Chapter 72\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant\u2026.\u201d Tristan started, but I cut him off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
45%\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIsn\u2019t it?\u201d I laughed, but there was no humor in it. \u201cBecause it sounded pretty clear to me. Poor little Athena, still the same immature girl she\u2019s always\u00a0<\/p>\n
been. Still running from her problems instead of facing them like a grown woman\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? Athena, that\u2019s not\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you\u2019re right,\u201d I interrupted again, backing away from him. \u201cI am exactly what you said I am. I\u2019m a coward who runs when things get difficult. So\u00a0<\/p>\n
congratulations, you figured me out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan stepped toward me, his hands raised like he was approaching a wild animal. \u201cYou\u2019re twisting my words. I was frustrated because you won\u2019t talk\u00a0<\/p>\n
to me about what\u2019s bothering you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Why should I talk to you?\u201d I shot back. \u201cSo you can tell me I\u2019m being childis? So you can remind me what a disappointment I am?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not a disappointment\u2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d I laughed bitterly. \u201cBecause five minutes ago you were listing all the ways I haven\u2019t changed since I was eighteen. Running away, acting like a\u00a0<\/p>\n
child, hiding from my problems. Did I miss anything?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know I was exaggerating, but I wanted him to know how much his words hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hurt in my chest was so intense it felt like something was physically tearing inside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was Tristan \u2013 the person I trusted more than anyone, the man I\u2019d been falling in love with all over again \u2013 and he was throwing my worst moments\u00a0<\/p>\n
back in my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is why I can\u2019t let myself love him. Because eventually, he\u2019ll always see me as the broken girl who needs to be fixed, not as an equal worthy of\u00a0<\/p>\n
respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I was angry,\u201d Tristan said, his voice softer now. \u201cI said things I didn\u2019t mean Hecause I was frustrated that you won\u2019t talk to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Because I won\u2019t talk to you?\u201d I stared at him in disbelief. \u201cYou think calling the childish and immature will make me open up to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I think you shutting me out and refusing to communicate is childish,\u201d he sa, and immediately I could see he regretted the words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is again,\u201d I said, my voice deadly calm now. Your real opinion of m\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I think of you,\u201d he said desperately. \u201cYou know that\u2019s not what I think of you.\u201d I know he was fraustrated, Good. Because I was too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Do I?\u201d I asked. \u2018Because from where I\u2019m standing, it sounds like you still see me as Orion\u2019s little sister who needs to be protected from herself. The gul who makes bad decisions and runs away when consequences catch up with her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You\u2019re putting words in my mouth\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m repeating the words that came out of your mouth!\u201d I exploded. You call me childish! You said I run and hide like I always do! Those were your words, not mine!*\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been such an idiot. Thinking he could see me as anything other than a den, a responsibility he inherited when my parents died.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I need to get out of here before this gets any worse. Before we say things we can never take back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
19:35 Tue, Jan 6 = T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 72\u00a0<\/p>\n
THEA\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f28. 45% \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned and started walking toward the exit again, but this time Tristan didit follow me. Maybe he finally understood that I needed space, or maybe he was just tired of dealing with his childish, immature sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena,\u201d he called after me, but his voice was resigned now, not demanding\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d I said without turning around. \u201cJust don\u2019t. I need time to think about everything you just said to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked out of that hospital feeling like something fundamental had been broken between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 72 Chapter 72\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant\u2026.\u201d Tristan started, but I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}