# Chapter 38: When Fury Boils Over
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? I hope you're ready for an intense, emotional rollercoaster because today I'm walking with you through Chapter 38 of "The Deal: Off Campus" – and let me tell you, this chapter hits like a freight train to the chest. Buckle up, dear readers, because we're diving deep into Garrett's rawest, most vulnerable moment yet.
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The chapter opens with Garrett's blood roaring between his ears – and immediately, we know we're in for something explosive. Hannah is calling after him, but he can't stop. He won't stop. The world has dissolved into a red mist of rage, and he's transformed into what he describes as an "asshole-seeking missile" locked onto one target: Rob Delaney.
And who is Rob Delaney? He's the coward who stood by while his friend drugged Hannah, who watched as she was taken upstairs and assaulted, who then committed perjury to protect a rapist. The mere thought of this man walking free, living his life without consequence, has pushed Garrett past every rational boundary.
Garrett calls out Delaney's name, and we see the immediate tension ripple through the scene. Delaney's shoulders tense. He knows. He saw Garrett talking to Hannah earlier, probably figured out exactly what she revealed. When he turns, there's panic flickering in those dark eyes – but he tries to play it cool, stepping away from his friends to approach warily.
"You know who I am," Garrett tells him. "Hannah's boyfriend."
Delaney's fear is unmistakable, but he still tries to front. "Yeah? Well, what do you want?"
Garrett draws a breath, trying to calm himself. It doesn't work. Not even a little. And then he delivers the line that sets everything in motion: "I just wanted to meet the asshole who aided and abetted a rapist."
The silence that follows is deafening. Then Delaney scowls, tells him to fuck off, claims Garrett doesn't know anything about him. But Garrett knows everything. He knows Delaney let his friend drug Hannah. He knows Delaney stood by while she was hurt. He knows about the perjury. And he tells Delaney exactly what he is: a piece of shit without a conscience.
Delaney's bravado wavers. The accusations have landed, and we can see him crumbling under the weight of the truth. But when Garrett calls him a coward – pointing out that he couldn't defend an innocent girl, so why would he have the balls to defend himself – something snaps in Delaney too.
And then it happens. Delaney says something unforgivable. He calls Hannah a slut, and before he can finish his sentence, Garrett's fist snaps out.
What follows is chaos described through a haze. People shouting. Someone grabbing Garrett's jacket, trying to pull him off. His hand throbbing. Blood in his mouth. It's an out-of-body experience, Garrett tells us – he's lost in unchecked anger, not even present in his own body.
Then someone slams him into a wall, and Garrett instinctively throws a right hook. He glimpses a flash of red, hears his name called sharply, emphatically – and his vision clears just in time to see blood spurting from the corner of Logan's mouth.
Oh God. He hit his best friend.
Logan's voice is low and ominous, but his eyes are swimming with worry. "G, you've gotta stop."
All the oxygen rushes out of Garrett's lungs. He looks around and finds a sea of faces staring at him, hearing hushed voices and confused whispers. Then Coach appears, and the full gravity of what he's done crashes down on him.
Two hours later, Garrett stands in front of Hannah's door, barely able to knock. The exhaustion is bone-deep, the kind he hasn't felt in years. Instead of celebrating a victory with his team, he spent over an hour in Coach's office, getting reamed out for starting a fight on school property. The punishment: a one-game suspension. Honestly, he's surprised it wasn't worse, but after hearing the full story – with Hannah's permission to share her history with Delaney – the Briar officials decided to go easy on him. Still, Garrett feels like absolute shit for sharing her trauma with his coach.
One-game suspension. Jesus. He deserves so much worse.
He wonders if his father has heard about it yet, but of course he has. The man probably has spies everywhere. Luckily, he wasn't around when Garrett left the arena, so at least he was spared that confrontation tonight.
But Logan was there, waiting outside. And Garrett has never been more ashamed in his life than when he apologized to his best friend for hitting him. Hannah had given him permission to tell Logan the truth too, and once Logan understood who Rob was and why Garrett went after him, he was ready to hunt the bastard down himself. Then he apologized to Garrett for pulling him off – and in that moment, Garrett realized just how much he loves the guy. Logan might be crushing on his girlfriend, but he's still the best friend Garrett has ever had.
Now, standing at Hannah's door, Garrett is nervous as hell. But when she opens it, she surprises him by immediately throwing her arms around him. "Are you okay?"
He's not, not really, but he tells her he's fine. His voice sounds like gravel, so he clears his throat and apologizes. "I'm so fucking sorry, baby."
She pulls back to look at him, regret etched into her beautiful face. "You shouldn't have gone after him."
"I know." His throat closes up. He explains that he couldn't stop himself – that he kept picturing Delaney on the witness stand, calling Hannah a whore, saying she took drugs and seduced his friend. It made him sick. No, it made him crazy.
Hannah takes his hand and leads him to her room, closing the door behind them. She joins him on the edge of the bed, reaching for his hand again – and gasps when she sees the state of his knuckles. They're cracked and caked with blood, the little cuts reopened despite his thorough washing.
"How much trouble are you in?" she asks.
He tells her about the suspension, about how the cops weren't called because Delaney refused to press charges. The Buffalo coach tried to get him to change his mind, but Delaney told everyone that he provoked Garrett.
Hannah's eyebrows shoot up. "He did?"
