𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 ོ

"You win."

My breath caught. "What are you talking about?"

He turned then, slowly, like it took everything he had left, and crossed the space between us in two steps. Suddenly he was right there in front of me. His face was pale, streaked with exhaustion, his eyes burning with something between heartbreak and fury. He bent down slightly, close enough that I could feel the tremor in his breath. "I love you."

I blinked.

He stared at me, his jaw tight, then he gave a small, broken laugh. "There," he said. "You got your money. Are you happy now?"

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Maeve Beaumont has always known the choreography of perfection. Cheer captain, ballerina, daughter of a woman who mistakes control for love, she's built her world on poise and performance. But when a careless bet turns into something far too real, Maeve finds herself drawn towards Stanley Uris; the quiet boy.

Stan doesn't belong in her universe, and he doesn't want to. His life is measured in neat lines and careful order, a fragile balance held together by silence. Maeve's presence threatens all of it, her laughter, her light, her refusal to leave him alone. Yet beneath her confidence lies a girl unraveling, one who's starting to see the cracks in everything she's been taught to be.

As secrets surface and loyalties fracture, Flightless Bird becomes a story about the cost of wanting more - of love that's too complicated, too honest, too human to fit inside the rules they've both spent their lives obeying. Because some birds aren't meant to fly the way others do. Some are meant to fall, and learn how to rise on their own.

"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜."