Chapter 4 — The Storm Between Us

The rain had not stopped for three days.

It drummed endlessly against the rooftops of Ashford like a restless heartbeat, filling the narrow streets with silver reflections and cold mist. The town looked softer beneath the storm, quieter somehow, but to Elena, the rain only made everything louder.

Every memory. Every fear. Every thought of Liam.

She stood by the window of her small apartment above the flower shop, her fingers wrapped around a cup of tea that had already gone cold. The city lights shimmered through the glass, blurred by rainwater that slid downward like tears.

Three days.

Three days since Liam had kissed her beneath the old train bridge. Three days since he had looked at her as if she were the only thing keeping him alive. Three days since he had disappeared again.

Elena exhaled slowly.

"You’re overthinking," Maya said from the couch, flipping through a magazine she clearly wasn’t reading.

"I’m not."

"You’ve looked out that window at least fifty times in the last hour."

Elena turned away from the glass. "I just don’t understand him."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Welcome to men."

Despite herself, Elena smiled faintly.

Maya closed the magazine and sat upright. "Listen. Either Liam likes you or he doesn’t. But trust me, a man does not kiss someone like that if he feels nothing."

Elena’s cheeks warmed instantly.

The kiss.

She could still remember every second of it. The warmth of his hands against her face. The rain soaking through their clothes. The way his voice had trembled when he whispered her name.

It had felt real. Too real.

And maybe that was what frightened her.

"Then why hasn’t he called?" she asked quietly.

Maya hesitated.

"Maybe he’s scared too."

Elena looked down.

Scared.

The word settled heavily in her chest because she understood it perfectly.

Loving someone meant giving them the power to destroy you. And Liam Carter already looked like a man carrying too many ruins inside him.

The sound of thunder shook the room.

A few seconds later, Elena’s phone vibrated on the counter.

Her breath caught.

Unknown Number.

For some reason, her heart already knew.

She answered carefully.

"Hello?"

Silence.

Then his voice.

"Elena."

The room suddenly felt smaller.

Liam sounded exhausted, his voice rough and low, almost swallowed by the sound of rain in the background.

"Where are you?" she asked immediately.

Another pause.

"Can you come meet me?"

Her stomach tightened.

"Right now?"

"Please."

One word. But it carried something broken inside it.

Elena grabbed her coat without another question.

Maya watched her carefully. "That sounds serious."

"I know."

"Be careful."

Elena nodded once before rushing out into the storm.

—

The café near Riverside Avenue was nearly empty when she arrived.

Rain hammered against the windows while soft jazz played from hidden speakers overhead. The warm scent of coffee filled the air, but Elena barely noticed any of it.

She noticed Liam immediately.

He sat alone in the corner booth near the back, wearing a dark hoodie soaked with rainwater. His head was lowered slightly, one hand wrapped around a cup of untouched coffee.

And he looked terrible.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes. His jaw was tense. His expression looked distant, like someone fighting thoughts too heavy to carry.

The moment he saw her, something in his face softened.

Relief.

Elena walked toward him slowly.

"You scared me," she admitted.

"Sorry."

His voice was quieter than usual.

She slid into the seat across from him. "What happened?"

Liam stared at the coffee for a long moment before answering.

"My father came back."

Elena blinked.

He had mentioned his father only once before, and even then his tone had turned cold enough to freeze the room.

"I thought you said you hadn’t spoken to him in years."

"I haven’t."

His fingers tightened around the cup.

"Then why is he here now?"

Liam laughed bitterly.

"Because people only come back when they need something."

Elena felt a sharp ache in her chest.

The pain in his voice wasn’t anger. It was disappointment. The kind that had lived inside him for years.

She leaned forward slightly. "What does he want?"

Liam looked at her then.

His eyes were tired. Haunted.

"Money."

Of course.

Elena suddenly understood everything. The tension. The distance. The fear hidden behind his silence.

"You don’t have to help him," she said gently.

"He’s still my father."

"And?"

That surprised him.

Elena continued softly, "Being family doesn’t give someone the right to hurt you forever."

For a second, Liam simply stared at her.

Like nobody had ever said those words to him before.

The rain outside intensified.

Liam looked away again.

