Chapter 6

Unspoken Truths

By 7:00 PM, I was ready, at least physically. Mentally? No, I was a wreck. My heart pounded like a war drum, the weight of the conversation ahead pressing down on my chest.

No matter how much Peter’s presence might disarm me, I had to remember why this talk was necessary. I had to tell him the truth, finally.

The doorbell rang exactly on time.

I rushed downstairs, opened the door, and there he was, Peter. Dressed in a black hoodie, his sharp, unreadable eyes locked onto mine. My breath caught in my throat. God, why did he still have this effect on me?

“Hey,” he said, voice low and familiar.

“Yeah… good evening,” I managed, my voice thinner than I wanted it to be.

“Wanna take a walk?” he asked.

I nodded. “Sure. Let me grab my jacket.”

Upstairs, I paused for a second. Stay focused, I told myself. I grabbed my coat, pulled it tight around me, and joined him outside.

We walked in silence, footsteps echoing through the cool night air. The unspoken tension between us was thick, suffocating, even. I could sense that Peter was deep in his thoughts, but I wasn’t going to wait. I had to speak.

“Peter,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“Tiffany came to my house today. We… fought.”

His eyebrows rose. “What? When? Why?”

I clenched my jaw. “Because I made a mistake. She took it too far.”

Peter stopped walking. “What kind of mistake?” His voice was cautious, guarded.

I stopped too and turned to face him. But before I could speak again, he let out a breath and dropped the bomb.

“I broke up with her.”

I blinked. “You what?”

“I ended it. I don’t want to be with her anymore.”

“Peter… why would you do that?”

He looked at me then, really looked at me. “Because I don’t love her. I never really did.”

His words hit me like a blow to the chest.

“Then… who do you love?” I asked, though my heart already knew the answer.

He didn’t flinch. “You. I love you, Rory.”

Everything inside me went still.

It was what I had once dreamed of hearing. Back when I was foolish, hopeful, and desperately in love with a boy who never looked my way.

I swallowed hard. “Peter… no. I can’t. It’s too much. Too risky.”

“Please,” he stepped closer. “For the love you have for me… be my girlfriend.”

I shook my head. “Why now, Peter? You knew how I felt for years. And you chose Tiffany. You ignored me. Now that it’s our final year, suddenly you realize you love me? Why now?”

He flinched like the words stung. “Because I was stupid. Blind. I didn’t understand how deep it ran until I almost lost you completely.”

“I do love you,” I whispered, voice cracking. “But I can’t be with you. I’m doing this to protect myself. My heart… it belongs to someone else now.”

His face twisted, the pain unmistakable. “So that’s it? After everything, you’re rejecting me?”

“I’m choosing me,” I replied.

His voice dropped to a bitter edge. “This is bullshit. I broke up with Tiffany for you, Rory. And now you’re acting like some heartless, self-absorbed…….”

Slap.

The sound echoed down the empty street.

“Don’t ever call me that,” I said through clenched teeth. “You don’t get to insult me because I won’t fall into your arms like nothing ever happened, like you never knew I was basically swarming over you.”

I turned and walked away, leaving him frozen in place.

Back home, I collapsed on my bed, my chest heaving with sobs. I had just turned down the boy I’d been in love with since the fourth grade. The boy who used to be my everything.

The boy I dreamed of a future with.

And yet, it didn’t feel like freedom. It felt more like grief.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Unknown Number: “Meet me at the park tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Come alone.”

I sat up slowly, staring at the message. My heart skittered in my chest.

Could it be him?

A chill ran down my spine, and yet… a small, dangerous flicker of hope sparked inside me. I should have been scared, but instead, I felt drawn to it.

Is it really him? Why has he been hiding? What does he want from me?

Sleep didn't come easy that night. The questions wouldn’t stop spinning. And tomorrow’s meeting? It could ruin me. Or it could change everything.