The Loner

twenty-three: he catches them together

Oops.

. . .

Zak's pov

The night air is cold, biting into my skin as I walk.

My hoodie barely does anything against the chill, but I don't care. The streets are quiet, the kind of empty that would've bothered me before. But now, I welcome it. It's easier to think when everything around me is still.

My mind is stuck on Zel, and for a moment, the warmth of her laughter and the way her curls bounce when she smiles brings a fleeting sense of comfort.

But then the memory shifts. I recall the tightness in her voice, the way her eyes wouldn't meet mine when she said she couldn't have dinner tonight. She never hides things from me, not like that. But, today, she did.

And it hurt.

Hypocrite, my conscience snaps at me.

I cut through a side street, the pavement damp beneath my boots.

Every step feels heavier than the last. Part of me wants to turn around, go back to my place, and just forget about it. But I can't.

Not when I have this feeling gnawing at the back of my skull, telling me something's not right.

My hands are shoved deep into my hoodie pockets, clenched tight. I walk past the old diner near the park, the one my 'family' owns. I wasn't planning to stop, but something catches my eye through the window.

And it stops me cold.

Caleb. Sitting at a booth, leaning back like he owns the place.

But what stabs me in the gut, harder than anything, is Zel sitting there with him. The way she's laughing, her head tilted back slightly, her eyes bright like she's actually enjoying herself. The way she twirls a strand of her hair around her finger, something she does when she's comfortable, when she's happy.

She's happy.

I don't know what hits me first-anger, disbelief, or the suffocating knot in my chest that tightens until I can barely breathe.

I stand there, frozen.

My pulse hammers in my ears as I watch them, my body refusing to move. I can't hear what they're saying from here, but I can see Caleb's smug grin, the way he leans forward, too casual, too confident. It's the same look he gives when he knows he's winning when he's breaking someone down.

And Zel's sitting there, laughing with him like nothing's wrong.

The anger is sharp, but the hurt cuts deeper, settling in my chest like a weight. She told me it was family stuff. She lied to me. And now, she's sitting here with the one person who's made my life hell, smiling like she's enjoying every second.

It's like a punch to the gut, winding me, stealing my breath.

It's not just that she's with him-it's that she lied to me. And now she's laughing with the same guy who's torn me apart piece by piece.

And she doesn't even know.

I want to storm in, drag him out, demand an explanation. But I don't. I stay in the shadows, watching, my fists clenched so tight my nails bite into my skin. The pain doesn't register. Nothing does, except the burning knot in my chest.

She said she trusted me. After everything, after her birthday, after the nights we spent together-how could she do this?

I force myself to breathe, even as my heart shatters a little more with every second I stand here watching.