The headlights swept across the driveway as Elena pulled in, cutting the silence open for a few seconds before the engine died.
She sat there for a moment longer. Hands on the wheel. Pulse still too loud.
The key clicked in the door.
Inside, the house was dark—except for the soft yellow glow spilling from the kitchen.
Carmen was sitting at the table, hoodie draper over her knees, mug in her hand. She looked up the second Elena walked in. Didn't say anything. Not yet.
Elena closed the door behind her, leaned her back against it for a second longer than she meant to.
"I called you back," Carmen said gently, "you didn't answer."
Elena exhaled. "I know."
"I was starting to think you'd run off with him."
Elena gave a tired half-laugh, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"I almost did."
Carmen set her mug down, leaned forward. "Shit. You okay?"
"No," Elena said, voice flat. Then, softer, "I mean... i don't know."
She moved across the kitchen, slid onto the chair across from her. Her fingers rubbed at her temples like she could press out the heat still coiled under her skin.
Carmen didn't push. Just waited.
Elena looked up slowly. Her voice cracked a little when she spoke.
"It was too much. Tonight. Him. The way he... looked at me. Like he already knew everything."
Carmen's eyes softened.
"I'm sorry i didn't pick up," she said. "I thought you were gonna back out, and i figured if i gave you space, you'd go. I shouldn't have done that."
Elena shook her head. "It's not on you. I wanted this. And then i didn't. And then i did again. I didn't know what the hell i was doing.
"You still want him?"
Elena didn't answer right away.
Then—
"I think that's the problem."
Elena sat forward, elbows on the table, fingers locked like she was holding herself together.
"I followed him," she said. "Out of the club. After that first stare. After everything. I followed him."
Carmen didn't interrupt.
Elena kept going.
"And he didn't kiss me. He didn't even touch me. Not at first. He just... stood there. Looking at me like i was a fucking puzzle he'd already solved."
Her throat tightened.
"I tried to fight it. God, Carmen, I tried to hard. I've been trying since the garage. But tonight—he looked at me like he knew me. Like i was already his.
A beat of silence.
Then: "And i let it happen."
Carmen leaned in, voice gentle. "Let what happen?"
"He touched my cheek. And i let him. I grabbed his hand. I couldn't think straight. It was like—my whole body lit up. Every nerve. Everything i've been trying to bury since my dad died just... came loose.
Carmen reached across the table, touched her fingers lightly. "Elena..."
Elena blinked fast, jaw tight. Then—like a dam breaking—
"I saw him once before. In the club He was watching me. And then he showed up at the garage. Pretended like he didn't know me."
Carmen frowned, straightening. "Wait—what?"
"I never told you. Because i didn't know what it meant. I still don't. But his car—that Mustang—was too clean. It was bullshit. And i think he came there for me."
Carmen opened her mouth, but Elena cut her off—quick, raw, shaking slightly.
"And i called Mack."
Carmen blinked. "As in Mack—your dad's... Mack?"
Elena nodded once.
"I needed that part and didn't have anyone else to deliver it fast. He warned me about him, well... the car. He knows things i don't."
She pushed her hands through her hair, eyes glossy but dry. Her voice was tighter now, pitched just a little higher like it might snap if she let it.
"I don't even know what i'm doing anymore."
She let out a laugh—sharp, humorless.
"One minute i'm fixing a car, the next i'm staring at this guy who barely talks but somehow knows how to press every fucking nerve i have."
Carmen didn't move. Just listened.
"And he doesn't chase me. Doesn't bed. He just stands there and looks at me like i'm already his. And the worst part?"
She looked up then, eyes blazing with something lose to tears— but not quite.
"I want to be. For a second, i actually wanted to be."
Her chest rose, breath shaky now. She looked down at her hands like they weren't hers.
"I keep telling myself it's just attraction. Lust. Whatever. But it's not just that. It's this pull i can't shake. Like he walked in and flipped some switch in me i didn't even know was still wired to anything."
She leaned back in the chair, exhaling like it hurt.
"And Mack? Just hearing his voice—brought everything back. My dad, the shop, the things i haven't dealt with because i didn't want to fall apart."
Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper now.
"And now i'm halfway to falling, and i don't know if it's because of him... or because i'm finally feeling everything i've tried not to."
The silence that followed was thick, heavy with everything unsaid.
Then, quietly—
"I think i'm scared."
Carmen didn't say anything at first. Just sat still. Watching her.
Then she slid her chair back, stood up slowly, and walked around the table. No rush or words.
She crouched down beside Elena's chair and wrapped both arms around her. Not a light hug. She held her—tight, grounding, warm.
And Elena let it happen. She didn't cry. Not really.
But her body leaned in, just enough. Her head dropped forward, her forehead resting against Carmen's shoulder like she couldn't hold herself upright anymore.
"You don't have to figure it out tonight," Carmen said quietly. "You don't even have to understand it."
Elena closed her eyes.
Carmen's voice was soft, steady.
"But it's okay that you feel it. All of it."
Elena nodded once, barely.
And then, muffled, she said,
"I don't want to fall for someone who's not real."
Carmen pulled back just enough to look at her.
"Then find out who he really is."