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

Chapter 35: Confronting the past

Chapter THIRTY FIVE

**Oliver West**

Before I could begin to fathom what he meant by that, he tugged harshly at my arm, shoving me into the shower area and turned on the shower knob. I saw him adjust the temperature and the water rained down on me 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 me gasp, my lungs seizing as the frigid liquid invaded every pore.

"Let me 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 home 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 me you aren’t enjoying it," he said with a look of mock disappointment on his face, his lips curving into that cruel smile I’d come to know so well.

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

Was he trying to get me sick? Or was this just another of his twisted punishments, another way to break me 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 someone to hear me and rescue me 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 come 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 me cough and choke.

He suddenly backed me 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 me like a second skin, making me feel exposed and vulnerable in ways that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"When will you stop being mean to me! You are hurt, but you can’t continue to do this. It has to come 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 me to stare directly at him. His fingers were like ice against my skin, but somehow 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 me like a knife to the chest.

"Then if I die, will it really end? Will my K return?" My voice broke on his old nickname, 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 me, but part of me 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 met 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 me? 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 moment, just a moment, I saw something flicker across his face. Something 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 becomes, 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 me. After all, this life became yours from the moment you saved me. 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 me 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 something else. The same hurt that had been consuming me,

I expected him to lash out at me or scream out in rage, to push me 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 moment, 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 me when I forgot mine.

I could have sworn I saw that boy.

This time his gaze lowered to my lips. The air between us shifted, became charged with something I couldn’t name but recognized

I knew he was going to kiss me.

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

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