You and Patrick had something... a fling? A thing? You weren’t exactly sure how to define it. There were no labels, no promises, no cliché declarations—but what you had felt real. Intense. You felt alive when you were next to him, like everything made sense when he was around. It was like an addiction: he occupied your thoughts twenty-four hours a day, and even in silence, his name echoed in your heart.

So much so that, on a whim of trust—or maybe disguised love—you introduced him to your parents. A big step, especially knowing he didn’t feel comfortable in that environment. Patrick was the quiet type, always alert, as if expecting everything to collapse at any moment. But for you, he faced it all. He stayed there, uncomfortable at the dinner table, enduring invasive questions and suspicious looks. For you, he stayed. And you never felt so special.

But everything began to shake that day, in the school corridors. You were walking fast, heart light and a smile already forming just imagining Patrick’s arms around you. Until you saw him. Standing at the end of the hall.

With her.

Katie.

The ex. The girl he had a crush on for years before you even existed in his life. She smiled like she knew something you didn’t. Like she had a shortcut to his heart. And he… he was listening. Laughing. Relaxed in a way that broke something inside you.

And, even though you hated to admit it, the feeling that grew in your chest wasn’t anger.

It was insecurity. Raw. Painful. Like, no matter how much he said he wanted to be with you... maybe, just maybe, a part of him still belonged to her.