Destroy Me Gently:Ex-Enemy Becomes My Lover! Chapter 35: Confronting the past

Chapter THIRTY FIVE

**Oliver West**

Before I could begin to fathom what he ant by that, he tugged harshly at my arm, shoving into the shower area and turned on the shower knob. I saw him adjust the temperature and the water rained down on in full blast.

The water was freezing cold. It quickly soaked through my hair and clothes, plastering them to my skin like ice. The shock of it made gasp, my lungs seizing as the frigid liquid invaded every pore.

"Let out!" I yelped, sputtering out water that tasted slightly of chlorine.

Kieran was also soaking wet, but he didn’t seem to mind. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead, water droplets trailing down the sharp angles of his face. But I would still be the freak who would return ho in wet clothes, having to explain to Mom why I looked like I’d fallen into a lake.

"You wanted a bath. I am giving you one. Don’t tell you aren’t enjoying it," he said with a look of mock disappointnt on his face, his lips curving into that cruel smile I’d co to know so well.

The coldness of the water seeped into my bones. My teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

Was he trying to get sick? Or was this just another of his twisted punishnts, another way to break down piece by piece?

I pounded against his wet shoulders as I fought against him now. I didn’t care if I was screaming aloud. Hell, I wanted soone to hear and rescue from this psychopath. My fists made wet slapping sounds against his skin, but he might as well have been made of stone for all the effect it had.

I thought Vince had co along with him. Why wasn’t he helping? Kieran might be committing murder and he just wouldn’t care? Such sick loyalty.

"Kieran, l-let go please!" I sputtered out, water streaming down my face and into my mouth, making cough and choke.

He suddenly backed against the shower wall. Now I was completely drenched and visibly shivering while he completely appeared to be unaffected by the cold.

The tiles were freezing against my back. I could feel my lips losing blood, my whole body shaking from cold and fear. My wet clothes clung to like a second skin, making feel exposed and vulnerable in ways that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"When will you stop being an to ! You are hurt, but you can’t continue to do this. It has to co to an end!" I cried out, using my free arm to pound against his chest as hard as I could.

My voice cracked with desperation, with years of pent-up frustration and pain. How long could this go on? How much more could I take before I completely shattered? Until I die?

His gaze flickered and burned intensely as he gripped my jaw forcefully, forcing to stare directly at him. His fingers were like ice against my skin, but sohow they burned.

"I already told you, as long as you are alive, it won’t end!" he seethed out, his voice rough with pain and anger.

His words cut deep, tears springing to my eyes at the dead sincerity in his gaze. There was no doubt, no hesitation there. Just cold, hard truth that hit like a knife to the chest.

"Then if I die, will it really end? Will my K return?" My voice broke on his old nickna, the one I used to whisper when we were children playing in the garden, when the world was simple and we were just two boys who thought we’d be friends forever. "I miss him, Kieran. Will you stop hurting if I die?"

The question hung in the air between us. I realized I was asking him to choose, to decide if my death would finally give him the peace he was searching for.

I was full-blown crying now, realizing that his response might change everything. If he would stop being in pain and return to that normal, lovely boy I once knew, then... The thought terrified , but part of was so tired of fighting, so exhausted from years of carrying this guilt and pain.

I didn’t care to wipe the tears away as I t his steel gaze. The salty liquid mixed with the shower water streaming down my face.

"I hurt too, maybe more than you can ever imagine," I continued, my voice cracking with emotion that had been buried for so long. "You lost one person, but have you ever thought about ? I lost her! And then I lost you too!"

His grip on my jaw loosened slightly, his eyes widening as if my words had physically struck him. For a mont, just a mont, I saw sothing flicker across his face. Sothing soft compared to his usual rigid look,

"I can’t even die even if I want to. Do you want to know why? Because you saved this life! So I have no choice but to cherish it. I have to stay as happy and strong as I can no matter how trashy my life becos, only then would your sacrifice be worth it."

My voice was breaking apart with each sentence "I tell myself it doesn’t matter if you hurt . After all, this life beca yours from the mont you saved . But I’m hurt, Kieran. Everything you do is so painful. I can’t get used to you being like this. I don’t want to be pathetic, but I can’t help it either."

I looked up at him with eight years of regrets between us "She died and I survived. Do you really have to hate us for it? If Ginny could see us, would she be happy seeing us hating and suffering for it?"

I was quite surprised that he allowed to speak for so long without any interruption. When I looked up into his eyes, I saw the intense emotional depth there, the pain, loathing, and bitterness that had been eating at him for years like acid.

But underneath it all, I saw sothing else. The sa hurt that had been consuming ,

I expected him to lash out at or scream out in rage, to push harder against the wall or turn the water even colder.

I didn’t expect him to just silently watch my breakdown, my entire world crumbling before his eyes. His gaze was clouded with confusion and uncertainty. His wet skin was warm against mine despite the cold water still falling around us, creating a strange contrast that made my head spin.

"She wouldn’t want you to despise yourself either, Kieran. You know better than anyone that she loved you the most," I whispered softly, my voice barely audible over the sound of the shower and our ragged breathing.

His whole body tensed at my words. For a mont, I saw a crack in his armor, a glimpse of the broken boy underneath all that anger. The boy who used to hold my hand when we crossed the street, who used to share his lunch with when I forgot mine.

I could have sworn I saw that boy.

This ti his gaze lowered to my lips. The air between us shifted, beca charged with sothing I couldn’t na but recognized

I knew he was going to kiss .

I closed my eyes, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it over the rushing water. Despite everything, the pain, the years of tornt, the impossible situation we were in, I wanted this. I ached to feel him close to more than anything in this world.

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