Chapter Nine:The Kiss That Broke The Rules
511 Words
It rained again that night.
Not a soft, poetic drizzle.
It poured. Violent. Loud. Wild.
Like the sky couldn’t take the weight of silence anymore either.
Aria stood at the entrance of the art building, soaked to the bone, heart louder than the storm.
She hadn’t planned to come.
She swore she wouldn’t chase him.
But something deep in her gut—something raw and aching—told her she had to find him.
Zane had become a storm in her chest. The more she tried to stay away, the more it hurt to breathe.
---
She found him where it all began.
The back hallway.
Dim lights. Paint-splattered floors.
Sketchbook open, pencil unmoving.
He didn’t look surprised to see her.
“I knew you’d come,” he said, barely a whisper.
Aria stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The hum of the storm outside followed them in, like a soundtrack waiting for the scene to start.
“I saw the post,” she said.
Zane didn’t look up.
“My dad saw it too,” she added. “He threatened you, didn’t he?”
“I’ve had worse,” Zane muttered.
“Zane—”
“I told you this would happen,” he snapped, voice finally breaking. “I told you they’d come for us. That you would pay the price.”
She swallowed. “And I came anyway.”
That made him look at her.
“You shouldn’t have.”
“But I did.”
---
She stepped forward, slow, careful — like approaching a wild animal who’d been hurt too many times.
“You said once that if you kissed me, you wouldn’t be able to stop,” she said quietly.
He closed his eyes, jaw clenched.
Aria took another step. “Then don’t stop.”
His eyes flew open.
And everything broke loose.
---
He reached for her like a man drowning.
Their mouths met in a kiss that wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t soft.
It was desperate.
Painful.
Real.
His hands gripped her waist like he needed to make sure she was still there.
Her fingers twisted in his hoodie like she needed to hold on to something solid.
They weren’t gentle.
They were honest.
Every repressed word, every denied feeling, every stolen glance came undone between their lips.
Zane pulled back just long enough to breathe her name. “Aria—”
She kissed him again.
And again.
And again.
---
When they finally parted, their foreheads pressed together, both of them breathing like they’d run miles.
“You can’t take that back now,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to.”
Zane searched her face. “They’ll make this hard for you.”
“I’ll survive,” she said.
He smiled — just barely. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
She cupped his cheek, thumb brushing the stubble there. “Then don’t walk away again.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
But promises like that always came with storms.
And somewhere in the dark, one was already waiting.
- Writer
