Page 194 of Before We Were

I rise and grab his wrists, stilling his restless movement. His pulse races beneath my fingers like trapped birds. "You were dealing with your own demons. But you're here now," I say, trying to catch his eyes that seem to hold all the darkness of the lake behind us.

"That's not??—"

I silence him with a kiss that tastes like forgiveness and fear mixed together. When I pull away, the look he gives me makes my heart stop—not pity or anything I feared, but a fierce pride.

"You're brave. So fucking brave, but I—" His voice breaks, and his hands begin trembling.

I see what he's thinking in the way his jaw clenches like steel, in how his eyes darken to match the night. He wants to destroy Evan. The thought terrifies me—not for Evan's sake, but for Nate's, for how violence seems to call to him like a siren song.

"Don't," I whisper, my voice steady as the north star despite the storm inside me. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, please don't."

His gaze snaps to mine, his expression torn between rage and devotion.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," I say firmly, anchored in certainty. "Please, Nate."

He looks away, chest heaving like he's running from something. He's falling apart before me, and I can't bear to watch.

I place my hands on either side of his face, feeling his warmth beneath my palms despite the cool night air. The pain in his eyes makes my chest ache like an old wound reopened.

"Listen to me. You're here now," I whisper, the words a balm against broken things. "That's what matters."

I lean in, pressing my lips to his in a kiss that's as much a plea as it is a promise. For a moment, he's frozen, but then his hands come up to cradle my face and he kisses me back with a tenderness that feels like coming home.

The world falls away, leaving just us, broken but together, finding wholeness in each other's fragments. The lake whispers secrets behind us, and the stars above bear witness to this moment where pain and healing dance like light on water, where two damaged souls find sanctuary in each other's arms.

CHAPTER57

MAGNATA

NATE

She called?My mind races, desperately searching for any memory of that call. There's nothing but a dark void where I should've been for her. Nausea rises as I piece together the timeline, each second of silence between us sharpening the ache like broken glass.

"Farrah answered."

Every muscle in my body tenses. Her words shatter something in me. I would've taken any amount of pain—broken bones, my father's fists, anything—over this. She reached for me, and I let her fall.

"Nora, I'm so sorry," is all I can find myself saying, over and over again. My voice is barely louder than my thundering pulse. Her pain mirrors my own, a reflection of all my failures.

"I swear to God, if—" I mutter, the words slipping out like venom. My fists clench until my knuckles ache.

Her hand covers mine and her eyes lock onto mine, wide with worry—not for herself, but for me.

"Don't," she says firmly. "Please, Nate. I just got you back… I can't lose you again."

She isn't afraid of Evan. She's afraid of what I might become because of her. That thought weighs heavier than mountains.

I want to promise her I won't do anything reckless, that I'll let it go. But that would be a lie darker than the lake below us. If Evan breathes near her again, I'll make him regret every second of his miserable existence.

"You didn't deserve any of this. Not then, not now, not ever."

She searches my face like she's trying to untangle the tempest inside me. Instead of retreating, she leans in, cradling my face like I'm something precious rather than destructive. Her touch steadies my world on its axis. Then she kisses me. It's everything I didn't know I needed until this moment suspended between heartbeats. The anger, pain, and guilt fades like in an instant.

There's nothing but her.

I kiss her back, framing her face with my hands. She's been my solace, keeping me from losing myself to the darkness that's always threatened to consume me long before now. With her lips on mine and her heart against my chest, I understand that broken things can be beautiful in their healing. When we break apart, her forehead rests against mine, skin warm and damp with tears. Our breaths mingle in the cool night air, creating a sanctuary between us.

One truth I know for certain is that I would go to the ends of the earth for this girl. No length I wouldn't go to, no line I wouldn't cross, no fire I wouldn't walk through. Because she isn't just part of my world—she's the entire galaxy, and I'm caught in her orbit like a planet that's forgotten how to spin any other way.

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