touch me.

His fingers hover just above my jaw.

I whisper, “Aiden… people are staring.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“No.” His voice roughens. “I shouldn’t.”

“Aiden—” 

Before I can tell him to stay away, to stop, he kisses my forehead. 

Again. 

And I let him. There’s something so intimate about forehead kisses, like I can feel his gaze, his breath on my lips, yet he doesn’t act on it. He takes a breath, and I can feel the lingering touch of his lips. 

“I’ll walk you to class,” he says, voice low and final.

“You don’t have to—”

“I do.”

“Aiden—”

He cuts me off with a look.

A look that says don’t argue. A look that says I’m not asking. A look that says you’re mine to worry about and you can hate it all you want but it won’t change anything.

My cheeks heat, stomach flipping.

My pulse refuses to calm down.

When I fall into step beside him, our arms brushing just enough for sparks, he pulls me to his side, his hand on the small of my back. 

The whole school stares.

And all I can think is:

I am in so much trouble. 

I know I’ll have to push him away. 

I can’t let him own me, control me, or have this effect on me. Not a man.

Not Aiden fucking Reeve. 

Fuck, I can’t do this.  

******

To Be Continued. 

Next chapter is a handful… cuming soon😛

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