SHELTERED SIN

Chapter 1

The first time Leonora met Zade, she was ten. He was fourteen

They had just moved into the neighborhood, still unfamiliar with everything — and everyone

Peeking out the window of her new room, curious as ever, Leonora spotted someone. A boy. Sitting alone on a bench nestled between their two houses

Without a second thought, she bolted from the room

“Be careful or you’ll trip!” her mother warned, struggling with a box at the foot of the stairs

But Leonora barely heard her. She was already at the front door, pushing it open, her little feet pounding the ground

She slowed as she approached him, catching her breath. He hadn’t looked up. His head was bowed, dark hair falling in front of his face — staring at the ground

“Hi” she said, slightly breathless, stretching out a hand

“I’m Leonora”

No reply. He didn’t look at her. His gaze stayed low

Undeterred, she sat down beside him, swinging her legs slightly

“We’re neighbors now” she chirped

“Just moved in next door” She pointed to her house, watching as he tilted his head just a little toward it

She smiled at that tiny reaction

“What’s your name?” she asked, leaning in, trying to glimpse his face through the curtain of hair

“Zade” he mumbled

Her grin widened but when he still didn’t meet her eyes, her smile slowly faded

*Was I too ugly to look at?*

She’d been called ugly before — teased for her big eyes, freckles, the piggy ponytail, her small lips, and ears that stuck out too much

“Why aren’t you looking at me?” she asked quietly

“Am I ugly?”

She began picking at the skin on her finger, trying not to cry

Zade finally turned to her

And then his hand gently covered hers

“Stop. You’ll peel it” he said softly

Their eyes met and she froze

“You’re beautiful” she blurted, starstruck

Zade let out a chuckle, finally relaxing against the back of the bench. He tilted his head, truly looking at her now

“You’re cute”

He didn’t expect her to cry

Panic flashed in his eyes

“Why are you crying?” he asked quickly, cupping her small face in both hands, wiping away the tears as fast as they fell

“Stop crying” he whispered, glancing nervously at both their houses. The last thing he wanted was attention

“You’re... you’re the first person to call me that” she hiccupped between sobs

Zade stared at her for a moment — and then laughed. A soft, genuine laugh

She looked startled

And that was how it began

“Why are you laughing?” she asked, tears forgotten, now staring at him

“You’re cute” he said again, a small smile tugging at his lips

Her face flushed and she quickly looked away

His smile faded as he gently gripped her jaw, turning her face back to his

“Very cute” he added, his voice lower and thicker

Just as he was about to say something else, another voice rang out

“Nora!!”

Footsteps pounded toward them

“That’s my brother…” she muttered, looking over her shoulder

Zade nodded

She pouted slightly, her gaze dropping

“Will we meet here tomorrow?”

His expression softened

“Hey… we will”

Her eyes lit up

“Pinkie swear?” She stretched out her small finger

Zade chuckled at the childish gesture but looped his pinkie with hers

“Pinkie swear”

“Bye, Zade!” she chirped, jumping to her feet.

She turned the corner and ran straight into Rick

“What were you doing there?” he asked, suspicious, stretching his neck to stare into the corner

Leonora opened her mouth to speak, but peeked back and saw Zade holding a finger to his lips

*Don’t tell*

“I saw a cat!” she lied with a grin.

Rick sighed and wrapped an arm around her neck, steering her away

“What did I say about following stray cats? Want to end up in a ditch again like last time?”

Their voices faded as they walked away but Zade, still on the bench, tilted his head toward the sky and whispered

“Leonora”

***

The next day came. Zade and Leonora met again—just like he promised.

And then the next. And the next.

Eventually, Rick found out and began joining them. He and Zade were the same age, with interests that aligned, so Leonora started feeling a little left out but she didn’t mind—much. As long as she saw him

Their meetings continued… until they didn’t anymore.

Time passed. They all grew.

But Leonora’s crush on Zade never changed.

Not even a little.

••6 YEARS LATER••

Leonora rushed down the stairs, hair flying behind her as she hopped on one leg, wrestling with her stubborn shoe

"Stupid fûcking shoe—"

Her foot slipped

She yelped, body tumbling forward—only to be yanked back by a strong arm

Her back collided with a hard chest

Heart racing, she gasped, trying to steady her breath

Then the voice came

"Careful, Killer”

She froze

Zade

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she scrambled out of his arms, eyes wide, lips bitten red

“Zade” she whispered then bolted down the last steps without looking back

Zade’s eyes followed her before flicking down to his hand

His jaw clenched

He hadn’t grabbed her waist

He’d grabbed her breast!!

A low groan escaped him. His fingers curled into a fist.

“Why the f**k are you just standing there for?” Rick’s voice broke through, throwing an arm around Zade’s shoulders

“Analyzing” Zade muttered, brushing him off as he walked ahead

*Analyzing?* Rick blinked, confused, but shrugged it off, running a hand through his jet-black hair as he followed

In the kitchen, Leonora clutched a glass of milk, face still flushed

*He touched my—*

*HE GRABBED MY FREAKING—??!*

She groaned, raking a hand through her hair.

How was she ever going to face him again?

She slammed the glass onto the table harder than intended, fingers trembling

“Why take it out on the poor glass?”

His voice. Behind her

She shook her head

*No. No. He’s not here. I’m hallucinating*

Unknown to herself that she said it out loud

Zade smirked, stepping closer

His hand slid around her waist and pulled her into his chest again

“This real enough for you, Killer?”

She gasped, eyes wide

The glass slipped from her hand

CRASH

Shards everywhere

“And she broke it” Zade said dryly, glancing at the floor.

