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Whether it’s the allure of wealth, the danger of the underworld, or the beauty of love against all odds — Ashley’s Stories brings you tales that are bold, emotional, and unforgettable.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I don't realize I'm shaking until I grip the edge of the counter, and the plastic shopping basket rattles like it's announcing my fear to everyone in the store.
00:08I try to breathe, but the breath gets stuck halfway in my chest, like my ribs forgot how to move.
00:14I know he followed me.
00:16I felt it the second I slipped inside this convenience store.
00:19Too bright.
00:20Too clean, the kind of place where people pretend their lives aren't falling.
00:25Apart while they buy bottled water and gum.
00:27I don't belong in spaces like this.
00:30Not when my world turns to static the moment I sense danger.
00:33And danger has a name.
00:34My stalker.
00:35The man who's been watching me for weeks.
00:37Who whispers things from behind the screen of a burner phone.
00:40Who stands outside my apartment building, just close enough that the police tell me there's nothing they can do.
00:45I thought I was losing it at first.
00:47Thought it was trauma kicking old wounds awake.
00:50But trauma doesn't walk exactly ten steps behind me.
00:53Trauma doesn't breathe heavier when I pick up my pace.
00:56Trauma doesn't have a reflection in the glass door I just walked through.
00:59I keep my head down, pretending to focus on the rows of energy bars in front of me.
01:04My fingers skim the wrappers, but I can't read anything.
01:07My heartbeat is pounding too loud.
01:08That familiar itch crawls up the back of my neck.
01:11He's here.
01:12He's in the store.
01:13And I'm so damn tired of running.
01:15I swallow hard and force my voice out in a whisper no one hears.
01:18Not here.
01:19Not again, please.
01:21The air shifts behind me.
01:22I don't have to turn around to know he's close.
01:25My stalker moves like a shadow, pretending to be human.
01:28Quiet.
01:28Heavy.
01:29Suffocating.
01:31My chest tightens.
01:32I can feel him waiting for me to look over my shoulder.
01:35He likes that part.
01:36He likes that moment when he sees fear land in my eyes.
01:39My hand twitches toward my phone inside my jacket, but I stop.
01:43He told me not to call anyone again.
01:45At least that's what the note on my windshield said last night.
01:48I squeeze the shopping basket harder, trying to ground myself.
01:52The fluorescent lights hum above me.
01:54A family laughs near the refrigerators.
01:56The world keeps turning like nothing is wrong,
01:58while mine is unspooling in bright aisles that smell like citrus cleaner.
02:02I finally look up at the mirrored security dome above me.
02:06My stomach flips.
02:07He's standing two aisles back.
02:09Tall.
02:10Gray hoodie.
02:11Hands in pockets.
02:12Staring directly at me.
02:13I look away fast.
02:14Pulse choking me.
02:16Breath catching in my throat like I swallowed fire.
02:18I back up a step, ready to bolt toward the front exit.
02:21Even if it means crashing into someone.
02:23I don't get the chance.
02:25Because suddenly, the air behind me changes again.
02:28This time colder.
02:30Steadier.
02:31Like someone else stepped into my orbit.
02:33Someone who doesn't move like a stalker.
02:35Someone who feels like a boundary.
02:37A wall.
02:38A warning.
02:39A storm wrapped in calm.
02:40I don't know how I know it, but I do.
02:42This isn't him.
02:43This is someone else.
02:50I stiffen.
02:51My body goes quiet in that animal way.
02:53Fight or freeze.
02:55I can almost feel the heat of a chest behind my shoulder blades.
02:58But he's not touching me.
02:59He's just...
03:00There.
03:01Then a voice, low and controlled, slips right into my ear.
03:04Step back.
03:05Just two words.
03:06Two soft, lethal words.
03:08But they land like a hand closing around the moment, pulling it into focus.
03:12I don't move.
03:13I can't move.
03:14My fingers lock around the basket's handle.
03:16He speaks again.
03:17The tone deeper this time.
03:19Like he's talking to someone who isn't me.
03:21I won't say it again.
03:23The store goes silent in my head.
