Page 9 of Through the Flames
For a long while, I was alone, with only the wind in the branches and the faint hum of distant streetlights for company. The calm seeped into me, slow and steady, until my pulse matched it.
Until I thought maybe I could breathe again.
Then, an unfamiliar sound caught my attention. It was too light to be the wind and too close to be campus traffic. A faint crunch of gravel, uneven and hesitant.
My head snapped up, my instincts already on high alert.
No one ever came here.
Another step, softer this time, like whoever it was had realized they weren’t alone.
I turned, my pulse spiking.
There she was, a flash of red cutting through the shadows, sneakers pausing mid-step.
Moonlight caught the curve of her face, and for a split second I wondered if I’d finally lost it, if my brain had conjured her out of thin air.
But then came the familiar tilt of her head and the restless shift of her weight from one foot to the other.
Ella.
My heart was beating a mile a minute as her eyes widened. She took in the outline of my hunched form on the bench, shoulders tense and hands clasped between my knees.
Her face lit up. She was a beacon, cutting through the darkness and right through the walls I’d spent years building.
“What, um, what are you doing out here?” she asked, her voice tentative and soft.
I straightened slightly, catching the hint of concern and curiosity in the way she surveyed me.
“I could ask you the same thing.” I eyed her, unimpressed. “You’re supposed to be in bed.”
Literally, considering that’s where she’d been when I checked her location less than half an hour ago.What the fuck was she doing out here at this hour?
Her gaze flicked away for a second, like she was deciding how much to admit.
“I needed some air,” she finally said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just … couldn’t sleep.”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, trying to gauge whether she was telling the whole truth or hiding something.
I didn’t move, keeping my hands clasped between my knees and leaning forward slightly. The night was quiet, except for the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind.
She hadn’t moved closer yet, but her presence filled the space as always. My chest tightened, and my pulse spiked in a way it hadn’t in years.
In the dark, her hair tumbled messily, her eyes catching the lamplight. I couldn’t fucking look away.
“Seriously,” I said finally, my brows furrowed, still trying to ground myself. “What are you doing out here? It’s … not exactly safe.”
Ella shrugged, her gaze flicking down at the gravel as her toes nudged a stray stone.
“I needed air,” she said again, softer this time, like she was testing the truth against my doubt.
I flattened her with a stare.
“Maybe I just wanted a change of scenery,” she said, teasing, though there was an undercurrent of honesty there.
Leaning back, I studied her in the moonlight. She looked small against the dark backdrop of oak trees, yet like she somehow belonged here anyway.
I took in every detail: the faint line on her cheek when she squinted in the lamplight and the way her fingers idly traced the hem of her sleeve.
