Point Of No Return

Chapter 13: Unraveled

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

I didn't sleep.

Not really. I lay in bed, eyes open against the darkness, my body completely still but my mind on fire. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. The way he looked at me. The way his hands tightened on my waist. The way his lips hovered over mine for just a second—like he was waiting for permission. Like he was trying to hold back.

He didn't. Not this time.

I shifted onto my side, hugging a pillow to my chest like it could hold me together. The quiet in my room felt louder than the party had, more suffocating somehow. There were no footsteps in the hallway. No laughter. No music bleeding through the walls.

Just me. And the memory. Of him.

It hadn't been a mistake. I knew that. You don't kiss someone like that by accident. Not the way Hudson did. Not with his hands clenched like he was trying not to feel too much. Not with his voice breaking when he whispered, We can't do this.

I turned over, burying my face in the pillow, letting out a frustrated sound. I wanted to scream. Or cry. Or throw something. Or all three.

Instead, I waited.

I waited to wake up and feel different. To feel clearer. To not feel like I was stuck inside a maze where every path led right back to him.

But nothing changed.

The night replayed anyway—unspooling in sharp, too-bright pieces. The heat of his hands. The way he pulled back like he'd stepped too close to a ledge. And then everything after.

The rest of the night had blurred. After the kiss, Hudson had disappeared. I hadn't seen him again.

I hadn't been able to hide my expression from Tessa, though. She clocked me the second I found her again, eyes narrowing like she was about to demand answers. But I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't even know how to feel myself. I didn't understand what had just happened, or why he'd pulled away like that.

So I just shrugged her off and lingered at the edge of the beer pong game she'd been playing with a few people, pretending like nothing had happened.

I was thankful she didn't push, although I knew that wouldn't last long. Tessa had the patience of a gnat when it came to gossip, and I was officially holding the crown jewel.

Either way, I welcomed the distraction of Finn appearing with a tray of shot glasses and a grin wide enough to split his face. "It's almost midnight!" he announced like we couldn't all see the giant clock on the wall. "We're doing this right."

Alex trailed behind him, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Oh, hell yes," Tessa said, snatching a shot and downing it without hesitation.

"Slow down," Finn laughed. "Save some for the rest of us."

"I'm celebrating responsibly," she said, already reaching for a second.

Finn shook his head but was clearly entertained. He shoved a glass into my hand and another into Alex's. "You two need to loosen up. Alex, quit being a killjoy—you'll get to smooch your girl in the new year."

That made me blink. "Wait—what girl?"

Tessa perked up immediately. "Yeah, what girl?"

Alex shot Finn a glare. "Ignore him."

"Oh, don't play innocent," Finn teased. "Mystery girl, always texting you. He's whipped, I'm telling you."

"This mysterious girl doesn't happen to be locker girl, does it?" Tessa asked, her voice dripping with interest as she referenced the girl we'd seen him in the hallway with, right before Thanksgiving.