03:25The hum of the lights disappears.
03:27The sound of shoppers fades.
03:28There's only him.
03:30This stranger whose presence feels like a command.
03:32Like he owns the oxygen in the room and shares it only if he decides I deserve it.
03:37My throat goes tight.
03:38Who...
03:39Who are you talking to?
03:40I whisper, terrified the answer might be me.
03:43But when I risk a tiny glance to the side, I see it.
03:47The shadow of his profile in my peripheral vision.
03:50Strong jaw.
03:51A line of stubble.
03:53Shoulders so broad they crowd the space around me without touching me.
03:57He tilts his head just slightly, watching something past me.
04:00And I realize, he's looking at my stalker.
04:03My knees weaken.
04:04Because whoever this man is, my stalker heard that voice too.
04:08I don't have to turn around to know the gray hoodie nightmare is hesitating.
04:11I can feel the shift.
04:13The way a predator pauses when a bigger predator enters the clearing.
04:16That doesn't make me safer.
04:17If anything, it makes everything sharper, more dangerous.
04:20My whisper comes out thin.
04:22What...
04:22What's happening?
04:23The stranger takes a slow breath, like he's calming himself.
04:27Not me.
04:28You're being followed.
04:30He murmurs.
04:31Voice steady as ice.
04:33You know that.
04:34I close my eyes for a second.
04:36Shame pulses hard in my chest.
04:38Yes, I breathe.
04:40I know.
04:41His breath brushes my ear, not on purpose.
04:43But close enough that it sends a tremor through me.
04:46He's studying the man behind me like he's assessing.
04:49A threat he's seen a thousand times.
04:51I've been watching him watch you.
04:53He says softly.
04:54But when he stepped inside behind you, that's where it stops.
04:58The phrase hits me like a jolt.
05:00I've been watching him watch you.
05:02My head turns a fraction.
05:03Panic flaring again.
05:05And who are you?
05:06My voice cracks.
05:08Another?
05:09No.
05:10His answer is so quick, so sure, it snatches the doubt out of my lungs.
05:14He leans in.
05:15Just enough that his next words belong only to me.
05:18I'm not here to scare you.
05:19I'm here because he picked the wrong woman to follow.
05:22My heart stutters.
05:23Wrong woman?
05:24He doesn't answer that.
05:26Instead, he says, don't turn around yet.
05:28Which is exactly what my instincts want me to do.
05:31Spin, run, scream.
05:33But something stops me.
05:34Or maybe someone.
05:36This stranger's presence doesn't feel like a threat.
05:39I know threats.
05:40I've lived with them pressed against my spine.
05:42Haunting my phone.
05:44Crawling into my dreams.
05:45This feels...
05:47Different.
05:48Controlled.
05:49Calculated.
05:50Dangerous, yes, but not aimed at me.
05:53He speaks again, lower now.
05:55He's about to take a step forward.
05:57When he does, move closer to me.
05:59I don't even know you.
06:00I whisper, trembling.
06:03You will, he replies.
06:04My breath hitches.
06:06My pulse spikes.
06:07And just as he said, I hear it.
06:09A quiet scrape of a sneaker on cheap tile.
06:12A footstep.
06:14Closer.
06:14Intentional.
06:15Fear detonates in my chest.
06:17I almost drop the basket.
06:19Everything inside me curls into survival mode.
06:21That old, familiar heat rising up my throat.
06:24But before I can react, the stranger behind me shifts his stance.
06:28Not touching me, but bracing like he's ready to put.
06:30His body between mine and the danger.
06:32I've been carrying alone.
06:34Come here, he murmurs.
06:36Voice like a velvet threat.
06:37Now.
06:38I step backward before my mind catches up.
06:41Right into him.
06:42Heat.
06:42Strength.
06:43Presence.
06:43He's like a wall of tempered steel.
06:46And the moment my back brushes his chest, something inside me breaks.
06:50Not in a bad way.
06:51In the kind of way that tastes like relief I didn't know I was starving for.
06:55His hand comes up beside my arm.
06:56Not touching me, just hovering.
