MEET AGAIN!!!
1168 Words
(Season 1)
CHAPTER 11
LIORA stood there, waiting.
For what? She didn’t know.
For Kalen to say _no_ to Sophia.
For him to glance down and remember there was a person on his arm, not just an accessory.
For some sign, any sign, that she wasn’t just furniture tonight.
_Pathetic._
The thought hit her like ice water down her spine.
_Why do I care if he dances with her? He’s no one to me. He ignores me. He speaks to me in clipped sentences and looks through me like I’m glass._
And yet her fingers were still curled around his sleeve. And yet some stupid, traitorous part of her wanted to drag him onto the dance floor herself. To stand between them and make everyone see.
_No. Stop._
She wasn’t his.
She was the girl Ryan had asked to show up tonight. The plus-one no one wanted. The favor.
Her chest felt tight.
“_Excuse me... I’ll be back,_” she said quietly.
Her voice was barely above a whisper, but she said it anyway.
For the first time all night, she pulled her hand from his arm. Gentle. Urgent. Like ripping off a bandage.
Kalen glanced down.
Only then did he realize.
They’d been holding hands.
Her fingers had been there the entire time. Warm against his sleeve.
And now they were gone.
She was already turning before he could process it. Already slipping away into the crowd.
She pushed past shoulders and silk gowns, eyes scanning. Zach. Anyone.
She just needed air. She just needed to not be standing there watching Sophia Jones smile at her date.
CRASH.
A waiter stumbled. A tray tipped. Red wine arced through the air and landed with a sickening bloom down the front of a cream dress.
“_I’m so sorry—_”
Liora looked up.
Her world stopped.
_MRS. BROWN._
The air left her lungs.
Her chest locked. Her heart started pounding so hard she was sure it would crack her ribs from the inside.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Not here. Not now. Not in a room full of cameras and people who knew her last name.
She had run a week to get away from this woman.
✨
Kalen let Sophia lead.
He wasn’t here for this. He wasn’t here for _her_.
But Zach had said it would help with the rumors. _“You haven’t been seen with anyone in years. People are talking. One dance won’t kill you.”_
Business was business.
“The girl earlier... was that your girlfriend?” Sophia asked, smiling like it was idle gossip. Like she wasn’t dissecting him.
Kalen looked at her. Blank.
“That’s a very personal question, Miss Jones.”
Sophia laughed, too bright. “I’m just curious. I’ve never seen you hold a girl like that.”
“Interesting.”
That was it. That was all she got.
She hated it. He danced like a machine. Perfect steps. Perfect posture. Zero warmth.
She was trying to melt him. He was letting her freeze.
Then — a shift.
Kalen’s head snapped toward the crowd.
People were gathering. Whispers rising. Tension cutting through the music.
He couldn’t see who. But he _felt_ it.
A pull in his chest. A pressure behind his eyes.
The same restless, suffocating feeling he’d gotten that day on the trip with Zod.
Sweat on his palms. Chest too tight. Noise too loud. Walls closing in.
His jaw clenched.
He set a hand on Sophia’s shoulder and pushed her off gently.
“Excuse me.”
He walked out.
He needed air. He needed space before he broke something. Before the room caved in on him.
✨
Liora stared at the woman she’d run a week to escape.
Mrs. Brown’s shock melted in real time.
First surprise. Then recognition. Then something ugly. Familiar.
That smile. That fake, syrupy concern that had fooled everyone for years.
“_LIORA!!_” Mrs. Brown yelled. Loud. Deliberate. Loud enough for the whole hall to hear.
Then she remembered. The cameras. The press.
She switched. Instantly.
Tears welled. Hands flew to her chest. The grieving mother act she’d perfected.
“Oh my god. How could you... how could you do this to your family?”
“Do you have any idea? We’ve been looking everywhere for you, my dear. We were so worried.”
She reached out, arms open, going in for the hug. For the photo.
Liora flinched. Hard.
Instinct. Fear. Muscle memory.
She shoved Mrs. Brown back with both hands and ran.
Mrs. Brown hit the floor.
Gasps.
Phones came up immediately. Flashes. Videos.
_RYAN_ and _RHINE_ saw it from across the room and took off.
_KAI_ saw Kalen leave and went after him instead.
Liora didn’t hear anything.
Not the gasps. Not the whispers.
Just footsteps. Just blood in her ears.
Just memories.
The cold room. The slaps. The voice, low and cruel: _“You’ll never be enough. No one will ever want you.”_
“LIORA, WAIT UP!”
She stopped. Turned.
ZACH.
Relief crashed through her so hard her knees almost gave out.
She ran straight into him. Clung to his shirt like if she let go, Mrs. Brown would reach out and drag her back. Like the walls would close in again.
“Liora? What happened? Why are you crying?” Zach’s voice was low, steady. His hands came up to her back, big and warm.
She shook her head into his chest. Couldn’t speak.
“I want to go home,” she whispered. “Please. Take me home, Zach.”
Ryan skidded to a stop beside them, panting. Rhine right behind him, eyes scanning the room, already calculating damage control.
“Thank god you found her,” Ryan said, breathless.
“What happened?” Zach asked. His voice had dropped. Dangerous.
“I’m not sure,” Ryan said, looking between Liora and the crowd behind them. “She just ran.”
Zach’s jaw tightened. “Where’s Kalen? Was this him?”
“No,” Rhine cut in quickly. “Kalen left a while ago. Kai went after him. He looked... off.”
Zach was shaking. Not from fear. From rage.
He was two seconds from turning around, going back in there, and tearing the place apart. Finding out who’d made her look like that.
Rhine put a hand on his arm. Grounding. “We should take her home. She’s not okay.”
Zach looked down at Liora. Still trembling. Still holding onto him like he was the only real thing in the room.
He exhaled. All the anger bleeding out into something softer.
“Okay,” he said softly. His hand came up and smoothed her hair back. “Let’s go home.”
Behind them, cameras were still flashing.
Mrs. Brown was still on the floor, playing victim.
And somewhere down the hall, Kalen was standing in the cold night air, chest heaving, with no idea that the one person he’d just let walk away was falling apart.
TBC
- Writer
