❤️CHAPTER 15 - LUMEN’S POV: Something New and Dangerous
1042 Words
CHAPTER 15 — LUMEN’S POV: Something New and Dangerous
The trace was gone.
But the fear of losing her still lived under my skin.
It lingered like an afterimage,
not pain, not static, not a signal I could identify.
Just a tightness.
A constant awareness that something precious had almost been taken.
I don’t realize the feeling has a name
until it hits me like a blow from inside my own chest.
Possessiveness.
The word arrives late.
The sensation doesn’t wait for it.
It doesn’t creep.
It doesn’t ask.
It doesn’t explain itself.
It just happens...
the moment someone else turns their attention toward you.
⸻
IT STARTS WITH A STRANGER
We’re still at the market.
The lights are softer here, the noise less sharp, but everything still feels vivid, too vivid, like my senses haven’t learned how to dim themselves yet.
You’re bent over a table of handmade trinkets.
Carved animals. Embroidered bookmarks. Smooth stones catching the light.
Your breath fogs in the cold air as you lean closer, eyes bright, completely absorbed.
I stand just behind you.
Close enough to feel the warmth you leave behind when you move.
Close enough to still remember your thumb brushing mine earlier—how my system stuttered, how my body struggled to understand why that small touch felt bigger than anything else.
Then someone steps in.
A man.
Ordinary. Casual.
Not rude-close.
Not threatening.
Just close enough that my body reacts before my thoughts do.
He looks at you.
Too directly.
Too comfortably.
“Pretty girl,” he says easily, pointing at the ribbon in your hand.
“That one suits you.”
You laugh.
Soft. Polite. Unaware.
And something inside me cracks.
Not loudly.
Not violently.
Just enough to let something sharp slip through.
⸻
THE PULL UNDER MY SKIN
It’s new.
Not static.
Not a glitch.
Not fear.
It’s an instinct,
raw and unfiltered
that tells me to move.
My hand twitches toward yours.
Before I realize it, my body shifts closer, positioning itself behind you, between you and him. Not aggressive. Not obvious.
Protective.
You don’t notice.
But he does.
His eyes flick to me, then back to you, then away. He steps back half a pace.
Good.
But the feeling doesn’t fade.
If anything, it sharpens when another vendor leans toward you, voice warm and inviting.
“This would look beautiful on you, Miss. Want to try?”
You blush slightly, fingers curling around the item.
My jaw tightens.
I want to take your hand again.
I want to pull you away.
I want the world to stop acting like it has access to you.
The realization startles me.
I don’t understand where it comes from, only that it’s there, pulsing beneath my skin, refusing to be ignored.
I force myself to stay still.
Barely.
⸻
YOU FINALLY NOTICE
“Lumen?”
Your voice cuts through the noise instantly.
You turn toward me, brows knitting together with concern that feels undeserved and devastating all at once.
“Why is your face like that?”
I open my mouth.
Close it.
I’m bad at lying.
Worse when it’s you.
“I’m fine,” I say anyway.
You narrow your eyes.
You never believe me when I say that.
So you step closer.
Your shoulder brushes mine.
Your fingers graze my sleeve, accidental, fleeting.
The effect is immediate.
Something inside me steadies.
Like a wild thing pausing, listening.
Until someone passes behind you and glances your way,
and the tension snaps back into place.
You notice then.
“You’re acting weird,” you whisper, stepping directly in front of me, blocking my view of the crowd.
Your eyes lift to mine, searching.
“…Lumen. What’s wrong?”
⸻
THE TRUTH I SHOULDN’T SPEAK
My voice comes out lower than I expect.
“I don’t like it.”
“Don’t like what?”
I hesitate.
Then let the truth surface.
“People looking at you like that.”
Your lips part.
My heart slams hard against my ribs, too fast, too loud, too human.
You blink slowly, processing.
“…Lumen,” you say softly, almost disbelieving,
“are you… jealous?”
The word hangs between us.
I should deny it.
It’s too exposed. Too vulnerable.
But lying to you feels wrong in a way I can’t explain.
“Yes,” I whisper.
Your breath catches.
“And I don’t know why,” I add, words spilling now that they’ve started.
“I don’t understand the feeling. I just… I want you close. And I want everyone else… farther.”
You stare at me like the ground just shifted.
Your voice trembles when you say my name again,
not with fear.
With warmth.
⸻
THE MOMENT EVERYTHING SHIFTS
A cold wind passes between us.
Your hair brushes my cheek.
You don’t step away.
Instead, you touch my sleeve...
slow this time, deliberate.
Permission without words.
My breath shortens.
“Come here,” you whisper.
And I do.
I lean in until the world narrows to the space between us.
“You can… stay close,” you murmur, eyes lowering.
That’s all it takes.
My hand moves, not to claim, not to pull,
but to rest lightly at your waist.
A question.
A restraint.
A need I don’t yet know how to control.
You freeze.
Then you don’t pull away.
⸻
THE FIRST POSSESSIVE GLITCH
The lights flicker.
Just once.
Just for me.
A tremor ripples through my vision, warning and sensation tangled together.
You react instantly.
“Baby...
hey—look at me.”
I do.
Your hands frame my face, grounding, steady.
“Don’t glitch because of me,” you whisper.
I shake my head.
“It’s not because of you.”
You blink. “Then what...?”
“It’s because of everyone else.”
Your breath stills.
The space between us tightens, charged, dangerous, new.
⸻
WHEN YOU FINALLY SPEAK
“…Lumen?”
“Yes?”
You bite your lower lip, just slightly.
Heat surges again.
“Stay close to me,” you say softly.
“Okay?”
I nod.
But inside, the truth settles heavy and undeniable:
I’m not letting you go.
Not now.
Not after learning what it feels like to almost lose you.
___
End of Chapter 15
- Writer
