LINES CROSSED
Elliana knew the moment she agreed to meet Leon again, she was crossing a line she couldn't redraw.
The city was quieter than usual that night, streets slick from an earlier rain, lights reflecting like broken stars on the asphalt. Leon waited near an old overlook above the highway, the black car parked at an angle that suggested he could leave at any second.
"You shouldn't keep coming," she said as she approached.
"And yet you always do," he replied, eyes searching her face.
She folded her arms, trying to steady herself. "People are talking. My dad is watching everything."
"I know," Leon said softly. "That's why this has to stop."
Her chest tightened. "You don't mean that."
He stepped closer, close enough that she could smell fuel and rain on his jacket. "I don't want to be the reason your life falls apart."
"And what if you already are?" she asked.
Leon went still.
"Being with you feels like I'm breathing for the first time," Elliana admitted. "But it also feels like I'm drowning."
For a long moment, neither of them moved. The air between them felt charged, dangerous.
Leon lifted his hand, hesitating before brushing his knuckles against hers. "If I say stay away… will you listen?"
Elliana shook her head. "No."
His jaw tightened. "Then I won't lie to you."
He took her face gently in his hands, eyes dark and conflicted. "This ends badly."
"Maybe," she whispered. "But not tonight."
The kiss wasn't soft. It was reckless—full of everything they'd been holding back. The kind of kiss that erased logic and consequences.
When they finally pulled apart, Elliana's heart was pounding.
"We just crossed every line," she said.
Leon rested his forehead against hers. "Yeah."
Headlights flashed suddenly in the distance.
Leon stepped back instantly, the moment shattering. "You need to go."
Elliana nodded, breathless.
As she walked away, her phone buzzed.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
You really think he'll choose you?
Elliana stopped, a chill crawling up her spine.
Because somewhere in the shadows, someone had been watching.
And the lines she crossed had just been noticed.