Sometimes, the bravest thing isn't fighting harder.Sometimes, it's running before history can repeat itself.
CHAPTER31
Ashley's hands were covered in flour, the fine powder turning her skin ghostly pale as she worked the pie dough.Her mother hummed softly by the sink, the familiar tune mixing with winter afternoon light that spilled through kitchen windows.They'd been baking for hours - cookies, bread, now pie - as if enough butter and sugar could somehow make everything normal again.
"You're overworking it," her mother said gently, watching Ashley's too-vigorous kneading.The dough was probably ruined, tough from her restless fingers, but neither of them mentioned it.Just like neither of them mentioned the dark circles under Ashley's eyes, or how her phone stayed face-down on the counter, collecting notifications she couldn't bear to read.
Six days.Six days of hiding in her childhood home, pretending the world outside didn't exist.Pretending she couldn't still feel Cole's hands on her skin, his mouth against hers, the way he'd-
The dough tore under her fingers.
"Here."Her mother's hands covered hers, steady and warm."Let me show you again."
Ashley nodded, letting her mother guide her movements into something gentler.The kitchen smelled of cinnamon and home, so different from the sterile chemistry of the physics lab.So different from that night when-
A knock at the door made her jump, flour clouding around her like startled ghosts.
"Probably Sarah," she said quickly, wiping her hands on her old Yale sweatshirt."She threatened to come drag me back to campus."
But even as the words left her mouth, something shifted in the air.The afternoon light seemed to hold its breath.Ashley's heart started racing before she even reached the door like some part of her already knew.
When she opened it, Cole Westwood stood on her parents' porch, snowflakes caught in his dark hair.
Her breath caught at the sight of him - hands shoved deep in his coat pockets, nose red from the cold, looking somehow both completely out of place and exactly where he belonged.The porch light hadn't come on yet in the early winter dusk, but she didn't need it to see how his eyes burned into hers, how his jaw clenched against words he was barely holding back.
"You ran away again," he said simply.
The accusation hit harder than she expected.Behind her, the kitchen still hummed with warmth and safety - her mother's quiet movements, the lingering scent of cinnamon, the half-finished pie waiting on the counter.But here, with Cole's eyes stripping away her careful pretense at normalcy, reality crashed back like a wave.
She stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her.The December air bit through her thin sweatshirt, flour dust swirling off the fabric like snow.She crossed her arms, suddenly aware of how she must look - messy hair pulled back, old sweats, traces of baking still on her hands.
Cole's jaw clenched at her shiver.Without a word, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders.His warmth lingered in the fabric, wrapped around her like an embrace.His scent - God, his scent - made her head spin with memories of his hands on her skin, his mouth against her throat, the way he'd-
"Don't go to Harvard."His voice was rough, urgent."Dale told me.Don't..."
"Cole-"
"I was an idiot," he cut her off, running a hand through his snow-damp hair."Dating Marie, pushing you away - I did everything wrong.I was so caught up in proving I didn't need anyone that I forgot how to just..."He gestured helplessly between them."Be."
Tears pricked at Ashley's eyes."Marie," she whispered."How could I do that to her?"
"Marie and I aren't together."His words came quickly, like he needed her to understand."Haven't been for a while now."
Something twisted in her chest."Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask."
She made a sound between a laugh and a sob."You can do better than that."
Cole stepped closer, close enough that snowflakes fell between them like stars."Because you seemed happy," he said softly."Content.When I saw you with the research group, with Dale..."His voice caught."I convinced myself you wanted my brother.That maybe you deserved someone steadier.Someone who didn't burn through everything he touched."
"Stop."She pressed her hand against his chest, feeling his heart race under her palm.The contrast between his warm skin and the cold air made her fingers tingle.Or maybe that was just him - always him, making her feel too much."You don't get to decide what's better for me."
"I know."He caught her hand, holding it against him."I know that now.But Ashley..."His other hand came up to brush a tear from her cheek.The gesture was so achingly gentle that it made fresh tears fall."I can't watch you leave again.Not like this."
"Why did you date her?"The question slipped out before she could stop it.She needed to know, needed to understand how they'd ended up here.
His thumb traced her cheekbone, catching another tear."I dated Marie because she was safe," he admitted, the words coming rough like he had to force them out."Because she wanted the version of me everyone else wanted.The controlled one.The one who could..."He swallowed hard."The one who could be more like Dale."
