Page 25 of Icebound Hearts

“I used to get them, too,” Aiden says quietly. “Panic attacks.” I glance at him, startled. He keeps his gaze fixed on the ceiling,

his jaw tight. “After my mom left, I couldn’t sleep for shit. I couldn’t breathe, sometimes. It got worse when a family member got sick.” I swallow hard, my heartbeat still uneven.

“How did you make it stop?” He lets out a humourless chuckle.

“I didn’t. Not really.” He taps his fingers against his knee. “But I figured out how to shut up the voice in my head when it got too loud.” I stare at him, my throat tightening. “How?” Aiden shifts, finally looking at me. “Distraction.” I blink. “What kind of distraction?”

The smirk makes a slow return. “Annoying the hell out of you usually works.”

I groan. “Of course it does.” His lips twitch up, but it doesn’t last long.

“Look, Kat, I’m not good at the whole… talking thing. But if you need something to keep your mind from going there again, I canbe obnoxious enough to help with that.” I huff out something between a laugh and a sigh.

“You’re already obnoxious.”

“Exactly.” He smirks. “I’m doing you a favour just by existing.”

I roll my eyes, but the panic is finally loosening its grip, the phantom weight of Max’s hands fading. Aiden watches me closely, his smirk fading just a little.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened,” he says, voice quieter now. “But if you ever do… I’ll listen.” Something in my chest tightens.

“Everyone knows what happened, Aiden. It was all over the news.” I whisper, looking away, focusing on the steady rise and fall of my breathing. Aiden’s voice brings me back.

“I don’t know what happened,” he says, his brow furrowed in confusion. My head snaps to his. I search his eyes for any sign of falsehood, but there’s only honesty.

“You really don’t?” I ask, my voice almost incredulous. Aiden shakes his head, and I nod, feeling the weight of my unspoken truths settle in my chest. “Promise me you won’t look me up,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll tell you what happened, but I want to be the one to tell you, not the articles and their lies.” Aiden’s lips curl into a small smile, and he lifts his pinky, his eyes locking with mine.

“Pinky promise?” He asks, a teasing glint in his gaze. I laugh softly, nodding as I wrap my pinky around his. It’s absurdly comforting—this small, innocent gesture. And for a moment, I don’t feel the world's weight on my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I murmur. Aiden nods like it’s no big deal as if he didn’t just do something that no one else has been able to. For the first time in a long time, the voice in my head is silent.

“Hey,” I say, breaking the silence. “Can you please grab my phone? I threw it while talking to my mom, and she’s probably really worried.” Aiden stands up, walking over to the sink. Hepicks up my phone, its cracked screen still showing the thirty missed calls from my mom.

“I’ll be outside if you need me,” Aiden says, his voice barely audible. I nod, answering my mom’s incoming call. As he walks out, my eyes follow his retreating figure, my heart thumping in my chest.

Chapter Thirteen

KATERINA

The house is alive with energy. Music pounds through the walls, the bass vibrating in my chest as the heat from too many bodies in one space thickens the air. The smell of cheap beer and sweatlingers, mixed with the faint scent of cologne and perfume. This is a typical college party. I should be enjoying myself. Alina had made a whole speech about how we deserved this night after the week we’d had. And she wasn’t wrong.

Classes were exhausting, training was brutal, and I needed something to relieve stress. But then Aiden walked in.

He’s hard to miss, standing near the kitchen, laughing at something Will said, his usual effortless confidence on display. The black t-shirt he’s wearing clings to his arms, and his hair is messy, like he’s been running his fingers through it. He doesn’t look like he belongs in the middle of a rowdy, sweaty crowd.

He looks like he owns the damn place. I don’t realise I’ve been staring until Alina nudges me with her hip.

“You’re glaring.” I snap my eyes back to her.

“I am not.” She raises an eyebrow.

“Right. You’re sending mental daggers in his direction because you like him so much.” I scoff, crossing my arms.

“He’s just annoying.”

“Uh-huh,” Alina smirks, taking a sip of her drink. “So that’s why you haven’t stopped looking at him?”

“I haven’t—”

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