Chapter 6

— Nolan —

The note still lay on the nightstand. But it wasn't the paper that haunted me.

It was the presence behind it.

The silence it screamed.

The weight it carried.

I hadn't slept. Again.

My eyes burned. My chest felt too tight. My stomach twisted in knots.

I'd been sitting there all night — on the edge of the couch — hugging myself, trying to breathe through it all.

Why now?

Why after years of just… watching?

That's what scared me the most.

Whoever it was — they never crossed a line.

They never touched me.

They never got too close.

They just… watched.

Until now.

The doorbell rang.

I froze.

The paper in my hand slipped to the floor without a sound.

I didn't move at first. My limbs wouldn't let me.

It felt like the air around me had changed again — heavier. Thicker. Like someone was breathing right next to my ear but I couldn't see them.

Everything in me screamed not to move.

Not to answer.

Not to even breathe.

But I got up anyway.

I walked to the door — slowly. One step at a time. Like something invisible was waiting on the other side to eat me alive.

I didn't ask who it was.

I just opened it.

"Surprise."

It was Zade. My bestfriend

He grinned like a dork, arms half-raised. "You look like you saw a ghost."

Relief hit me like a collapsing ceiling. I felt my body drop with it — almost couldn't stand.

"God… it's just you."

His smile faltered. "Who else would it be?"

I didn't have an answer.

"Come in," I said, stepping back.

---

The coffee between us had gone cold. I didn't even touch mine.

He just stared at me until I started talking.

So I told him.

Not all of it — but enough.

The years of unease. The watching. The flowers. The sense of someone always behind me but never quite there.

And now — the note.

The thing that crossed the line.

Zade looked like he wanted to throw a chair.

"He left it on your bed?"

I nodded. "With my favorite flower."

"Jesus… I'm staying here tonight. I don't care what you say."

I didn't argue.

For the first time in months, I slept a few hours.

Not well. But enough to breathe.

---

We walked into the hospital together the next morning.

He had two coffees. I hadn't touched mine.

I noticed the nurses looking. Whispering. One of them smirked. "Oho… someone didn't sleep alone last night."

Zade laughed it off. "Relax. I just landed yesterday. I'm an excellent emotional support human."

I didn't smile. I didn't even hear most of it.

I was too busy scanning the hallway.

Room 13.

Was he awake?

Was he watching?

— Varek —

There he was.

Nolan.

Walking beside someone else. Laughing. Smiling. Breathing the same air that should've only ever belonged to me.

I stood by the window, hidden just enough, my fingers digging into the frame until the wood creaked beneath my grip.

I recognized that face.

I'd seen it in photos.

Heard his voice during those long calls in the middle of the night.

Watched him hover too close too often — always around Nolan like he belonged.

Zade.

He was the reason.

The note. The flower. A quiet reminder that Nolan wasn't his to touch.

But Nolan let him in.

Let him stay.

Brought him into the space I had protected for so long.

He ignored me.

After everything — the watching, the silence, the patience — he still chose to pretend I wasn't there.

My chest burned. Rage coiled low and slow in my gut.

I had been kind. I had waited.

But now?

Now the cracks were starting to show.

And I wasn't sure I could hold them back anymore.

If he wouldn't listen to whispers…

Then maybe I needed to scream.

If he wouldn't remember he belonged to me…

Then I'd remind him.

Even if it meant stepping into the light.

Even if it meant tearing the world apart just to be seen.