Taylorrr

Stories

    Beneath the surface

    The annual end-of-summer lake party is supposed to be one last carefree night before everyone goes their separate ways. For twenty-one-year-old Y/n, it's already uncomfortable—she has a lifelong fear of deep water, a secret almost no one knows because she has never learned to swim. When a cruel prank turns deadly, someone suddenly shoves her off the dock. The icy water swallows her whole. She fights to reach the surface, but panic steals every breath as she sinks beneath the waves. By the time anyone realizes she isn't coming back up, it's almost too late. Noah—her older brother's best friend and the one man she's spent years trying to ignore—doesn't hesitate. He dives into the dark water, searching blindly until he finds her motionless beneath the surface. Carrying her to shore, he discovers she's not breathing. As a terrified crowd watches, Noah begins CPR. Every compression feels like a countdown. Every failed breath convinces him he's losing her. Her brother arrives just in time to witness the desperate attempt to bring his little sister back to life, helpless as Noah refuses to give up. After agonizing moments, Y/n suddenly gasps, coughing up water into Noah's arms as the crowd erupts in tears and relief. But surviving the lake is only the beginning. Y/n is haunted by nightmares, panic attacks, and the terrifying memory of drowning. Noah can't erase the image of finding her lifeless underwater, and guilt consumes him for not noticing the danger sooner. As he becomes her protector during her recovery, the line between friendship and something far deeper begins to blur. Then the truth emerges: Y/n wasn't accidentally pushed. Someone at the party wanted her in that water. As the investigation uncovers buried secrets, broken friendships, and dangerous lies, Y/n and Noah find themselves pulled into a web of betrayal that reaches closer to home than either of them imagined. The closer they get to exposing the truth, the more they realize the attempt on Y/n’s

    Hurt/ComfortThrillerThreatsRomanceSlow Burn
    đź’¬ 421
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