Beneath the Surface

Chapter 36

Y/N stretched as she laced up her running shoes, rolling her shoulders as she tried to shake off the tension that had been building in her body. A few days had passed since Lizzie had moved in, and while things had settled into a relatively comfortable routine, the air between them felt heavy with something unspoken—something neither of them was quite ready to address.

The upcoming premiere for Lizzie's latest movie was looming on the horizon, and her team had been relentlessly hounding her about it—emails, texts, and calls all piling up. Y/N could see the stress it was causing Lizzie, how her shoulders would tense every time her phone lit up, the way she sighed as if the weight of it was pressing down on her.

But there was something else, too. Something that had nothing to do with the premiere.

Y/N couldn't ignore the growing tension between them—the way Lizzie's gaze lingered a little too long, or how Y/N's thoughts kept drifting to places they shouldn't. She knew it was dangerous to stay so close, but leaving wasn't an option. Not after everything. So instead, she found herself slipping out for long runs, hoping the physical exhaustion would drown out the thoughts in her head.

As she pulled the laces tight, Y/N heard Viktor's familiar voice from the kitchen.

"Going for another run?" he asked, not looking up from whatever paperwork he was going over.

"Yeah," Y/N muttered, rolling her shoulders to ease the tension. "Need to clear my head."

Viktor raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching into a knowing smirk. "Is that what we're calling it?"

Y/N shot him a glare, but he didn't stop.

"Running away from a certain someone, maybe?" Viktor teased, still focused on the papers in front of him.

Y/N clenched her jaw. "I'm not running away from anything."

Viktor finally looked up, his smirk widening. "Sure you're not. But it's hard to miss the way you two look at each other. That tension's so thick you could cut it with a knife."

Y/N glared at him, her voice sharp. "Stay out of it, Viktor."

He shrugged, clearly not fazed by her warning. "I'm just saying. You've got eyes. She's got eyes. Maybe you should stop pretending like you don't notice."

Y/N felt her pulse quicken, the heat of frustration rising in her chest. Viktor was right—of course he was. She wasn't blind to the way Lizzie looked at her, just as she wasn't blind to her own wandering thoughts. But acting on it? That was a whole different story.

She grabbed her keys, ignoring the smug look Viktor shot her as she headed for the door. "I'll be back in an hour."

"Take your time," Viktor called after her. "Maybe clear your head a little better this time."

———

Y/N hit the pavement hard, her feet pounding rhythmically against the ground as she focused on nothing but the steady beat of her breathing. The cool air whipped against her skin, but no matter how far she ran, she couldn't shake the thoughts that swirled in her head.

The premiere was coming up in less than a week, and Lizzie's stress was palpable. She had been bombarded with messages from her team, asking about her dress, her hair, her makeup—every little detail had to be perfect. Y/N had seen the way Lizzie's brow furrowed whenever she glanced at her phone, how she'd run her hands through her hair, sighing in frustration.

It was no secret that Lizzie wasn't fond of these big, public events, but this one felt different. Bigger. More pressure. And Y/N couldn't help but feel like the least she could do was offer some kind of support.