I love you to death.

Chapter 13: Unravel

"I've been dreaming of Hudson too."
Aidan gushed after admitting to being jealous.
The world stopped spinning. His voice cut through the air like a knife, slicing through my thoughts. My heart pounded in my chest, echoing in my ears.
"What did you just say?"

Aidan's eyes softened, guilt washing over his face.
"Hudson's been... talking to me in my dreams. For a while now."

The room started to spin again. A cold rush of panic spread through my veins, making my hands tremble. No. No, this couldn't be happening. My dreams were supposed to be my connection to Hudson, something no one else could touch. How could Aidan be sharing that? How could Hudson be talking to him too?

"What are you talking about?"

My voice came out shaky, barely above a whisper.

Aidan stepped closer, his voice low, like he was confessing the darkest secret of his life.

"Hudson's been telling me about how he died, Jaclyn. He's been showing me. It wasn't an accident. He didn't overdose. He was murdered."

I gasped, the floor slipping out from under me. My legs gave way, and I gripped the back of the chair to steady myself. My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat harder and faster than the last.
"Murdered? No, that's not true. He overdosed... he..."

"No,"
Aidan said, shaking his head, his eyes wide and desperate.

"Someone messed with his medication. They made it look like an overdose, but it wasn't. It was on purpose."

I couldn't breathe. The walls of the room seemed to close in on me, crushing me under the weight of what Aidan was saying. Murder? Someone had done this to Hudson? No... no, that couldn't be true. I shook my head, unable to make sense of it.
"How could you keep this from me?"
My voice cracked, raw with pain.
"You've known this all along, and you didn't say anything?"

Aidan's face fell, and he ran a hand through his hair, clearly struggling.
"I didn't know what to do, Jaclyn. I didn't want to make it worse for you. I wasn't even sure if it was real. Dreams are just... dreams, right?"

Tears welled in my eyes, but I forced them back. "You should have told me, Aidan. I've been dreaming of him and you knew that."
My voice faltered, the realization cutting deeper than I expected.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I didn't want to hurt you," Aidan whispered, stepping closer. "I didn't know if I could believe it myself. At first it was a grieving thing, but it's real."

But the betrayal was too sharp, too fresh. My dreams of Hudson had been my only solace, the only thing that made me feel like I wasn't going crazy. And now Aidan was telling me that all this time, he had been keeping this from me, letting me live in the dark, believing lies about how Hudson died.

"You should have told me," I repeated, my voice shaking. "I deserved to know."

Aidan's eyes were filled with regret.

"I know. I'm sorry, Jaclyn. I didn't want to make you question everything. You've been through enough."

I turned away from him, my mind racing. Everything I had believed, everything I thought I knew, had just been shattered. Hudson hadn't overdosed. Someone had killed him. Someone had taken him from me on purpose. My heart ached with a grief so raw, it felt like it might tear me apart.

"How could this happen?" I whispered, mostly to myself. "Who would do this?"

"I don't know," Aidan said, his voice small. "Hudson didn't tell me who. But he said it was someone who knew he was seeing your dad for therapy."

My dad. I felt a sharp pang of guilt. Was Oliver involved? No, that couldn't be. But someone knew. Someone close to Hudson, close to us, had done this. My stomach twisted with the realization, my mind racing to try and piece it together.

Josie's voice cut through the fog.
"What do we do now?"

I blinked, my vision blurred with unshed tears. What do we do? How do we fix something like this? My hands trembled as I wiped my face, trying to gather myself.

"We have to figure out who did this,"
I said, my voice steadier now, though it felt like a lie.
"Hudson's been trying to tell us, trying to show us. We can't just... let it go."

Aidan stepped closer, his voice soft, but determined. "We'll figure it out together, Jaclyn. I promise."

I nodded, but my heart felt heavy with the weight of everything I had just learned. Aidan had kept this secret for so long, and now everything felt tangled, confusing, like I couldn't trust anything or anyone anymore.

Hudson had been murdered. Someone had taken him from me, and now he was haunting my dreams, trying to show me the truth. I clenched my fists, anger bubbling beneath the surface. I wasn't going to let this go. I couldn't.

Hudson deserved justice, and I wasn't going to stop until I found out who had done this to him.

Aidan reached out, his hand brushing mine, and despite everything, there was comfort in that small gesture. He had been wrong to keep this from me, but he was here now, and I wasn't alone in this nightmare.

"I'm sorry, Jaclyn."
he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.

I met his gaze, my heart aching with the weight of what we had lost.
"We'll figure this out."
I repeated, as much to him as to myself. But inside, I wasn't sure how we would. Everything felt so uncertain, so terrifying. And the only thing I was sure of was that the person responsible for Hudson's death was still out there.

And I would stop at nothing to find them.