SWNOVELXO Chapter 8: Chapter 8
: I Think I'm Already Falling
(Elian's Point of View)
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I think I'm losing my mind.
Not because of what I've seen—
Wings. Vanishing men. Notes with threats.
But because of what I'm feeling.
And I don't know what scares me more.
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It started with that stupid pen.
I was holding it again today. Turning it over and over in my fingers like it held answers. Like it was a thread that connected us.
He hadn't shown up all day.
No messages. No glares from across the street. No sudden wind when I passed his building.
Just silence.
And it was starting to eat at me.
So I did something reckless.
I walked back to his apartment.
Again.
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I didn't even knock.
Just stood there on the steps like a stray cat waiting to be let in.
That's when I got the call.
An unknown number. A voice I didn't recognize.
"You're Elian, right?"
I blinked, taken off guard.
"Uh—who's this?"
A pause.
"You're getting too close to him."
My blood turned cold.
"What are you talking about? Who is this?"
"You should leave. He won't protect you forever."
Click.
The line went dead.
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I was shaking.
Not because I was scared of Daniel.
But because someone else was.
Someone was watching. Listening. Waiting.
And somehow… I wasn't surprised.
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When I turned around, he was there.
Daniel.
Half-hidden in the shadows across the street.
He didn't say anything. Didn't move.
He just watched me — eyes dark and unreadable, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to be near me anymore.
I didn't call out.
Didn't wave.
I just looked at him.
Let my silence answer whatever question he had in his eyes.
Then, like mist, he vanished again.
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I should've gone home.
Should've locked my door and turned off my phone.
But I couldn't.
Because all I could think about was the way he looked at me. Like I was something fragile. Like being near me would ruin me.
And I hated it.
I didn't want him to protect me by leaving.
I wanted him to trust me enough to let me stay.
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Hours passed before I heard the knock.
It was soft.
Three taps.
No voice. No pressure. Just… a quiet sound in the dark.
I opened the door.
He stood there, rain-soaked, hoodie pulled over his head. His eyes were tired, his lips set in a firm line like he was holding back a thousand things.
He didn't ask to come in.
He didn't need to.
I stepped aside.
He walked in.
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He didn't sit on the couch. Or the chair. He just dropped down onto the floor like gravity was stronger in here.
I followed, sitting beside him.
Close. But not too close.
We didn't speak for a while.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable — it was something else. Like we were both afraid to say the wrong thing and break whatever this was becoming.
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Finally, I spoke.
"I got a call today."
His eyes shifted toward me.
"They knew my name. Knew I was close to you."
His fists clenched.
"I didn't tell them anything," I added quickly. "I don't even know what to tell."
Daniel exhaled sharply through his nose.
"You're already too deep," he whispered. "They think I care about you."
I looked at him. "Do you?"
He didn't answer.
Not with words.
Instead, he turned toward me fully. Our knees brushed. His hand hovered just near mine but didn't touch.
"You should be scared of me," he said again, more quietly this time.
"I'm not."
"You should be."
"Maybe I should," I said. "But I'm not. And I think I'm already falling."
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He blinked.
Like those words didn't make sense to him.
Like no one had ever said them before.
And then — without thinking — he leaned in.
Our foreheads touched.
His breath was soft, shaky.
My chest felt like it might explode.
I didn't kiss him.
He didn't kiss me.
But the space between us wasn't empty. It was full of everything we couldn't say yet.
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"I can't protect you from this," he murmured.
"You don't have to," I whispered back. "Just don't push me away."
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He looked like he wanted to say a thousand things.
But instead, he nodded.
And for now, that was enough.
Because even if the world around us was crumbling…
Even if shadows followed us…
Right now, in this moment—
I wasn't scared.
I was falling.
And I think maybe…
So was he.
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