My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 46: Is This Truly The End?

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Breakfast the next morning felt as gloomy as a funeral. No one was really talking. The only sounds filling the dining room were the soft clinks of silverware on plates and the low hum of the morning news playing in the living room.

Keith was sitting at the head of the table, pretending to concentrate on his food, but I could see how tense his jaw was and how he kept avoiding looking at Adrien. Mom kept glancing between us, her face anxious—like she was silently pleading for someone to break the silence.

I pushed my scrambled eggs around my plate, completely losing my appetite. My phone lay facedown next to my water glass, and I didn’t even need to check it to know there were still no new messages. No word from Ethan. Not a single text since the night before.

I told myself he just needed some time to cool off. But there was this nagging, bitter voice in my head suggesting that maybe he didn’t want to talk to me at all anymore. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Maybe he didn’t love me like he claimed. Maybe Adrien was right about me all along.

"Eat something, sweetheart," Mom said softly, her voice too gentle—as if she knew I was hanging by a thread.

"I’m not really hungry," I murmured, poking my fork into a piece of toast that crumbled apart immediately.

Keith sighed heavily, setting down his coffee cup with a sharp clink. "You’re not the only one skipping meals," he muttered, shooting a glance at Adrien. "Some people seem to think not eating makes up for their mistakes."

Adrien’s spoon froze mid-air. "I’m not hungry either," he said flatly, not bothering to look up.

"Well, that’s convenient," Keith snapped, his voice rising. "You don’t seem to have much of an appetite for taking responsibility, either."

Yikes. I almost felt bad for Adrien.

"Keith," Mom said quietly, placing her hand on his arm. "Please, not at the table."

He exhaled forcefully and leaned back, rubbing his face. "Fine. But this can’t keep happening, Helen. He’s grounded, he’s been suspended from school, and he still can’t manage to apologize like a decent person. What are we supposed to do with that?"

Adrien muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Keith’s voice cut through the air sharply.

Adrien finally met his gaze, his eyes sharp and dark. "I said, I already did. He just didn’t want to hear it."

I tightened my grip on my fork. "Because you didn’t mean it," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "You only apologized because everyone expected you to."

Adrien’s lips curled into a humorless smirk. "And yet here you are, still talking about it. Guess it meant something after all."

"Enough!" Mom’s voice cracked loudly for the first time. The whole table froze. She looked between us, her gaze lingering on me, then on Adrien. "This family is falling apart, and I won’t just sit here and watch you two tear each other to shreds!"

I looked down again, my cheeks burning, guilt and anger swirling in my chest. I wanted to shout that this wasn’t my fault, that none of this would’ve happened if Adrien hadn’t provoked Ethan in the first place. But the words stuck in my throat, choking me.

The silence that followed felt heavier than before. I could hear Adrien quietly setting down his spoon, his chair scraping against the floor as he stood up.

"I’m done," he muttered, leaving the dining room.

I stared at my untouched breakfast and whispered, more to myself than to anyone else, "Yeah... Me too."

I followed him out a few seconds later, my footsteps softly echoing down the hall.

As I climbed the stairs back to my room, it struck me that maybe this house, this so called family...was starting to suffocate me.

By the time the sun set, my nerves were completely shot. I’d been pacing my room for what felt like hours, wearing a path into the rug as my phone sat stubbornly silent on the bed. Each time I checked it, the screen stared back blankly, mocking me. Still no reply.

Finally, I gave in and called Gigi. She picked up on the second ring, her voice already filled with concern. "Okay, spill it. What’s the latest issue?"

I groaned and flopped dramatically onto my bed as I told her everything. "I messed everything up, Gigi. Ethan still hasn’t texted me back. It’s been a whole day."

"Noah, breathe," she replied in that calm, knowing tone she used whenever I was being overly dramatic. "He’s probably just mad. Some guys need time to process things, you know?"

"It’s been twenty-four hours." I sat up, running my hand through my hair. "Isn’t that enough time?"

Gigi chuckled softly. "You’re spiraling. Want me to do a tarot reading? I can check the cards about your relationship’s energy. Maybe they’ll tell us if he’s—"

"Gigi, no!" I cut her off, grabbing my pillow and yelling into it before continuing. "No more tarot cards, no more readings!"

She laughed. "Okay, okay, fair enough. But still—"

"I don’t need spiritual intervention," I said, starting to pace again. "What I need is to fix this. I’m going to his place first thing tomorrow. I’ll apologize again, properly this time. I’ll explain everything until it sinks in."

Gigi hummed on the other end, sounding skeptical. "You sure that’s a good idea, boy? Maybe give him a little space—"

"I’ve already given him space! A whole day!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. "If I wait any longer, he might think I don’t even care!"

She sighed. "Okay, fine. But if he still acts like a jerk, you’re coming over, and we’re eating ice cream straight from the tub while I curse his name under the full moon."

Despite myself, I laughed. "Deal."

"Good. And Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"Try to get some sleep tonight, okay? Worrying won’t change anything. He’ll come around—you’ll see."

After we hung up, I stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever, the soft glow of my phone lighting up my face. Maybe Gigi was right. Maybe I was overreacting.

But, the ache in my chest wouldn’t go away. What if he didn’t come around this time? What if I’d really lost him?