~Lily~
The next morning came slow, like the sun itself wasn't sure it wanted to show up.
Lily sat at the edge of her bed, still in last night's jeans, holding her phone but not doing anything with it. No texts from Jaden. No calls. Nothing.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she said, barely above a whisper.
Mia peeked her head in. "You up?"
Lily nodded.
Mia stepped in, closing the door behind her. She didn't sit right away—just stood by the desk, like she was waiting to see if Lily would say something first.
"He was drunk," Mia said softly.
Lily flinched. "Yeah."
"You okay?"
Lily hesitated. "I don't know. It was… sudden."
Mia finally walked over and sat beside her.
"You didn't do anything wrong," she said. "But Jaden did."
Lily looked down at her hands. "I don't even know what it meant."
Mia was quiet for a second. "It meant something. You don't kiss someone like that unless there's something under it. Even if he was drunk."
"Do you think Ezra saw anything?" Lily asked, her voice small.
Mia shook her head. "He was in the kitchen the whole time. It was just me."
Lily let out a breath of relief. "Thank God."
But then came the guilt.
Because if she was really grateful no one else saw it—was it because she wanted to protect Jaden… or because she didn't want anyone to know she didn't stop him fast enough?
⸻
~Jaden~
He hadn't slept.
His head throbbed—not just from the alcohol, but from everything else. He sat on the floor of his bedroom, back against his bed, hands in his hair.
He kissed her.
He touched her.
And she looked so… stunned. Like she hadn't known whether to lean in or pull away.
He hated himself for it.
He hadn't even texted her. He didn't know what to say. Sorry didn't feel big enough. But silence was worse.
He could still feel the moment playing in his head like a loop.
The look in her eyes.
The way Mia had seen.
The cold dread that followed.
His phone buzzed once—Ezra, asking if they wanted to hit the field later.
Jaden didn't answer.
Instead, he finally opened a message thread with Lily.
And stared.
And stared.
And finally typed:
"Can we talk?"
Then deleted it.
Then typed:
"I'm sorry."
Then deleted that, too.
Eventually, he just threw the phone across the bed and let the silence punish him.
It was late afternoon in Stockholm, but early morning in New Jersey when Lily sat on her bedroom floor, headphones in, bundled in a hoodie that still smelled faintly like home.
Zoey answered first, her video flickering to life. "Okay, I swear if this isn't a life update, I'm hanging up."
A second later, Harper joined with a dramatic yawn. "Do you know what time it is here?"
Lily smiled for the first time all day. "I missed you guys."
"We missed you too," Zoey said, immediately softening. "Okay, spill. What's going on? You look like someone just confessed their love and stole your diary."
Lily hesitated.
"Wait—did someone actually confess their love?" Harper asked, now suddenly awake.
"Not exactly," Lily muttered. "But… something happened."
She told them everything. About the dinner. The party. The kiss.
How Jaden had been drinking. How it had felt like a mix of everything she wanted and everything she feared. How Mia had seen it. How she hadn't heard from him since.
"Wait, wait," Harper said. "This is the guy you had a crush on the second you got there, right?"
Lily nodded. "Yeah."
"And he has a girlfriend?" Zoey asked.
"Brielle," Lily said. "They've been together for two years. But she's… not exactly nice."
"Okay, but still. That doesn't give him a pass," Zoey said firmly. "Drunk or not."
"I know," Lily said quickly. "I'm not trying to defend him. I just—I don't know what to feel."
Harper leaned closer to the camera. "Do you like him? Like, really like him?"
Lily paused. "Yes."
"Do you trust him?" Zoey asked, softer.
"I did," Lily admitted. "Now… I don't know."
They were quiet for a moment.
Then Harper said, "If he wants to be more than a mistake, he better start acting like it."
Zoey nodded. "And Lily? Don't let this mess with your worth. You didn't do anything wrong."
Lily's throat tightened. "Thanks, guys."
"We're always here," Zoey said. "Even across the ocean."
"Text us the second anything else happens," Harper added. "Good or bad. Especially if he says something dumb."
Lily laughed, and for the first time since the kiss, she felt a little less alone.
~Mia~
Mia found him exactly where she expected—in the empty school gym after hours, shooting hoops alone like the world didn't exist.
She didn't announce herself. Just stood by the bleachers with her arms crossed and waited.