06:58Guiding.
06:59That's it, he whispers.
07:01Stay close.
07:03My stalker takes another step.
07:04I hear it.
07:05I feel it.
07:06And then everything happens at once.
07:08The stranger steps fully behind me.
07:10Shifting our bodies so I'm shielded.
07:12His arm slides in front of me.
07:14Not grabbing.
07:15Not restraining.
07:16Just blocking.
07:17Like he's drawing a line in the air.
07:19A line my stalker isn't allowed to cross.
07:22Touch her.
07:22The stranger says, voice low.
07:24Lethal.
07:25Meant for only one man in this store.
07:27And you don't walk out of here.
07:29Understand?
07:30My lungs collapse for a second.
07:32I feel dizzy.
07:33It's the tone.
07:34I've never heard anyone talk like that.
07:37Not even the cops.
07:38Not even my ex who thought yelling counted as protection.
07:41This is different.
07:42This is a promise.
07:43A consequence waiting to happen.
07:45My stalker doesn't answer.
07:47Because cowards never do.
07:49Instead, I hear retreat.
07:51Quick.
07:52Uncertain.
07:53The sound of a threat folding in on itself.
07:55But that's when the worst thought hits me.
07:57What if this new man is worse?
07:59I swallow.
08:00Voice thin as thread.
08:01Why are you helping me?
08:03The stranger doesn't answer right away.
08:05When he does, his voice is softer than I expect.
08:09Because you looked like you were about to break.
08:11He murmurs.
08:13And I don't let things break around me.
08:15A shiver races down my spine.
08:17I don't know if that's a warning or a vow.
08:19Maybe both.
08:20Then he steps back just enough for me to turn around.
08:23I look up, slowly, into the eyes of the man who just shielded me.
08:27Like it cost him nothing.
08:29And my entire world tilts.
08:31Because I know that face.
08:32Not personally.
08:33But by reputation.
08:34The expensive watch.
08:36The tattoo curling up his forearm.
08:38The quiet confidence of someone who never raises his voice but could end a life between
08:42breaths.
08:43I know exactly who he is.
08:45A mafia boss.
08:46And he just protected me.
08:47My stomach drops as his gaze pins me in place.
08:50Unreadable.
08:51Then he says, voice steady.
08:53You're coming with me.
08:54My breath stops.
08:55I don't remember walking out of the store.
08:57I only remember his hand not touching me but guiding me.
09:01His presence clearing a path through the doorway like the world knows not to get in his way.
09:07The sunlight hits my face when we step outside.
09:10Warm and almost too bright.
09:11Like it's mocking the panic twisting through my chest.
09:14I finally find my voice when we reach the parking lot.
09:17This is insane, I whisper.
09:20Because saying it louder feels like it might shatter me.
09:23I don't even know your name.
09:25You will.
09:26He doesn't slow down.
09:27That's not- you can't just-
09:29My breath staggers.
09:30I try to pull back.
09:32But his hand moves out.
09:33Blocking me again without touching.
09:35He's careful.
09:36Too careful for someone with his reputation.
09:38He stops beside a black SUV that looks like it could survive a missile.
09:42The paint is glossy enough to reflect my fear back at me.
09:45He opens the passenger door.
09:47Get in.
09:48I freeze.
09:48No.
09:49He looks at me then.
09:51Really looks.
09:52His gaze is like being scanned.
09:54Quiet.
09:54Piercing.
09:56Seeing more than I want anyone to see.
09:58This isn't a kidnapping, he says.
10:00It's protection.
10:01Your stalker wasn't just following you.
10:03He was waiting for you to be alone.
10:05I was alone, I snap, the truth thickening my voice.
10:09I've been alone for years.
10:11Something flashes in his eyes.
10:13Something sharp and almost regretful.
10:15You won't be today, he says.
10:18Get in.
10:19I should run.
10:20I should scream.
10:20I should do anything except Obeya,
10:23Mafia boss whose name people whisper like a curse in alleyways.
10:26But my body betrays me.
10:27Or maybe it's my exhaustion.
10:29The kind that crawls down to the bone.
