Chapter 96: Stay With Me

Adrian activated Mind Maze Runner.

The change was immediate.

He didn’t hear Rose’s thoughts as words.

Instead, they came in fragments—a feeling first, an image after it, then another emotion attached to whatever he’d just seen.

Fear.

Not fear of him.

That became clear almost immediately.

Rose wasn’t regretting what had happened between them. She wasn’t wondering whether she’d made the wrong choice, and there was no hidden thought about leaving him.

Then Maya surfaced.

Rose and Maya were sitting on a couch, younger than they were now. Maya was laughing at something Rose had said, and even though Adrian couldn’t make out the joke, he could feel how familiar the moment was to Rose.

The memory shifted.

Grocery bags.

Rain against a window.

A blanket shared between them.

A birthday cake with one candle leaning sideways while Maya tried to fix it.

Adrian watched the memories pass.

Nothing dramatic.

That was the first thing he noticed.

There was no single moment that explained why Maya mattered so much to Rose. No grand event, no promise, no crisis that had permanently tied them together.

Just years of ordinary things.

Adrian had expected the ability to show him something important.

Instead, it was showing him why the ordinary was important.

Rose never looked at Maya with resentment in these memories. Even when an argument appeared, there was irritation rather than bitterness. Maya could embarrass her, annoy her, drag her somewhere she didn’t want to go, and somehow the memory always ended with them together again.

It’s the boring stuff.

The thought came naturally.

Those were the memories people rarely mentioned when asked about the important parts of their lives.

But they were the ones that stayed.

Maya had simply been there.

On normal days.

Bad days.

Annoying days.

Days Rose probably wouldn’t have thought to mention if someone asked her to list the moments that mattered most.

Yet they were still here.

Which meant Maya wasn’t simply her stepsister.

She was part of Rose’s normal.

Another memory appeared.

Maya was dragging Rose toward a store.

Rose resisted.

Maya refused to let go.

Eventually, Rose gave in, looking thoroughly annoyed.

The scene jumped forward.

They were sitting together afterward.

Whatever argument had happened between them was already over.

Adrian almost smiled.

It was the kind of relationship where two people could irritate each other and still assume they’d be sitting together later.

Then the emotion underneath everything else surfaced.

Guilt.

Adrian focused on it.

Rose didn’t believe she’d done something wrong by falling in love with him.

That much was clear.

There was no regret attached to him.

She wanted him.

She loved him.

The guilt belonged to Maya.

Rose understood why Maya felt betrayed. She could accept Maya being angry with her, and she could even accept Maya refusing to forgive her for a while.

What she couldn’t accept was the possibility that the anger might eventually turn into distance.

That Maya might decide she didn’t want Rose in her life anymore.

Another memory passed.

Maya was asleep beside her.

Rose pulled a blanket over her.

Then they were eating together.

Maya borrowed something without asking.

Rose complained.

Maya laughed.

Adrian stopped trying to separate the memories.

They weren’t important because of what happened in them.

They were important because there were so many of them.

Maya wasn’t part of one Chapter of Rose’s life.

She was scattered throughout all of it.

So that’s what this is.

Rose wasn’t standing between Adrian and Maya.

She had already chosen Adrian.

What she hadn’t chosen was losing Maya.

She was trying to hold on to both relationships while knowing she might eventually be forced to pick one.

That explained the confidence Adrian had seen earlier.

It hadn’t been fake.

Rose was certain about him.

The uncertainty came afterward.

Not Do I want Adrian?

But Can I have Adrian without losing Maya?

There was a difference.

A fairly important one.

Adrian deactivated Mind Maze Runner.

The fragments disappeared.

The room returned.

[Mind Maze Runner Deactivated.]

[Activation Cost: -$5,000.]

[Account Balance: $—]

His eyes passed over the balance.

Five thousand dollars gone.

He’d known the ability cost that much, so there was no point dwelling on it.

His attention returned to Rose instead.

She was looking down at her hands, rubbing her thumb against one finger.

Still thinking about Maya.

Adrian could have looked again.

He didn’t.

He already had the answer he needed.

Rose loved him.

That was enough.

Besides, using Mind Maze Runner every time someone kept something from him would be an easy habit to form. He could already see how convenient it would become.

He didn’t want that.

