MARKED BY THE ENEMY

WALLS AND CRACKS (DEVIN POV)

Chapter 16 — Walls And Cracks (Devin’s POV)

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Devin Park wasn’t used to silence feeling this loud.

He sat in his car long after school let out, hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes unfocused. Normally, he thrived in noise — music blasting, Jace and Kai clowning around, people always buzzing around him. But now? The silence pressed against his skull like a vice.

And all because of one person.

Ashley.

He clenched his jaw and leaned back against the seat. He hated that just thinking her name made his chest feel tight. He hated that she was creeping into places in his life no one had ever gotten before — in his head, under his skin, in his damn heart.

He should’ve pushed her away from the start.

But then she had looked at him with those wide brown eyes, all stubborn and curious, unafraid of his reputation when everyone else kept their distance. She had seen more in him than the grades, the fights, the cold stares. And somewhere along the way, she had made him feel like maybe… maybe he wasn’t all the things people said he was.

That was dangerous.

Because Devin Park didn’t do feelings. He didn’t do vulnerability. He didn’t do getting hurt.

So when she started pulling away — avoiding him, dodging his calls — he told himself it was fine. Better this way. He didn’t need her. He didn’t need anyone.

But then she had come back.

She had stood there today, trembling but brave, apologizing with tears in her eyes. And all he had wanted to do was grab her shoulders and tell her she was wrong — that he did care, that she had gotten under his skin in ways he didn’t know how to handle.

But he couldn’t.

Not when Kika had already been circling like a vulture.

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Kika had been his shadow since middle school. Pretty. Popular. Persistent. She wasn’t stupid — she knew how to get what she wanted, and what she wanted was him. But Devin had never given her more than a passing glance. She was drama wrapped in lip gloss, and he had no patience for it.

Except now she was useful.

Let her laugh too loudly at his jokes. Let her lean against him like they were closer than they were. Let the rumors fly. If it made Ashley forget about him, stop looking at him like he was something worth caring about, then maybe it was better this way.

Or at least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

But when he saw Ashley’s face in the hallway, pale and hurt as she caught sight of him with Kika, his chest burned. He had to look away before he did something stupid, like pull her into his arms right there and tell her the truth.

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“Bro, you’re a mess.”

Devin glanced over at Jace, who was lounging on his bed that Friday night, tossing a basketball in the air. Kai sat at the desk, scrolling through something on his phone but clearly listening.

“I’m fine,” Devin muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Jace snorted. “Fine? You’ve been sulking since Monday. You didn’t even trash talk in practice today. Do you know how scary that is? Coach thought you were sick.”

Kai looked up, smirking. “Nah. He’s not sick. He’s in loooove.”

Devin threw a pillow at him. “Shut up.”

But his ears burned.

Jace caught the basketball and leaned forward. “It’s about Ashley, isn’t it? You like her.”

“I don’t,” Devin said sharply. Too sharply.

Jace raised an eyebrow. “Really? Then why are you letting Kika hang all over you when we all know you can’t stand her? Why are you ignoring Ashley when you’ve never ignored a girl in your life — except the one you actually give a damn about?”

Devin froze. He wanted to argue, to brush it off with some smart remark. But his chest was heavy, and for once, the words didn’t come.

Kai leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms. “Face it, bro. You like her. You more than like her. And you’re just too chicken to admit it.”

Devin glared at him. “I’m not scared of anything.”

“Then why don’t you tell her?” Kai shot back.

Silence.

Because how was he supposed to explain it? How was he supposed to tell them that the idea of Ashley looking at him the way she had looked today — disappointed, hurt, done — scared him more than any fight he had ever been in?

That if he let her in, she would see the mess he really was. That she deserved someone steady, someone who wouldn’t drag her into his chaos.

So instead, he just shrugged and muttered, “It doesn’t matter.”

But Jace and Kai shared a look, and Devin knew they weren’t buying it.

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The rumors spread faster than wildfire.

By Monday morning, it seemed like the entire school believed he and Kika were dating. People stared when he walked down the hall with her at his side, whispering behind their hands. Kika soaked it up, smiling like she had won a prize.

But Devin felt nothing but hollow.

Because every time he glanced around, searching for a flash of brown hair, a pair of wide eyes, he only saw Ashley slipping away from him.

She didn’t sit near him in class anymore. Didn’t glance at him across the cafeteria. And when their eyes did meet — just for a split second — she looked away first.

It killed him.

It killed him because he wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, she had felt something on that first date too. That maybe she had blushed for him the way he had blushed for her. That maybe the kiss on his cheek hadn’t been nothing.

But how could he believe that when she had avoided him? When she had pulled away first?

So when she cornered him by the bleachers, when she whispered that apology with her voice cracking, he had wanted to grab onto it, to forgive her, to start over.

But the fear was louder.

The fear of letting her in. The fear of losing her. The fear of not being enough.

So he had walked away.

And the look on her face as he left — shattered, small, broken — had haunted him every night since.

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That night, lying awake staring at his ceiling, Devin finally admitted it to himself.

He liked her.

No — it was more than that. He wanted her. Needed her in ways he had never needed anyone.

But he didn’t know how to fix it. He didn’t know how to take back the silence, the cold shoulders, the stupid act with Kika.

And worst of all? He wasn’t sure Ashley would ever forgive him even if he tried.

Still…

Devin Park wasn’t one to give up on something he wanted.

And Ashley Brooke was the first thing in a long time that made him want to fight for more.

He does care about Ashley but hides it behind pride and fear.

He’s using Kika as a shield, but it’s hurting him too.

His friends Jace and Kai call him out, planting the idea that he’s in love.

He admits to himself that he wants Ashley but doesn’t know how to win her back.

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