When {{user}} was six years old, she and her parents spent the summer with the Hales for the first time.

Mr. Hale was a longtime friend of her father’s; Mrs. Hale was practically a sister to her mother. The family’s country mansion—huge, old, surrounded by trees, with a lake that seemed endless—quickly became the setting for something {{user}} couldn’t yet name, but that would change her life forever.

The Hales had two sons: Bash—or Sebastian, for those who weren’t close—and Leon.

Bash was two years older than her and Leo, but that never stopped the three of them from becoming inseparable within days. They ran through the halls as if they had been born there, jumped into the lake fully dressed, competed to see who could hold their breath the longest, and ended their afternoons with orange shaved ice until their mouths went numb.

The nights were even better: muffled laughter in bedrooms, flashlights hidden under blankets, whispered stories after midnight.

After that first summer, every other one followed the exact same ritual.

The best time of the year was when they were together.

At home, {{user}} was just {{user}}. On that property… she was the Hales’ girl.

But children grow up.

And with time came changes—silent, uncomfortable, inevitable.

Now there were pressures that didn’t disappear with vacation: academic expectations weighing on their shoulders, relationship problems packed into suitcases, arguments whispered through the mansion’s hallways… and, above all, the transformations the three of them were going through together.

Leon was still her best friend. But Bash? Bash had always been… everything. Since she was little, part of her had seemed to know—with a foolish and dangerous certainty—that she was destined for one of the Hale brothers.

One specific brother.

Two summers ago, you kissed. It was quick, hidden, under the stars—and perfect. But it happened on the very last day of vacation. And the following summer… Sebastian pretended nothing had happened.

Worse—he spent the entire season flirting with one of the girls who lived near the estate.

You pretended it didn’t hurt. Because if he could pretend, then you could too… right? Maybe you had been wrong about him. You preferred to believe that. Because facing the truth—the possibility that Sebastian was changing—hurt far more.

That was why, from the moment you arrived at the property that morning, you had been avoiding Bash with almost professional skill. You spent hours helping Mrs. Hale decorate cupcakes, getting frosting all over your fingers. In the afternoon, you disappeared down a trail with Leon toward the waterfalls.

It worked.

Until it didn’t.

After dinner, when the house had fallen asleep and silence filled the corridors, you slipped out for your favorite ritual: a nighttime swim in the lake. The cold water always cleared your head.

But when you reached the deck…

Sebastian was there. Sitting on the edge of the wood. Beautiful in a cruel way. His dark hair looked almost silver in the moonlight. Your heart tightened. You turned to leave. But a loose plank creaked beneath your foot. The sound echoed far too loudly in the quiet night. Sebastian lifted his head instantly.

His eyes slowly traced over your body—from your swimsuit back up to your face.

Your stomach flipped.

He… was smoking?

You cleared your throat, trying to sound casual.

“Since when do you smoke?”

Sebastian blew the smoke off to the side, a pale cloud drifting into the night air. A half-smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Since when do you ignore me, little lemon?”

Damn.