BloodTide.

Gina

Moving into that tiny apartment felt like cutting the last golden thread tying me to my family. No guards. No rules. Just me... and him.

Xavier Patrova.

I noticed him immediately-the tattoos crawling down his arms, the way his presence filled the room like something heavy and unmovable. He barely looked at me when I walked in, just muttered a low "don't touch my stuff" before disappearing into his room.

I talk when I'm nervous. So I talked. About the apartment, the weather, the stupid elevator that smelled weird. He ignored every word.

God, I hated him.

He was rude, cold, impossible to read. And worst of all-he made me feel small in a way my family never did. Not protected. Just... insignificant.

But then I saw it.

By accident, really.

That's when everything shifted.

Xavier wasn't just some rude, cold stranger.

He was drowning.

And suddenly... I couldn't hate him anymore.

-

Xavier

She talks too much.

That was my first thought when Gina Cameron walked into the apartment like she owned the air itself. Bright voice. Bright eyes. Too bright.

People like her don't belong in places like this.

I kept my distance. I had to.

Because if she looked too close, she'd see it. The mess. The truth. The fact that I'm barely holding anything together.

But she doesn't stop.

She smiles. She asks questions. She fills the silence I've spent years building.

And I hate it.

...until the day she finds out.

I didn't mean for her to hear. Didn't mean for her to see the bills, the medicine, the photo of my mother slowly slipping away while I can't afford to save her.

When I turned and saw her standing there, I expected judgment.

Disgust.

Pity.

Instead, she just looked at me like... I mattered.

Like I wasn't something broken.

That scared me more than anything.

Because Gina Cameron is everything I should stay away from.

But the way she looked at me that day-

It changed everything.