Between The Lines! (not complete)

Part 11

I didn't plan to end up at her door.

The fight wasn't planned either.

It happened fast-words I didn't say, hands I didn't throw first, pride I couldn't afford to lose. By the time I pulled away, my head was ringing and blood was warm against my skin.

I couldn't go home.

I couldn't go to the hospital.

Cameras would be waiting.

So I ran.

By the time I reached her dorm, my hands were shaking-not from the pain, but from the realization that I trusted her more than anyone else on this campus.

I knocked.

Hard.

When the door opened and I saw her face, something in me finally cracked.

"Hey," I said, breathless. "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go."

Her eyes dropped to the blood immediately.

"Bathroom. Now."

⸻

She didn't panic.

That's what got me.

She sat me on the edge of the tub and worked like she'd done this before-steady hands, quiet focus. When she touched my face, I flinched without meaning to.

"Did you start it?" she asked.

"No."

She didn't question it.

That mattered more than she knew.

"I didn't want cameras," I admitted.

Her jaw tightened. "I get it."

She cleaned the cut above my eyebrow, careful but firm. I watched her face instead of the mirror.

"You scared me," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," I replied. And I meant it more than I'd ever meant anything.

When she finished, she stepped back, arms crossed.

"You're not leaving."

I wanted to argue.

I didn't have the strength.

⸻

She handed me a blanket and I lay down on her bed, exhaustion hitting all at once.

"Thank you," I murmured.

She stayed.

I knew because even as my eyes closed, I could feel her presence in the room-grounding, steady, safe.

I fell asleep knowing two things for certain:

I'd crossed a line I couldn't uncross.

And Zaliyah Thompson was no longer just a coincidence in my life.