10:31Because the second I sit inside the SUV,
10:33the door closing with a soft thud,
10:35some part of me unclenches.
10:37Maybe because for the first time in weeks I'm not scanning over my shoulder.
10:40Maybe.
10:41Because danger wrapped in certainty feels safer than danger wrapped in shadows.
10:45He gets in on the driver's side.
10:47Movements clean and precise.
10:49No wasted motion.
10:50No hesitation.
10:51He drives like he breathes, smoothly.
10:54But with a kind of underlying force I can't ignore.
10:57I stare straight ahead.
10:58If you're expecting a thank you.
11:00I'm not, he says.
11:02I didn't do it for that.
11:04The hum of the engine fills the silence between us, but it doesn't soften it.
11:07If anything, it sharpens it.
11:09I finally force myself to ask the question clawing at me.
11:12You knew he was following me.
11:14How long have you been watching?
11:15His jaw tightens, not with guilt.
11:18With control.
11:19Long enough.
11:20That's not an answer.
11:22He glances at me briefly.
11:23I don't give answers I'm not ready to explain.
11:26I swallow hard.
11:27My instinct is to argue.
11:29My instinct is always to argue when fear makes me feel small.
11:32But I don't have the strength.
11:34So instead I ask,
11:35What's your name?
11:36His fingers tap once on the steering wheel.
11:38Kai.
11:39The name hits me like a cold touch.
11:41I've heard it before.
11:43Everyone has.
11:44Kai Romano.
11:45The quiet storm of the Romano family.
11:48The one who doesn't brag.
11:49Doesn't flash wealth.
11:51Doesn't speak unless his words matter.
11:53The one said to be more dangerous than the ones who scream their power.
11:56Kai.
11:57Of all people it had to be him.
11:58He must see the recognition in my face because he says quietly,
12:02If you're going to panic, do it now.
12:04Not later.
12:05I let out a broken little laugh.
12:07I'm beyond panic.
12:09He doesn't smile.
12:10But something in his posture eases.
12:13Like hearing the truth matters to him.
12:15Then.
12:16We're not going to my place.
12:18He says.
12:19Too obvious.
12:20Then we're...
12:21Somewhere safe.
12:23Safe.
12:23The word sounds foreign in his mouth, but strangely real.
12:26I watch the world blur past the window.
12:28The city is loud, bright, buzzing with life.
12:31People laugh on sidewalks.
12:33Cars honk.
12:34Someone sells roses on a corner.
12:36Everything is ordinary.
12:37So painfully ordinary it almost hurts.
12:40I'm not your responsibility.
12:42I whisper.
12:43His voice is calm.
12:44You were today.
12:45That doesn't make sense.
12:47It doesn't have to.
12:48The car falls silent again, but it's a different kind now.
12:51Not suffocating.
12:53Just tight.
12:54Like we're holding two ends of a rope.
12:56Waiting to see who pulls first.
12:58My thoughts spiral.
12:59You don't even know me.
13:01He exhales slowly.
13:02I know enough.
13:03I turn toward him.
13:05What does that mean?
13:06His jaw flexes once.
13:08It means you don't deserve to be hunted.
13:10The words take the air right out of my lungs.
13:12I look away before I break.
13:14He brings me to a safe house.
13:16Not a penthouse.
13:17Not some mansion dripping with power.
13:19It's a restored brick building above a closed bakery.
13:22Sunlight pouring through tall windows.
13:24Plants on the sill.
13:25Warm hardwood floors.
13:26It's the opposite of what I expect.
13:29This is yours?
13:30I ask quietly.
13:31He shakes his head.
13:33No, it's where I bring people who need a place to breathe.
13:36People?
13:37I echo, lips parting.
13:39Plural?
13:40Once in a while, he says.
13:42When my world collides with theirs.
13:44I don't know why, but that hits me harder than it should.
13:47He gestures to the couch.
13:48Sit.
13:49I'm not a dog.
13:50I didn't say you were, he murmurs.
13:53You look like you might fall.
13:55I want to argue.
13:55I want to be stronger than this.
