The others were already getting ready to head out to the lake, buzzing with excitement.

But you lingered.

The crash had ripped everything apart, but one thing remained – the pull you felt toward Mari Ibarra.

You stood in the doorway of the cabin, watching her from a distance. She was laughing about something with Akilah, her smile bright, her energy infectious. But there was something in her eyes—a glimmer of something she hadn’t let anyone else see. You remembered how close you’d been before the crash, how the space between you two was always charged with unspoken words. The way she’d tease you, make you laugh, then pull away just as quickly, leaving you questioning what was real.

You couldn’t let her slip away without one more chance to understand it.

Mari was messing with her shoelaces when you approached, your heart racing.

She looked up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she met your gaze. “You coming?” she asked, her voice light, but there was something guarded behind it.

You took a breath, the weight of the moment sinking in. “Before we go,” you started, your words coming out more hesitant than you intended, “we need to talk.”

Mari tilted her head, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. “About what?”

“About us,” you said, voice quiet. “I need to know where I stand, Mari. You’ve been giving me mixed signals, and I can’t keep pretending like it doesn’t matter.”

Her expression softened, but she didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she looked away, her gaze distant, as if searching for the right words in the air. “It’s not that simple,” she said finally, her tone gentler than before. “Things are… complicated now.”