HIS COLD DISTANCE

Stella Harper had always been quiet about her feelings. Growing up, she kept her heart tucked away, hidden from everyone, even from herself. But there was one person she couldn’t seem to stop loving, no matter how much time passed or how many obstacles life threw in her way. Mathews Lawrence had been her first love—the boy who had captured her heart when they were teenagers, the one she thought would always be in her life.

For years, Stella’s love for Mathews was a quiet ache, something she carried with her through high school and beyond. They had been friends—close friends—but the love she felt for him was different. It was a love that she never expressed, never allowed to surface, afraid of ruining their friendship. She had loved him from a distance, secretly cherishing every moment they spent together, every shared laugh, every late-night conversation that felt like something more than just friendship. But Mathews never knew how deep her feelings went. He saw her as a friend, and only a friend.

And for a long time, Stella was okay with that. Or at least, she convinced herself she was. She told herself that it was enough to simply be close to him, even if she couldn’t be the one to hold his hand, kiss his lips, or build a future with him. She watched him date other girls, felt the sharp pang in her chest each time he moved on to someone new, but she never said a word. Her love for him remained silent, locked away in the corners of her heart, where it could do no harm.

That was until everything changed.

When Stella’s father, Robert, married Mathews’ mother, Helen, it was a whirlwind of excitement and complications. The marriage brought two families together, merging lives in a way neither Stella nor Mathews had expected. Suddenly, the lines between friendship and family became blurred. Stella was no longer just a close family friend to Mathews—she was his step-sister.

At first, the transition felt strange. Both families had tried to blend together, spending holidays, birthdays, and other celebrations under one roof. But there was a lingering tension in the air. Stella’s love for Mathews, a love she had kept hidden for so long, now felt like an unbearable weight. Living in the same house, seeing him every day, having to share a home with him—it was more than she could bear. Every time she looked at him, she saw the boy she had fallen in love with, and yet he was now the brother she couldn’t have.

Mathews, on the other hand, was equally confused by the new dynamic. He had always cared for Stella, but as they became step-siblings, their relationship shifted. He didn’t see her as a romantic option; she was now a part of his family, someone he should protect and look out for, like a sister. He didn’t understand why Stella had begun to withdraw, becoming distant and quiet, no longer the same easy-going girl she had been before.

Stella tried to move on, tried to bury her feelings for him deeper, but it wasn’t that easy. The more she tried to let go, the more the love she had for Mathews consumed her. Every smile he gave her, every friendly touch, every time their eyes met, it felt like a knife to her heart. She loved him, but she couldn’t have him—not now, not ever. It wasn’t just that they were now family; it was the fact that Mathews would never see her as more than a sister. The thought tore her apart, but she couldn’t stop herself from wanting him.

As the years passed, Stella’s feelings didn’t fade. If anything, they deepened. She found herself longing for the life she could never have—the life where Mathews was hers, where they weren’t bound by familial ties. She watched him move on, date other women, build relationships with people who had no idea of the complex web of emotions Stella hid behind her quiet smiles. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him, to confess the truth about her heart. How could she? She had never even let him know the depth of her feelings when they were just friends. And now, with the lines of family and love so impossibly tangled, the thought of revealing her heart seemed unbearable.

But life, as it always does, had a way of pushing things to the surface. Stella couldn’t avoid the reality of her emotions any longer. As Mathews grew older, and their family dynamic settled into a routine, the tension between them simmered beneath the surface. There were moments when their eyes would meet, when something unspoken passed between them—a fleeting connection, a look that lingered a moment too long—but both of them would quickly look away, pretending nothing had happened.

But pretending was getting harder for Stella. The weight of her unspoken love was taking its toll, and she found herself caught between two worlds: the one where she lived in silence, hiding her feelings, and the one where she had to accept that her love for Mathews could never be returned in the way she wanted.

Her love for him had always been a quiet ache, something she had learned to live with, but now it was a storm brewing inside her. She couldn’t keep pretending, not when every fiber of her being screamed for something more, something real. But how could she ask for that, knowing that she had crossed an invisible line?

As the two families came together for a family gathering one evening, the emotions that had been carefully buried for so long began to spill over. Stella couldn’t hold it in anymore. The conversation turned to their future, to what came next for them all, and it was then that she finally let her guard slip. In a moment of vulnerability, she turned to Mathews and said, “I’ve loved you for so long, and I don’t know how to stop.”

The words hung in the air between them, and for the first time, Mathews saw something in Stella he hadn’t noticed before. It wasn’t just affection—it was something deeper, more painful, more real. It was the kind of love that demanded to be acknowledged, even if it couldn’t be returned.

Mathews stood still, the weight of her confession settling over him. He had always cared for Stella, but in the context of their family, it had never occurred to him that the bond between them could be anything more. But now, as he looked at her—really looked at her—he saw the truth in her eyes. He saw the pain, the longing, the quiet desperation.

He wanted to say something to make it better, to fix things, but all he could do was stand there, speechless, caught in the storm of emotions that he hadn’t expected.

For Stella, it was a moment of liberation. She had said the words she had held back for so long, and though it hurt to speak them, it felt like a small release. She didn’t expect anything from Mathews. She knew that what she wanted was impossible. But saying it aloud, acknowledging it, was the first step toward letting go.

The road ahead was uncertain for both of them. They were no longer just friends. They were no longer just step-siblings. Their relationship had become complicated, messy, and filled with unspoken truths. But as they faced each other in the silence that followed, they both knew one thing: their love, no matter how complicated, would always exist between them, in the quiet moments when words were not enough.