A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 131

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It rang once, then again and again..”Pick up, Delilah,” I muttered under my breath, “Come on. Pick up.”

Lifting my gaze up, I looked ahead of me with a furrowed brow, my eyes spotting her almost immediately without even trying.

Delilah stood farther down the hallway, staring down at her own phone and my brow creased even more. She wasn’t going to pick up, she’d seen my name, she had to have.

A strange mixture of worry and concern settles in my chest as I watch her standing there, completely unaware that I was looking at her. Then slowly, her gaze lifts and her eyes met mine.

My heart thuds hard when I saw the blank look on her face, and I find myself longing for her smil. Those beautiful smiles that always seem to brighten her entire face now leaves an expression I couldn’t quite read.

And suddenly, the thought of her walking away from me..of actually losing whatever we had between us..hit me harder than I expected.

I took a step forward, not look away, neither did she, and just as Iwas about to take another step, a hand suddenly grabs mine.

“Hey! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” my gaze drifts slightly down, finding Olivia there.

My brows furrows again, and for a moment, I just stared at her hand around mine before looking back at her face.

“Can we talk later?” I asked.

Her smile faltered slightly, “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”

I pull my gaze away from her, looking up to find Delilah still there, watching us. Her eyes drifts toward Olivia’s hand around mine, then they moved back to me, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Pulling my hand away from Olivia’s grasp gentle but firmly just as she turned not seeing my attempt to get to her again. But it didn’t matter as I I step past Olivia, going after her.

The hallway was crowded, packed with students moving between classes, and within seconds, I lost sight of Delilah.

“Caelum!” Olivia’s voice follows behind me as she trails after me, but I kept moving, scanning the crowd until my steps suddenly came to a halt, spotting her.

She wasn’t alone this time, as Landon stood in front of her. I watched them exchange a few words, my brows pulled together.

What the hell was going on?

Olivia finally catches up, stopping beside me. I felt her gaze move toward me before she looked at Delilah.

“I thought they were broken up,” she said, “but judging from that, it doesn’t seem that way.”

I looked at her, “Don’t jump to conclusions, they are clearly not together anymore.”

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14:53 Fri, Sep 11

A Kiss At Midnight

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“Are you sure about that?” I followed her gaze just as Landon reaches for Delilah’s hand, pulling her along.

My jaw clenched, wondering where he was taking her to. Without thinking twice, my footsteps moved, ready for go after them when Olivia grabs my hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She looked at me. “We clearly have something to talk about,” she said, “and Delilah seems to be following Landon willingly,” my gaze remains fixed on them, “you don’t have to worry about her, besides, who could force Delilah Quinn to do something she didn’t want to do?

I clenched my jaw again, watching Landon lead her away, the two of them disappearing into an empty classroom. “See,” she said, releasing my hand and stepping around me until she was standing directly in front of me then she smiled.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she smiles softly as she looks up at me, and I could see it in her eyes, the affection. The kind of look I had craved so badly in the past and now she was standing right in front of me, staring at me with those same eyes.

Deciding I needed to tell her now, there was no way I could say what I needed to say without breaking her heart, but I couldn’t keep avoiding it. She deserved the truth.

“Sure,” I said, “we can talk now, we’ve got nothing else to do.”

Olivia’s smile stretches across her face, and I turned around, despite the part of me that wanted to follow Delilah and figure out why she has been with Landon.

Instead, I headed toward the music room, knowing it would be empty during this period. Olivia walked in first, and I followed her inside, closing the door behind us.

Turning around, before I could say anything, she tiptoed toward me, pressing her lips against mine and freeze for a second, I didn’t know how to react, before gently placing both hands on her shoulders, pulling her back.

“Olivia..” I said softly.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me first,” she said quickly before I could say anything else, “I kept thinking you were going to, but then I figured, why should I keep waiting? There’s no harm in asking myself. So..do you want to go to the Fall Festival with me?”

