Lena stared at her lit class notes, yet the old Blackwood house kept messing with her mind. Each hallway stretched like it remembered him. Mirrors showed more than just her - something else lingered there too. Even the dark corners felt watched, filled with quiet echoes.
Even if Damian was gone, she still sensed his presence - like a shadow lingering just out of sight.
He showed up that day.
She spotted him in the library early, sitting way back, frozen in place, staring without looking away while she walked past book rows. No words came out. His eyes stayed wide open. Just silence and focus.
Heat climbed into her face, yet her pulse hiccupped. She craved to vanish, slip away - still, some corner of her throbbed for the spotlight. While fear pulled one way, longing tugged harder.
Her phone buzzed suddenly. It was a message - came from the friend she used to tell everything.
Lena... there's something I gotta say. Because I made a mistake. Maybe we should get together?
Her stomach twisted.
Vanessa. Sure, who else would it be - Vanessa.
The girl that turned against her, stealing bits of her days, suddenly tried to return.
She had more sense. Yet she couldn't help but look. Maybe just once - read it fast, then shut it down for good. Forget the whole thing ever came up.
Yet wonder - even with a tiny, determined bit of optimism - pushed her to answer:
Fine. One coffee only. Not today - tomorrow.
Her heart kicked up fast - Vanessa was close. Right here. Just now.
Next thing, a dark shape crept up behind her.
Damian.
You're grinning at that screen once more, he muttered, tone hushed, kind of threatening.
Lena froze.
"I - It's just... nothin'," she mumbled, tucking the phone away in her pocket.
"Nope?" He raised one brow.
"That's not what it looks like."
His eyes got darker - only a bit, yet still noticeable. Lena sensed it, sharp as heat on her arms.
She started to speak, yet he cut her off right away.
He got up, moved past the table, then halted near her - close enough that warmth from his body reached her skin.
You're keeping a secret from me, he whispered, his gaze locked onto her eyes.
"I'm not," she replied, hoping to seem relaxed.
"You are."
He moved backward slightly - just enough to create distance. Yet his voice stayed there, thick and constant.
Lena gulped, her pulse racing.
He wasn't merely looking at her - he took up her focus, filled her room, slipped into her mind, all while staying hands-off.
---
The following morning, Lena ended up in a tiny coffee spot on the other side of town, face-to-face with Vanessa.
Vanessa grinned - sharp, like glass catching light.
"So… what's it like living with the Blackwoods?" she said, her tone soaked in pretend warmth.
"It's... not what I expected," Lena said, hesitating.
Vanessa moved closer, speaking quieter.
"I saw him. Damian. That guy—he's… obsessed with you, isn't he?"
Lena blinked.
"Excuse me?"
Vanessa smirked.
"Don't play innocent. I saw the way he looks at you the first day you arrived. The way he stalks you around the house. I've never seen anyone so obsessed with anyone else."
Lena's breath caught in her throat.
"How… how do you know?"
Vanessa gave a casual shrug, like nothing could touch her.
"Some things are obvious."
Lena squeezed her hands tight beneath the table.
"I… don't know what you're talking about."
Yet while she said no, a piece inside pushed to just tell what really happened.
She pondered each look, then those quiet seconds, also the way Damian trailed behind - times she'd assumed no one was there.
Yeah. The guy couldn't stop thinking about it.
Just like that, she was too.
Her gut knotted up - scared, yet pulling toward something. Fear tugged one way, want the other.
---
Later that evening, when she was home at the big house, Damian showed up by her room.
"I know you were talking about me," he said, voice low and rough.
Lena's heart skipped.
"How—?"
He lifted one brow.
"You can't hide anything from me."
She leaned into the wall, spine flat against it.
"You… you shouldn't be here."
"I should be wherever you are."
He spoke softly, kind of laid-back, yet what he meant sent a chill down her spine.
You're... you're completely caught up," she whispered softly.
His mouth turned up just a little, like he couldn't help it.
"Yes. And you are too."
Her breath caught.
He moved in near - so near she sensed his heat, so near her mind started racing.
The forbidden, the impossible, the risky - each dangled right there in the space between.
For once, Lena finally got it -
She wasn't keen on running.
Not from him.
Not tonight.