"Ellie…"
The handle was cold under my palm, my pulse racing faster with every second of silence. Finally, I opened the door just enough to see him. I saw him, the Tristan who stood there, with a steady but tense frame; his jaw was tight until his eyes found mine and softened.
"I didn't mean to scare you," he said, his voice quiet, almost hesitant. "Earlier, I was just…"
He faltered. It was a feast to see the unshakable Tristan Donovan now looking lost.
Then I heard his voice again: "I couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to you."
My throat tightened. His words should have soothed me, but instead, they twisted deeper into my chest. "I don't belong in your world, Tristan," I whispered. "I'm just… Sophia's friend, a guest, and now I'm caught in the middle of something I don't understand."
_
Her words cut sharper than she knew. She thought she was just passing through here, in this part of my life. But she didn't understand. To me, she had always been the constant that I couldn't let go of.
I stepped closer, careful not to trap her. "You think I don't see you, Ellie? I've been aware of you since we were kids, and now that you're here again, I can't look away once again."
Her eyes widened, her lips parting as though she wanted to answer but couldn't. I forced myself not to reach for her, even as every muscle ached to close the gap.
_
My breath was caught in something. I know I should have stepped back, but instead his words pulled me closer to the edge of something dangerous. "Tristan." His name trembled on my lips, fragile and uncertain.
He held my gaze, steady and unrelenting. "You're not just Sophia's friend to me. You never were and will never be."
The air between us thickened, every second stretching long enough to burn. My hand was still on the door, as if letting him in fully meant crossing a line we could never return from.
_
She didn't shut the door, and that alone told me enough.
For a man who had spent years in control, I had never felt so powerless. Powerless, yet desperate, because the thought of her slipping away terrified me more than any threat outside these walls.
I wanted her to understand, to see that my world wasn't one she had stumbled into, but it was one where I wanted her in, together, with me.
_
I should've said something, anything, just to break the spell, but the quiet silence wrapped around us, heavy with all the truths we were too afraid to confess.
And then...
A door slammed somewhere deeper in the house, and I could hear footsteps echoing faintly across the hall.
The fragile bubble shattered, leaving me frozen with Tristan still standing too close, his confession hanging heavy between us.
Both of us whip our heads toward the sound; whoever was awake was heading their way, and if they were caught like this, nothing could stay hidden at this point.