Camila pov
He offered me a ride home he said his car was parked near by I assumed he lived in my general direction since I saw him at the creek .
The silence stretched between us as we walked to his car, the sky bleeding amber and lavender . I didn't say much. I couldn't. The argument with Deron still rang in my ears like leftover thunder, but Anthony's presence—calm, grounded—helped muffle the storm.
He opened the passenger door for me without a word, and I slipped in, clutching my bag like a shield. The scent in his car was faint and clean—something like cedarwood and rain. Fitting.
We drove for a while, the road unspooling beneath us in silence until his voice cut through gently.
"I didn't mean to intrude. At the docks, I mean."
I glanced at him, but he kept his eyes on the road.
"I like the quiet there. It's... one of the few places that still feels like her." My mom I mean she used to take me there when I was a kid
He explained that before his parents split he used to live here in geen wood but moved with his mom after the divorce.
"I go there sometimes to think," he continued. "But today felt different. I didn't expect to see you."
I turned toward the window, heart thudding. The reflection in the glass showed him watching me for a second before his eyes flicked back to the road.
He continued today wasn't the first time I had seen you I saw you at the creek
"You looked…" he hesitated. "You looked beautiful. Like you belonged to the water. Just... sitting there. I wasn't going to say anything, but you were watching me too." weren't you?
I felt heat crawl up my neck, not from embarrassment but from something else—something I hadn't felt in a long time. The kind of warmth that reaches the ribs and settles in the chest.
"I wasn't spying," I said, trying to smile. "I just didn't expect anyone to be there."
"I hoped you wouldn't disappear this time," he said quietly.
I blinked. "This time?"
His fingers tapped the steering wheel once, lightly. "… I saw you fall from the apple tree near the creek. I ran over, but when I got there, you were gone."
"You saw that?" I laughed under my breath. "I thought no one did. I climbed it for a better view and slipped. Didn't break anything but my pride."
Really he retorted it wasn't for the apples,
He smiled then, a rare, soft curve of his mouth. "I was worried. You just vanished like a ghost."
We pulled into the drive leading to my house. I didn't want the car to stop. I didn't want this strange, quiet connection to break. But the tires crunched over gravel, and reality settled back into the edges of my thoughts.
He parked, but neither of us moved.
"Thank you," I said, gripping the door handle.
"Camila."
His voice pulled me back.
"If you ever want to leave I will drive
He didn't smile after that, just looked at me like he saw something I hadn't shown anyone in years.
I got out of the car slowly, my legs suddenly unsteady. As I walked up to the house, I felt his gaze linger. And though he never said it, I could've sworn something of mine had stayed with him.