Chapter 8: Even If She Wasn't Mine, She Was
Aria had just turned eighteen.
Selene didn't know where she'd gone at first, not until she tracked her back to the apartment building through the rain. The lights were off. The blinds were only half - drawn. From across the street, hidden under the shadows of the tree line, Selene stood watching.
Inside, Aria lay curled up on her bed. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs, her hands covering her face. She didn't move. She didn't even flinch when lightning cracked the sky wide open.
Selene's fingers twitched by her side. She wanted to break in. Crawl through the window. Wrap her arms around her. Wipe those tears away and whisper, Tell me who hurt you. I'll take care of it.
But she didn't move. Not yet. Not when she was still supposed to be a stranger.
She didn't know what exactly happened at first — only that Aria had come home heartbroken. She would find out the rest later.
Aria had gone to a fan - service event.
To see Elara.
Aria had worn something simple — jeans and a loose hoodie, oversized and soft, the sleeves bunched around her wrists. But even in that, she stood out. Glowed, really. The kind of glow that couldn't be manufactured, couldn't be faked. Effortless. Natural.
Too natural.
Too magnetic.
Elara's manager noticed immediately.
Selene was in the crowd that night, hidden in the back, her presence no more than another dark blur in the sea of fans. But she was close enough. Close enough to hear the venom in the woman's voice when she pulled Aria aside.
"You're a distraction," the woman had hissed, low and bitter. "Elara's a star. You? You're nothing but noise. Stay away. Don't mess this up for her."
Aria didn't argue.
She just stood there, stunned, silent. And then she smiled.
That was the part that made Selene want to set the whole place on fire. That quiet, broken smile. Like Aria believed it. Like she'd swallowed those words and let them live inside her chest.
Then she walked away — alone.
No one stopped her.
That was what broke her.
Selene had never hated a stranger more in her life than she hated that woman.
But even that rage wasn't enough to push her forward. Not yet.
Another year passed.
Aria turned nineteen.
And she bloomed.
It wasn't just physical — though that part was undeniable. Aria grew into herself like sunlight through glass: clear, warm, and impossible not to be drawn toward. Her hair was longer now, often tied up in a messy bun, little wisps falling into her eyes. Her face had softened in some places, sharpened in others. There was an elegance to her — subtle, but magnetic.
Selene watched from a distance.
Always.
She would sit across the street from Aria's favorite café, sipping something iced and bitter while pretending to read a paper she didn't care about. Aria would hum while stirring her coffee. Greet the barista with a smile. Tap her fingers on the table while scrolling through her phone.
And Selene would watch. Wanting.
She came close to stepping forward, more times than she'd ever admit. Just to say hi. Just to be near her, properly.
But she didn't.
Not yet.
Then came him.
Dominic.
Selene hated him on sight.
It wasn't jealousy — at first. It was instinct. That oily, overconfident way he moved. The way his smile never quite reached his eyes. The way he leaned too close when Aria laughed, touched her arm too often like he was staking some claim he hadn't earned.
Aria didn't see it.
Of course she didn't. She was gentle. Naïve, maybe. Kind. Too kind.
She blushed when he offered to walk her home. Smiled shyly when he showed up with takeout. Laughed when he made dumb jokes and complimented her eyes like he'd discovered them himself.
Selene kept her distance.
But her blood boiled every time he touched her.
She followed them once, just to be sure. Watched them walk side by side down the street. Dominic reached for her hand, and Aria — after a moment — let him hold it.
Selene's fingers curled into fists inside her jacket pockets.
That night, Dominic showed up with a small, striped cat in a box. Claimed he couldn't keep her at his place. Said maybe Aria could help.
She named her Piper.
Selene didn't buy a word of it. It was bait. Emotional investment dressed up in fur and mewls.
Aria fed it, loved it, kept it anyway.
Because that's who she was.
And then — Naomi.
Selene noticed her right away. She was loud, flirty, sharp. Always trailing after Dominic like a shadow with too much perfume. At first, it was casual — little whispers, long glances, "accidental" touches on the arm.
But Selene heard her. Late one night, standing too close at a party:
"Aria's too innocent. You want someone who'll spread her legs? Try me."
Selene almost broke her neck.
But she didn't.
She just remembered.
Dominic started slipping after that. Less texting. More excuses. He'd flake on plans last - minute. Cancel with barely a sentence. Aria never yelled. She just… retreated.
One evening, Selene saw her at a café with Jules. They sat in the corner booth, two hot drinks between them. Aria looked tired, like she hadn't slept well. Jules reached across the table, holding her hand.
"I think I'm gonna break it off," Aria said softly, staring into her drink. "He doesn't seem… invested. I mean, we're still young, right? But it's like — I don't know. I feel like he's sick of me."
Jules frowned. "You're not too much for anyone, you know that?"
"I just don't want to be a burden."
Jules let out a quiet sigh, then stood and walked around the table, pulling Aria into a hug from behind.
"Well, if he's too stupid to want you, I'll date you instead," she teased, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek.
Aria laughed, soft and genuine.
Selene, watching from the café window, smirked.
That's her girl.
Still soft. Still strong.
Still surrounded by love — even if it wasn't the kind Selene wanted to give her yet.
But then things turned worse.
Selene followed Naomi to a hotel one evening. She stood in the shadows of the alleyway, eyes sharp, waiting. Dominic showed up in that rusted - out car of his. Naomi jumped into his arms like it was a romcom, not a betrayal.
The next day?
Naomi sat beside Aria in class, all smiles and giggles.
Aria never suspected a thing.
And Jules didn't know either — though Selene noticed the way her eyes narrowed when Naomi showed up wearing a necklace identical to one Aria used to wear.
Selene didn't say a word. Not to anyone.
But she heard Dominic.
One afternoon in the locker room, bragging to his friends:
"Yeah, I hit that. Aria? She was so into it. Best I ever had."
They laughed.
Then paused.
Then laughed again — but at him.
None of his friends believed him. They knew Aria. Knew Jules. They just laughed and called him desperate.
"Bro, shut up," one of them snorted. "She's way out of your league. And you're still chasing Naomi."
"Seriously. You expect us to believe that? Please."
Dominic went quiet after that.
He never said it again.
But Selene didn't forget.
She watched Aria grow stronger. Start standing a little taller. Smile more freely again. Piper curled in her lap at night, purring. She walked with her head up, even when her heart still healed.
Selene loved her more for it.
Even when Aria didn't know she existed, not really.
Even when Aria smiled at others.
Even when she cried over boys that weren't her.
She was still hers.
Always.
And now —
Now it was happening.
Selene could feel it in her bones.
The sky looked wrong. The air felt too still. The news spun it like it was just a weird storm cycle, but Selene knew better. Her years in service had taught her to listen when the earth whispered before it screamed.
The disappearances were getting harder to explain. The abandoned towns. The communication blackouts. The growing silence.
She'd seen this before.
Not quite like this, but close.
The beginning of something terrible.
Six months. Maybe less.
And Aria?
Still walking home alone.
Still humming to herself.
Still unaware that the world was about to fall apart.
Selene stood across the street again that night, watching her through the window as she fed Piper and danced barefoot in her living room to some song she probably thought no one else could hear.
The light hit her face just right.
Selene's chest ached.
She didn't have the right to step in.
Not yet.
But she would.
When the world ended — when it all burned — Selene would finally reach out and take what was hers.
Even if Aria didn't know it yet.
Even if she never had been.
Because even if she wasn't mine…
She was.