Love Triangle

Chapter 4: Fractures

The sun filtered lazily through the half-open blinds in Room 12B, casting long shadows over the worn desks. The buzzing hum of morning at Ashgrove was back in full swing after the Redpine excursion, but things didn’t feel the same. Not for Damon.

He sat at the back of the class, head down, scribbling meaninglessly in his notebook while his eyes darted toward Jace Rivers. Jace, who used to avoid eye contact, was now glancing up too often, lips pressed tight like he had something to say but wouldn’t dare speak it aloud. Something had changed between them in those woods and both of them knew it.

Damon looked away and sighed. He hadn’t spoken to Eliza since they got back. He’d avoided it. But he knew he couldn’t anymore. Not after the way she had looked at him that night at Redpine. Like she knew something was wrong.

The bell rang. Class ended. But for Damon, the real test of the day was just about to begin. Later That Day behind the Science Building

Eliza was already waiting for him when he arrived. Arms crossed. Eyes narrowed. Her honey-brown curls tied into a loose ponytail, bouncing as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"You’ve been ignoring me," she said coldly.

Damon’s chest tightened. "I’ve been busy. Tired."

She scoffed. "Busy pretending nothing happened in Redpine?"

Silence. Just wind between them.

"You didn’t even sit with me by the campfire," she continued, her voice rising. "You were off in the dark with Jace! You think I didn’t notice?"

"Don’t do this," Damon muttered. "You're overthinking"

"No!" she snapped, stepping closer. "I’m not. You barely touched me the entire trip. And when you looked at him… Damon, what the hell is going on?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came.

"Say something!" she demanded.

Damon finally looked her in the eyes. “I don’t know, Eliza. I really don’t. Things are… complicated.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Complicated how? You either love me or you don’t.”

“I do,” he whispered. “But it’s not that simple.”

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

That cut deeper than any horror in Redpine. Damon clenched his fists. “I didn’t say that.”

“But you didn’t deny it either,” she spat, her voice breaking.

The words hung heavy between them. It was the first time they'd ever truly fought and for the first time, Damon wasn’t sure if they could just move past it.

After School near the Library

Jace was walking down the hallway alone when Eliza found him. She stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

“I need to talk to you.”

He flinched, eyes wide. “About what?”

“You know what,” she hissed. “What are you doing to him?”

“Nothing,” Jace said quickly. “It’s not like that.”

“Don’t lie to me, Jace. I saw the way he looked at you in Redpine. I know he spent that night with you.”

Jace's jaw tightened. “We didn’t do anything.”

“But you wanted to. Didn’t you?”

His breath caught. For a moment, the confident, cool Jace crumbled. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

Eliza softened just a little. “Then stay away from him. Please. Don’t ruin him.”

Jace’s voice broke. “I’m already ruined.”

He brushed past her, leaving her frozen in place.

Later That Night at the West's Residence

Damon sat in his room staring at the ceiling. The glow from his desk lamp flickered. The house felt colder than usual.

His mom, Clara West, stood quietly in the doorway, watching her son. She didn’t speak, but her face was full of questions she wasn’t ready to ask.

She closed the door slowly, and Damon was alone again.

Alone with guilt. With fear. With feelings he couldn’t name.

And from the edge of his room just in the shadows something moved.

A knock came softly, but it was enough to pull Damon from his trance.

He opened the door to find his mother, Clara West, standing there with a worried smile and a tray of food.

"You barely touched your dinner," she said, walking in.

"I wasn’t hungry," Damon replied, eyes a little puffy from holding back more than just tears.

Clara placed the tray on his desk and sat on the edge of his bed, hands clasped in her lap.

“You’ve been different since the excursion,” she said gently. “Quiet and distracted". Did something happen?”

Damon hesitated. He could lie. He was good at it by now. But her gaze wasn’t judgmental it was soft, patient.

“I think I’m losing Eliza,” he said instead.

Clara frowned. “Why would you say that? I thought you two were doing well.”

“She thinks there’s someone else.”

Clara’s expression stiffened slightly. “Well Is there?”

A long silence.

“I don’t know,” Damon finally whispered.

That was the truth. He didn’t know what this thing with Jace was. A spark? A mistake? A disaster waiting to happen?

Clara reached for his hand, holding it gently. “You don’t have to have everything figured out right now. But don’t let guilt decide your path. And no matter what... I love you.”

Damon blinked quickly, heart swelling. “Thanks, Mom.”

She kissed his forehead. “Just be careful. And talk to her.”

He nodded, even though he didn’t feel ready.

The Next day at Ashgrove Academy

The school buzzed with rumors about the Redpine trip. Some claimed to have seen strange shadows in the woods. Others swore they heard whispers after midnight. But for Damon, the true haunting was Eliza’s silence.

She hadn’t answered his texts. In class, she avoided his gaze. At lunch, she chose another table.

Jace, too, kept his distance, as though trying to disappear into the walls. He’d stopped cracking jokes. His usual smug grin was gone, replaced with quiet glances and tight lips.Everything was falling apart.

During lunch break Damon found Eliza alone under the tree where they first kissed months ago. She was staring at her phone, but her thumbs weren’t moving.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

She didn’t look at him. “What’s left to say?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You already did.”

Damon stepped closer. “You said you’d always want the truth from me.”

She looked up, finally meeting his eyes. “So give it to me.”

His throat tightened. “I... I’m confused. About everything. About you. About Jace. About myself.”

