When Lines Blur...

when the worlds collideee

FREYYY

I'm pacing.

Again.

Fourth lap across the living room. Fifth. Sixth. I don't even hear the rain anymore—well, I do, but I'm doing that thing where I pretend I don't. It's half-working.

Where did he go?

He left so fast the door practically exhaled behind him. And sure, I know Mal runs on impulse, but still... something felt different this time. Sharper. Hotter. Like he was ready to take on the world with his bare hands.

The thought makes my stomach twist.

Finally, I hear the door jiggle. The knob turns. And Mal steps in, soaked again—hair dripping, hoodie stuck to him, chest rising and falling like he sprinted a mile.

And his eyes go straight to me.

"Hey," he says softly.

"Hey?" I echo, crossing my arms. "You disappeared."

"I know." He rubs the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"That's your explanation?" I ask. "I'm sorry?"

He hesitates one second too long.

I narrow my eyes. "Malachi. What did you do?"

He sighs. Deeply. Loudly. The kind of sigh that means I did something and I really don't want to explain it because I know you're going to react.

I walk up to him and grab his hoodie zipper. "Tell me."

He doesn't say anything.

He just pulls out his phone, unlocks it, and hands it to me.

I look down.

And there it is.

The post.

Alex Ryder standing too close to me, the angle making it look like I'm leaning into him — which I WASN'T — and that horrible caption sitting under it like it's harmless.

My heartbeat stops.

Like physically.

That stupid smirking emoji.
That cheap shot at my character.
That insinuation that I would EVER betray Mal.

My throat tightens. "He posted this?"

"He did," Mal says quietly.

My voice shakes. "And you saw it."

"I did."

"And then...?"

He scratches his jaw. "Then I drove over there."

I look up slowly. "...Mal."

"I didn't hurt him."
His voice is steady, honest.
"But I made sure he'll never pull something like that again."

My mouth falls open.
"Malachi Barton— did you FIGHT him?"

"No," he says. "I didn't fight him."

I squint suspiciously. "Mal—"

"I just pushed him around until he shut the hell up and deleted it."
He shrugs like it's no big deal.
"It was the safe version of kicking his ass."

I stare at him.

He shifts, suddenly awkward. "Are you mad?"

And something inside me breaks—
Not in a bad way.
In that soft, overwhelming way where someone does something you didn't know you needed but desperately did.

I walk right up to him.

Grab his hoodie.

Pull him down.

And kiss him.

Not gentle.
Not timid.
No hesitation whatsoever.

Just... kiss him like he's home.
Like he defended me and it meant everything.
Like every fear I've had about being unprotected suddenly evaporated.

His hands slide into my hair instantly.
His breath catches.
He kisses me back like he's been holding it in.

When I pull away, he's breathless.

"Okay," he whispers. "I'm hoping that means you're not mad."

"Mad?" I laugh — actually laugh. "You defended me."

"Yeah," he says softly. "Of course I did."

I swallow, my voice thinning. "...nobody's ever done that for me."

His expression shifts. Gentle. Protective. Something deeper I'm still learning how to hold.

"Well," he murmurs, brushing a raindrop out of my hair, "get used to it."

My chest warms.

"Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"What you did... it meant a lot to me."

He nods, like he already knew.

But then I whisper the part he didn't:

"Because I wasn't scared you hurt him. I was scared he hurt you."

His brows shoot up.
"Frey. He weighs as much as a middle-schooler with a protein shake. I was fine."

I snort. "Still."

He looks at me for a long, long moment.

Then—

"Come here," he says gently.

He pulls me into his chest and the whole world quiets.
The rain.
My heartbeat.
The leftover adrenaline in him.

Everything presses pause.

When he finally speaks, it's against my hair.

"You know I'd never believe anything about you that wasn't true, right?"

"Yes," I whisper.

"And you know I trust you?"

"Yes."

"And you know Alex is an idiot who should be banned from phones?"

"...yes."

He smiles against my head.

"Good," he says. "Then we're okay."

I don't even think.

I kiss him again.

And this one is slower.

Softer.

The kind you only give someone you really, really care about.

A.N.

.... i sure hope nothing bad happens...😏🤭LOVE UUUU

-Jazzy <333