LOVE LOCKDOWN: Nia and Callum

Nia's POV The bedroom door creaked open. I froze. Keaton was in bed. Not alone. Grace lay beneath him, wrapped in the same arms that had held me just a few days ago. Grace. The girl he'd laughed off countless times. "She's not even my type, Nia." Liar. For a heartbeat, the room went silent. Or maybe it was just me. I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my heart cracking inside my chest. Neither of them looked surprised to see me. If anything, they looked... annoyed. Like I was the one interrupting something. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Keaton..." My voice came out barely above a whisper. "What... what is going on?" He didn't even have the decency to look guilty. Instead, he sighed. "What does it look like?" My stomach dropped. Beside him, Grace smirked. Not the awkward smile of someone caught doing something wrong. No. It was the smile of someone who thought she'd won. I looked back at Keaton, hoping—praying—he'd tell me this was some sick joke. That there was an explanation. Anything. "Are you serious?" I asked, my voice trembling. "After everything... this is how you're ending us?" I should've been furious. I should've screamed. Thrown something. Slapped him. Instead... I was just tired. The last three days had already taken everything out of me. All I wanted was someone to tell me it was going to be okay. Keaton let out a humorless laugh. "You didn't actually think we'd still be together after that video, did you?" My breath caught. The room tilted. "What...?" He looked me dead in the eye. "The whole campus has seen it, Nia." His words hit harder than the betrayal. I stared at him, my heart sinking. "You know everything," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I told you everything from the beginning. I didn't hide a single thing from you. How can you say that?" A bitter smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "So, I'm supposed to ignore what I saw with my own eyes because of your explanation?" He let out a humorless laugh. "Come on, Nia. Does that even make sense to you?" His eyes hardened. "There's a video of you grinding against your f*****g lecturer." Every word was another knife. "And I'm supposed to believe it never happened? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" My lips parted, but no words came out. The tears burned my eyes until my vision blurred. I wanted to scream. To defend myself. To make him understand. But what was the point? He'd already chosen what he wanted to believe. Without another word, I turned and ran. --- The walk back to my hostel felt endless. Usually, I'd be laughing with Corinne and Zaria, complaining about assignments or arguing over what to eat for dinner. Today... I was alone. Every pair of eyes seemed to follow me. Whispers trailed behind me like shadows. Some people openly pointed. Others didn't even bother lowering their voices. "That's her." "I told you it was real." A few even laughed. I lowered my head and kept walking, pretending I couldn't hear them. Pretending each word wasn't tearing me apart. Three days. That was all it took. Three days for my name to become a joke. Three days for people who didn't know me to decide exactly who I was. Three days for my entire life to fall apart. And somehow... I had the terrifying feeling it was only the beginning. I pushed open the apartment door and stumbled inside. The second it shut behind me, my legs gave out. I collapsed onto the couch, curling into myself. My elbows rested on my knees as I buried my face in my trembling hands, trying—failing—to keep myself together. "Nia?" Zaria's voice drifted through the silence. I hadn't even realized they'd come home. The couch dipped beside me. "Hey..." she said gently, placing a hand on my back. "Talk to us." Corinne settled on my other side, her eyes filled with worry. "What's wrong?" I slowly lifted my head. The moment our eyes met, the dam broke. A sob escaped before I could stop it. Then another. Within seconds, I was crying so hard I could barely breathe. Zaria didn't ask another question. She simply wrapped her arms around me. Corinne reached for my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Neither of them tried to stop my tears. They just let me fall apart. It took me several moments before I could finally force the words past the lump in my throat. "Keaton..." My voice cracked. "He cheated on me." The words tasted bitter. "And..." I squeezed my eyes shut. "...he broke up with me." Silence. Dead silence. Then— "What?" Zaria shot to her feet, her eyes blazing. "That son of a b***h actually cheated on you?" "How dare he?" Corinne said even more angry, her jaw tightened. "After everything you've been dealing with?" she muttered, shaking her head. "He's unbelievable." Zaria let out a frustrated scoff. "So that's why he disappeared." She folded her arms. "No calls. No texts. Nothing." Her expression darkened. "I knew something was off." She looked back at me and sighed before pulling me into another hug. "You know what?" Her voice softened. "Screw him." Corinne nodded in agreement. "If he could walk away when you needed him the most, then he never deserved you in the first place." Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. Not because Corinne and Zaria were wrong. But because they were right. And somehow... That hurt the most. --- I honestly had no idea how I ended up at The Lantern Room One minute, I was crying myself into dehydration. The next, my best friends had stuffed me into a little black dress, forced me into heels that clearly had a personal vendetta against my feet, and dragged me out with one mission. "We're getting your mind off that cheating jerk tonight." Clearly, alcohol was phase two of their master plan. Now I was standing in the middle of one of the busiest bars in Seattle... Tipsy. Heartbroken. And hopelessly lost. I blinked at the sea of unfamiliar faces. "Corinne?" Nothing. Seriously? Where on earth had she disappeared to? Zaria had abandoned us almost an hour ago to meet up with her ridiculously sweet boyfriend. Her boyfriend. Must be nice. Which left just me and Corinne. Well... Supposedly. Because Corinne had vanished into thin air. Corinne kept insisting she was single, yet mysteriously disappeared every time her phone buzzed. Honestly, I was starting to think she had a secret boyfriend she refused to tell us about. Lucky woman. Meanwhile, my own relationship had spectacularly gone up in flames. I let out a dramatic sigh. "Can my life get any more embarrassing?" As if the universe had taken that as a challenge... My heel caught the floor. My ankle twisted. "Oh, no..." I stumbled forward. Straight into someone's back. Solid. Warm. Very solid. "Oh my God!" I gasped, immediately taking a step back. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—" Pain shot through my ankle. I winced. The stupid heel betrayed me again. My balance disappeared. I was officially seconds away from introducing my face to the expensive marble floor. Great. At least I'd make tomorrow's headlines for something new. But instead of crashing down... A strong arm wrapped around my waist. Everything stopped. The music. The chatter. Even my racing thoughts. I slowly looked up. The first thing I noticed was the sharp jawline. Then the perfectly tailored black suit. Then... His eyes. Dark. Calm. Unreadable. He looked like the kind of man who'd rather negotiate billion-dollar deals than smile at strangers. For someone who looked so serious... He had surprisingly good reflexes. A tiny smile tugged at my lips. Maybe... Just maybe... My guardian angel wore Armani. "Are you okay?" His voice was deep. Calm. Oddly soothing. Like warm coffee on a cold morning. I blinked at him before letting out a laugh that sounded nothing like laughter. "No." I shook my head. "Not even a little." He waited. Didn't interrupt. Didn't offer fake sympathy. He just... waited. That somehow made me want to talk even more. "You know..." I sighed dramatically, pointing at absolutely nothing. "Life has been bullying me lately." Silence. "I mean..." I laughed again, but my chest ached. "If I start crying right now, don't panic. It's just one of those days." Still nothing. Wow. This man could win an Olympic gold medal in staying quiet. "They both did me dirty," I continued. "But Keaton..." His name tasted bitter. "He was supposed to be my person." My voice cracked. "My safe place." I swallowed hard. "My biggest supporter." A lump formed in my throat. "...Instead, he became just another person who gave up on me." His eyes stayed on mine. "What happened?" Finally. He spoke. I let out a shaky breath. "He believed them." The words barely escaped my lips. "I told him everything." I laughed softly. "I told him every single thing." Another laugh. This one hurt. "But apparently..." I shrugged helplessly. "...the truth isn't as convincing as a video." He didn't ask about the video. He didn't ask what everyone believed. He simply looked at me. Really looked at me. And for the first time in days... I didn't feel judged. His phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. Then locked it without answering. My lips curled into a tiny smile. "That's sweet." He frowned slightly. "What is?" "You ignored whoever that was." His brows lifted. "They can wait." I giggled. "They're probably mad." "I'll survive." I stared at him for a moment. He was strange. Not strange in a creepy way. More like... Comfortably quiet. Like someone who didn't feel the need to fill every silence with meaningless words. "I need another drink," I announced, trying to take a step. My ankle protested immediately. "Ouch." "You don't need another drink." His tone remained calm. "You need sleep." I looked at him in mock horror. "You just diagnosed me." One corner of his lips twitched. Almost. Not quite a smile. I pointed at him dramatically. "You know..." I poked his chest with my index finger. "You seem very bossy for someone whose name I don't even know." His phone rang again. He glanced at the screen before looking back at me. "I have to take this." I wrinkled my nose. "Fine." I made a dramatic shooing motion with my hand. "Go do your important-people things." The corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly before he turned and walked away, lifting the phone to his ear. I watched him for exactly three seconds. Then... A group of laughing people walked between us. By the time they passed, he was gone. Or maybe... I just couldn't tell which one he was anymore. Everything around me was starting to blur. "There you are!" Corinne rushed toward me, looking equal parts relieved and annoyed. "I've been looking everywhere!" "I wanna go home," I mumbled, my words slurring together. "I know." She slipped an arm around my waist. "Let's get you out of here." I nodded lazily. As she guided me toward the exit, I glanced back at the crowd one last time. For some reason... I couldn't even remember what the quiet guy looked like anymore. All I remembered was... His voice. Calm. Gentle. And strangely comforting. The rest of him had already disappeared into the haze of the alcohol. By tomorrow morning... I'd probably convince myself I'd imagined the whole encounter. Three Days Earlier...