Erica's POV
I didn't plan to confront him.
Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing. I just… had to see him. Had to understand. Had to know why the person I laughed with, who made me feel safe, had just minutes ago been trading something illegal like it was nothing.
I found him in one of the quieter courtyards behind the science block, the kind where the late afternoon sun barely touched the cracked pavement between buildings. A couple of students were hanging around at first, joking and scrolling on their phones, but the moment they saw me, they slinked away, leaving only us in that quiet corner.
Daniel noticed me immediately. Not because he knew I had seen him yesterday. He didn't, but because he had this… sense. A careful, instinctive awareness of people around him, honed from years of watching, surviving, hiding. He looked up from his backpack and froze slightly, as if recognizing something had shifted in the air.
"Erica," he said, voice calm but quiet, tentative. "Uh… hey."
I froze. My chest tightened. My stomach flipped. "I… I saw," I said softly, barely above a whisper. "Yesterday. Everything."
His eyes widened slightly, and then something passed over his face, a fraction of tension, quickly masked by composure. He nodded slowly. "You… you saw me."
I swallowed hard. "Yeah. I didn't… I wasn't..."
"It's okay," he interrupted gently, raising a hand. "I didn't think anyone had. I... look, I don't know what to say. But… I guess now you know. And I need to explain."
I nodded, barely trusting myself to move. "Okay… start from the beginning."
And then he did.
He didn't rush. He didn't make excuses. He didn't ask for pity. He just… spoke. And with every word, I felt myself sinking into a part of him I wasn't supposed to see.
"My dad… wasn't around. Mom… she tried, but it wasn't enough. Too many mouths to feed, too many bills, too many nights where I went to bed knowing I'd have nothing for breakfast tomorrow. I switched schools constantly. Different cities, different homes, different people. Nobody… nobody really saw me." His voice cracked slightly, and I felt my stomach knot up. "I learned early that if I wanted to survive, I had to find ways that worked. Not safe. Not smart. Just… effective."
I swallowed hard. I hadn't realized how much pain could hide behind his easy smile, behind the calm voice that made me feel at home, behind the laughter I leaned on in the library.
"I started… selling," he admitted quietly, almost ashamed. "Not big deals, not like the crazy headlines. Just… small things. Things that kept me fed, kept me paying rent, kept me alive. I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want anyone to see me like that."
He looked at me, and I saw the raw honesty in his eyes. Vulnerability he had never shared with anyone else.
"I don't like it," he whispered. "I hate that I do it. I hate the risk. I hate that it's the only thing that works when life keeps trying to knock me down. But I… I can't stop. Not yet. Not while people still rely on me. Not while I still…" He swallowed hard, voice dropping to a whisper. "…while I still breathe."
My chest ached. My stomach twisted. I wanted to tell him it would be okay. I wanted to hold him, tell him he wasn't alone. I wanted to tell him that even if the world was against him, I wouldn't be.
But words didn't come.
He took a shaky breath and continued, his voice softer now, almost a confession. "I wanted you to know. To understand. This… me… it's not all of me. And I… I care about you, Erica. More than I should, maybe. More than I can even explain. I'm not trying to, God, I'm not trying to drag you into my mess. But I can't lie about it anymore."
Then it happened.
The tears.
Not the careful, controlled tears you see in movies. Not the quiet sniffles people hide behind hands. Raw, unfiltered, silent tears that ran down his cheeks as his shoulders shook.
I didn't think.
Instinct took over. My hand reached for his. My lips pressed against his. Yes I kissed him.
It was brief. A second, maybe two. But it was enough.
His body stiffened. His eyes widened. His breath hitched.
I yanked back instantly. My heart was hammering like it would burst. "Oh my God… I... I'm so sorry," I stammered. "That… that wasn't… I didn't mean..."
Heat flooded my face. My ears burned. My hands trembled. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't stay.
"I… I have to go," I said, voice cracking as I backed away, my legs suddenly feeling like lead.
And I ran.
I ran until the courtyard disappeared behind me. Until the shadows swallowed the edges of the campus. My lungs burned. My chest felt like it had been caged. Every step was jagged, chaotic, as if the act of moving could somehow undo the moment, the secret, the kiss.
Because now… it wasn't just his secret.
It was mine too.
The kiss. The panic. The guilt.
I had crossed a line I didn't even know existed.
And I couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop feeling it.
Daniel's life, his secrets, the weight of it… and Jackson, with all the visible danger, the intensity, the honesty that left me feeling raw…
I didn't know how to breathe. I didn't know how to think.
I didn't know who I was anymore.
I just knew one thing:
Whatever I did next… I had to be careful.
Because now, my heart, my secrets, my guilt, and my desire were t
angled into one impossible knot.
And I had no idea how to untangle it without breaking.