Unexpected Love [GXG]

Chapter 25: Messy. Slow. Secret.

POV: ENID

Still holding hands, Olivia stepped even closer, her voice shaking, "I'm sorry."

And just like that, the dam inside me crack wide open.

"I hate you," I whispered, my voice cracking.

Olivia flinched, her whole body recoiling like I'd slapped her.

"I hate you for making me feel like this-" I choked on a sob, wiping at my face uselessly, "-for making me think there could be something more... and then acting like it meant nothing!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but I shook my head, stepping back before she could.

"You confuse me," I said, my chest heaving, "you make me want things I don't even know if I should want. You act like you care and then you pull away. You act like it's all a joke, but then you look at me like..." I trailed off, the words catching on the lump in my throat.

"Like what?" Olivia asked hoarsely, her hands fisting at her sides.

I swallowed hard, hating how small my voice sounded. "Like I'm the only person you see."

Her face crumpled, pain flashing across it so fast I almost missed it.

The silence between us was unbearable, thick with everything I was too scared to say.

"I don't know what we are," I said finally, brokenly. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel. I just... I can't keep doing this, Olivia. I can't keep pretending it doesn't hurt."

Olivia closed the distance between us in two strides, her hands reaching out, hesitating, before they gently cupped my face.

"I'm scared too," she whispered, voice rough with emotion. "You think you're the only one confused? I look at you and I forget how to breathe. I don't know how to do this right. But I know I don't want to lose you."

The tears spilled freely now, blurring her face in front of me.

I wanted to believe her.

I wanted it so badly it hurt.

"Then stop pushing me away," I whispered back. "If you care, stop pretending you don't."

Her thumb brushed a tear from my cheek, her touch almost reverent.

"I'm done pretending," Olivia said, her forehead leaning gently against mine.

For a long, trembling second, we just stood there, clinging to the fragile moment, the ocean roaring like a heartbeat around us.

Maybe we were both a mess.
Maybe we were both scared.
But for the first time... it felt like we were finally facing it together.