After spending a night together, Alani never expected to see Valerio again. That is, until three months later when their paths meet once more. "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒕, 𝑨𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒊," 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌. 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒕, 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑰 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 - 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅.

|| Featured FREE story with exclusive paid chapters - previously a paid story || When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time. ***** Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston