7
There was one thing Ashton didn’t know.
Before Sienna left the country again, she sent me a message.
I almost didn’t open it.
But curiosity won.
“Chloe, I’m sorry.”
“If I hurt you, even accidentally, I’m sorry.”
“Before I met you that day, I had no idea about your relationship with Ashton.”
“I believe him when he says he lied to me too.”
“And these past few days, I can tell he really does love you.”
“The seventeen-year-old Ashton who quietly liked me was insecure and lonely.”
“But the twenty-five-year-old Ashton had already fallen in love with you. He just didn’t realize it in time.”
I read the whole thing.
Then deleted it.
The only reply I sent was:
Have a safe trip.
She understood what it meant to have a crush that lived quietly for years.
So did I.
But now I understood something more important.
Love isn’t enough.
It has to be exclusive.
It has to be loyal.
Otherwise it’s just pain wearing pretty clothes.
Some time later, Dylan found out the truth about Ashton and me.
I still don’t know how.
Maybe Ryan slipped.
Maybe Ashton confessed something.
Maybe Dylan pieced it together from a hundred tiny clues he’d ignored before.
What I do know is that he and Ashton got into a huge fight.
A real one.
Not just shouting.
By the time I heard about it, their friendship was basically over.
I got angry at Dylan for that.
Not because I wanted Ashton back.
But because I didn’t want my mess ruining years of brotherhood between them.
“Don’t do this,” I told him. “What happened between Ashton and me was our problem. It shouldn’t destroy your friendship too.”
Dylan knocked lightly on my forehead.
“You’re my sister.”
“What is he compared to that?”
“Anybody who hurts my sister doesn’t deserve to be my brother.”
That was the end of the conversation.
I couldn’t argue with him.
I left home a little later that afternoon to head back to campus.
And right outside, leaning against a car with one hand in his pocket, was Ryan.
The sunlight hit him from behind.
He looked almost offensively bright.
Like someone who belonged in a different story altogether.
He saw me and waved.
A half smile lifted my mouth before I could stop it.
It surprised me.
How easy it felt.
Ryan straightened.
“Well?”
“Well what?” I asked.
He opened the passenger door with exaggerated patience.
“You’ve kept your official suitor waiting long enough.”
I laughed despite myself.
He really was impossible.
For the first time in a long time, the laugh didn’t hurt.
He raised one eyebrow.
“So?”
I looked at him properly then.
At the man who’d stayed silent while I cried.
Who’d shown up whenever I needed something without making me owe him for it.
Who’d noticed the milk I liked. The food I preferred. The way I got cold easily.
Who’d told my mother he liked me with his whole chest and zero shame.
Who never once asked me to hide.
And suddenly the answer felt simple.
Not because I already loved him.
But because maybe this was what healing was supposed to look like.
Not forgetting the past.
Just finally choosing something different.
I took a breath.
Then smiled.
“I’ll give you a chance.”
His whole face changed.
Like sunlight getting even brighter.
“To pursue me,” I clarified quickly.
“We can… try.”
For once, Ryan didn’t joke right away.
He just looked at me.
Really looked at me.
Then he said softly, “Okay.”
Just that.
No performance.
No smugness.
Just okay.
And somehow that made my chest feel warm.
We were still young.
The future was still uncertain.
No one could promise forever.
Not me.
Not him.
Not anyone.
But maybe that was okay.
Maybe love wasn’t supposed to begin with guarantees.
Maybe sometimes it started with honesty.
With timing.
With someone standing beside you in broad daylight and saying, I’m here.
Ryan got into the driver’s seat and leaned over to push open my door from the inside.
I climbed in.
As the car pulled away, I glanced once at the house in the rearview mirror.
At the life behind me.
At the girl who spent years loving someone in secret and mistook crumbs for devotion.
Then I looked forward.
Ryan tapped the steering wheel and shot me a sideways grin.
“So, future girlfriend.”
I groaned instantly.
“Don’t make me regret this already.”
He laughed.
And for the first time in what felt like forever—
I laughed too.