Eliza blinked. “So it’s true.”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.

Tears slid silently down her cheeks. “Do you love him?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you kissed him?”

“No.” he lied

Her face twisted. She stood abruptly. “I need to go.”

“Eliza, please”

But she was already walking away.

That evening Jace stared at the ceiling, headphones in, music low. He couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Eliza’s face, the hurt, the accusation. He saw Damon’s face too, that moment in the woods. That kiss.

He didn’t ask for this. He never wanted to be anyone’s secret.

A loud bang made him flinch. He pulled the headphones off.

The light in his bathroom flickered violently, buzzing like it was about to explode.

He stood cautiously and walked over, flipping the switch.

Nothing.

Another flicker. Then words, scratched into the bathroom mirror.

"LIES ROT THE HEART.

Jace stumbled back.

He blinked, and the message was gone.

He gripped the sink, breathing heavily.

He was losing it. That was the only explanation.

At midnight Damon couldn’t sleep.

His phone buzzed.

A message from Jace: “We need to talk. Tomorrow. After class. Please.”

He stared at the screen for a long time before replying: “Okay.”

Then, just as he set the phone down, a sharp knock echoed from his window.

His blood ran cold.

He approached slowly, drawing the curtain aside.

Nothing was there.

But when he looked down, etched into the frost on the glass, were the same words Jace had seen hours earlier.

"LIES ROT THE HEART."

The next morning came with a dull gray sky that matched Damon’s mood. Ashgrove Academy felt colder than usual. The air carried a heavy weight, one that clung to every hallway, every classroom, every word unspoken between him and the people he once felt closest to.

He found Jace waiting under the old oak by the sports field, the same place they'd met up after the Redpine trip.

Jace looked different, tired, withdrawn. His eyes had shadows beneath them, and his hoodie was pulled up despite the rising heat.

"You came," Jace said, voice low.

“I said I would.” Damon shoved his hands in his pockets. “You said we needed to talk.”

Jace nodded, but said nothing for a while. The wind rustled the trees around them. No one else was nearby.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Jace finally said.

Damon’s stomach sank. “Do what?”

“This... hiding. This triangle. Whatever this is between us.”

“Jace"....

“You kissed me,” Jace snapped. “And then you pretended it didn’t happen. You’re with Eliza, but you look at me like I’m the one you want.”

“I don’t know what I want!”

Jace’s voice cracked. “Well, I do. And it’s not this. I can’t be a secret. I won’t.”

Silence stretched between them like a blade.

“I’m sorry,” Damon whispered.

“Then prove it. Choose.”

Damon’s heart thudded. He didn’t answer. Couldn’t.

Jace’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “That’s what I thought.”

And then he turned and walked away.

Later that day at the library

Eliza sat at one of the far tables, pretending to read, but her eyes didn’t move across the page. She could still hear Damon’s voice in her head. "I’m confused. About Jace. About myself."

It wasn’t just betrayal. It was humiliation.

She wasn’t the type to compete. Not for love.

Still, she couldn’t get Jace out of her head either. The way he looked at Damon. The way Damon looked back.

The triangle wasn’t just a figure of speech. It was real and she was losing her place in it.

Then, as if summoned, Jace walked into the library.

Eliza stood, meeting him halfway between shelves.

“We need to talk,” she said coldly.

Jace looked around. “Here?”

“Why not? This school is already full of whispers.”

Jace sighed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“But you did.”

“I didn’t chase him, Eliza. He came to me.”

“Don’t act like a victim.”

Jace’s eyes darkened. “You think I wanted this?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

He lowered his voice. “Neither does he.”

Eliza paused. “So what now?”

“I’m out. Whatever game this is, I’m done playing.”

“Then leave,” she snapped. “But don’t expect him to follow you.”

Jace looked at her long and hard. “You’d be surprised.

That night damon's walls were closing in. Damon couldn’t breathe.

He’d lost them both.

A soft knock on his door.

He opened it to find his mother again. Her face was pale, eyes worried.

“Damon,” Clara said gently. “Your father’s out for a meeting. We need to talk.”

He nodded slowly.

She led him to the living room, then sat him down on the couch.

“I’ve noticed things,” she began. “And I want you to know, you can tell me anything.”

He stared at her, uncertain.

“I’m not your father. I won’t judge you. And I won’t let him hurt you. Ever.”

Damon blinked, shocked.

“I know there’s something going on between you and Jace,” Clara said softly. “You don’t need to lie.”

Damon broke. The tears came fast, ugly, uncontrollable.

She pulled him into her arms and held him like he was a child again.

“I’m scared, Mom,” he choked.

“I know, baby. But you’re not alone.”

Jace on the other hand couldn’t sleep. He found himself drawn back to the Redpine file in the school server, he stayed behind after school something about that night still didn’t sit right. And now, these whispers. The writing on mirrors and windows. He wasn’t the only one seeing it.

He found a hidden folder with protected password. His hands trembled as he guessed a few combinations. Then click.

Access granted.

Dozens of image files. Audio clips.

He opened the first one.

A grainy video showed the campfire from that night. In the background, a dark figure stood in the trees watching.

Another audio file. Faint whispers. Then a voice.

“He kissed him in the dark. Two hearts will bleed.”

Jace’s blood ran cold.

He closed the laptop quickly.

He wasn’t paranoid. Something was following them.

But no one knew.