’Great. Absolutely great.’

Here he was, well past midnight, somehow managing to make a beautiful young woman cry while she clung to his hand as if he had personally betrayed her. Marcus stared at the situation in exhausted disbelief, wondering how things had spiraled so far out of control. What a hero he was. Truly impressive.

He shot Lily a desperate look across the bed, silently pleading for rescue.

Lily answered with a gentle smile that held far too much amusement for someone witnessing his suffering. Then, without a shred of shame, she calmly closed her eyes and settled deeper into the pillow, pretending to have fallen asleep. The betrayal was immediate and absolute.

Unbelievable. Even she abandoned him.

Fine. If nobody was going to save him, he would handle this himself.

Jade’s tears continued to fall. At first they were silent, gathering along her lashes, but soon they trembled into soft, uneven sobs that made Marcus’ resolve crumble almost instantly. He had heard people joke that women were made of water, yet watching Jade now, eyes glistening and expression fragile with hurt, he finally understood how terrifying tears could be. There was simply no way to remain cold when someone looked at you like that.

"Jade," he said gently, leaning closer so his voice would not carry through the quiet room. "Don’t cry. Of course I care about you."

She shook her head stubbornly, lips trembling despite her effort to stay composed.

"Liar," she whispered, her voice small but painfully sincere. "You always avoid me. If you really cared, you wouldn’t keep pushing me away."

Marcus blinked, caught completely off guard. That was not the accusation he had expected tonight.

Jade tightened her grip on his sleeve, searching his face as if trying to confirm whether he would deny it again.

"Lily lets me stay with her when I can’t sleep. Crystal does too. Even Amber listens when I talk," she continued softly. "But you’re always careful around me. Like there’s a wall between us."

There was no childish whining in her tone, no immaturity. Only the awkward courage of someone who had held her feelings back for too long and finally decided to speak honestly.

Marcus exhaled slowly, understanding dawning with uncomfortable clarity.

Right. That was the real problem.

Jade was no longer the little girl who used to fall asleep halfway through family trips while holding his hand. She had turned nineteen months ago, stepping quietly into adulthood while his perception of her had remained frozen somewhere in the past. The distance he created had never been rejection. It had been hesitation, uncertainty, and perhaps his own refusal to acknowledge how much she had changed.

And now she believed he was deliberately shutting her out.

His expression softened. He reached up and gently brushed a tear from her cheek.

"My Jade is important to me," he said quietly. "I just didn’t want to make things complicated."

Her breathing steadied, though her eyes still searched his.

"Then... stay," she whispered after a moment. "Just tonight. Hold me like before. Don’t run away again."

Marcus hesitated.

The request itself sounded innocent, yet the atmosphere surrounding it was no longer simple. Jade had grown into a striking young woman, and her closeness carried warmth along with a faint, unfamiliar tension that made him suddenly aware of every inch separating them. The past and present overlapped in ways that left him uncertain where to stand.

But hurting her was never an option.

He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against her forehead, letting it linger long enough to reassure rather than confuse.

"I’m not going anywhere," he said softly. "We’ll just sleep. Nothing more."

Jade blinked in surprise, relief spreading across her face as the last of her tears disappeared.

"Really?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Really."

A shy smile replaced her earlier distress. She released a small breath, as though a weight had finally lifted from her chest, then slipped back beneath the blanket and curled closer to Lily while leaving space beside her.

Marcus retreated to the bathroom before his thoughts had the chance to wander somewhere dangerous.

Cold water ran over his hands and face, grounding him. He stayed there longer than necessary, letting the chill steady his breathing and clear the lingering tension in his mind.

’Get yourself together.’

Yes, Jade was an adult now, but that did not give him permission to act carelessly. She trusted him completely. That trust mattered more than fleeting emotions or momentary confusion.

When he returned wearing fresh pajamas, the bedroom lights had been dimmed. He lifted the blanket quietly.

And paused.

Lily and Jade lay side by side beneath the faint glow of moonlight filtering through the curtains. Lily looked effortlessly elegant even in sleep, her mature beauty calm and composed, every line of her posture relaxed yet refined. Jade, resting beside her, possessed a softer charm, youthful yet unmistakably grown, her features peaceful and vulnerable in rest.

Two different kinds of beauty sharing the same quiet moment.

Marcus swallowed.

’Dangerous territory’.

He quickly turned off the lamp and slipped beneath the blanket before his imagination could betray him.

"Marcus," Jade murmured sleepily the moment he lay down.

Without hesitation, she shifted closer and rested against him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His arm lifted almost instinctively, allowing her to settle against his chest. Her warmth seeped through the thin fabric of their pajamas, familiar and comforting in a way that lowered his guard despite himself.

"Sleep in the middle," she mumbled, nudging him gently so he lay between her and Lily.

Marcus adjusted with a quiet sigh, already deciding he would complain to Lily tomorrow for abandoning him to such a situation. Jade relaxed almost immediately once he settled, her breathing slowing as she nestled closer. The earlier tension dissolved, replaced by simple trust.

He stared up at the ceiling.

What he felt was complicated. Affection came first, followed by protectiveness, and beneath it all a growing awareness he refused to examine too closely. Not desire, not exactly. Just the undeniable realization that time had moved forward whether he acknowledged it or not, and sooner or later he would have to confront that change.

Closing his eyes, he circulated his Inner Energy through Human Rock, guiding the familiar technique through his body. The steady flow calmed his breathing, quieted his thoughts, and restored control over both mind and emotion.

’Control first. Always control.’

Jade shifted slightly in her sleep, pressing closer with a contented sigh.

"Marcus... this feels safe."

Her voice faded as sleep claimed her completely.

Marcus allowed himself a faint smile.

"Then sleep," he murmured softly.

Between Jade’s quiet warmth at his side and Lily’s steady presence beside him, the room finally settled into peaceful silence, the fragile promise of the night held gently between affection and restraint.