13:58But the truth is, my legs feel like warm wax.
14:00I sink onto the couch, pressing my hands together.
14:04Nails digging into my palms.
14:06He kneels in front of me.
14:07The movement shocks me so much I flinch.
14:09His voice softens.
14:11Dangerously soft.
14:12Don't do that.
14:14Do what?
14:15Act like I'm going to hurt you.
14:17I whisper.
14:18Everyone that size can.
14:19His eyes narrow.
14:21Just slightly.
14:22Size means nothing without intent.
14:23I don't know why that makes heat climb up my throat.
14:26I'm trembling again.
14:27Not from fear this time.
14:29But from the way he watches me like I'm a locked room he refuses to kick open.
14:33Like he's waiting for me to offer the key.
14:35Kai.
14:36I begin, my voice collapsing on his name.
14:39Why did you step in?
14:40He stands slowly, giving me space.
14:43Because your stalker wasn't just following you.
14:45He was waiting for permission.
14:47From someone else.
14:49My blood freezes.
14:50Someone else?
14:51He steps to the window.
14:53Sunlight golding the edges of his profile.
14:56He's not acting alone.
14:58And I needed you somewhere safe before I told you that.
15:00My throat closes.
15:02You think someone hired him?
15:04Kai turns to me, eyes sharp as cut glass.
15:06I know someone did.
15:08The air slips out of my lungs.
15:10Why me?
15:10Why would anyone...
15:11He walks back toward me.
15:13Slow.
15:14Measured.
15:14That's what we're going to figure out.
15:16But first I need to know something.
15:18I brace myself.
15:20What?
15:21Who did you leave?
15:22He asks quietly.
15:24Before all this started.
15:25My breath snaps.
15:27A memory slams into me.
15:29Fingers gripping my arm too tight.
15:31A voice telling me I owed him everything.
15:34The shame that followed me even after I escaped.
15:37I shut my eyes.
15:38It was a mistake.
15:39I should have left sooner.
15:41That's not an answer.
15:43I don't want to talk about him.
15:44His voice drops.
15:46You need to.
15:47Kai, please...
15:48Tell me his name.
15:50I shake my head.
15:51No.
15:52Why?
15:53Because I'm scared of what you'll do.
15:55I whisper.
15:56His silence is sharp.
15:58Then he kneels again.
15:59Slower this time.
16:00So I can see every inch of movement and choose not to flinch.
16:04You're scared of him.
16:05He says.
16:06Not of me.
16:07My lips tremble.
16:09I'm scared of everything.
16:10He exhales.
16:12A sound that feels like restraint.
16:13Like it costs him something not to reach for me.
16:16Then let me be the one thing you don't have to be scared of.
16:19The words hit me like a pulse.
16:22Warm.
16:22Steady.
16:23Dangerously sincere.
16:25I swallow.
16:26Meeting his eyes for the first time without looking away.
16:29His name is Adrian.
16:31Kai's expression doesn't change.
16:33But something in the air does.
16:34A cold, controlled shift.
16:36An understanding.
16:37And you left him?
16:38Kai asks.
16:39I ran.
16:40I whisper.
16:41And I thought he let me go.
16:43Kai stands.
16:44He didn't.
16:45My stomach drops.
16:46What do you mean?
16:48Kai's voice is quiet.
16:49Lethal.
16:50Your stalker wasn't hired by a stranger.
16:52He was hired by Adrian.
16:54The room spins.
16:55A sound tears from my throat.
16:57Some blend of anger and despair and disbelief.
17:00I grip the couch cushion to stay upright.
17:03He can't.
17:03He wouldn't.
17:04He would.
17:05Kai says.
17:06And he did.
17:07My pulse is a wildfire.
17:09I feel like I'm shrinking and exploding at the same time.
17:12Kai steps closer.
17:13I'm going to stop him.
17:15I shake my head, tears building.
17:17You don't even know me.
17:19I know what men like him do.
17:21His jaw clenches.
17:22I know how they ruin everything they touch.
17:25I won't let him ruin you.
17:26The way he says you feels like a vow.