"When I was younger," he said quietly, "I used to wait for him at the window every night. My mom would tell me he was working late, but I knew the truth."

Elena listened carefully.

"He was drinking," Liam continued. "Gambling. Disappearing for days. Sometimes weeks."

His voice remained calm, but Elena could hear the pain underneath every sentence.

"One night he promised he’d come to my school performance. I waited the whole evening for him."

Liam smiled faintly, though it held no happiness.

"He never showed up."

Elena’s chest tightened painfully.

"I’m sorry," she whispered.

Liam shook his head.

"The worst part? I still waited for him after that."

Silence settled between them.

Not uncomfortable silence. The kind built from honesty.

For the first time since meeting him, Elena realized something important.

Liam wasn’t distant because he didn’t feel deeply. He was distant because he felt too much.

And somewhere along the way, the world had taught him that loving people only ended in disappointment.

Elena reached across the table slowly.

When her fingers touched his hand, Liam froze.

Then, carefully, like he was afraid the moment would disappear, he turned his hand over and intertwined their fingers.

Warm. Steady. Real.

"You don’t have to carry everything alone," she whispered.

His eyes lifted toward hers.

And for one dangerous moment, the entire world disappeared.

The café. The rain. The noise. Everything.

There was only him.

Only the way he looked at her like she was becoming something he needed.

Liam swallowed hard.

"You make me want to believe people stay," he admitted.

Her breath caught.

No one had ever said something so beautiful to her.

Before she could answer, a loud voice suddenly shattered the moment.

"There you are."

Both of them turned instantly.

A tall man stood near the entrance of the café.

His clothes were wrinkled. His eyes were bloodshot. And even from across the room, Elena could smell alcohol.

Liam’s expression changed immediately.

Cold.

"Dad," he said flatly.

The man walked toward them with uneven steps.

"You ignoring my calls now?"

Several customers glanced over nervously.

Liam stood slowly.

"Not here."

"Then where?" his father snapped. "You think you’re too good for me now because you wear expensive jackets and drink fancy coffee?"

Elena could see Liam clenching his fists.

"I said not here."

His father noticed Elena then.

"Ah," the man muttered with a crooked smile. "So this is the girl."

Elena stiffened.

Liam stepped slightly in front of her.

Protective. Instinctive.

"Leave her out of this."

The older man laughed bitterly.

"You always were weak when it came to people. Just like your mother."

Everything changed after that sentence.

Elena saw it instantly.

The way Liam’s jaw tightened. The way pain flashed across his face. The way years of buried anger rose silently behind his eyes.

"Don’t talk about her," Liam said quietly.

His father scoffed.

"Or what?"

The café suddenly felt unbearably tense.

Elena stood slowly beside Liam.

She touched his arm gently.

"Liam."

He didn’t look at her.

His father stepped closer.

"You think you’re better than me, but you’re exactly the same. You push everyone away because deep down you know nobody stays."

The words hit hard. Too hard.

Elena could see it in Liam’s eyes.

Because part of him believed it.

And that broke her heart.

The older man finally muttered a curse under his breath before turning away.

"Forget it."

Then he disappeared back into the rain.

The café remained silent afterward.

Liam stood motionless.

Elena looked at him carefully.

He seemed shaken in a way she had never seen before.

"Liam…"

"I should go," he said immediately.

Her heart dropped.

"What?"

"I shouldn’t have called you."

"No. Don’t do that."

He finally looked at her.

And the sadness in his eyes nearly destroyed her.

"You saw him," Liam whispered. "That’s where I come from. That’s the kind of person I become when I lose control."

"You are nothing like him."

"You don’t know that."

"I do know that."

The force in her voice surprised even herself.

Liam stared at her silently.

Elena stepped closer.

"A bad man doesn’t worry about hurting people. A bad man doesn’t protect others before himself. A bad man doesn’t look at someone the way you look at me."

The air between them became painfully still.

His breathing slowed.

And for the first time all night, some of the darkness in his expression faded.

"Why are you still here?" he asked quietly.

Elena blinked.

"What?"

"Most people leave when things get difficult."

She swallowed hard.

Because the truth was terrifyingly simple.

"Because I care about you."

The words hung between them.

Raw. Honest. Fragile.