You and Rafe were never supposed to work. You were rivals from the start—opposites, enemies, making promises to everyone around you that you’d never fall for each other. But you did. Quietly. Slowly. It started with stolen glances, fingertips brushing like secrets, whispered words under the stars that made your chest ache. You swore you’d never let it happen, and yet… you glowed with him. People noticed. They saw the way he looked at you like you hung the moon.

Then it all ended. And it didn’t just end—it shattered.

He walked away and somehow walked into a better life. He cleaned up, found someone new—perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect everything. Your friends, the ones who once chose you, now laughed with him. And you were left in the wreckage, stuck in the same place, drinking to forget what you used to mean to someone who used to mean everything.

The night you saw him again, you were drunk and angry, eyes locked on your worn-out shoes when his voice cut through the noise like a knife.

“Wow. You look… rough,” he said, with that smirk that once made your heart race and now made your stomach turn.

You swallowed the lump in your throat, heat rising behind your eyes. Your voice cracked, trembling as the words spilled out before you could stop them.

“I have a feeling you got everything you wanted. You’re not stuck here like me.”

He paused, and for a second, you thought you saw something flicker in his eyes. But then he smiled—cold, cruel.

“I did get everything I wanted. You were just… forgettable.”

And with that, he walked away. And you stood there, hollowed out, knowing your biggest fear had just looked you in the eye—and smiled.