Maddie
I stumbled out of Derek's room, the sound of the door clicking shut behind me echoing in my ears. My heart pounded against my chest, a frantic rhythm that matched the chaos in my mind. Moments ago, I had been laughing with Derek, his teasing remarks drawing out giggles I didn’t think I had in me after the week I’d had. And now? Now, I felt like I was falling apart, unraveling thread by thread as Stephen's piercing blue eyes lingered in my memory.
He had caught us—caught me—wrapped in Derek’s bed, the duvet barely concealing the truth of what had transpired. The look in his eyes had been like a dagger to my chest—a mixture of shock, pain, and something I couldn’t quite place. Guilt clawed at my insides, but it wasn’t just because of what he’d seen.
It was because I could feel