17:28But before I can breathe,
17:30before I can take in the safety I didn't ask for,
17:32someone bangs hard on the door.
17:34Once, twice, three times.
17:37Both of us freeze.
17:38Kai's eyes sharpen.
17:40His voice drops low.
17:41Get behind me.
17:42My heart slams.
17:44Kai!
17:44Now.
17:45Another pounding.
17:47A voice outside the door.
17:48We know she's in there.
17:50My blood runs ice cold.
17:51Kai moves in front of me.
17:53His body a solid line of protection.
17:55His posture shifting into something deadly.
17:58Stay quiet, he whispers.
18:00And no matter what happens,
18:01I'm not letting them take you.
18:03The door handle rattles.
18:05My breath stutters.
18:06And I realize,
18:07this is about to get worse before it gets better.
18:10I don't remember hearing the door slam open.
18:12I don't remember the shouting or the struggle or the way.
18:15Kai moved like someone who had already made peace with his own darkness.
18:19All I remember is the moment he turned toward me.
18:22Blood on his shirt.
18:24Breath sharp.
18:25Eyes wild and alive and whispered,
18:27Run.
18:28But I didn't run.
18:29I froze.
18:31I watched him take blows meant for me.
18:33I watched him fight men who carried my ex's voice like a brand on their skin.
18:37And at the end of it,
18:38when the room was a mess of
18:39overturned furniture and discarded threats,
18:42it was
18:42Kai who pulled me up from the floor,
18:45his hands gentle on my arms.
18:47His forehead pressed to mine like he needed to feel me breathing to calm down.
18:51Then everything blurred into motion.
18:53Sirens in the distance.
18:55Him dragging me through the back exit.
18:56The city swallowing us whole.
18:58I remember the taste of panic on my tongue.
19:01I remember his hand on my spine.
19:03Steady and silent like a heartbeat I didn't know how to borrow.
19:06After that, nothing.
19:08Nothing clear anyway.
19:09Just pieces.
19:10His voice telling someone,
19:11Take her.
19:12Keep her safe.
19:13A door closing behind me.
19:14A soft blanket being draped over my shoulders by a stranger who looked, terrified of disappointing
19:20him.
19:21Then days.
19:22Empty days where I existed but didn't live.
19:24This is where Act 3 begins.
19:26It's been three weeks since that night.
19:28Three weeks in a safe apartment Kai's people arranged.
19:31Three weeks of sunlight spilling across my bed every morning.
19:34Warm and soft and almost cruelly peaceful.
19:36Three weeks of not knowing where he is or whether he survived the storm.
19:40He walked willingly into.
19:42I wish I could say I healed fast.
19:44I wish I could say survival tasted sweet after years of fear.
19:47But healing doesn't taste like anything at first.
19:49It's numb.
19:50Flat.
19:51Quiet in ways that feel suspicious.
19:53The first week I barely spoke.
19:55The second week, I stopped jumping at every sound.
19:58The third week, I started leaving the curtains open without checking the street ten times.
20:02My life feels like a room I'm slowly walking back into.
20:06Touching things I left behind in the rush to stay alive.
20:08Sometimes I catch myself whispering his name into my pillow.
20:12Like my mouth remembers him better than my mind does.
20:14Kai.
20:15I shouldn't want him back.
20:16I shouldn't miss someone whose world is soaked in danger.
20:19Someone who kills with steady hands and quieter regrets.
20:22Someone who entered my life like a promise wrapped in a threat.
20:25But I do.
20:26God, I do.
20:27Because no one has ever protected me the way he did.
20:30With the kind of ferocity that felt like belief, not pity.
20:34No one has ever looked at me like I mattered more than the blood on his knuckles.
20:38And now that the noise is gone, now that the danger is handled in ways I will never fully
20:42hear about, the silence hurts more than the violence ever did.
20:46Healing is strange like that.
20:48It's not the wounds that ache.
20:49It's the absence of the hand that held you still.
20:52This morning, I'm standing by the kitchen counter barefoot, holding a mug of tea that
20:57went cold an hour ago.