Jaden missed the basket three times before he noticed her.
"Mia," he muttered, wiping sweat from his face with the bottom of his T-shirt. "You stalking me now?"
"I was hoping you'd be where you always are when you don't want to deal with things," she said flatly.
Jaden's smirk faded. "I figured Ezra sent you."
"He doesn't know," Mia said. "I didn't tell him."
Jaden's jaw flexed. "Thanks."
"I didn't do it for you."
Silence stretched between them.
"You kissed her," Mia finally said. "You touched her. You were drunk, sure. But not unconscious."
"I know," Jaden said quietly.
"She didn't know what to do, Jaden. She was frozen."
"I know."
"No, I don't think you do." Her voice was sharper now. "You don't get to play the I was drunk, it didn't mean anything card. Because it did mean something."
Jaden dropped the ball. It hit the court and rolled away.
"I didn't plan it," he said. "I didn't even mean to talk to her that night. I just—"
He ran both hands through his hair.
"I keep trying to shut it down. Act normal. But when I see her… I forget how to pretend."
Mia's expression softened just enough. "Then stop pretending. Stop messing with her like she's some secret you can't admit."
"I don't want to hurt her."
"You already did."
That landed harder than he expected.
Mia stepped forward. "Do better, Jaden. Be honest with her. Or let her go before you wreck both of you."
Then she turned and left, the echo of her shoes ringing off the walls.
⸻
~Jaden~
It took another hour of sitting in his car outside his house, phone in his lap, before he finally typed the words he couldn't say out loud.
Jaden Rivera:
Hey. I owe you an explanation. I shouldn't have done what I did. I was drunk, but that's not an excuse.
You didn't deserve to be put in that position.
I just… I've been holding a lot in. And it all came out wrong.
Can we talk? For real this time. No games.
He hit send before he could overthink it.
Then he sat back and stared at the night sky through his windshield.
If she answered, everything would change.
If she didn't… everything already had.
~Lily~
Her phone buzzed while she was brushing her hair, still damp from the shower. At first, she thought it might be Zoey or Harper. But the name on the screen stopped her cold.
Jaden Rivera.
Her heart slammed.
She sat on the edge of the bed, towel around her shoulders, and opened the message.
Hey. I owe you an explanation. I shouldn't have done what I did. I was drunk, but that's not an excuse.
You didn't deserve to be put in that position.
I just… I've been holding a lot in. And it all came out wrong.
Can we talk? For real this time. No games.
Lily stared at it.
A hundred thoughts crashed together—anger, hope, confusion. It was the kind of message that felt like an apology and a trap. Because if she said yes… what came next?
She tapped out a reply slowly.
Lily Hart:
I don't know what you want from me.
That night… I haven't stopped thinking about it. But not the way you probably think.
I don't want to be someone's mistake.
If you're ready to talk, I'll listen. But I'm not chasing you.
She hovered over "Send," took a breath, and tapped it.
Her chest tightened instantly.
There. It was done.
Now she waited.
⸻
~Ezra~
It was the way Lily barely looked up at breakfast that made him notice.
She always greeted him with a small smile, even if she was tired. But today, nothing. Just toast, phone face-down, and silence.
He didn't say anything at first.
Then Mia came in and sat beside him, and Lily glanced at her for a second longer than usual. Almost like she was checking if she was okay.
Mia didn't look back.
Ezra narrowed his eyes slightly. Something had happened.
Later, in the car on the way to school, he finally asked, "Everything good with you two?"
Lily blinked. "Me and Mia?"
"No, you and the toaster," he deadpanned. "Yes, you and Mia. You both seem weird."
"I'm fine," Lily said too quickly.
Mia, from the front seat, stayed quiet.
Ezra looked at both of them. Something was definitely off. But they weren't talking.
He'd seen Mia upset before—he knew how she looked when she was hiding something.
And Lily? Lily looked like she was carrying something too heavy for one person.
Jaden wasn't with them today.
Ezra glanced at the empty seat and frowned.
Something was coming.
He could feel it.
~Lily~
She met Jaden at the park near the water, where the wind carried just enough chill to raise goosebumps. He was already sitting on the bench when she arrived—hood up, shoulders hunched forward, like he was trying to fold in on himself.
She almost turned back.
But he looked up. And everything inside her stilled.
He stood slowly. "Hey."
