LIAM AND AUSTIN'S APARTMENT
The warm breeze from the open balcony doors swept gently across the room, carrying with it the scent of rain-soaked earth and blooming hibiscus. Zara sat on the couch, her legs tucked underneath her, mindlessly scrolling through her phone. But she wasn't reading. Her thoughts were elsewhere—lost in a storm of feelings she couldn't even name.
Liam was in the kitchen, fiddling with the kettle like it was the first time he'd seen one. He wasn't thirsty. Not really. He just needed something to do with his hands, something to distract him from the thudding beat of guilt that lived inside his chest.
It had been weeks since they began whatever this was. It had started with a one-night stand—a wild, chaotic night of passion neither of them expected to remember, let alone crave again. But here they were, tangled in something that felt like comfort and danger all at once.
Zara tilted her head slightly, watching him from across the room. The way his brows knitted together as he waited for the kettle to boil, the absent way he tapped his fingers against the counter. She had seen that look before. It wasn't just stress.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked softly, pulling him from his reverie.
Liam blinked, then gave a half-smile. "Nothing important."
She didn't buy it, but she didn't push. Not yet.
He brought over two mugs, sitting beside her. Silence settled between them, not uncomfortable, but thick with all the things left unsaid.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" Zara said.
Liam nodded. "I know."
He looked at her, really looked. Her skin glowed in the soft light, and her eyes held a quiet tenderness he was terrified of getting used to. She wasn't Mia. And that was supposed to be a good thing.
But it still hurt.
He sighed, rubbing his palms together. "Sometimes I feel like I'm losing pieces of myself just trying to hold everything together."
Zara placed her mug down and leaned closer. "Is this about her again?"
He hesitated.
"It's not just about Mia," he said slowly. "It's about Austin too. It's about everything. Every time I'm with you, I feel... okay. Like I can breathe. But then I remember whose picture is in my head when I close my eyes, and I hate myself for it."
Zara looked down at her hands. "You're allowed to feel confused. You're human."
He nodded. "I know. But I hate that I'm dragging you into my mess. You don't deserve that."
She offered him a faint smile. "Maybe I don't. But I chose to be here. I knew what this was from the beginning."
Liam looked at her, the weight of her words sinking into his bones. "Zara, I've been thinking..."
She raised a brow.
"Maybe we should try to make this real. You and me. Officially."
Her breath caught. For a moment, she wasn't sure she heard him right.
"What?"
"I mean it. You make me feel like I can move on. Like I deserve to be happy again. Maybe if I stop chasing ghosts, I can actually have something real."
Zara swallowed, heart thudding. "Liam..."
But before she could speak further, his phone buzzed on the table. A message from Austin lit up the screen.
Dinner tonight. You, me, Mia.
Liam froze. So did Zara.
He turned the phone face down.
"I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't keep pretending I don't feel anything when I see her with him."
Zara stood up slowly, walking to the window. The wind tangled in her hair.
"Do you still love her?" she asked.
Liam didn't answer right away.
"I don't know," he said at last. "Maybe I never stopped. But it doesn't mean I don't care about you."
She closed her eyes.
"That's the thing, Liam," she said, voice shaking slightly. "I don't want to be your second option. I don't want to be the girl you settle for just because the one you really want is out of reach."
He stood up, walking toward her.
"You're not a second option. You're the only one who makes me feel sane right now."
She turned to face him.
"That may be true. But can you look me in the eye and tell me that if Mia walked in right now and told you she wanted you, you wouldn't run back to her?"
His silence was louder than any confession.
Zara laughed bitterly, brushing a tear from her cheek.
"You don't have to say it. I already know."
She moved past him, grabbing her keys.
"Where are you going?"
"Out. I need to clear my head."
He nodded slowly, watching her go.
Minutes passed. Hours. The night deepened, and silence reclaimed the apartment.
Liam found himself wandering toward the hallway, his feet dragging toward the photo frame on the shelf. It was a picture of Austin and Mia, smiling at some event. He didn't even remember taking it.
But it broke him.
His eyes lingered on her face—that smile he used to live for, those eyes that used to see only him.
He didn't hear the door open. Didn't hear Zara come back in.
But he felt her presence.
When he turned, she was standing there, eyes fixed on the photo in his hand.
The silence was heavy.
"I came back to talk," she said quietly. "But I guess I got my answer."
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
She nodded, lips trembling.
"Sometimes," she whispered, more to herself than him, "sometimes what we want is exactly what breaks us. But we want it anyway, because deep down, we'd rather hurt than never feel at all."
Then she turned and walked away.
This time, he didn't stop her.
"Oh God why can't I get over her?, he groaned, It's not like I know her from anywhere, why does it feel like we have a connection, like something real?"
"Mia, I don't know who you are, but I won't let you ruin a friendship that was built in love and honesty, even if it means hurting myself. I would never do anything to hurt Austin, my best friend, my brother." He cried within himself