Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina)

Chapter 155

Intense-1

The next day, I'm tidying up my room after a shower and before dinner. I grab a sweater I have on my bedside table and in the process, my phone falls on the floor.

It flashes on and the numbers from the corner of the screen stare back at me.

My heart goes into overdrive.

They're small, unassuming, but they define my entire life at this point.

February 14th.

I've been avoiding my phone all day for this exact reason. I didn't want to be reminded. And now I'm here, in the suffocating quiet, trying not to drown in it.

Burning rubber and gasoline.

The crunch of metal folding in on itself.

Flashing lights. Red, white, blue, like a strobe in the middle of the nightmare.

The images and memories bombard me, and I struggle to breathe.

I wrap myself tighter in the blanket I stole off the bed, dragging it with me like a shield as

I step onto the balcony of my room. The cold air bites at my face, but I welcome it.

It's sharp, cold... completely opposite to that day as I watched the first responders check my family for signs of life.

hot that day, burning

panic was

nothing. It's so dark and without lights coming from a large city, I can

beautiful.

that gets me.

1/3

intense 1

into the blanket, trying to

I'm pathetic.

door open at first. It's the soft creak of the floorboards that makes me lift my head, wiping at my

voice is low,

body exhales without permission. Anyone else I might have faked

think I

he steps out onto the balcony, barefoot

knows. It feels like he always knows what I'm feeling just by

say anything; I don't trust

a word, he crouches down and scoops me up, blanket

lap, his arms

my face in his chest, letting myself

of

It smells like

asks after a moment, his fingers moving slowly

head. He

his body tense under me. Not in a way

ask, wiping at