Chapter 168
The kiss was urgent and unrelenting, leaving me no chance to pull away.
I instinctively tried to push him back, but his arms wrapped around me tightly, holding me in place. as if he was afraid I’d disappear.
As he held me close, I felt the weight of his words settle over us like a fragile truce.
There was a long road ahead, filled with questions and uncertainties, but for now, we were here-
When he finally pulled away, his eyes were red, filled with an emotion I couldn’t quite name.
“Why did you try to push me away?” he asked, his voice raw. “Is it because… because you don’t love me anymore?”
“Lirian,” I said softly, my voice trembling.
He interrupted me, shaking his head.
“Don’t say it’s not that,” he said. “Tell me what you feel. Do you hate me? Are you angry with me? Do
you want to leave me?”
The tension between us hung in the air like an unspoken truth waiting to unravel. My voice quivered slightly as I looked at Lirian, the words tumbling out almost involuntarily.
“What do you mean you didn’t want to break up with me?” I asked rhetorically, though my tone carried the weight of genuine confusion.
Lirian’s jaw tightened, and he sighed deeply, as though the mere act of responding would reopen at wound he’d rather keep hidden.
“Did you run away to the city because you didn’t want to see me?” he Inquired, his voice steady but Jaced with something I couldn’t quite place–hurt, perhaps? Or frustration?
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “I needed time,” I admitted softly.
Time to think things through. After the sleepover… after how you acted, it felt like I didn’t matter anymore. Like I was just… there.” My words trailed off, but their impact landed squarely between us.
*His brows furrowed deeply, his hands curling into loose fists at his sides. “You think I don’t care
about you?”
81.J
His voice rose slightly, though not enough to feel threatening–just enough to reveal how agitated he was. “That’s not how I feel at all!”
I stepped back instinctively, not out of fear but to gain some semblance of emotional distance.
“Then why did it feel like that, Lirian?” My voice cracked as I continued, “Every time I’ve left in the past, you’d say goodbye so tenderly, you’d hug me, kiss me–anything to make sure I felt loved before I walked out the door.
But that morning… you barely looked at me. It was cold. You were cold.”
Lirian’s nostrils flared as he struggled to find the right words. “I… I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t even remember it being that way!” His voice was louder now, and I flinched at the unfamiliar sharpness in his tone.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The room felt suffocating, and I could hear the uneven rhythm of my own breathing.
My throat constricted, and a tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. “You’re being mean to me now,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “You never used to treat me like this.”
His eyes widened, and immediately, the fire in his expression dimmed, replaced by something softer–remorse, perhaps?
He raked a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t mean to… I just…”
“Just what?” I pressed, desperate to understand the shift in him.
“I was in a bad mood that day,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping. “Because…” He hesitated, as though reluctant to say what was on his mind.
“Because you lost something I gave you before.” He looked at me then, his eyes filled with a vulnerability that was so at odds with his usual composure.
“It hurt, you know? It felt like I wasn’t important enough for you to care about keeping it safe. Like no matter how much time I spend with you, it doesn’t mean anything to you.”
I quickly asked ‘What was it?
I stood frozen, staring at Lirian as his words sank in. “It was the ring,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, yet laden with disappointment. His eyes bore Into mine, searching for something–an explanation, a flicker of understanding.
Chapter fos
“What ring?” I asked hesitantly, though I could feel my heart start to race.
