The following week passed like a quiet echo after a thunderstorm. Things were calmer now, but not without a strange kind of weight in the air.
Aaron and I were officially dating. We held hands between classes, exchanged sweet texts, and he walked me home nearly every evening. But even as the relationship bloomed, I couldn't shake the awareness that someone was missing.
Kane had been… distant I mean I mostly tried not to think about him but he....he's been my bestfriend since we were babies so now I can't bear to see him away from me.
He wasn't angry—not on the surface. He still came home, still ate dinner, still laughed at sitcoms. But something had changed.before he used to have warmth in his tone but now It's like it was never there. And he paused before answering unlike before . He no longer teased me about the way I arranged cereal boxes or turned down the TV volume at exactly level 12.
It hurt.
"Is he okay?" I asked Sammy one afternoon as we walked from the café back to campus.
She sipped her iced tea. "He's dealing with it. The way Kane does."
"You saw him that day, didn't you?"
Sammy hesitated, then nodded. "In the storage room."
I stopped walking. "He didn't tell me."
"He doesn't know how to talk about it. Especially not to you. He's embarrassed. Hurt. But not angry at you."
"I never wanted to hurt him."
"I know."
We resumed walking, slower now.
"I just… I chose Aaron because he made me feel like I could be a better version of myself," I said quietly. "But I never wanted Kane to feel like he wasn't enough."
"He knows that, too," Sammy replied. "He just doesn't know what to do with the leftover feelings."
That night, back at the apartment, Kane came home late from a study group.
I was curled on the couch watching a movie, the popcorn untouched. He paused in the doorway, his hand on the light switch.
"You can come sit," I offered. "I'm not gonna bite."
He chuckled softly, then crossed the room and dropped onto the opposite side of the couch.
"I heard you and Aaron made it official," he said, eyes on the screen.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Good for you."
"Thank you."
A pause.
"Kane…" I looked down at my lap. "I know I don't deserve this, but I want you to know I still care about you. Deeply. Not in the same way, maybe, but… I never stopped needing you in my life."
He was silent for a moment.
Then he replied, "You didn't choose wrong, Lily."
I looked up, startled.
He met my gaze, and for once, there was no bitterness. Just a quiet acceptance.
"I see the way he looks at you. The way you look at him. I wouldn't have stood a chance," he said with a soft smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Doesn't mean it doesn't suck, though."
I laughed, a little tearfully. "No, I guess it doesn't."
"But I'll be okay," he added. "Eventually."
I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm really glad you're still here."
His hand lingered in mine for a second, then gently pulled away.
"Yeah," he murmured. "Me too."
In the weeks that followed, things gradually began to settle. Kane was still healing. Aaron and I were growing stronger. And Sammy—well, Sammy lingered around Kane a little more often now, her presence subtle but soothing.
None of us knew what would come next.
But we were finding our footing.
Together.