Leonora shoved him back, putting distance between them, chest heaving

“Why did you hold me like that?!”

He arched a brow, amused

He loved when she got flustered

Then—

“What the f**k was that?!” Rick stepped in, eyes darting between them

“He startled me”

“She broke it”

They both spoke at the same time

Rick stared then shook his head

“Childish bunch” Rick muttered under his breath

“Hey! Who are you calling childish?” Leonora snapped playfully, walking over to him and jabbing him in the stomach

He doubled over dramatically

“At this rate, you’ll make a great MMA fighter, Nora” he laughed, pulling her into a hug and tucking her head under his armpit

“Ughh! You stink!” she groaned, squirming

Rick laughed louder

Zade just watched, his expression unreadable

“Alright, let’s go or we’ll be late for school” Rick said, letting her go and heading for the door

Leonora huffed and began fixing her hair, forgetting for a moment that Zade was still watching her

She pulled the hair tie from her wrist and began gathering her hair into a ponytail

Suddenly, a hand tugged her back gently

Zade reached out, his fingers sliding into her hair as he pulled the band down and let her hair fall

“I prefer it down” he murmured, and then walked off, leaving her standing there — breathless

It took her a second to recover.

“Hey! I don’t care what you like!” she shouted after him, cheeks blazing

“I don’t care” she muttered again, much quieter this time, pressing her palms to her warm face

Her eyes shifted to the shattered glass on the floor. She groaned, not wanting to deal with it and turned to leave

The drive to school was quiet

Leonora sat in the backseat, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Rick was up front, humming lowly to the music from the radio as he drove, completely unaware of the way Zade’s eyes occasionally flicked to the rearview mirror, landing on her

She felt it too—the burn of his stare—each time she met his eyes, he didn’t bother to look away until she did

At school, Rick got out first, yelling something about meeting at lunch. Zade followed, his eyes scanning his surrounding like he was searching for something

"Zade!"

Leonora turned her head sharply, already knowing who it was

Seraphina

The redhead launched herself into Zade’s arms, wrapping around him like a second skin before pressing her lips to his in a kiss that made Leonora’s stomach twist

She didn’t look away—she couldn’t. She just stood there, frozen, watching Zade kiss the girl he called his

His girlfriend

The girl Leonora had met months ago through him. The girl who had done absolutely nothing wrong

And yet, it still hurt

When they pulled apart, Seraphina smiled, brushing her lips lightly with her fingers before turning to Leonora, beaming

"Nora!" she squealed sweetly, walking over and giving her a gentle hug. "I didn’t know you were back. I missed you!"

She had recently travelled to her parent’s home for the weekend

They lived in different locations because her parents job place were far and She didn’t want to leave the town they moved into 6 years ago because of a special someone whose name started with Z

Leonora blinked rapidly, her throat tight. She wanted to hate her. God, she wanted to but Seraphina was too kind, beautiful and perfect and she had the one thing Leonora had wanted for years—Zade

“I missed you too” Leonora lied softly, her voice barely above a whisper

He noticed….his brows furrowing as he stared at her waiting for her to meet his gaze but she never did

“It’s good to see you”

Seraphina smiled again and walked back to Zade, slipping her hand into his. Leonora’s heart cracked all over again

She turned away, forcing herself to walk but her eyes stung

Just a few steps away, Glin caught up to her, immediately noticing the shift in her mood

“What happened?” she asked but when she followed Leonora’s line of direction, where she was coming from and saw Zade with Seraphina, her jaw clenched

“Oh. Forget his sorry ass” Glin muttered, wrapping an arm around her

Leonora didn’t respond. She just kept walking

Zade stared at her as she walked away…Slolwy a smirk crept up to his lips

“I was right…She likes me” He sighed and chuckled ignoring Seraphina that was chatting away

He ran his hand through his hair, looked up at the sky and grinned

“Cute”

•••

By lunch, Leonora had half forgotten the scene from the morning. She was now chatting away with Glin and their other friend, Liam

“Shut up, Liam!” Glin and Leonora snapped in unison as Liam was about to overshare another explicit detail about sleeping with a guy. Yes — Liam was proudly gay and unapologetically too much sometimes

As they reached the cafeteria, Leonora scanned the space for a free table—then she saw them

Zade

Seraphina

She was perched on his thigh, fingers running through his hair as she whispered to him

He wasn’t saying anything but he was looking at her—his lips curled slightly, his gaze soft

Leonora quickly looked away and headed for the lunch line

Just as she passed their table, Zade’s eyes flickered to her

Her books hugged tightly to her chest…His smirked but then Liam came and slid his arm around Leonora’s waist, the smirk on Zade’s face disappeared. His gaze darkened. His jaw clenched.

“Give me a minute” he said to Seraphina, then stood and followed them

Leonora was mid-order when she heard the familiar voice

“Hey, Killer”

She turned too quickly—nearly colliding with a boy carrying a tray

“Sorry!” she squeaked, instinctively leaning back into Liam

Zade’s expression tightened at the sight

“What do you want?” she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Who’s your friend?” Zade asked, his eyes moving to Liam with before returning to her

Before Leonora could answer, Liam stepped forward, grinning brightly

“Hi! I’m Liam and you must be Zade” He extended a hand

Zade looked at it then at him before turning back to Leonora

“Come sit with us” he ordered, taking her tray the moment she collected it and pulling her with him

Liam’s smile vanished. His hand lowered, trembling slightly before clenching at his side

Glin nudged him

“Are you okay?”

He blinked, his dark stare softening into dramatic disbelief

“Did he just gaslight me? I’m hurt”

Glin glanced toward Zade leading Leonora away, her brows furrowed.

“I wonder why”

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