She Devil

Chapter 11

The words hung between us, heavier than I expected. I didn't even know where they came from hell. I wasn't even sure I believed them myself. But seeing the way Amara froze, her eyes flickering with something she tried hard to hide, I knew I hit a nerve.

Her lips parted slightly, as if searching for the right words. Instead, she let out a soft, sardonic laugh and shook her head.

"Fighting for?" she echoed, almost mockingly. "Masyado kang mayabang, Gray."

She turned away, arms crossed over her chest like a shield. I didn't miss the tension in her jaw, though like she was forcing herself to keep it together.

"Mayabang?" I scoffed, stepping closer. "Sinasabi ko lang ang totoo. I don't say things I don't mean."

She glanced at me over her shoulder, her expression sharp. "That's what everyone says until they don't."

The air thickened between us. She was always like this difficult, guarded, and impossible to figure out. The harder I tried to break through, the more walls she built around herself. But tonight felt different. She wasn't pushing me away for the sake of it. She was scared of something.

I moved until I was standing right in front of her. "Amara." My voice softened, trying to pull her gaze back to mine. "You don't have to fight alone."

This time, she met my eyes. "Maybe you should stop trying to bail me out, Gray."

"Maybe you should let someone try."

The silence stretched on. Her eyes searched mine, looking for something I wasn't sure I even had to give. And yet, I couldn't look away.

"You don't know me, not a single thing." she said finally, her voice a whisper. "You think you do, but you don't. The things I've done they'd make you walk away faster than you think."

Her words should've been a warning. Instead, they felt like a challenge.

"Then tell me."

Amara flinched slightly, like I had crossed some invisible line. She stepped back, the distance between us growing again.

"You're too stubborn," she muttered. "Mapapahamak ka lang kasama ako."

"Maybe I don't care," I shot back.

She paused, her eyes narrowing as she studied me. "You should."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "You know what your problem is?"

She arched a brow, amused despite herself. "Enlighten me."

"You're so used to pushing everyone away that you don't know what to do when someone pushes back."

She tilted her head, the corner of her mouth quirking up. "And ikaw? What makes you so different?"

"I'm not walking away," I said, meeting her stare head-on.

Her smile faltered, just for a second. It was so subtle I almost missed it, but it was there a crack in the armor she'd spent years perfecting.

"Bakit, Gray?" she asked softly. "Why are you even trying?"

Her question caught me off guard. I opened my mouth to answer but realized I didn't have a good reason. Or maybe I had too many.

"Does it matter?" I said eventually. "I just am."

The way she looked at me like she was seeing something she wasn't sure how to deal with made my chest tighten. For someone so strong, so unbreakable, Amara looked impossibly fragile in that moment.