"Hey," she replied, cautious.
He motioned to the bench. "Can we sit?"
They did—awkwardly far apart at first. Silence fell, not heavy, but expectant.
Jaden cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."
"I know," she said. "You already said that."
He looked over, eyes dark under the shade of his hood. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"But you did," Lily said. "And now I'm stuck wondering what any of it meant. Or if I should've stopped it faster."
"Don't," he said quickly. "Don't blame yourself."
She looked at him. "Then help me understand."
Jaden sat forward, elbows on his knees. "I think I've been pretending for so long—about Brielle, about what I want, about what I feel—that I forgot how to be honest. And then you showed up… and you didn't ask anything from me. You were just there. And I started to feel things I didn't want to feel."
Lily's breath hitched. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because I'm a coward," he admitted. "And I thought if I ignored it, it would go away. But then I saw you at the party and… I lost it. I let go in the worst way possible."
She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Do you still love Brielle?"
He blinked. "I don't know."
"That's your answer," she said, standing. "If you're not sure, then you can't drag me into it. I deserve more than that."
Jaden stood, too, but didn't reach for her. "You do."
Lily stepped back. "Figure yourself out, Jaden. Then maybe we'll talk again."
And with that, she walked away—heart racing, breath shaky, but feeling more sure of herself than she had since she moved to Stockholm.
⸻
~Ezra~
Later that evening , Ezra sat in the den while Mia studied on the couch beside him. But her focus wasn't real—she hadn't turned a page in twenty minutes.
"You good?" he asked.
Mia nodded. "Yeah."
"You sure?" He tilted his head. "Because ever since the party, everyone's been acting weird—especially you, Lily, and Jaden. And I'm not stupid."
Mia bit her lip. "It's not my story to tell."
"But something happened," Ezra said.
She closed the book and looked him dead in the eye. "It's not my story. But you're right. And it's complicated."
Ezra leaned back, tension tightening his jaw. "Is Lily okay?"
"Yes," Mia said. "But Jaden has some things to figure out."
Ezra exhaled slowly. He didn't press. But he knew now—something happened at that party.
And if it involved Jaden and Lily, it wasn't small.
~Ezra~
Ezra found Jaden alone on the cracked concrete of the old basketball court, the orange glow of the setting sun casting long shadows. Jaden was bouncing the ball, but there was no rhythm—only a restless, uneven thump.
Ezra stepped forward, swallowing the knot of frustration and concern tightening in his chest.
"Jaden," he said quietly.
Jaden stopped, glanced up, and gave a small nod.
Ezra took a deep breath. "We need to talk. About Lily."
Jaden's eyes flickered, wary. "What about her?"
Ezra squared his shoulders, lowering his voice. "Did you fuck her?"
The bluntness of the question shocked Jaden for a moment. His hand stilled on the ball.
"No," Jaden said finally, voice low.
Ezra narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to me. If you did, I want to know. If not… then tell me everything that happened."
Jaden ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. "We kissed. I was drunk. I touched her, but nothing else."
Ezra's jaw clenched. "And that was okay? You think that's okay?"
Jaden's eyes darkened. "No. I know it's not. But I never wanted to hurt her. I swear."
"Hurt her?" Ezra repeated, voice rising slightly. "That's an understatement. You've been acting like it's no big deal. Like you're confused but she's the one who needs to get over it."
Jaden's face tightened with guilt. "I'm trying to figure it out, man. But it's complicated. I've been with Brielle for two years. I don't know what I feel anymore."
Ezra's glare hardened. "So you're using that as an excuse to mess with Lily? She's new here, trying to find her place. And you… you throw this at her?"
Jaden's voice cracked a little. "I'm not proud of it. I'm a mess. But I'm scared, Ezra. Scared of what I want. Scared of what I might lose."
Ezra took a step closer, lowering his voice. "Then don't drag her into your mess. If you want to fix this, you have to be honest—with her, with Brielle, with yourself."
Jaden looked away, his fingers trembling as they traced the ball's surface. "I don't know if I'm ready."
"Then at least don't lie to me or her," Ezra said firmly. "You've already done enough damage."
Jaden's eyes met Ezra's, raw and searching. "I'm sorry. I really am."
Ezra let out a slow breath and shook his head. "Sorry isn't enough this time."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Jaden alone with the weight of his mistakes and the sinking sun.