Halfway to you

CHAPTER TEN: Let Me Go

Azel spotted Micah by her locker, his usual hopeful smile faltering when their eyes met.

"We need to talk," she said, steady and sure.

They moved to the quiet side of the courtyard.

"I'm done pretending," she said simly

Micah's face fell. "Is this because of Blaze?"

"No," she said. "It's because I finally stopped lying to myself."

He swallowed. "So... this is it?"

She nodded. "It is."

Micah didn't argue. He just looked away, the silence between them heavier than words.

---

Later, Blaze found her sitting quietly behind the school garden, half hidden by overgrown vines and rustling leaves. He didn't ask. He just nudged his head toward the back gate, and without saying a word, Azel stood and followed.

They walked side by side down the narrow path behind the school, silence hanging like a question neither of them was ready to ask.

Finally, near the edge of the gravel road, Blaze stopped.

He lit a cigarette, took one drag, then cursed and tossed it into the dirt. "I should stay away from you," he muttered.

Azel didn’t say anything.

He ran a hand through his hair, his voice quieter. "But here I am. Again."

The breeze shifted. Her skirt brushed her knees.

He turned slightly toward her. "You mess with me. Not in a cute way. In a way that makes me rethink things I usually don't give a damn about."

Still, she said nothing.

His voice dropped. "And I don't know what you did, but something in me moved."

Azel looked up at him. Slowly. Calmly.

"I feel it too," she said. "Like something shifted. And it won't shift back."

He didn’t smile. He didn’t joke.

He just stared at her like the storm in his chest finally had a name.

---

That night, Blaze drove without speaking. The windows down. Her hand resting on her knee. The space between them thick with something they weren’t ready to explain.

When they pulled up to the beach house, Azel's breath caught.

Wide glass walls. Marble steps. Palm trees shifting in the breeze. The sound of waves crashing just beyond.

"Your dad's?" she asked.

He nodded. "He's never here."

Inside, the place was cool, open, silent. The ocean breeze floated in through the terrace.

She walked to the window, staring at the moonlit shoreline.

"I didn’t bring you here for anything," Blaze said behind her. "We don’t have to..."

She turned. "I know."

And that was enough.

He crossed the room slowly, reaching for her hand.

Their first kiss that night wasn't rushed. It was slow, like learning a language without words.

His mouth moved to her jaw, then her neck, then lower—his lips brushing over her collarbone.

He held her like she might vanish. Touched her like she was breakable but real.

Her shirt slid off first. Then his. Her breath hitched as he kissed down her chest, over the soft curve of her breast, his lips warm against her skin. One hand moved over her waist, fingers grazing her bare thigh.

She moaned quietly when his thumb circled her n****e, his hand supporting her back as he kissed her there, gently but deliberately.

He paused once, eyes searching hers. "Tell me if you want to stop."

She didn't.

She pulled him in, her body trembling but sure.

When he finally entered her, her breath caught.

It ached, just at first. Her body adjusting. Stretching. He moved slowly, watching her, kissing her neck, whispering nothing and everything into her skin.

His hips moved in a rhythm that built slowly, deliberately, his hands gripping her waist. Her fingers clung to his back. Her breasts moved with every motion, his mouth returning to them like he couldn’t help himself.

Her name slipped from his mouth like a confession.

She said his too—broken, breathless, real.

When it became too much—her legs trembling, her heart shattering open—she came undone beneath him.

He followed, eyes shut, groaning softly into the crook of her neck.

---

Afterward, they didn’t move.

Her head rested on his chest. His fingers played with the ends of her hair. The sea kept crashing outside.

They didn’t speak.

They didn’t need to.

Something had changed.

For good.