"It's not love if it doesn't ache when they laugh with someone else."
(~Annie Flame~)
CHAPTER SIX: The Price of Secrets
Eidan's was world tilted after that rooftop kiss. His lips still tingled, his chest still ached, but his mind? It was clearer now. Eyes wide open. Just love wasn't enough anymore. He wanted the truth. He needed it all. And he needed Reen.
Eidan wasn't eating much these days. It was as if his hunger had died. Sleep was a joke. His chest felt like it was holding a grenade with its pin removed, just waiting to explode.
He started noticing things. Little things he hadn't seen before. How she always silenced her phone when she was with him. How sometimes she stared off, her jaw tight like she was chewing secrets instead of gum. How she'd switch topics fast if he got too close to something real.
Eidan wasn't stupid. His gut told him something was off, and Eidan always trusted his gut. He had to. He spent years pretending everything was fine while being stabbed in the back by people he called friends. He could smell fake from a mile away now. And Reen? She wasn't exactly fake-but she wasn't being honest either.
The worst part? He didn't want to confront her. He wanted to keep her. He wanted to hold onto this twisted, beautiful thing between them for as long as he could. Even if it killed him.
But obsession has claws, and they were already wrapped around his throat.
That night, he couldn't sleep again. His brain was chewing him alive. He thought about the way Reen whispered into her phone on the rooftop. The softness in her voice wasn't the usual mocking tone she used with him. No, this was different. Intimate. Familiar.
Eidan tossed and turned in his bed, staring at the ceiling fan spinning like his thoughts. His heart thumped hard against his ribs. He hated this. Hated not knowing. Hated feeling like a side character in his own life again.
He reached for his phone. His fingers hovered over her contact. He wanted to call her, demand answers, push her until she cracked. But another part of him-the darker, smarter part-decided to wait. To watch. To play the game better.
He knew how to act cool. He knew how to pretend nothing was wrong. That was his specialty.
The next morning, he showed up to school with his usual lazy smile and hands stuffed into his pockets. His hoodie hid the tension in his shoulders. His eyes, though? They were sharp. Watching her. Measuring her every move.
Reen met him at the gate, same cocky smirk on her lips, like nothing had changed.
"Morning, pretty boy," she teased, nudging his arm with her elbow.
Eidan smirked back. "Morning, trouble."
Her eyes sparkled. But Eidan saw it now-the flicker of something beneath that sparkle. Guilt? Maybe. Or maybe something else. Something bigger.
They walked side by side, but there was an invisible wall between them now. Neither of them mentioned the kiss. Neither of them brought up the rooftop. It hung in the air like smoke, choking but invisible.
---
Later, when she went to the bathroom, she left her bag on the table. Eidan stared at it like it was a bomb. His hands itched. His stomach twisted.
Don't do it, he told himself.
But his body was already moving.
His fingers slid into her bag. His chest tightened so hard he thought he might pass out. He found her phone. Locked. Of course. But underneath it? A folded piece of paper.
Curiosity won. He unfolded it.
His eyes scanned the handwriting. It wasn't hers.
"Status report: Keep him close. Don't let him spiral. He's in danger when alone. Make sure he doesn't suspect anything. We can't afford his past trauma to relapse again. His recovery is a priority."
There was no name. No signature.
Eidan's throat closed up. His pulse pounded in his ears. His first thought? Betrayal. His second? Who sent this?
Before he could shove the paper back, Reen returned. Her eyes locked onto his hand still half-in her bag.
They stared at each other. No smiles this time. No jokes.
"What's that?" Her voice was flat.
Eidan's lips pressed into a thin line. "You tell me."
Her jaw tightened. Her eyes burned into his like they were trying to read his soul. But Eidan wasn't the same soft boy from before. He could play this game now.
"You've been spying on me?" His voice was low, dangerous.
"I wasn't spying. I was protecting you." Her voice cracked, barely noticeable, but he caught it.
"Protecting me?" He laughed, but it wasn't funny. It was sharp, cold.
Her lips parted like she wanted to explain. Her eyes were wet now, but she blinked fast, refusing to let the tears fall.
"It's not what you think," she whispered.
"Oh yeah? Then what is it?"
__________________________________
Scene shifted:
Three Weeks Earlier - Reen's Deal
It had started long before Eidan even noticed her.
During the holidays, Reen had left town to visit her aunt-or that's what she told Eidan. Which was true... mostly.
She hadn't planned for the week to spiral like this.
It started in a quiet café downtown, away from the usual crowds. Her phone buzzed with a private number. She was already suspicious when the man slid into the seat across from her like a shadow.
Kairo.
Eidan's brother.
