Accidental Touch
1964 Words
Ethan
He watched her walk away.
He told himself he wasn't — but his eyes didn't get the memo.
She smelled like vanilla and dark chocolate. Warm, sweet, and somehow infuriating — just like everything else about her. He'd caught the scent when she leaned close to speak, and now it simply refused to leave.
He didn't understand it. He didn't want to.
She was loud. Combative. She looked at him like he was something mildly inconvenient, with zero interest in pretending otherwise. Everything about her — at least toward him — was pure, undiluted chaos.
He should have found that exhausting.
He did find it exhausting.
He just couldn't stop thinking about it.
Adrian materialized beside him wearing that specific smirk — the one that meant he'd been watching, processing, and was about to say something Ethan would regret hearing.
"So." Adrian leaned back casually.
"She's stunning, man—"
"Don't." Flat. Final. "She's not your type. Eyes somewhere else."
Adrian looked at him with slow, delighted curiosity — the kind that meant he had clocked something Ethan hadn't meant to reveal.
"Not your type," he repeated, like he was tasting it. "Right. Sure. Absolutely."
Ethan stared straight ahead and said nothing.
The irritation sitting in his chest had no logical explanation.
He chose not to look at it.
⏱️Break Time
🌷Ethan
He headed to the cafeteria at break. Adrian fell into step behind him — uninvited, as always.
"Where are you going?" Ethan asked flatly.
Adrian scratched the back of his head. "With you. To the cafeteria, I guess."
Ethan didn't respond.
Then he saw her.
She was across the room, laughing at something Rebecca had said — head tilted back, completely unguarded. It transformed her entire face. All the sharpness gone. All the fight dissolved. Just bright — genuinely, quietly, devastatingly bright.
He had seen that smile for two seconds yesterday.
Apparently that had been enough.
The moment he moved in her direction, it vanished. Her posture shifted — shoulders squaring, expression closing, every warm thing retreating behind a wall that went up so fast it gave him whiplash.
Composed. Controlled. Unreadable.
Just like him.
The observation landed somewhere uncomfortable. He didn't look at it.
Adrian — demonstrating zero restraint as always — dropped immediately into the seat across from her like he'd been personally invited.
🌷 Hazel
She'd been having a perfectly good conversation.
Rebecca had said something genuinely funny and Hazel was laughing — really laughing — when the air shifted in that specific way that meant he was nearby.
She felt it before she saw him.
She hated that she felt it.
She straightened. Smoothed her expression. Reminded herself she was completely, entirely, one hundred percent unbothered.
Then the boy beside Ethan dropped into the seat in front of her like they were old friends.
She blinked. "Excuse me — do I know you?"
Adrian flashed a grin that had clearly worked on many people before this moment. "Not yet. But you will. Very soon, beautiful."
Hazel felt a flicker of irritation — not the volcanic kind Ethan inspired. Just the quiet, tired weariness of someone who had zero patience left for rehearsed charm.
"If you're anything like your friend," she said pleasantly, "I think I'll pass."
Something flashed across Ethan's face.
Gone before she could read it.
She looked away first — because looking at him too long felt like standing too close to something that could burn you.
And Hazel had learned the hard way that some things were better kept at a safe, sensible distance.
Adrian laughed at her response — genuinely amused, completely unbothered.
Ethan, however, said nothing. He simply pulled out the chair beside Adrian and sat down, expression blank, eyes already elsewhere.
Hazel glanced between them.
Rebecca, predictably, was already glowing. One look at Adrian and her best friend had essentially ceased to function — Hazel could see it happening in real time and filed it away to tease her about later.
Ethan cut through the small talk like a blade.
"We're not here to socialize." His voice was flat, directed at no one in particular and somehow everyone at once. "We divide the work, we do it separately, we don't bother each other. Any questions about your own section — figure it out. Don't contact me."
He stood to leave.
"Wait—" Rebecca straightened suddenly, pointing at Adrian. "You're Adrian? You're my project partner?"
Adrian's entire face lit up. He extended his hand toward her like he was meeting royalty. "The one and only. And you are far too beautiful to be doing group projects."
Rebecca giggled.
Hazel resisted the urge to put her head on the table.
"Here's my number," Adrian was saying, sliding his phone across. "Just come to mine — I'll send the address—"
Ethan made a sound somewhere between a sigh and pure suffering.
Hazel glanced at him.
He glanced at her.
For exactly one second they shared the same expression — the weary, resigned look of two people watching chaos unfold and being completely powerless to stop it.
Then they both looked away simultaneously.
Hazel cleared her throat. "Since we're all meeting together — no separate locations, no confusion, no room for mistakes — I'll send everyone the time."
Ethan opened his mouth.
Adrian cheerfully cut across him. "Perfect! All sorted then—" He turned back to Rebecca with renewed enthusiasm. "So. Tell me everything about yourself—"
Ethan stood abruptly and left.
Hazel watched him go.
Adrian leaned toward hazel one last time. "Number?"
She looked at him flatly. "No."
He accepted this with remarkable good humor and turned his full attention back to Rebecca, who was already laughing at something he'd said.
Hazel gathered her things quietly.
That could have been worse, she told herself.
She almost believed it.
🌷Ethan
Group meetings gave him headaches. Always had.
But this one sat differently — restless, unresolved, like something had been left unfinished and his brain refused to drop it.
He hated her. That was a fact. She was loud, stubborn, and operated at a frequency specifically designed to irritate him.
But something else was there too. Something he couldn't name and absolutely refused to examine.
He saw Adrian come back looking thoroughly defeated.
"She ignored me," Adrian announced. "Asked for her number. She looked at me like I'd personally offended her ancestors."
Ethan said nothing and laughed — short, quiet, real — before he could stop himself.
And then she walked in.
Their eyes met for exactly one second.
Then both looked away.
Classes ended. They went their separate ways without a word.
Back at his apartment, Ethan lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, willing his brain to go quiet.
I don't think about people.
I definitely don't think about her.
She's nobody. She's irritating. She's—
His phone rang. Adrian.
"Bro. Get ready. Rebecca contacted me — we're meeting them today. I'm picking you up—"
Ethan sat up. Something shifted in his chest that he refused to name.
"Tell them tomorrow. I'm not in the mood."
"Absolutely not. You have fifteen minutes. Clock starts now."
He hung up before Ethan could argue.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Then got up and got ready.
🌷Hazel
Back in their location, Rebecca was glued to her phone — scrolling Adrian's i********: with the focus of someone conducting serious research.
Hazel raised an eyebrow. "You good?"
Rebecca looked up, blushing instantly. "Okay so... Adrian. I kind of like him."
"Rebecca—"
"He's sweet, okay? Don't judge me." She hesitated. "Also — and don't come for me — but the way your Ethan looks at you? Anyone would notice." She smirked
Hazel blinked. "Ethan is not mine. In a thousand years I would never—he's mean, he's rude, I genuinely cannot stand him—"
"I know, I know." Rebecca held up her hands. "I'm just saying. Keep your heart a little open. That's all."
Hazel opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Looked away.
Absolutely not, she told herself firmly.
But the words sat there anyway — quiet and stubborn — refusing to leave.
Hazel
Rebecca's words were still sitting in her head when they arrived at the café.
"Keep your heart open. He's not like your ex."
Hazel knew exactly how that story ended. She wasn't going there again.
She smoothed her pink skirt, straightened her blue tank top and reminded herself — project. Just the project.
Then the boys walked in.
Adrian waved like they were long lost friends. And behind him — Ethan.
Pink shirt. blue denim jeans. Hands in his pockets.
She hated how good he looked. She genuinely, deeply hated it.
Adrian went in for a hug immediately. She stepped back. He accepted this cheerfully and moved on.
They settled — Hazel and Ethan at the corner table, Rebecca and Adrian at their own, already in a completely different world.
Silence sat between her and Ethan like a third person.
He was... different today. Quieter. Less sharp. He didn't push, didn't snap, just spoke when necessary and kept his eyes on the work.
She noticed — almost against her will — that he held the door. Passed the papers without being asked. Small things. Barely anything.
Does he fight with everyone like this? Or just me?
She didn't know which answer unsettled her more.
🌷Ethan
She looked beautiful and it was inconvenient.
He kept his mouth shut for once — no sarcasm, no sharp edges — and watched her relax slightly without the usual war between them.
Her hand brushed his over the papers.
One second. Accidental.
Something electric shot straight through him.
She pulled away immediately. He said nothing. Stared at the page.
We can't be. We are not made for each other.
He repeated it like a rule.
Then she took a break and moved to Rebecca where Adrian cracked a joke across the table. She laughed — real and bright and completely unguarded.
Ethan looked away.
Not made for each other, he reminded himself quietly.
He almost believed it.
She was laughing with Adrian.
He watched silently — jaw tight, something burning in his chest that had no business being there.
Then Adrian touched her shoulder.
That was it.
"Hazel." His voice came out sharper than intended. "I have better things to do."
She turned. It was the first time I called her by her name.Her expression shifted — the warmth gone, walls back up instantly.
Something about that bothered him more than he'd ever admit.
She walked over slowly, arms crossed. "We already finished today's work. You can leave." A pause. "Your friend is kinder than you, by the way. You might want to take notes."
His jaw tightened. "Fine. Enjoy your time with him then."
"Gladly. Bye — and have a genuinely awful day."
He left.
Fifteen minutes later everyone packed up. Hazel stayed behind — paperwork.
By midnight the café was nearly empty.
She gathered her things, stepped outside — and stopped.
Her ex. Smirking. Following.
Her heart jumped. She turned the other direction, walking faster — then faster —
Then she ran straight into something solid.
She looked up.
HIM
Ethan
Rain was coming. He'd grabbed his keys, headed out for headache tablets — and then he saw her. Running.
He stopped the car without thinking. Got out. Caught her hands before she could pass him — pulling her toward him in one motion.
She looked up.
Their eyes locked.
Neither of them moved.
🔏End of Chapter 3🖤
Author's Note
Something just shifted between them — did you feel it?
Chapter 4 is coming and I promise... it gets interesting 😏
Loved this chapter? Vote! It means everything.
— By VNM ~ 🖤
- Writer
