Mai's P.O.V.
Liam's words sliced through me like claws to the heart.
"Stay away from me."
I wanted to laugh because it was ridiculous but I stood frozen in place, unable to move, unable to breathe. The noise of the movie theater, the distant chatter, the scent of buttered popcorn—it all faded into the background as the weight of his words crushed me.
He ran. He didn't even give me a chance to respond.
Fear gripped my chest, a sharp, suffocating thing. Not the kind of fear I was used to—the adrenaline-laced thrill of a fight or the rush of a hunt—but something worse. The fear of losing something I had only just begun to grasp.
Liam had been talking to me. Really talking. After years of silence, years of resentment, we were finally breaking through the wall between us. And now… now, I could feel it crumbling again.
I turned to Ollie, frantic. "Do something." My voice came out desperate, pleading.