The one nobody talked about. The one who disappeared years ago and left Eidan to fend for himself.
---
"Don't worry," he'd said, voice calm but cold. "I'm not here to drag you into family drama."
---
But that was exactly what he did.
---
Kairo laid it all out. He'd been watching Eidan from afar. Knew about the bullying. Knew about his old school, the whispers, the labels, the trauma.
"I know everything about him," Kairo said, sliding a note toward her across the table.
"You're spying on him?", Reen gasped.
"It was just a little investigation. It was for his own good.", Kiro said cold expression.
---
Reen wanted to ask more but she didn't.
Reen's stomach tightened. "But why me?"
---
"You're his friend," Kairo answered simply. "He trusts you. And I know you're not just some pretty face-you've got training."
Her eyebrows rose. "How do you know about that?"
"Martial arts since you were ten. Self-defense competitions. You're the perfect fit."
---
Reen chewed her lip. Her pulse raced.
She wasn't just some girl with a sharp tongue and cool attitude. She could fight. She could protect. But this?
This was something else.
---
"You want me to... what? Babysit him?"
---
"No," Kairo said, eyes narrowing. "I want you to make sure he doesn't fall apart again. Keep him safe. Help him heal from his past trauma."
"And if he finds out?"
"He won't."
---
Reen stared at the envelope he slid toward her.
A check of money.
Too much to ignore. A very tempting offer. It was enough to drown out her doubts. Enough to fix her own problems, living a a lavish life.
But still-she hesitated. It wasn't all about money that made her change her mind but that sad expression on his face made her give it a thought.
---
"I'll think about it," she whispered.
---
When Reen came back from her aunt's, she hadn't even decided yet.
Until she walked into school and saw Eidan.
---
Cornered.
Shoved.
Books ripped from his bag. Laughter echoing in the hallways. His friends looked the other way.
---
Her stomach flipped.
The paper in her pocket-the deal with Kairo-suddenly didn't feel like a deal anymore. It felt like a responsibility.
---
That was the moment she agreed.
Not to Kairo.
To herself.
---
She would protect Eidan. Not because of the money. Because no one else was doing it.
---
She beat up his bullies that day. Slammed them into lockers like they weighed nothing. Her hands shook, but not from fear-from rage.
She became his shield.
She got closer.
---
At first, it was easy to justify.
---
"This is for his own good," she told herself.
---
Until she realized how easy it was to fall for him.
Not because he was weak-but because he wasn't. Because under all that pretty softness, there was something sharp and jagged, like glass waiting to cut anyone who got too close.
She liked that about him.
Too much.
__________________________________
Present Day - The Paper Found
So when Eidan found the note in her bag, Reen froze.
Her throat tightened as his eyes scanned the page. No emotion on his face-but his silence was a hurricane.
Her chest caved in.
---
"I can explain," she whispered, but it sounded pathetic.
He didn't yell. He didn't move.
His calm was worse than violence.
Eidan had always trusted Reen. That was the problem.
She wasn't just some random girl who kissed him on rooftops and stole his fries at lunch. She'd been his friend first. His safe space. The one person he could joke with, lean on, breathe around.
That's why this cut deeper.
-
"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was soft. Almost gentle.
She swallowed hard. "Because I was scared."
"Of me?"
"No. Of losing this."
-
She told him everything.
About Kairo. About the café meeting. About the envelope and the mission she'd never meant to take.
About how she'd come back from holiday planning to say no-until she saw him bruised, bleeding, betrayed by everyone else.
And then saying no wasn't an option anymore.
---
Eidan sat beside her, close but far away. His eyes were dark oceans, no bottom in sight.
He didn't say she betrayed him.
He didn't tell her to leave.
---
Instead, he leaned back in his chair, lips curling just slightly.
"You chose me," he murmured, almost to himself.
His eyes locked onto hers.
"You're still here."
---
And just like that, the power shifted again.
---
Reen blinked, her breath shaky.
She hadn't planned this. She hadn't wanted this. But now?
She wasn't sure who was protecting who anymore.
---
Eidan's Thoughts
He could've pushed her away. But he didn't.
He could've screamed. But he didn't.
---
Because this was better.
---
Now he knew. Now there were no more masks.
And Reen? She was wrapped in guilt. In love. In knots she tied herself.
He wasn't going to cut the rope.
---
He was going to pull it tighter.
---
But softly. Silently. With hands that trembled just a little-not from cruelty, but from need.
---
Neither of Them Spoke the Real Truth
That they were both trapped now.
By love.
By guilt.
By each other.
---
And maybe, just maybe, neither of them wanted to escape.
---
______________________________________
End of Chapter Six
To be continued...