Chapter 105: Everything’s Falling Apart
Kieran:
"I don’t need you to take me back," Evaline said for what must have been the fifth time.
Her arms were crossed, her jaw set, and her eyes were locked stubbornly on the windshield of my car, where the streetlights passed by in gold-tinted streaks. She hadn’t looked at me once since we left the park.
"I’m not leaving you here alone," I replied as I returned my attention to the road ahead.
"It’s not like I can’t take care of myself."
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. "I know that. But it’s getting dark. I’m not comfortable letting you wander around alone at a place you have known for barely few weeks. This isn’t up for debate."
She didn’t respond, just clenched her fists tighter in her lap and exhaled sharply through her nose.
She was trying so hard to push me away. Drawing lines. Paying back debts I never even considered as debts. Putting distance between us like it was the only way to breathe. And the worst part?
A part of me was letting her.
Because I could see how tired she was. How brittle she had become beneath her hard exterior.
Still, I didn’t trust the idea of her being alone tonight, and nothing she could say was going to convince me otherwise. The silence stretched between us like a wire strung too tight, and I focused on the winding road back to the Academy, pretending it didn’t sting to feel her withdrawal.