Chapter 6: Walls Built of Silence
(Ethan's POV)
Ethan should have ignored her.
Should have kept his head down, turned back to his sketchbook, and acted like Riley Carter wasn't standing in the doorway of the art room, looking at him like she wanted to say something she should have said years ago.
Instead, he made the mistake of looking up.
And the second their eyes met, he saw it.
Regret.
Like she suddenly realized what she had lost.
Like she suddenly cared.
And that? That pissed him off more than anything.
"What do you want?" His voice came out flat, empty.
Riley hesitated.
That hesitation was everything.
Because if she really cared—if she really *meant* whatever she thought she was doing—she wouldn't have hesitated.
She would have shown up two years ago.
She wouldn't have let him disappear.
She wouldn't have chosen Jason Calloway and the rest of the world over him.
Ethan turned back to his sketchbook, gripping his pencil tighter.
Nothing. That's what she had to say. Nothing worth listening to, anyway.
"Ethan," she tried again, softer this time. "Can we just—"
"No."
Silence.
He didn't look up, but he could feel her flinch.
She shifted in the doorway, like she wasn't sure if she should stay or go.
She should go.
He should tell her to go.
Instead, he let the silence stretch.
Because the truth was—he wanted her to feel it.
The distance. The space between them. The fact that she had let it grow into something too wide to cross.
She let out a quiet breath. "Okay," she murmured, voice barely above a whisper. "I get it."
No. She didn't.
But she would.
Because Ethan Hayes wasn't hers anymore.
And he wasn't going to let her act like he ever had been.
Not again.
She lingered for another second. Then, finally, she turned and walked away.
Ethan waited until he heard the door click shut before he exhaled, his grip loosening on his pencil.
He glanced down.
And that's when he realized—
His hand had been shaking.