Staring at her for a second. “Olivia..”

“I know how things have been between us,” she continued, barely giving me a chance to speak, “and I feel stupid for not realizing my feelings sooner, I should’ve known. Maybe I was just too scared to admit it.”

She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “But I know now,” her eyes met mine, “I care about you, I care about you a lot, Caelum. I know we haven’t exactly made things easy for each other, but maybe that’s because we’ve both been pretending this isn’t something.”

She gave me a small, nervous smile. “I don’t want to pretend anymore, I want to give us a chance,” stepping closer, her voice becoming softer, her eyes searched mine, “I want to go to the Fall Festival with you, I want to spend time with you without wondering what we could’ve been.”

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14:53 Fri, Sep 11

A Kiss At Midnight

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“And I want to know if maybe.. we could actually be something,” she looked so hopeful, making what I was about to say feel even harder, knowing I couldn’t give her what she wanted.

“Olivia, my voice came out sharper than I intended and she stopped mid sentence. For a moment, she just stared at me, then then I saw it, the fear in her eyes. The quiet kind that settles in when someone already knew the answer to a question they were afraid to ask as she searches my face for something..anything..that could prove her fears wrong.

I couldn’t give her that

“I’m not going to the Fall Festival with you,” her lips parted slightly but I force myself to continue, “Yeah, maybe we made a promise at the beginning of the semester that we’d go together, but you can’t deny that something has changed between us. The feelings I had for you.. they’ve changed too.”

She gulps hard, blinking several times, trying to hold back the tears gathering in her eyes. “Is it because of her?” she didn’t need to say Delilah’s name, knowing exactly who she meant but didn’t answer, didn’t have to.

She looks into my eyes, and whatever she saw there seemed to give her the answer she was looking for and she takes another step backward.

“I can see it,” she whispers, her voice cracks, “the way you look at her. can see what you’re feeling for me now and I wanted so badly not to believe it was real,” she shakes her head, a tear slipping free despite her attempt to stop it, “I can tell she means something to you,, doesn’t she?”

I let out a slow breath as she looks away for a second before meeting my gaze again. “What about her?” she asked quietly, “does she feel the same way about you?”

Sighing. “Olivia..”

“No. I want to know.”

Runing a hand through my hair. “Delilah and I have grown considerably close these past few months,” pausing, searching for the right words, “and somewhere along the way, our feelings for each other changed too. I don’t want to be away from her,” I admitted. “Not even for a second.”

“I never wanted to hurt you, that’s the last thing I wanted,” my chest tightens, “but I can’t lose Delilah,” staring at her, knowing there was no way to make those words hurt less, “she’s the one person I can’t bear to lose.”

Another tears slips down her cheeks but she wiped at them quickly, and when she stares at me, it was almost as if she had realized something, making the tears more relentless.

“You love her,”

I didn’t deny it. “I do,” the words felt heavy leaving my mouth, but they were also the simplest truth I’d ever said. “I’m in love with Delilah.”

Olivia closes her eyes for a moment, taking that in, then she she wipes her cheeks again, reaching for my hands, holding them between hers.

“I made a mistake,” she said, “I know I did, I was stupid for turning you down before, and I know you still felt something for me. So give us a chance, Caelum.”

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14:53 Fri, Sep 11

A Kiss At Midnight

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I gently pulled my hands from hers. “Olivia, that’s the problem,” her brows pulled together, “the only reason you’re confessing these feelings now is because things changed for me. I changed my look, started getting more attention. People started noticing me, and suddenly you want me.”

Really Caelum..acting like you hadn’t done all this in the beginning just for her attention.

“That isn’t..”

“Was I any of those things before?” I asked, “did you feel this way when I wasn’t getting all that attention?” She went quiet, her answer loud enough and I shake my head, “You didn’t.”

