Chapter 18: When Falling Stops Hurting
Lily had always believed love was loud.
Explosive. Painful. Dramatic enough to leave scars.
That was how it had been written in the comic.
That was how it had felt the first time around.
But Noah Blackwood loved differently.
And that terrified her.
It started with small things.
Noah waiting outside her class—not to claim her, not to make a scene—but simply to walk her home.
Noah remembering she hated sugar in her coffee but loved caramel foam.
Noah adjusting his schedule as heir to Blackwood Group just so he could attend her club exhibitions and sit quietly in the back, clapping the loudest.
He never asked for praise.
Never demanded affection.
He just… stayed.
And that was what undid her.
One evening, Lily returned home exhausted, heels kicked off, hair loose, makeup gone.
She expected an empty living room.
Instead, Noah was there—sleeves rolled up, tie gone, laptop open on the table.
"You didn't tell me you were coming," she said, surprised.
He looked up, eyes soft. "You looked tired this morning."
That was it.
Not I missed you.
Not I needed you.
Just concern.
Her chest tightened.
They ate dinner together quietly.
No forced conversation. No teasing masks.
At some point, Lily realized she was leaning into him—head resting against his shoulder without thinking.
Noah stilled, then slowly wrapped an arm around her waist like she might disappear if he moved too fast.
"You know," she murmured, voice low, "this wasn't how it was supposed to go."
He smiled faintly. "Good."
She tilted her head up. "You're not scared? Loving someone who already knows how it ends?"
Noah looked at her seriously.
"I'm not loving the ending," he said. "I'm choosing you. Every day. Even if you walk away tomorrow."
Her eyes burned.
She had died for a version of him once.
Now he was living for her.
At school, the change was obvious.
Noah didn't glare at anyone who looked at Lily.
Didn't get jealous when she laughed.
Didn't try to cage her.
He trusted her.
And Lily—who once ran from attachment like it was a curse—found herself waiting for him.
Saving seats.
Texting first.
Reaching for his hand instinctively.
Mia noticed first.
"You're gone," her best friend teased. "Fully. Completely."
Lily didn't deny it.
"I think," she said softly, "I'm finally not scared anymore."
The night it all crystallized was simple.
No drama.
Just rain.
They stood under the school gate, umbrellas forgotten, soaked and laughing.
Noah brushed wet hair from her face, eyes searching hers.
"Lily," he said quietly, "I don't need you to love me back the way I love you."
She froze.
"I just need to know you're not running anymore."
Her heart cracked open.
She reached up, cupped his face, sarcasm nowhere to be found.
"I'm not," she whispered. "I fell already. I just didn't notice when."
He kissed her then—not desperate, not claiming.
Just sure.
Like this time, the story couldn't take her away.
That night, Lily wrote in her diary for the first time since transmigrating:
Maybe this world isn't punishing me.
Maybe it's giving me the love I was too afraid to keep.
And Noah Blackwood?
He slept that night with a quiet smile—
Fully devoted.
Fully hers.
And ready to rewrite fate if it ever tried to hurt her again.