The boy who hurt me first

Tessa Young is everything an eighteen-year-old girl is supposed to be-brilliant, driven, ambitious enough to dream of a university far away from the town that feels too small for her thoughts.
She loves quiet, books, and the feeling of being in control of her future.

But there is one thing she can't control.

Hardin Scott.

The boy she built sandcastles with at the beach.
The boy who held her hand on her first day of school.
The boy who once swore he would never hurt her.

That same boy is now the reason she wakes up with fear in her chest every morning.

Ever since his mother died, Hardin has been shattered-hard, distant, angry-and Tessa has become the perfect target for a storm he can't understand or contain.
The words that once brought her safety now cut like blades.
The eyes that once held warmth are now colder than steel.

Everyone sees Hardin as the boy who smokes, drinks, fights, and fears nothing.
But Tessa sees something else.

A pain no one recognizes.
A void that never found words.
And a past that tied them together-only to rip them apart.

But feelings don't listen to logic.

And Tessa, against every principle she lives by,
falls for the boy who hurts her every single day.

She hates herself for it.
She doesn't understand it.
But every time Hardin shoves her into the lockers, she sees the same flash of the boy who used to catch her when she fell.

And every time he insults her, something in his eyes breaks with her.

When Tessa's feelings can no longer stay hidden-when her heart finally speaks louder than her fear-Hardin is forced to face a choice he's never had the courage to make:

Will he become the boy who once protected her...
or remain the boy who pushes her away to avoid losing himself?

And the question that could destroy them both:

Can love grow out of pain-
or will it be the final crack that breaks them for good?

~~~~~~~
Currently rewriting