Desired by All and He Threw Away 85

Chapter 85 

i dont reach for her.dont push.her fingers move on their own anyway curling tighter around the edge of my jacket like shes pulling it and maybe me with her. 

The silence shifts then. 

Not brittle like before. 

Not tense. 

Just… full.like its waiting for something neither of us knows how to give voice to yet. 

i slip my hand into my pocket before the courage has the chance to evaporate.the small box presses into my palm cold but somehow heavy with everything i havent said. 

i flip it open.the necklace catches the porch light with this soft glow almost like moonlight caught in a single 

moment. 

i take her hand gently turning her palm upward.her skin is warm faintly trembling but steady enough to hold what i place into it.the pendant settles against her hand like it was made for that exact moment that exact piece of her. 

” for the event,” i say.it comes out rougher than i want like the words scraped against something in my chest on their way out. 

she doesnt answer right away.she just stares at the necklace her fingers brushing the pendant with slow almost reverent strokes.her thumb follows the curve of the metal like shes memorizing it like the feel of it is the only thing keeping her grounded. 

“its beautiful,” she whispers. 

something in me unclenches.something soft nudges at my chest warm and steady and terrifying in a way that makes sense only because of who she is. asmall smile finds its way onto my face.i dont force it it just appears 

faint but real. 

“It suits you,” I say quietly. 

Her eyes lift then. 

the moment is small barely a shift in the air but it hits with the force of something i cant name.her eyes hold mine in a way that makes the rest of the world blur around the edges.gone is the chaos from earlier. 

gone is the noise.gone is the anger and confusion and the sting of other people judgment. 

what passes between us now is different. 

Warm, 

Quiet. 

dangerous but not the kind of danger that comes from storms or strangers or accusations hurled into the night.its the kind that comes from proximity from honesty from the truth settling into place after being pushed aside for so long. 

1/2 

ནོ ཀཎྜ རྣཔ ཤི 

+25 Bonus 

my lance presses lightly against hers.she doesnt move away.If anything she shifts the slightest bit closer not enough to be obvious but enough for me to feel the heat of her settling into the space between us. 

my jacket wraps around her like shes part of the warmth it carries.her hand is still cupped around the necklace holding it so carefully as if its something fragile something precious. 

the porch light flickers once soft and warm casting her face in a glow that makes something in my chest tighten. 

she breathes in again slow and steady this time.the tremble in her hands has settled.the weight of the night the accusations, the fear the humiliation her family endured seems to loosen its grip on her. 

and i just sit with her. 

No words. 

No explanations. 

just the quiet hum of something real sitting between us threading through the night like the faint breeze that moves across the steps. 

She looks at me again and the way her eyes soften nearly undoes me. 

“Aiden,” she says quietly her voice barely above the whisper of the wind. 

i meet her gaze. 

She doesn’t say anything else.she doesnt need to. 

everything shes feeling–every thank you she doesnt know how to put into words every fear shes been carrying alone every moment she tried to stand strong for her brother even when she was shaking inside- its all right there in her eyes. 

And something inside me settles. 

For the first time tonight, the air feels calm. 

Not forced. 

Not fragile. 

Just… calm. 

Like the storm finally exhausted itself and left us with something gentler in its place. 

Chapter 26