Page 167 of Before We Were

"N-no," I force out, though the word scrapes my throat raw. "I…I just need—" But the words die as I'm yanked back to that dark bedroom, feeling Evan's weight crushing me, his hand suffocating me.

Be a good girl and stop screaming.

It will hurt less if you stop moving.

You wanted this, you little bitch.

The concern in Nate's eyes makes my stomach turn. Doubt shadows his features, his own demons layering over mine. We're like two broken mirrors trying to reflect something whole.

"Nora, hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have… I pushed you too far. Fuck. " he says, voice steady despite the pain in his eyes. "Hey, hey." His hands frame my face, grounding me. "I don't know where you've gone, but right now I need you to listen to my voice, okay? Just listen to me."

I nod, barely meeting his eyes as he takes my hand.

"Squeeze my hand," he murmurs, thumb tracing gentle circles on my knuckles. "When you can't breathe, just focus on that. Squeeze as hard as you need to, okay?”

I grip him like a lifeline, nails marking his skin as I fight the spiral.

"I'm here, Len. I got you. Now just keep breathing in and out for me." His voice anchors me, each word deliberate and sure.

Gradually, the panic recedes, leaving me hollow but steady.

Tears spill unbidden, but Nate brushes them away with tender thumbs before grabbing his Guns and Roses shirt off the ground and dressing me in it.

"Lay down," he whispers, guiding me to the bed like something precious. He cradles me against his bare chest where I fit perfectly, arms wrapping around me, lips pressing against my hair. Everything about him feels like coming home.

“I’m… I’m sorry," I choke out, but he shakes his head fiercely.

"Don't," he says firmly. "Don't ever apologize for something that makes you uncomfortable. Not to me. Not to anyone."

There’s no stopping the tears from falling once they start, so I let them while he settles beside me. His fingers find my hair, stroking gently like he used to when we were kids and sleep eluded me. The familiar gesture pulls me back to simpler times, before life complicated everything.

As sleep tugs at my consciousness, I feel his fingers drawing on my back—soft, deliberate patterns. A heart, then the initials N + L inside it.

I drift between sleeping and waking, his warmth keeping the nightmares at bay. Through the haze, I hear his voice, low and aching.

"Who hurt you this badly?"

The name rises like poison to my lips.

Evan.

It slips out, a whisper I never meant to voice.

His sharp inhale follows me into darkness.

CHAPTER50

WHERE SHADOWS MEET

NATE

I lay in the dark,Nora's body curled into mine, her breath warm against my neck. It should calm me—but it wrecks me.

She's wrapped around me like she belongs here. Her thigh slung over mine, fingers against my chest like an anchor. Every curve pressed against me brands itself into my skin.

Her mouth on mine.

Her legs trembling.

---