Obsessed By The Forbidden

Chapter five

Chapter Five

I didn’t sleep.

Not really.

I kept my eyes closed, turned to the wall, pretending the darkness would quiet my thoughts—but it didn’t. Every time I got close to drifting off, something pulled me back.

A memory.

A feeling.

Him.

Ethan.

The way he looked at me yesterday… it wasn’t distant anymore. It wasn’t cold. It was something else entirely. Something heavier. Like whatever he’d been holding back was starting to slip.

And I felt it.

That was the problem.

I felt it too.

I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes, staring at the faint light leaking through my curtains. Morning. Finally.

Maybe today would feel normal again.

Maybe I could just avoid him.

That thought almost made me laugh.

Avoid Ethan?

In this house?

Impossible.

Still, I tried.

I got ready quickly, pulled on a simple outfit, tied my hair back just to keep busy—anything to stop my mind from going back to him.

But it didn’t work.

Nothing did.

By the time I stepped out of my room, my chest already felt tight.

The hallway was quiet.

Too quiet.

I hesitated for a second, listening. No footsteps. No movement.

Good.

Maybe he was still asleep.

I moved quickly down the stairs, my fingers brushing lightly against the railing. The house felt different this morning. Still the same walls, the same silence—but something underneath had shifted.

Like it knew.

Like it was waiting.

I pushed the thought away and headed into the kitchen.

Empty.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding and walked toward the counter. I just needed a moment. Something normal.

Water. Breakfast. Anything.

I reached for a glass—

“You’re avoiding me.”

My hand froze.

His voice.

Right behind me.

I didn’t turn around immediately. I couldn’t. My heart had already started racing, my body reacting before my mind could catch up.

Slowly, I set the glass down.

“I’m not,” I said, my voice quieter than I intended.

A pause.

Then, closer this time—

“Liar.”

My breath hitched.

I turned.

And there he was.

Leaning casually against the doorway like he’d been there the whole time. Like he belonged in every space I tried to escape to.

Ethan’s eyes were on me—steady, unreadable… but not distant anymore.

Never distant.

“Why do you care?” I asked before I could stop myself.

His expression didn’t change, but something in his gaze sharpened.

“Because I notice things,” he said simply.

That wasn’t an answer.

Not really.

But it felt like one.

I crossed my arms, more to steady myself than anything else. “Then notice this—I don’t want whatever this is.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I knew they weren’t entirely true.

And somehow…

He knew it too.

Ethan pushed himself off the doorway and stepped closer.

One step.

That was all it took.

The air shifted instantly.

“You don’t want it?” he repeated quietly.

My throat went dry.

I held my ground, even though everything in me was telling me to move. “No.”

Another step.

Now he was too close.

Close enough that I could feel it again—that pull, that tension tightening between us like a string about to snap.

“Then why do you look at me like that?” he asked.

I blinked. “Like what?”

“Like you’re waiting for something to happen.”

My breath caught.

“I’m not,” I whispered.

But it didn’t sound convincing.

Not even to me.

Ethan’s gaze dropped for a second—to my lips—and then back up to my eyes.

That small movement sent something sharp through me.

“Say it again,” he said softly.

“What?”

“That you don’t want this.”

My heart was pounding now, loud enough I was sure he could hear it.

“I don’t—”

The words stopped.

Because suddenly, he was right in front of me.

Closer than before.

Too close.

And I couldn’t think.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t lie.

Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying me like he was waiting—really waiting this time.

For the truth.

“For someone who doesn’t want it,” he murmured, “you don’t move away.”

I hadn’t even realized it.

I hadn’t stepped back.

Not once.

My fingers curled slightly at my sides, my body frozen in place—not from fear…

But from something else entirely.

Something worse.

Something I didn’t want to name.

“Ethan…” I started, but my voice came out unsteady.

He didn’t respond.

Didn’t move.

Just stood there, close enough that I could feel the heat of him, the quiet intensity pressing in from all sides.

“You should,” he said quietly.

“Should what?”

“Walk away.”

But he didn’t move either.

Didn’t give me space.

Didn’t make it easier.

It felt like a test.

And I was failing.

“I can’t,” I admitted before I could stop myself.

The words hung between us.

Heavy.

Real.

Ethan’s expression changed—just slightly.

Not softer.

But deeper.

Like something inside him had finally settled.

“Yeah,” he said under his breath. “I know.”

That scared me.

Not the way he said it.

But the certainty behind it.

Like this wasn’t new to him.

Like he’d already figured me out.

Before I even understood myself.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to step back this time.

One step.

It felt like breaking something.

“We can’t do this,” I said, my voice barely steady.

Ethan didn’t follow.

But his eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Then stop me,” he said.

My breath caught.

Because I knew what he meant.

And I knew I wouldn’t.

Silence filled the space again—but it wasn’t empty.

It was charged.

Waiting.

And just before I turned to leave—

“You feel it too,” he said.

Not a question.

A fact.

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

Because if I did…

Everything would change.

And somehow, I knew—

It already had.