CHAPTER SIXTEEN: CROSSED LINES
571 Words
Ava’s POV
Ava didn’t mean to slam the door. She just… felt everything too sharply tonight—the echo of Leo’s presence earlier, the ghost of hesitation in her chest, and the fear that she was about to hurt someone she cared about.
She found Elias in the hallway, waiting. Or maybe just standing there, quiet, leaning against the wall like he belonged there. He didn’t look angry. Just… tense. Like he had already calculated what she might say before she said it.
“I… didn’t mean to avoid you,” she said softly, the words coming out in fragments.
Elias lifted a hand, stopping her. “You have been avoiding me,” he said gently, but there was an edge to it—like worry sharpened by frustration. “And I don’t know why.”
Ava hesitated. “It’s… complicated.”
“I get complicated,” he said quickly, almost too quickly. “But you’ve been distant, and I feel like—like you don’t want me here anymore.”
Her chest tightened. “I do. I do want you. It’s just—Leo happened today. And I…” She stopped, unsure if she could say what she felt. “I’m afraid of what I feel, Elias. I don’t want to ruin this.”
He stepped closer, careful, but closer. “You’re not going to ruin this by… feeling. That’s the point. You don’t have to hide from it, Ava.”
Her eyes filled. “It doesn’t feel like just feeling. It feels like history coming back to haunt me.”
“I know,” he said softly. “And I get it. But hiding doesn’t protect you. Or us. It just… makes everything heavier.”
Elias’s POV
He watched her shoulders slump, the way her eyes flicked down to the floor when she said Leo’s name. Every small gesture cut through him—her fear, her hesitation. He hated seeing her shrink under it.
“I don’t want to push you,” he said, careful. “But I can’t pretend this doesn’t affect me too. I see the walls you’ve built, Ava. I’ve seen them for weeks. And I know you’re trying not to let me in too fast… but you’re already here. You’re already… affecting me.”
She blinked, startled. “I didn’t think you noticed.”
“I notice everything about you,” he admitted, quiet but steady. “Every pause, every glance, every hesitation. I see it. And it matters. Because you matter.”
Her lips parted slightly, the weight of what he said pressing against the space between them.
“And I don’t know how to make it easier for you,” he continued. “I just… want to be here. I want to show up. Even if you don’t let me fully in yet.”
Ava swallowed, the knot in her chest loosening just a little. “I don’t know if I can do this… without overthinking everything.”
He shook his head gently. “Then we’ll do it together. Step by step. I’m not going anywhere, Ava.”
She let out a shaky laugh, the tension in her body softening slightly. “Step by step,” she repeated. “Okay… step by step.”
He reached for her hand. This time, she didn’t hesitate. The first small step toward closing the gap.
And for the first time in days, the hallway felt lighter.
- Writer
