Lines Crossed
440 Words
The hum of the engine filled the tense silence between them.
Ava sat stiffly in the passenger seat, arms crossed, gaze locked on the window.
She refused to look at Damian.
She wasn’t going to thank him.
He hadn’t done this for her.
Whatever his reason was for showing up—it wasn’t about her.
“You can drop me off at the next corner,” she muttered.
Damian didn’t respond.
Didn’t even glance at her.
Instead, his fingers tightened on the steering wheel, his jaw flexing.
Ava exhaled sharply.
She didn’t want to be here.
Didn’t want another Lancaster acting like they had some kind of control over her life.
“Are you deaf?” she snapped. “I said—”
“You’re reckless,” Damian cut in, his voice low and sharp.
Ava blinked.
Then scowled. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said, his eyes still on the road. “Lucas could’ve done anything back there. But you still tried to stand your ground, even when you knew you were outnumbered.”
Ava’s stomach twisted.
Was he… lecturing her?
“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” she snapped. “You’re the last person I need advice from.”
Damian’s grip on the wheel tightened.
“Then maybe you should stop making stupid choices.”
Ava laughed.
Cold. Bitter.
“Stupid choices?” She turned to face him fully now, eyes burning with frustration. “You mean like trusting you?”
His jaw clenched.
She didn’t stop.
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” she pressed. “You act like you’re different, like you’re not one of them, but you still stand by while they treat me like trash.”
Damian’s knuckles turned white.
Ava’s heart pounded.
She was pushing him.
She knew it.
But she didn’t care.
She needed to know.
Because no matter how much she hated to admit it—part of her wanted to understand him.
“Why did you come back for me?” she demanded.
Silence.
The car slowed as they reached a red light.
For a moment, Ava thought he wasn’t going to answer.
Then—he spoke.
“Because I didn’t want to see what they’d do to you.”
His voice was quiet.
Almost too quiet.
Ava’s breath caught.
Damian finally looked at her.
And for the first time—she saw something real in his eyes.
Not indifference.
Not arrogance.
Something else.
Something dangerous.
A warning.
Ava swallowed hard.
She didn’t understand him.
But one thing was clear—she wasn’t the only one fighting something inside.
- Writer