"Yeah." Garrett lets out a breath. He figures Delaney just wanted to go back to whatever hole he crawled out of and pretend it never happened – just like he pretended his best friend didn't hurt her. Bile bubbles in Garrett's throat. "How the fuck is that fair, Hannah? Why aren't you angrier? Why aren't you furious that your rapist is walking around free? And his slimy friends are the ones who helped him get off."
Hannah sighs, and what she says next is profound. She tells him that life isn't always fair. She points to his father as an example – a criminal who's still revered by hockey fans everywhere. She asks if he really thinks people would stop idolizing his father if they knew the truth. Some might, but many wouldn't care, because he's a star athlete who won lots of games, and that makes him a hero in their eyes.
Then she delivers a devastating truth: Do you realize how many abusers walk around unpunished? How many rape charges are dropped because of insufficient evidence? How many date rapists get away with what they've done because the victim is too scared to tell anyone? So yes, it's not fair, but it's also not worth agonizing over.
Garrett's sorrow clogs his throat. "You're a better person than I am, then."
But Hannah won't accept that. She reminds him of what he told her on Thanksgiving – that his father isn't worth his anger and revenge. That's the best revenge, she says: living well and being happy. She was raped, and it was awful, but she's not going to waste her time or energy on some pathetic, screwed-up guy who couldn't take no for an answer, or his pathetic friends who thought he deserved to be rewarded for his actions. She put it all behind her. He didn't have to confront Rob on her behalf.
"I know," Garrett says. And then tears sting his eyes. The last time he cried was at his mom's funeral when he was twelve. He's embarrassed that Hannah is witnessing this, but at the same time, he wants her to understand why he did it – even if it means falling apart in front of her.
"Don't you get it?" he says. "The thought of anyone hurting you rips me apart." He blinks rapidly, fighting the tears. "I didn't realize it until tonight, but... I think I was broken, too."
Hannah looks startled. "What do you mean?"
And then Garrett opens up in a way we've never seen before. He tells her he was broken before he met her. His entire life revolved around hockey, around being the best, around proving to his father that he didn't need him. He never let himself get close to girls because he didn't want to be distracted from his goals. He knew that if he did get close to someone, he'd leave them in a heartbeat once he got drafted. He didn't let a single person in – not even his closest friends. And then Hannah came along, and he realized just how fucking lonely he's been.
He drops his head on her shoulder, so tired of everything. After a beat, she pulls his head into her lap and strokes his hair. He curls into her, his voice muffled against her thigh. He hates that she saw him lose it tonight. A rush of self-loathing sears his flesh. She told him he wasn't capable of hurting her, but she saw what he did. He didn't go over there planning to hit Delaney, but the guy was so fucking smug, and then he called her a... he said something nasty, and Garrett snapped.
"You lost your temper," she agrees. "But that doesn't change the way I feel about you, or what I think about you. I said you'd never hurt me, and I still believe that." Her voice shakes. "God, Garrett, if you knew how badly I wanted to rip his eyes out tonight..."
"But you didn't."
"Because I was in shock. I didn't expect to see him there." Her fingers slide over his scalp in a soft caress. "I don't want you to hate yourself for this."
"I don't want you to hate me for it."
She bends down and brushes her lips over the top of his head. "I could never hate you."
They stay like this for a while – her fingers in his hair, his head in her lap. Eventually, she coaxes him into bed, and he slides between the sheets fully clothed. They're spooning now, except she's the one holding him, and he's too fucking tired and ashamed to move.
He falls asleep with her hand stroking his chest.
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## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
Wow. Just... wow. This chapter is an emotional gut-punch in the best possible way. We've seen Garrett as the charming, confident hockey star, but here we witness him at his most raw and vulnerable – and it's absolutely breathtaking. The way he describes himself as "broken" before Hannah, how he admits he kept everyone at arm's length because he was terrified of vulnerability... it explains so much about his character. And the fact that he cried for the first time since he was twelve? My heart shattered.
What strikes me most is the beautiful parallel between Garrett's anger at Delaney and Hannah's wisdom about justice. She's absolutely right – living well is the best revenge. But she also validates Garrett's feelings while gently guiding him toward healing. Their dynamic in this chapter is everything: she holds him, literally and figuratively, when he needs it most.
The moment when Garrett accidentally hits Logan is gut-wrenching, but it also reveals the depth of their friendship. Logan's immediate concern, his willingness to go after Rob himself, his apology for pulling Garrett off – these moments show us what true friendship looks like. And Garrett's realization that Logan might have feelings for Hannah, yet he can't even fault him for it because Hannah is so incredible? That's mature, heartbreaking growth.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5.0 / 5 Stars
This chapter deserves nothing less than a perfect score. It's raw, honest, and deeply human. Elle Kennedy has crafted a moment of vulnerability that feels achingly real, and it cements Garrett and Hannah's relationship as one built on trust, understanding, and genuine love.
## Next Chapter Prediction
Based on the emotional intimacy of this chapter and the unresolved tension with Garrett's father, I predict the next chapter will focus on the aftermath of the fight – both publicly and privately. Garrett's one-game suspension means he'll have to sit out, which could create an opportunity for his father to make an appearance or for the media to dig into what happened. I also suspect we'll see more of Logan processing his feelings for Hannah, and perhaps a deeper conversation between him and Garrett about boundaries and friendship. Additionally, with Garrett now having opened up about being "broken," we might see him begin to truly heal – perhaps by seeking out therapy or having a conversation with someone about his abusive father. There may also be a scene where Hannah and Garrett discuss the future of their relationship and what it means that he got suspended for defending her. Expect some external conflict mixed with continued relationship development.
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