Twin Flames, Shattered Fates

Chapter Three: Tobe's story

“It’s like a birthmark,” he said finally, voice quieter than usual. “A family tradition.” Aris arched a brow. “Tradition? You don’t mean—”

“Branding,” he cut in, not letting her guess. “Before my father passed away, he gave it to me. Every male in my family had it done when they were around three years old. I was terrified, though. Kept running away. It didn’t happen until I was five. I wanted to make him proud, even if it scared me half to death.”

Her sharp expression softened for the first time that evening. “Five,” she repeated. “That’s… brutal.” After a pause, she added more quietly, “Thank you for telling me. Sorry if that was too personal. I can be too blunt sometimes. But… thanks for trusting me anyway.”

Tobe shook his head. “It’s not too personal. If anything, I’d rather you ask directly than whisper or assume things. Most people already think I’m nothing but trouble—that I pick fights just for the hell of it. But I don’t. I never fight without a reason.”

Aris stopped mid-step, forcing him to stop with her. Her dark brown eyes studied him, sharp and unrelenting, like she was looking for cracks in his armor. There was a spark there, a fire he hadn’t noticed before—or maybe he had, and he just hadn’t let himself admit it.“Then tell me,” she said, voice low but firm. “What’s your reason? Why all the attacks, the schemes? What’s the real point of it, Tobe?”

For a moment, he froze. The truth pressed against his ribs like a blade. He could lie. He could shrug it off. But he had made a deal with her—a simple contract, but one he couldn’t bring himself to break. And if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to. Not with her.

He took a slow breath. “You might think it’s petty,” he began. “But I never wanted to hurt you. Or Mimi, or Axel, or even your sister. I only ever wanted to hurt Gabe. Just him. No one else.”

The words hung between them, heavy and strange.

Aris narrowed her eyes, taking a step closer until she was nearly chest to chest with him. Her hand shot out and grabbed his collar, holding him in place as if daring him to bolt. “Why? What could he have possibly done to you, besides his narcissistic goals and his talent for being insufferable?”

Tobe didn’t flinch. Instead, he surprised her by reaching up and taking her hands in his. His palms were rough, calloused from years of training, but his grip was gentle. Her face warmed despite herself, though her glare didn’t fade.

“He didn’t do anything to me personally,” Tobe admitted, his voice rough. “But his family did. My parents are gone because of his parents. Their rivalry consumed everything. My father and mother lost their lives because of decisions his family made. And then… his parents died too. They destroyed themselves as much as mine. But Gabe? He’s still here. Alive. Breathing. Carrying their name. And someone has to carry that hatred. It fell to me.”

They stood in silence, the weight of his confession sinking into the night air. Aris’s grip on his collar loosened, but his hands stayed wrapped around hers. She didn’t pull away.

“I’ll take in your story,” she said finally, her tone gentler than before. “But I’ll wait to hear his too. I won’t choose sides without knowing both. Until then, I’m neutral. I don’t deserve to pass judgment when I don’t know the full truth.”

Her blunt honesty caught him off guard. But before he could respond, she continued, her voice dropping lower. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. And I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you and your group too. I fought back because I had to—but I never thought about what was fueling you. Still… it’s hard, you know? When people you don’t know stand up for someone you hate, it feels like they’re part of him. It makes everything messy.”

Tobe’s throat tightened. For years, no one had bothered to ask why he did what he did. No one had tried to understand. Yet here she was—this sharp-tongued, inappropriate, maddeningly blunt girl—listening.

They started walking again, slower this time. The silence between them had shifted. It wasn’t heavy anymore; it was fragile, like glass. Their hands stayed joined, fingers brushing in a way that neither acknowledged out loud.

By the time they reached Aris’s house, the night had grown quiet. The restaurant owned by her uncles glowed faintly down the street, the smell of fried food drifting in the cool air.

“Well,” Aris said, stopping at the gate. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t fail the pop quiz now, or all my hard work will have been for nothing.”

Tobe managed a crooked grin. “With the best tutor in school? No way I’ll fail.”

“Damn right,” she shot back, punching his shoulder lightly.

They lingered there a moment longer than necessary, both aware of it but unwilling to end it first. Finally, Tobe gave a quick wave and turned to leave.

“See you tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder.

Aris watched him go, her arms folded, her expression unreadable even to herself. For the first time in years, she felt her carefully drawn lines blur. He was supposed to be the enemy. He was supposed to be trouble. But trouble had never looked quite like this.

Back to When Gabe Ran Off Earlier

What was I thinking?

Gabe’s lungs burned as he sprinted down the street, the sound of his sneakers slapping against the pavement echoing louder than the pounding in his chest. How could I grab her like that? His fingers still remembered the feel of Aris’s arm, the way she’d flinched as his grip left a faint red mark. Shame stabbed through him, sharper than any blade.

Why did I shove Akari? The thought was acid in his throat. The one person who looked at him with unshakable devotion, who always stood by him when no one else would—he had pushed her away. Literally.

“What the hell am I doing?” he muttered under his breath, dragging his hands through his sweat-damp hair.

He hated the way Aris teased him about Akari. Hated how easily she pierced through the walls he’d built, as though she could see every ugly part of him he wanted hidden. She was too blunt, too crude, too sharp in all the ways Akari wasn’t.

And yet…

There was a pull he couldn’t deny. Something about Aris’s fire, her reckless confidence, the way she cursed and laughed like nothing could break her—it pulled at him. She was infuriating. And still, when he closed his eyes, all he could see was her hand in Tobe’s, her smile flashing in the streetlight as she teased him.

His stomach twisted.

No. Not her. Not Akari’s twin. Not the girl who just walked off with my enemy.

But the truth gnawed at him: he wasn’t just running away from Akari’s wounded eyes, although he did not love her, he did care for her well being. He was running from himself. He was being a coward, the one thing he hated the most. That needed to change but how?