If Rose couldn’t tell him something yet, that didn’t automatically mean he needed to take the answer from her.

His eyes remained on her for a second too long.

She noticed.

"What?"

Adrian blinked.

"What?"

"You’ve been staring at me."

"I know."

Her eyebrows pulled together.

"Then why are you pretending you weren’t?"

"I wasn’t."

"Adrian."

He glanced away before looking back.

"I was thinking."

"That’s usually when you get suspiciously quiet."

"I’m always quiet."

"Not like that."

He considered her for a moment.

"Nothing useful."

Rose frowned.

"That’s a terrible answer."

"It’s accurate."

"Those aren’t the same thing."

"They can be."

A tired smile almost appeared on her face.

Almost.

Then Maya returned to the conversation.

"I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like," Rose said.

Adrian waited.

"I keep thinking I’ll wake up and everything will be normal again." She looked toward the window. "Then I remember what happened."

He didn’t interrupt.

"I don’t know if she’ll even want to talk to me."

"She might not."

Rose’s eyes dropped.

Adrian continued before the silence could settle too heavily.

"She might also change her mind."

"That doesn’t make it easier."

"No."

He paused.

"But you don’t have to decide the ending tonight."

Rose looked at him.

"I don’t want Maya to leave."

"I know."

Her fingers shifted inside his.

"I keep thinking maybe I should give Maya space."

"You probably should."

She looked up, almost expecting him to add something.

He did.

"But space isn’t the same as disappearing."

Rose went quiet.

"I don’t want her thinking I’m choosing you over her."

Adrian thought about that.

"You did choose me."

Her expression tightened.

"I know."

"But that doesn’t mean you chose against her."

She stared at him.

The distinction seemed to land.

"I don’t want her to become someone I used to know."

That was the part Adrian understood.

Rose wasn’t afraid of Maya being angry.

She was afraid of losing all the ordinary things that came with her.

The conversations.

The arguments.

The stupid errands.

The assumption that there would always be another day.

Adrian squeezed her hand.

"You can’t control what she does."

Rose nodded.

"I know."

"And you can’t make her forgive you."

"I know that too."

She looked at him.

"You’re really not going to make this easier, are you?"

"I don’t know how."

A weak laugh escaped her.

Adrian’s mouth lifted slightly.

"I’m not going to tell you she’ll forgive you just because you want her to."

Rose’s smile faded.

"And I’m not going to tell you to give up on us because she’s hurt."

Her eyes softened.

"Because?"

"Because that’s not your decision alone."

Rose held his gaze.

"I don’t want Maya deciding what happens between us either."

"Then don’t let tonight decide it for you."

She was quiet.

"I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do."

"You can be scared."

Rose blinked.

"That’s your advice?"

"For tonight."

She stared at him for several seconds.

Then some of the tension finally left her shoulders.

Adrian reached for her hand.

Rose took it.

He let the silence remain instead of trying to fill it.

There was nothing useful to add.

A few seconds passed before Rose shifted closer.

"I don’t want to feel alone right now."

Adrian looked down at her.

"My head hurts. I don’t want to sit here thinking about all of this anymore."

"Then don’t."

"If it were that easy, I would’ve done it."

"Fair."

She leaned against him.

Adrian wrapped an arm around her.

Her breathing slowly settled.

For tonight, that was enough.

Rose lifted her head.

Their eyes met.

"I don’t want to be here like this anymore," she whispered.

Adrian’s hand moved slowly along her back.

"Then you’re not alone."

She held his gaze.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then Rose leaned forward.

He kissed her.

The first kiss was soft, almost cautious.

She hesitated for half a second before kissing him back.

Adrian didn’t rush her.

He let her decide how far she wanted to take the moment.

The worry hadn’t disappeared.

He knew that.

But it had stopped filling the entire room.

Rose pulled back.

She stared at him.

Neither spoke.

Then she closed the distance again.

This kiss was deeper.

Her arms slipped around him, pulling him closer, and Adrian’s hand settled naturally at her waist.

Rose’s fingers caught against his shirt.

She tugged him closer.

He let her.

For once, neither of them needed to solve anything.

No Maya.

No system.

No tomorrow.

Just this.

Eventually, Rose broke the kiss, breathing harder than before.

Her forehead rested against his.

"Stay with me tonight."