The Pages Within [BxB]

Dilemma

The weight of everything had finally come crashing down, and it felt like I was drowning. After the confrontation with the team, I was spiraling, grasping for anything that could pull me back from the edge, but there was nothing to hold on to. I'd walked out of that locker room stripped bare, with my carefully constructed world crumbling piece by piece. Now, standing in the ruins, I had no idea how to fix it.

I thought maybe I could turn to Jason. He was the one person who'd made me feel less alone in this mess, the only one who seemed to understand what I was going through. But when I needed him the most, he was gone.

Days passed without a word from him. My texts went unanswered, my calls ignored. When he finally did respond, his replies were vague—just enough to keep me at a distance. At first, I told myself he was busy, that he had his own life to deal with. But as the silence stretched on, the more obvious it became that something was wrong. Something had shifted between us.

Then the rumors reached him too.

I never wanted this for Jason. He was quiet, the type of guy who stayed under the radar, content to blend into the background. But my mess had dragged him into the spotlight. The rumors—about me, about what people thought I had written in that damn journal—started connecting me to him. People began to speculate, twisting fragments of truth with their own warped assumptions. And now, Jason had become part of the story.

That's when he disappeared.

I ran into him by chance one afternoon, not far from the art building. I was on my way to class, trying to keep my head down, my mind swirling with thoughts of Ava, the team, the shitstorm of rumors that seemed to follow me everywhere. Then I saw him.

Jason was sitting on a bench, alone, sketching something in his notebook. For a moment, I stood there, watching him from a distance. My heart raced. I hadn't seen him in over a week, and now, seeing him so suddenly, I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to turn and leave. It would've been easier to walk away, avoid the conversation I knew was coming. But I couldn't. I needed to know why he'd been avoiding me.

I forced myself to approach, each step heavy, the weight of everything pressing down on me. "Jason," I called out, my voice hesitant.

He looked up, his eyes widening for just a moment before something shifted in his expression. Guilt? Maybe. But he quickly masked it, his face hardening into something distant.

"Hey," he said, his voice flat. He didn't close his sketchbook, didn't move to make room for me on the bench. I stood there, feeling awkward, unsure of what to say.

"I haven't seen you around," I began, trying to keep my tone light, casual, but even I could hear the strain in my voice. "You've been avoiding me."

Jason didn't look at me. He kept his eyes on his sketch, the pencil moving across the page in quick, sharp strokes. "Yeah. I've been busy. School and... other stuff."

"Busy?" I repeated, frustration creeping in. "It feels like you've been avoiding me on purpose."

He tensed but said nothing. The only sound was the scratch of his pencil against the paper. The tension between us was thick, suffocating. Finally, with a sigh, he put down the pencil and leaned back, eyes flicking up to meet mine.

"I'm not avoiding you," he said, but the hollowness in his voice gave him away. "Things are just... complicated right now."

"Complicated?" I stared at him, my frustration bubbling over. "I thought you were the one person who understood. You're the only one who made me feel like I wasn't losing it. Now you're telling me you're too busy?"

Jason's jaw clenched, and he looked away, his eyes darkening. "I get what you're going through, David. I really do. But you don't understand how this is affecting me."