chapter 18

Perfect — Chapter 18 of Beneath the Same Roof brings both external judgment and intimate reckoning. Julian and Ava face public whispers at school and a stormy confrontation at home, where one parent finally learns the truth.

Chapter 18 – Exposed

Dual POV – Ava & Julian

AVA

It started the moment we stepped onto school grounds.

Whispers. Phone screens angled our way.

A girl from orchestra stared straight at me, then turned to her friend and muttered something behind a perfectly manicured hand. They both laughed.

Two guys from Julian's team gave him a nod — not friendly, not mocking. Just... knowing.

By third period, the entire campus had heard.

Not the Tyler part — not yet.

Just this:

> Ava Monroe and Julian Hart? Step-siblings. Lovers. Liars.

"I hate this," I whispered, slumping into my locker.

Julian leaned beside me. "We knew it would be like this."

"Yeah, but knowing doesn't make it hurt less."

He didn't say anything. Just reached for my hand. I let him hold it.

I didn't care who saw.

Let them look.

Let them talk.

I had nothing to hide anymore.

---

But then my phone buzzed.

> Mom: Dinner. 6PM. Julian's mom's joining. We need to talk. No excuses.

My stomach dropped.

I showed Julian.

His expression shifted immediately — from calm to coiled tension.

"They know," I said.

"Yeah," he replied. "And they're going to tear us apart."

JULIAN

Dinner was worse than I expected.

Not because anyone screamed — but because no one did.

They were quiet. Controlled. Dangerous in that parental way where silence felt like a weapon.

My mom had made her signature rosemary chicken — her "company dish," she called it.

Except tonight, we weren't company. We were criminals at her table.

Ava picked at her food. Her mom just sipped wine and stared at the salt shaker like it had offended her.

My mom folded her hands neatly on the table.

"So," she said, "let's get to the point."

Ava flinched.

"We know what's been going on between you two," my mom said.

Her tone wasn't accusatory. It was cold. Flat. Deadly.

"And before either of you lie," she added, "I've seen the photos. The footage. From Ava's hacked phone."

Her voice cracked slightly on that last part.

"So let's not waste time denying it."

My throat was dry.

I nodded. "We're not denying anything."

Ava's voice was shaky but clear. "We're in love."

Her mom gasped, wineglass clinking hard against the table.

My mom looked like she'd been slapped.

"Love?" she said. "You're step-siblings."

"Legally," I said. "Not biologically. We met at sixteen. That's hardly—"

"That's enough," she snapped.

Silence fell again.

Then Ava's mom spoke, voice tight and trembling. "Do you have any idea what this will do to us? To our family?"

"I think," Ava said, chin lifted, "we've spent our entire lives doing what's best for your family."

The table went still.

"I covered your secrets. I followed your rules. I buried myself to keep the peace."

Her voice broke now, a whisper of steel.

"I'm done pretending this is wrong just because it makes you uncomfortable."

My mom's voice lowered. "And what about college? What about reputations? What about your futures?"

"We'll build new ones," I said. "Together."

She looked at me, her son — and I saw it in her eyes.

Fear. Shame. Love, too — but tangled in grief.

"You'll break each other," she whispered. "This kind of love doesn't survive the weight of the world."

I met her gaze.

"Then we'll hold the world up."

AVA

Later, in Julian's room, we didn't talk.

We just lay there, limbs tangled, breath shared in the quiet aftermath of war.

"They won't accept it," I said.

"No," he agreed. "But they don't have to."

He pulled me closer, kissed my bare shoulder, trailed a hand down my spine.

His voice was a low hum against my skin.

"I don't want to hide anymore. I want mornings like this. Nights that don't end."

My fingers brushed his chest. His heart beat strong beneath my palm.

"I want forever with you."

He paused.

And then, he whispered:

"You already have it."

🖤 End of Chapter Hook:

Monday morning, a faculty member calls Ava and Julian into the office.

The school knows.

And the school has rules.

> "Regardless of legality, your relationship violates the campus code of conduct. Until this is sorted, you're both suspended."

They walk out together — hand in hand — into the crowd.

Their story isn't over.

But the world is officially watching now.