CHAPTER 35 — Auri's POV
The Quiet After the Storm
The moment Auri reached home after her heavy conversation with Adrian, she closed the door gently behind her and leaned against it. The silence of her apartment seeped into her bones, the kind that felt both comforting and crushing. She drew in a shaky breath, replaying Adrian's last words over and over:
"When he hurts you… I'll come back for you."
Her heart twisted. The sincerity in his voice, the pain in his eyes—it lingered like a bruise. She hated hurting him. Adrian never deserved to be caught in the crossfire of her tangled feelings.
She walked toward the sofa and sat down slowly, her fingers trembling slightly as she brushed her hair away from her face. Everything felt too bright and too quiet at the same time. She hugged her knees to her chest.
She chose Dante.
She knew she did.
But choosing him didn't give her peace—it only opened more questions.
"Does he even… want me the way I want him?" she whispered to herself.
The memory of Dante's words from their fight resurfaced:
"I don't know if it's love—but I can't lose you."
Her chest tightened. Those words were powerful, but also terrifying. They meant she mattered to him… but not in the way she secretly hoped.
Not yet.
Before she could sink deeper into her thoughts, a soft knock echoed through the apartment.
Her heart jumped.
She knew that knock.
"Dante…" she breathed out.
She walked to the door, her pulse racing despite everything. When she opened it, Dante stood there—slightly out of breath as if he had walked too fast, eyes scanning her face immediately, checking if she was okay.
He looked tired. And worried.
"Auri," he said, voice low. "I was about to call you. You left so quickly from the café. Everything okay?"
She stepped aside, nodding slightly. "Come in."
He entered, hesitating for a moment as if unsure of the atmosphere he was walking into. His eyes kept following her, searching for cracks.
Auri took a breath. "I met with Adrian."
His jaw clenched instantly. "Why?"
"I had to talk to him," she said calmly. "I needed to… clear things."
"Clear things," he repeated slowly, as if measuring each syllable. "About him courting you."
She nodded. "I told him to stop."
Dante's chest rose sharply—like he had been holding air since the moment she opened the door.
"And?" he asked.
"And he agreed to. He said he'd back away."
Dante's posture relaxed, but only for a second. "Good. That's… good."
Auri could tell he wanted to say more, but he didn't. Instead, he looked around her apartment, then at her.
"You okay?" he asked.
She hesitated. "I think so. Adrian was hurt."
"No surprise," Dante muttered before softening his tone. "But you're not responsible for his feelings, Auri."
"I know." She hugged her arms to her chest. "But it still hurts."
Dante stepped closer. "You always carry everyone else's feelings on your shoulders. Even when it crushes you."
She looked up at him. "And you? Will you crush me too, Dante?"
He froze.
Her question hung between them like a thread—fragile, dangerous, real.
Dante exhaled slowly. He stepped closer again, reaching out but stopping right before touching her, giving her the chance to pull away.
"Auri," he said softly, "I don't want to hurt you."
"That's not an answer."
Silence thickened.
Her voice trembled. "You said you can't lose me. But that's not the same as… choosing me."
His jaw tightened. His eyes dropped to the floor, then lifted back to her.
"I don't know how to do this," he admitted quietly. "I don't know how to be the man who says the right things at the right time."
"I'm not asking for perfection," she whispered. "Just honesty."
Dante ran a hand through his hair, frustrated at himself. "Then here it is—I want you. I think about you constantly. I get jealous, furious, unreasonably so, because the thought of anyone else touching you drives me insane."
He stepped even closer.
"But love…" He swallowed. "Love is something I've never understood. I don't know how it's supposed to feel."
Her heart tugged painfully. "So what am I to you, Dante?"
He finally touched her—his hands gently cupping her cheeks, thumbs brushing away tears she never noticed fell.
"You're the only person who makes me feel anything real," he said. "The only one who makes me want… more."
Her breath hitched.
"More?" she whispered.
He nodded. "More than the anger. More than the jealousy. More than the need." His forehead pressed against hers. "More than anything I've felt before."
Her tears kept falling, but they weren't from pain anymore.
Dante kissed her forehead softly. "I'm not asking you to wait for me to figure everything out. I'm only asking you not to walk away."
She closed her eyes. "I wasn't planning to."
He breathed out—a shaky, relieved sound—as if those words stitched something inside him.
Auri slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. Dante held her close, burying his face in her hair. They stayed like that, both caught in a silence that felt warm instead of heavy.
"I'll try," Dante murmured. "I'll try to be better. For you."
"And I'll try to understand you," she whispered back.
For the first time since the chaos began, she felt like they were standing on the same ground.
Not perfect.
Not easy.
But real.