20:58Sunlight spills through the big window.
21:01Bright, warm, unfiltered.
21:04The kind of light I used to think only existed in someone else's life.
21:07I close my eyes and breathe in.
21:09And for the first time in months, the air goes all the way down into my lungs.
21:14You're getting better.
21:15I whisper to myself.
21:17My voice cracks, but it's true.
21:19The knock comes softly.
21:20One tap.
21:21A pause.
21:22Another tap.
21:23My heart stirs, but not from fear.
21:25From memory.
21:26Kai, that's how he knocked the first time he came to see if I was settling in.
21:30Only that time I didn't answer.
21:32I hid behind the bedroom door, trembling like an abandoned heartbeat.
21:36Now, I walk to the door.
21:38I open it.
21:39He's there.
21:40Kai.
21:41Leaning against the door frame like he's been carved out of sunlight and exhaustion.
21:45Dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans.
21:47Hair a little longer than before.
21:49Jaw shadowed from days without sleep.
21:52He looks exactly like the moment.
21:54I last saw him.
21:54Danger wrapped in calm.
21:57But something about him is different.
21:59Softer.
21:59Quieter.
22:00Human in a way I never expected someone like him to be.
22:03His eyes meet mine, and something in my chest lifts painfully.
22:07You look...
22:08He pauses, trying again.
22:09You look alive.
22:11A stupid hot tear slides down my cheek.
22:13You didn't call.
22:15I couldn't.
22:15His voice is raw.
22:17It wasn't safe.
22:18And now?
22:19Now it is.
22:20The way he says it sends a shiver through me.
22:23Like the ground under us rearranged itself to allow this moment to happen.
22:27He steps inside when I move back.
22:30He doesn't reach for me.
22:31He doesn't crowd me.
22:32He stays two steps away.
22:34Watching me like he's cataloging every breath to make sure it's real.
22:38I fold my arms to stop the shaking.
22:40You disappeared.
22:41I didn't want you anywhere near what had to be done.
22:44What did you do?
22:46My voice trembles.
22:47He exhales through his nose.
22:49Enough that Adrian won't breathe in your direction ever again.
22:53My knees weaken, not from fear, but from the quiet certainty in his voice.
22:57The kind that doesn't brag.
22:59The kind that doesn't lie.
23:00Is he...
23:01Alive?
23:02Kai says, reading my mind.
23:04But he won't come near you again.
23:06His world's gone.
23:07Mine made sure of it.
23:09A slow breath leaves me.
23:10And what about your world?
23:11His eyes soften in a way that feels impossible.
23:15I'm still in it.
23:16But I don't want you tangled in the parts that can break you.
23:19I already broke, I whisper.
23:21You saw that.
23:22He steps closer.
23:24Just one step.
23:25But it feels like the floor lights up under my feet.
23:28You didn't break, he says.
23:30You bent until you could get away.
23:32There's a difference.
23:33My throat tightens.
23:34You sound sure.
23:36I am.
23:37The silence between us warms.
23:39Not tense this time.
23:40Not electric.
23:41Just warm, like sunlight on skin you forgot could feel soft.
23:45He glances around the apartment.
23:47You kept the curtains open.
23:49I look at the light spilling across the floor.
23:52Yeah.
23:53That's good.
23:54His voice is low.
23:55That means you're healing.
23:57I swallow.
23:58I'm trying.
23:59You're succeeding.
24:01The words hit deeper than they should.
24:03I sit on the arm of the couch without quite meaning to.
24:06My legs feel too weak to hold the weight of everything I'm feeling.
24:08Kai watches me carefully, then moves closer.
24:11Can I sit?
24:12He asks.
24:14That alone.
24:15Him asking almost undoes me.
24:17Because no one in my life ever asked before taking.
24:19No one paused before crossing a line.
24:21No one considered my space sacred.
24:24Yeah.
24:24I whisper.
24:25Sit.
24:26He lowers himself onto the couch.
24:28Elbows on his knees.
24:30Hands clasped loosely.
24:32Everything about him looks calmer.
24:34But I can tell he's braced for something.
