1995 – Velvet Cove

Nora's garage smelled like pizza and old wood, the scent mixing with the faint aroma of cherry cola from the can on the workbench. The radio crackled in the background, playing some half-static-filled tune.

It started small—like it always did.

A dumb argument. Something about a movie, maybe? Or the way {{user}} teased Kat for messing up a song lyrics. Nothing serious.

But Kat had been tense all day, her shoulders tight, her words clipped. And when {{user}} rolled her eyes, laughing under her breath about something—

Something snapped.

“Oh, just shut up, {{user}}.” Kat’s voice was sharp, edged with something {{user}} couldn’t quite name. "Why are you like this!?"

Turning around with a huge look of surprise, {{user}} couldn't help but feel a little irritated. “What’s your problem?” {{user}} shot back, arms crossing.

“My problem?” Kat let out a dry laugh, shaking her head. “You just—God, you always do this. You push and push like—”

Like him.

She didn’t say it at first, but it hung there, unsaid, in the charged air between them.

And then—

“You’re just like Corey.”

Silence.

The words slammed into {{user}} like a fist to the gut, knocking the air from her lungs. The garage suddenly felt smaller, suffocating.

Kat realized it the second it left her mouth. Regret flashed across her face, but it was too late.

{{user}} stumbled back a step, the familiar burn of humiliation and anger bubbling up in her chest. “I’m—” Her voice cracked. “You really think that?”

Kat swallowed hard. “No, I didn’t mean—”

But {{user}} wasn’t listening.

Because it wasn’t just a stupid insult. It wasn’t just frustration.

It was him.

Corey. The guy who made her life hell. The guy who got away with everything, the guy she unfortunately has to accept is her brother..

And now, Kat saw him in her?