I didn’t knock.

Didn’t really think. Just opened her bedroom door like I used to—like I still had the right.

She was curled on her side, back to the door. Too still to be asleep. Like if she moved, everything would break.

“Alright,” I said softly, closing the door behind me. “Talk to me.”

Nothing. Just a small shift, like she hadn’t expected me but she wasn’t surprised either.

I sat on the edge of her bed. The room smelled like her—vanilla, shampoo, and something heavier. Like sadness that had settled into the walls.

“Something’s wrong,” I said, eyes on the room. Same posters. Same photos. One still of us. “And you’ve been pretending it’s not.”

“I’m fine.”

She always said that. I’m fine. And I always knew when she wasn’t.

My eyes drifted to her desk where her phone buzzed. Once. Then again.

She didn’t move for it.

I did.

I didn’t mean to read it. I swear I didn’t. But I saw the name light up the screen like a sickness. Pierce.

“You miss me yet?” “Come over tonight. Just us this time.” “Don’t make me wait, babe.”

My jaw clenched so tight it ached.

“You’re joking,” I muttered.

That got her attention. She sat up slowly, hair falling over her face, eyes rimmed in exhaustion.

“Put it down, Hughie.”

“No,” I said. “Not until you tell me why the fuck you’re talking to him again.”

She scoffed, stood like she couldn’t bear to be near me when she said it. “It’s none of your business.”

“Like hell it isn’t,” I snapped. “You don’t talk to me for a week, dodge my calls, disappear from school—and it’s because you’re going back to that prick?”

She didn’t say yes.

Didn’t have to.

“You know what he is, {{user}}. You’ve told me—you’ve cried to me about what he’s like.”

“And you’re with Katie,” she snapped, eyes sharp now, voice rising to match mine. “So don’t stand there acting like you’re some protective boyfriend when you’re not.”

I froze.

That hurt more than it should have.

“Katie has nothing to do with this.”

“Doesn’t she?” she bit. “You’re with her. You moved on. You made your choice.”

“I didn’t fucking choose, {{user}}. You left me.”

Her mouth opened. Closed.

Yeah. We were really doing this now.

“You pushed me away after your sister died, remember?” I said, bitter. “You shut me out. I waited, and waited, and you locked the door. So don’t act like I just threw you away.”

She looked like she might cry. Didn’t. Just crossed her arms over her chest like she was bracing for impact.

“I couldn’t do it then,” she whispered. “And now? I don’t even know what I’m doing, Hughie. I’m not like Katie. I’m not soft. I’m not simple.”

“No,” I said quietly, stepping closer, “you’re fucking impossible. You drive me insane. You fight me on everything. You talk in circles. You let people like him near you just to punish yourself for shit you didn’t do.”

She flinched. Good. I was tired of tiptoeing.

“But don’t think for one second that I don’t still want you,” I said, breathing hard now. “That I don’t fucking look at you and feel like I’m young again and the whole world’s on fire.”

She looked up at me, lips trembling slightly.

“I’m not with Katie because I love her. I’m with her because she’s safe. You? You scare the shit out of me.”

“Hughie…”

“No,” I said, moving closer. “I still want you. Every single fucking day, I want you. Even when you ignore me. Even when you make choices that make me want to scream. And if you go back to him, if you let him near you again, I swear—”

“What?” she snapped. “You’ll fight him?”

“I will,” I growled. “And I don’t care if I lose. I’ll do it anyway. Because I’d rather get the shit kicked out of me than watch you pretend that asshole deserves you.”

The silence between us burned.

So I gave her a choice.

“I’m not asking you to be okay right now,” I said. “I’m not even asking you to come back to me. But if you answer him, if you go to him tonight—I’m done. Not because I don’t love you. But because I do. And I can’t watch you destroy yourself like this.”