She let out a bitter laugh, wiping another tear from her cheek. “Yes,” she admits, her voice trembles, “I did say I was stupid enough not to realize how much you meant to me and maybe I only realized it after you started getting a little fame,” looking directly at me, but she isn’t any different.”

My brows furrow, “What?”

Her expression hardened. “She’s using you,” her tone was a bit cold this time, “do you really think she gives a damn about you?”

She let out another bitter laugh. “Come on, Caelum. You can’t seriously be gullible enough to think Delilah is ever going to feel the same way you feel about her.”

Her words hit harder than I wanted them to

“Open your eyes,” stepping closer, “Delilah is the popular girl in school, she’s the girl every guy wants. And yeah, maybe you’ve gotten a little popularity from hanging around her and her friends, but you’re nothing compared to Landon,” my jaw tightens

“Look at what you just saw,” she continues, “you saw them together, him take her away. For all you know, she could still have feelings for him.”

“That’s not..”

“Delilah Quinn doesn’t date guys like you,” the words stung and I hated that they did. For a second, I couldn’t get them out of my head but I wasn’t going to let her reduce Delilah to that.

“You don’t know her,” I said.

Olivia scoffs, “I know enough.”

“No, you don’t,” my voice was firmer this time, “she is more than what everyone thinks she is, she has a beautiful heart and that’s what matters to me. She’s the only person my heart beats for.”

She shook her head. “You must be stupid if you really think she’s going to choose you,” I said nothing as she continues coldly her voice quieter but no less cutting, “I’ll be right here, when she breaks your heart.” Wiping the last tear from her cheek, “because you’re too blind to see how different the two of you are.”

With that, she walked past me and I didn’t stop her as the door opens and closes behind her.

I stood there alone, taking a deep breath before jrunning a hand over my hair as I tried to push her words out

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14:53 Fri, Sep 11

A KISS At Midnight

of my head.

I couldn’t let them get to me..but somehow, they already had

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14:53 Fri, Sep 11

A Kiss At Midnight

WAY TO END IT

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DELILAH POV

The awkwardness settling between us was almost unbearable and despite everything Caelum and I had been through, sex and all, this was by far the most awkward we’d ever felt around each other.

It hadn’t been this fucking awkward when we had first started the deal, or had sex for the first time.

If anything, this was worse..much worse.

We were sitting on my bed, going through some of the work he had given me, but I could barely concentrate on any of it, not when my mind kept circling back to the same thing.

How the hell was I suppose to tell him the deal was over..

I had replay the conversation in my head countless times, trying to figure out the right way to bring it up without making things even more uncomfortable.

Nothing sound right, so I kept quiet and surprisingly so did he

He had barely said anything since he arrived, and was quieter than usual, his attention fix on the front of him as though they required every ounce of concentration he had.

papers

in

I couldn’t help wondering what was wrong and several times, I almost asked him if he was okay and if something had happened, but stopped myself everytime.

What did it matter..I’d already cried my heart out at school earlier, made a complete fool of myself in front of Landon, and spent the rest of the day thinking about everything that had happen between Caelum and Olivia.

The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became, this was what it had always been. The deal had an ending from the beginning, I had known that, there was never supposed to be anything beyond it.

I was the idiot who had allowed myself to catch feelings, so I had no right to feel hurt,, no right to feel betrayed, and blaming Caelum for any of this would be completely fucking unreasonable.

He hadn’t promise me forever, I had just somehow started wishing for it

Taking a deep breath, my gaze rest at him, watching him mark the assessment he has given me with far more concentration than usual.

His brows furrows slightly, his pen moving steadily across the page and I stare at him for a moment longer before looking away.. I just need to find the courage to tell him that the deal was over, but first I need to prepare myself

Pushing myself off the bed, “I’m going to get us some snacks and something to drink,” I said, mostly because I needed an excuse to get out of the room and didn’t wait for his response, not that I was even sure he was going to say anything.

I made my way toward the door, slipping out of the bedroom. The moment I closed it behind me, I took in a

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