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ⁿᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸⁱⁿᵍ
𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 & 𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 , 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 raged for hours, rain hammering the roof like it wanted in. Inside, the safe house was dead quiet. The kind of quiet where you could hear your heartbeat in your throat.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of tonight — gunfire, sirens, Jax’s blood. Every breath she took carried the smell of smoke.
She got up, wrapped her blanket around her shoulders, and padded softly into the main room.
He was there, of course. Sitting by the window, one arm bandaged, cigarette glowing faint in the dark. His eyes caught hers through the reflection in the glass.
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠,” 𝐉𝐚𝐱 said, voice gravelly.
“𝐒𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”
He smirked without humor. “I don’t sleep much.”
Maya leaned against the wall, watching him. “That why you look like a ghost half the time?”
He turned then, his gaze locking on hers, sharp and unguarded. “You always got something to say, huh?”
“Somebody has to,” she murmured. “You’d burn this whole world down if no one stopped you.”
Jax exhaled smoke, but his eyes softened. “And you think you could stop me?”
“Maybe not,” she said quietly. “But I could make you want to stop.”
The words hung between them like static.
He crushed the cigarette in the ashtray and stood. Each step he took toward her felt deliberate, heavy. When he stopped in front of her, the air was thick enough to choke on.
“You don’t get it,” he said, voice low. “Everything I touch breaks. I don’t get happy endings, Maya.”
Her chin lifted. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”
He stared at her for a long second. “You should hate me.”
“I tried,” she whispered. “Didn’t work.”
𝐉𝐚𝐱 looked down, his hand twitching like he wanted to reach for her but was scared of what would happen if he did. Then, slowly, he brushed a strand of hair off her face, fingers rough but careful.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚’𝐬 pulse stuttered.
“Every time I get close,” he murmured, “something bad follows.”
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞,” she said, voice trembling. “Maybe this time, it won’t.”
Their faces were inches apart now. He could feel her breath against his lips, soft and shaky.
Then Leo stirred in the next room — a tiny, innocent sound that snapped them both back to reality.
Jax stepped back instantly, jaw tight.
“Go to him,” he muttered.
Maya hesitated. “𝐉𝐚𝐱—”
“Go,” he said again, eyes dark with something she couldn’t name.
She left without another word, heart pounding.
Later that night, she heard footsteps stop outside her door. A soft pause. Then silence.
He never knocked. Never came in. But she knew he was standing there, watching over them.
For the first time in years, Maya slept without nightmares.
Jax leaned his head against the wall outside her room, whispering to himself what he’d never admit out loud.
“𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐥’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 .”
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