Vivie stayed in her room long after Ashton left, her body still thrumming with the remnants of their confrontation. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she tried to steady herself. Every interaction with him felt like a battle, an exhausting war of emotions she wasn’t sure she could win. And yet, deep down, she knew she didn’t want to walk away either.

By the time night fell, a storm had begun to roll in. The wind howled through the vast estate, rattling the windows and shaking the very foundations of the house. Rain lashed against the glass in heavy sheets, and an eerie sense of foreboding settled in the air. The shadows stretched long in the dim lighting, and for the first time in a long while, Vivie felt truly small in the grand house.

Vivie wrapped herself in a blanket and sat near the window, watching the lightning split the sky apart in jagged streaks of white. Her thoughts were still tangled with Ashton, their tension a slow-burning fire that refused to die. He was a contradiction—cold yet burning, distant yet inescapably close.

A sudden crash of thunder made her flinch, and then—darkness.

The entire house plunged into blackness as the power cut out.

She sat frozen for a moment, blinking as her eyes struggled to adjust to the lack of light. The silence that followed was thick, pressing against her ears like cotton. Even the sound of the storm outside seemed muffled in comparison. The hum of the estate, the ever-present glow of security lights, all of it was gone.

Then came the heavy footsteps in the hallway.

Vivie barely had time to react before her door swung open, and a shadowed figure stood in the doorway. She tensed, her heart hammering wildly, but she recognized his presence instantly.

“Ashton?” she whispered, though she already knew it was him.

His voice was low, controlled. “The generator’s out.”

She could barely make out his features in the darkness, but she felt his presence like a weight in the air between them. Her throat went dry as he stepped into the room, his movements slow, deliberate.

“I—” she started, but he cut her off.

“You’re afraid of the dark.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. One that made her bristle.

“I’m not a child,” she muttered, gripping the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Ashton exhaled sharply, his form moving closer until she could just make out the sharp angles of his face in the dim light filtering in through the window. “I didn’t say you were.”

A tense silence stretched between them. The air was heavy, thick with something unspoken.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second, and in that moment, she saw it—the way his eyes lingered on her, dark and unreadable. The way his posture was tight, as if he was holding something back.

Then, as quickly as it came, the light was gone, plunging them back into darkness.

A gust of wind howled outside, rattling the windows so violently that Vivie instinctively moved toward him. Her fingers brushed against his forearm, and she gasped at the unexpected contact.

Ashton didn’t pull away.

“Stay close,” he murmured, his voice quieter this time.

She swallowed, nodding even though she knew he couldn’t see it. She felt his warmth now, standing this close, and the awareness between them was suffocating.

Minutes passed. The storm raged on outside, but inside the room, the silence was deafening.

Then, she felt it—a hesitant, lingering touch against her arm. His fingers, light and barely there. It was brief, but it sent a shiver down her spine.

She didn’t move away.

Neither did he.

They stood there in the darkness, trapped in a moment neither of them seemed willing to break.

Another crash of thunder made Vivie jolt, and without thinking, she reached for him, her hand grasping the front of his shirt. The fabric was warm beneath her fingertips, grounding her in the suffocating blackness. Ashton stiffened but didn’t push her away. Instead, his hand came up, resting lightly against her waist, the hesitant touch setting her skin ablaze.

The rain pounded harder against the windows, and the estate felt suddenly smaller, the room shrinking as the tension between them grew heavier. She could feel his breath against her temple, slow and measured, as if he was restraining himself.

“Ashton…” Her voice was barely a whisper, swallowed by the howling wind outside.

A moment passed. Then another. He let out a low sigh, his hand tightening slightly before he finally stepped back, breaking whatever spell had tethered them together in the darkness. “Get some rest,” he said, his voice unreadable.

And then, just as quietly as he had arrived, he was gone.

Vivie was left alone in the darkness, her pulse racing, her body still tingling from his touch. She knew she wouldn’t sleep that night. Not with the ghost of his hands lingering on her skin, and the storm of something new raging between them.