The Space Between Us

The only way to stay forever young is to die young. That's immortality.

Olivia Baldwin is eighteen and already drowning. From the outside, her life looks perfect-pretty house, good grades, polished smile. But underneath, she's suffocating. She's quiet. Guarded. Haunted by things she doesn't talk about. Maybe doesn't even fully understand. She moves through her final year of high school torpid. She's spent years becoming someone who can pretend. Someone who can survive. And she's good at it-until she meets Nate.
He's not a savior. Just another storm. Their connection is toxic and slow-burning, and he's impossible to shake. It's real, but real doesn't mean safe. It doesn't mean healthy. What begins as comfort spirals into something that blurs pain with love until the two are impossible to tell apart. This isn't a love story, not really. It's the story of a girl who's breaking. Who's been breaking for a long time. And who finally has to ask herself if surviving is the same thing as living-and if she still wants either.

His hands are warm. Calloused fingertips skim my jaw, tilting my face up until I have no choice but to look at him.

"You always do this," Nate says, voice low, like it's a secret meant just for me.

My breath catches. "Do what?"

He doesn't blink. Doesn't move. Just watches me like he's already read my response.

"Look at me like you hate me," he murmurs. "When I know you don't."

I want to laugh. Or flinch. Or lie.

His thumb brushes the edge of my cheek. I should pull away. I don't. We're close-too close. I can feel the tension between us, thick and heavy like it's waiting to break. Like I'm waiting to break.

"Maybe I do," I whisper, even though the words don't land the way I want them to. My voice sounds more like a question than a warning.

His lips ghost across my skin, just enough to make me shiver.

"Liar."