VILLA OF THORNS

CONFESSIONS AND SECRETS

The room was too still.

Machines hummed quietly in the background, casting faint green glows on the pale walls. The slow, steady beep of Katie's heart monitor was the only reminder that she was still here—that her heart hadn't given up, even if she had tried to.

Adrian sat beside her bed, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped.

She looked small. So delicate, so weak.

Not the Katie he knew— a loud-laughing, bright-eyed Katie who could light up a room without even trying. This version was hollowed out, bruised by the world. There was an IV in her arm, her lips dry, skin dull under the harsh fluorescent lights.

And it broke him in a way he hadn't expected. He hadn't always understood her. When he first met Katie, he thought she must have been a pretender to always wanted to ensure her friends were happy and okay even if she was not. Then he got to know her and realized she was truly utterly kind with no motives.

That was when he began to have feelings for her. It irritated him when Yiannis shifted his attention to Katie. It scared him even, but he figured he would wait until after the wedding to tell Katie his true feelings. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as planned.

She'd been Milly's shadow for so long—loyal, quiet, the calm to Milly's fire. But Adrian had seen glimpses of something more. Something wild beneath the surface. A softness that wasn't weakness, but tenderness. Fragility hidden behind strength.

Now, all he could see was the aftermath of pain no one had stopped to notice.

He reached forward, gently took her hand. It was warm. Thank God.

"You scared the s**t out of me," he murmured.

She didn't stir. But her fingers twitched ever so slightly in his.

"I don't know what he's doing," Adrian said softly. Yannis. I don't think he knows either. But I do know that whatever happened... you didn't deserve this. Not from him. Not from any of us."

His jaw clenched, guilt curling tight in his chest.

"We should've protected you."

He leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling for a moment before exhaling slowly.

"I know what it's like, Katie," he whispered. To think the people you love don't see you anymore. That you could disappear and no one would notice."

His voice cracked.

"I noticed."

He looked back at her.

"You're not alone. Not anymore. Even if everyone else walks away... I won't."

He didn't expect a miracle. He didn't expect her to open her eyes right then or whisper his name.

But he needed her to hear it—someday. Somehow.

That she mattered.

That she was loved.

And that someone was still sitting right there, waiting for her to come back.

⸻

He hadn't meant to stop.

He was just walking—restless, lost, not sure if he was looking for a vending machine or a moment of peace—but when he passed by her room, he froze.

Adrian was inside.

Sitting beside her bed.

Yannis's hand tightened on the frame of the window, heart thudding low and slow in his chest. He stayed back, hidden in the shadowed hallway, eyes fixed through the glass.

Katie hadn't moved. Her stillness was unbearable, even now. But Adrian's voice—soft and hoarse—cut through the silence like a blade.

"You scared the blinkers out of me."

Yannis leaned closer.

Adrian was holding her hand.

"I don't know what he's doing. Yannis. I don't think he knows either."

Yannis stiffened.

"But I do know that whatever happened... you didn't deserve this. Not from him. Not from any of us."

He felt the hit in his chest. Deserved it.

But he didn't look away.

Couldn't.

Adrian's voice dropped to something more vulnerable. Almost trembling.

"We should've protected you."

Yannis's throat tightened. He pressed his fingers against the cool glass, needing to anchor himself.

"I know what it's like, Katie. To think the people you love don't see you anymore. That you could disappear and no one would notice."

Adrian paused. Exhaled.

"I noticed."

The words echoed like a gunshot.

Yannis's eyes burned.

"You're not alone. Not anymore. Even if everyone else walks away... I won't."

Silence.

And in it, Yannis heard everything Adrian hadn't said out loud:

I love you.

Yiannis felt the sharp stab of something deeper than guilt. Jealousy. Not because Adrian was sitting there. Not because Adrian had been brave enough to say what he hadn't. But because he was afraid Katie would choose Adrian over him.

Yannis stepped away from the window before Adrian could see him, back pressed against the wall, breath shaky.

His best friend loved the woman he loved. And somehow... that hurt more than anything.

Adrian hadn't moved from the chair in hours. He'd stayed through the nurses' checks, through the IV drip resets, through the slow passage of night, bleeding into early dawn. The hospital lights had dimmed, casting the room in a gentle blue glow.

Katie still hadn't woken.

But she looked less pale now. Her breathing even. There was color in her cheeks again—subtle, but enough to give him hope.

Adrian had leaned forward, elbows on his knees, her hand still gently resting in his, thumb brushing across her knuckles like a quiet promise.

"I'm still here," he whispered. "Take your time, Katie. I've got nowhere else to be."

He didn't expect anything. Not really.

So when she stirred—just barely—his heart leapt.

Her brow twitched. A soft sound escaped her throat. Her lips moved, dry and hesitant.

Then, so faintly it could've been imagined... came one word.

"...Yannis."

Adrian froze.

His breath caught as her fingers curled slightly tighter around his.

And then it came again, a quiet, broken sigh slipping from her lips like the ache of a dream she couldn't wake from.

"Yannis..."

Adrian sat back slowly, the warmth of her hand suddenly burning in his.

He stared at her face, unsure whether to feel shattered or grateful.

She didn't open her eyes. Not yet. But her soul had spoken for her.

And it hadn't called for him.

It called for Yannis.

Adrian swallowed hard and gently let go of her hand. He stood, silent, something heavy coiling in his chest.

He didn't blame her.

But it hurt all the same.

With one last glance at her peaceful, sleeping face, he turned and walked out of the room—never knowing that just down the hall, Yannis had stopped walking... and heard everything.