Chapter4:CollisionInTheFog
580 Words
Arthur had never been good at staying still—not when something needed chasing.
The fog had thickened around Windmere’s coastline by the time he stumbled back into motion, sand slipping beneath his boots as he ran after her. Kelly’s silhouette flickered ahead like a fading memory, half-swallowed by the mist. He called her name once, maybe twice. She didn’t turn.
He caught up just as she stepped onto the boardwalk, her pace quick but composed. She didn’t look surprised when he grabbed her arm—just tired.
“You don’t get to do that again,” he said, his voice a mixture of breath and rage. “Not this time.”
She stopped but didn’t meet his eyes. “Arthur—”
“No,” he snapped. “No more soft exits. No more disappearing like I imagined all of it.”
Kelly slowly turned, her expression unreadable. “You didn’t imagine it.”
“Then give me something,” he demanded. “Anything.”
Her gaze flickered. The Kelly he remembered had always held a softness, even in silence. That softness was still there, but wrapped tight in armor.
“I can’t,” she said. “Not now.”
“You’ve had three years.”
“I had reasons.”
He scoffed. “Let me guess—reasons I wouldn’t believe?”
She didn’t answer. That silence was louder than any excuse.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair. The hurt inside him was a living thing, restless and raw. “You don’t get to come back into my life and say nothing. You don’t get to look at me like that and pretend it doesn’t mean something.”
“I’m not pretending,” she said softly. “I still—” She stopped herself.
Arthur stepped closer. Too close. “Still what?”
Kelly shook her head. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t what? Feel something? Hate you for leaving but want to touch your hand all over again?”
“I’m not here to ruin your life.”
“Then what are you here for?”
Her breath caught. “Someone else.”
The words dug like glass under his skin. He stepped back, stung, blinking as if she’d slapped him.
“But that doesn’t mean I stopped loving you,” she whispered.
Arthur stared at her, unsure if he wanted to yell or kiss her or walk away and never look back. Every part of him was screaming in different directions.
The fog curled around them like a curtain, shielding them from the world—and maybe that was the only reason he stayed.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” he said, “but if Aiden finds out you’re here—”
Her head jerked toward him. “He doesn’t know. And he can’t.”
Arthur narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”
“I just need time.”
“You already took that.”
Kelly looked away, hands trembling slightly. She forced them into her pockets before he could see.
“I won’t ask you to wait,” she said, voice barely above the whisper of waves. “But please... don’t follow me again.”
She started to walk away.
This time, he didn’t stop her.
But he didn’t turn around either.
And from the shadows, something deeper began to fester. A feeling Arthur couldn’t name yet.
Not quite anger.
Not quite love.
But something that could ruin them both.
- Writer
