FALLING FOR TROUBLE PART 2
983 Words
Chapter Four: Falling for Trouble
Part Two — The Storm We Can’t Escape
The rain didn’t stop that night.
It poured through the evening and into the early hours, turning the campus into a blur of silver reflections. Ava couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him — Liam — standing there in the art studio, rain dripping from his hair, his eyes wild with something she couldn’t name.
She hated how much she cared.
But she couldn’t stop.
At 2 a.m., she gave up on pretending she could rest. She pulled on her hoodie and slipped outside. The air was cold and heavy, the kind that clung to your skin. Her sneakers splashed in puddles as she crossed the courtyard, drawn by something she couldn’t fight.
She didn’t know exactly where Liam would be, but she had a feeling.
The abandoned basketball court behind the gym — the place he went when he needed to fight the world alone.
And she was right.
Liam was there, under the flickering light, shirt soaked, fists bruised. He was hitting the punching bag so hard it swung wildly, thudding against its chain with each blow.
“Liam!” she called.
He didn’t turn.
She stepped closer, voice breaking. “Liam, stop!”
He spun around, his eyes wide and furious — but it wasn’t aimed at her. It was pain. Raw, unfiltered pain.
“What are you doing here, Ava?” he snapped. “Go home.”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
He laughed, bitter and hollow. “What’s wrong? Everything’s wrong! I lost control again. I always do.” He slammed his fist into the bag once more, wincing. “I thought I could be better, but I keep proving myself right.”
Ava stepped closer, trembling but steady. “You don’t get to decide that, Liam.”
“I already did.” His voice cracked. “You think I’m just some college bad boy with a rough edge? You have no idea who I am, Ava. You don’t know what I’ve done.”
“Then tell me,” she said softly.
He looked at her, eyes glistening. For a second, she saw the boy behind the chaos — scared, broken, begging to be seen.
“My dad used to tell me I’d never be good enough,” Liam whispered. “Said I had my mom’s weakness — too much heart, not enough control. I tried to prove him wrong, and in the process, I… hurt people. Friends. People I cared about.”
Ava’s throat tightened. “Liam…”
“I don’t deserve you,” he said. “You’re light, and I’m—”
“You’re not darkness,” she interrupted, her voice trembling. “You’re just lost.”
He stared at her, chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. “You don’t get it, Ava. You think you can fix me, but I’m not a project. I’m a storm.”
“Then let me stand in it,” she said fiercely.
He froze.
Something broke inside him then — not in anger, but in surrender. He closed the distance between them in two strides, the rain soaking them both.
“You shouldn’t want this,” he whispered, his forehead pressed against hers. “You shouldn’t want me.”
“But I do,” she breathed.
The world seemed to go quiet. The rain faded into background noise, the air between them charged and fragile.
His hands trembled as he brushed her cheek, his touch both hesitant and hungry. Ava felt tears mix with rain as she looked up at him.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he admitted. “Every time I feel something real, I push it away.”
“Then don’t,” she said softly. “Just… stay. Right here.”
Liam swallowed hard, his defenses faltering. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking you not to run,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
And for the first time, he didn’t.
He pulled her close — not in a way that was reckless, but desperate. His arms wrapped around her as if he was holding onto the only thing keeping him from falling apart.
Ava pressed her face against his chest, feeling his heartbeat race beneath his soaked shirt. He smelled like rain and adrenaline and something achingly familiar — safety wrapped in danger.
“Why do you care so much?” he whispered.
“Because someone should,” she replied.
They stayed like that for what felt like forever — two broken souls standing in the storm, refusing to let go.
But the moment couldn’t last.
Liam’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He tensed immediately, pulling away. Ava saw his face pale as he read the message.
“Liam?” she asked softly. “What is it?”
He shoved the phone into his pocket, his jaw tightening. “Nothing. I have to go.”
“What happened?”
“I said it’s nothing!”
The anger in his voice made her flinch, but it wasn’t the kind that scared her — it was the kind that came from fear.
“Please, don’t shut me out,” she pleaded.
“I can’t do this right now,” he muttered, stepping back. “You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand,” she said.
But he was already walking away, disappearing into the rain.
Ava stood there, soaked and shivering, watching him vanish into the night. Her chest ached, her heart splitting between wanting to run after him and knowing she couldn’t fix what he refused to share.
When she finally turned back toward the dorms, she whispered the words she couldn’t say out loud — words swallowed by the storm.
“I’ll wait for you, Liam. Even if it hurts.”
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- Writer