24:37For me to push him away or break in front of him.
24:39I take a long breath.
24:40Why did you come back?
24:42His eyes lift to mine.
24:44Because I owed you an apology.
24:46I blink.
24:46For what?
24:47You saved me.
24:48A hollow laugh escapes him.
24:50I dragged you into my world to do it.
24:52You didn't drag me.
24:54I whisper.
24:55I walked.
24:56You followed me because you had no choice.
24:59No.
24:59I shake my head.
25:00I followed you because I trusted you.
25:03The words land like a stone dropped into still water.
25:06His gaze sharpens.
25:07Not dangerous.
25:08Just deeply.
25:09Painfully alive.
25:11Say that again.
25:12He murmurs.
25:14I trusted you.
25:15His jaw tightens.
25:16His breath stops for one second.
25:18Then another.
25:20Don't trust men like me.
25:21He says softly.
25:22I don't trust men like you.
25:24I reply.
25:25I trust you.
25:26There's a difference.
25:27Something inside him breaks.
25:29I can see it in the tiny shift of his shoulders.
25:32The way his fingers uncurl.
25:33Like he's letting go of something.
25:35He's held too tightly.
25:37I'm not good for you.
25:37He whispers.
25:39But you're good to me.
25:40He closes his eyes for a heartbeat.
25:43When they open again, they're warmer.
25:45Like he's finally allowed himself to feel.
25:47Something he's been holding back.
25:49I didn't come here to start anything.
25:51He says.
25:52I just wanted to see you breathing.
25:54Alive.
25:55Safe.
25:56And now that you have?
25:57His voice lowers.
25:58I don't know how to walk away.
26:01My breath catches.
26:02Then stay.
26:03He stands slowly and moves toward me, one step at a time.
26:06Giving me endless chances to pull back.
26:09But I don't.
26:09My hands tremble as he reaches me.
26:12He lifts one hand and stops right before touching my cheek.
26:15Tell me to go.
26:16He whispers.
26:17I can't.
26:18Tell me you don't want this.
26:20I do.
26:21He swallows hard.
26:22Eyes burning now.
26:24I'm not offering fairy tales.
26:26I'm not asking for one.
26:27I can't be gentle with my life.
26:29You already are with me.
26:31He lets out a breath like he's been underwater for years.
26:34Then finally, finally, he touches me, the back of his fingers brushing my cheek in the
26:39softest, most careful touch I've ever felt.
26:42Not possession.
26:43Not control.
26:44Not power.
26:45Choice.
26:46My eyes close.
26:47His forehead touches mine.
26:49Our breaths meet in the small space between us.
26:52And that small space becomes everything.
26:54You're not my world, he whispers.
26:56But you're the one part I want to protect from it.
27:00My voice is barely air.
27:01And you're the first person who made me feel safe in mine.
27:04His lips brush my forehead.
27:06A kiss.
27:07That feels like a promise and a beginning at the same time.
27:10We don't rush.
27:11We don't pretend the past didn't happen.
27:13We don't try to fix each other.
27:15We simply choose, quietly, carefully, to heal next to each other instead of alone.
27:20And maybe that's what love really is.
27:23Not perfection.
27:24Not fantasy.
27:25Not an escape.
27:26Just choosing someone who stands with you through the wreckage.
27:29Someone who shows up when they don't have to.
27:32Someone who says, step back.
27:33And for the first time, you're not the one doing the stepping.
27:37I breathe in.
27:38I breathe out.
27:39For the first time, I'm not scared.
27:41For the first time, I'm living instead of surviving.
27:44For the first time, I'm home.
27:46If you felt something in this story, if you held your breath or whispered don't stop even once,
27:51then stay with me.
27:52Hit subscribe, tap that like button,
27:54and share this with someone who loves stories that bruise a little before they heal.
27:58Drop a comment, too.
28:00Tell me which moment hit you the hardest.
28:02I read every one, and your words keep these stories alive.
28:05Thank you for listening, for feeling, for being here.
28:09I've got more stories waiting for you.
28:10Come back for the next one.
28:12I'll be right here.
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