BIGGER BUBBLES

*Chapter 2: 2AM*

The door clicked shut behind her.

Adrian sat on the bed with the taste of wine still on his mouth and his heart hitting too hard.

The house was dead quiet.

Down the hall, Ethan’s room was dark.

Lily hadn’t turned the light on. She was just a shape in his hoodie, sitting on the edge of his bed now, bare feet not quite touching the floor.

“This is stupid,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Adrian said.

She picked up her glass and took a drink. Hand shaking a little.

“You’re staring.”

“You knocked on my door at 2am.”

Lily laughed under her breath. “Fair.”

For a minute neither of them talked. The AC rattled. A car passed outside on the street.

“You don’t like me,” she said finally. Not a question.

“I don’t know you.”

“Bullshit. You know enough.” She looked at him. “You know I married your dad 6 months after your mom died. You know everyone in town thinks I’m a gold digger.”

“Are you?”

“No.” She said it fast. Then softer: “I was lonely.”

Adrian looked away. “My mom was lonely too. At the end.”

Lily’s face fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t— I wasn’t trying to replace her.”

“Didn’t ask you to.”

Another long pause.

She shifted closer. Not touching. Just closer.

“You’re mad at him, huh? For moving on.”

“I’m not mad.”

“You didn’t come to the wedding.”

Adrian’s jaw ticked. “I had work.”

“Liar.”

He didn’t argue.

Lily set her glass down. Stood up. Walked to his window and pulled the blinds an inch. The streetlight cut across her face.

“I don’t sleep good here,” she said. “The house is too big. Too quiet.”

“So why come in here?”

“Because it’s quiet in here too. But different.” She turned back to him. “Because you don’t look at me like Ethan does.”

“How does he look at you?”

“Like I’m something he bought.”

The words hung there.

Adrian stood up. He wasn’t thinking.

Lily met him halfway.

The kiss wasn’t soft. It was desperate. Like both of them were trying to prove something.

Her hands fisted in the front of his shirt. His went to her waist.

Then — footsteps.

Both of them froze.

Down the hall. Ethan’s bathroom light. The toilet flush. Water running.

Lily pulled back, breathing hard, eyes wide. She pressed a finger to her lips.

They waited.

30 seconds. A minute.

The light went off. Silence again.

Lily let out a shaky breath and grabbed her glass.

“Okay. That was a mistake,” she whispered.

“Yeah.”

She was at the door, hand on the knob.

Paused. Didn’t look back.

“1am,” she said quietly. “Tomorrow. Don’t make noise.”

And then she was gone.

Adrian stood in the dark for a long time.

Listening.

Waiting for another knock that didn’t come.

He told himself he wouldn’t go.

He already knew he would.