The silence was unbearable. The Engine humed. Tires on asphalt. Nothing else.
I couldn't stop staring. Blake. Even thinking his name felt wrong. Impossible. For three years, gone. Dead. And now beside me like those years were nothing. Like my grief had been performed for empty seats.
"You..." My voice shook. "You can't be Blake."
His eyes flicked toward me, back to the road. "Last I checked," he said flatly, "I still am."
My chest tightened painfully. "But you died. "
A quiet, bitter laugh. "Funny. That's not how I remember it."
Something cold slid through my stomach. "I went to your funeral."
That made him look. Not soft. Not relieved. Confused. "You what?"
"I thought you were gone-"
The memory hit before I could stop it. Flashing lights. Screaming metal. The impact-
"My parents said you died after the accident."
Blake's grip whitened on the steering wheel. "What accident?"
My heart skipped. "The car crash. My head hit the window." Hospital lights. Machines. Pain splitting my skull. "I asked where you were. They told me you didn't make it."
The car jerked. He'd braked too hard at a stop sign. Silence. Then-laughter. Nothing warm in it.
"They told you I died." Not a question.
"They said the crash killed you."
He shook his head slowly. "Unbelievable."
"What?"
His voice dropped. "You actually believed them."
"I had no reason not to!" Louder than I meant. Breaking. "I thought you were gone! "
His head snapped toward me. And the look-wasn't anger anymore. Something sharper. Colder. "You moved on pretty fast," he said quietly.
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"You never came looking."
"Blake, I thought you were dead. "
"You could've checked."
"How? " Cracking completely now. "I was fifteen. In a hospital bed. I had a concussion!"
Silence.
But the anger didn't leave. It settled. "You still ruined everything," he said.
I shook my head slowly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Blake reached into his pocket. Pulled out his phone. Unlocked it. Held it out.
The message stared back. Don't come tonight. I told everyone about us. They know everything.
My hands started shaking. "I didn't send that."
He didn't hesitate. "That's funny."
"I'm serious."
His jaw tightened. "You expect me to believe that?"
"I swear I didn't!"
Silence. Suffocating. He stared ahead, grip whitening again.
"After that message..." His voice had gone flat. "Everything fell apart." My chest constricted. "My parents found out. They saw everything."
My stomach twisted.
"They thought I betrayed them." A hollow laugh. "You know what happens when powerful families think you've betrayed them?"
I couldn't speak.
"They destroy you."
The car pulled over. Engine died. Silence flooded the space, thick and cold. Then Blake turned. And the hatred in his eyes-made my chest ache with something worse than fear.
"I trusted you," he said quietly. "And you destroyed my life."
Tears slipped down my cheeks. "I didn't betray you."
He didn't respond. Just looked at me like I was the worst mistake he'd ever made.
And in that moment-I realized something terrifying.
The boy I once loved... now hated me.
And nothing I said would change it.