Are you the Worst?

17: Realizations At its Finest

♡ S E V E N T E E N ♡

Realizations At its Finest



The night air was cool and still, brushing gently against Eve’s bare arms as she sat on the edge of the stone bench near the side garden behind the ballroom. Her heels were discarded on the grass. Her makeup was smudged. Her hair had started to fall from the careful straightening Tia had done hours ago. And still she had never felt more herself.

Ames sat beside her in silence. Not too close. Not too far. Just enough for her to know he was there. Just enough to feel like she wasn’t entirely falling apart alone.

The lights from the building behind them glowed soft and golden through the high windows. The sound of distant music, muted and sad that drifted out from the ball still happening inside. People were dancing. Laughing. Taking pictures.

But for the two of them, it felt like the world had paused.

Eve wiped under her eyes with a tissue Ames had pulled from his suit jacket earlier. She still sniffled now and then, her chest raw from everything that had just happened. Everything she had seen. Everything she felt.

Ames cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I was mad at him,” he said finally, voice low. “Zeke.”

Eve blinked, slowly turning to him.

“I was mad because he kept everything from you,” he continued. “Because I saw your face, Eve. And i thought that same exact expression is what you had two years ago because I hurt you.”

Her shoulders sank a little, but she didn’t interrupt.

“I wanted to punch him, honestly. But... I couldn’t,” he admitted. “Because he’s not me.”

She looked over at him then, puzzled.

“I was selfish,” Ames said, eyes staring straight ahead. “Back then, when I ghosted you, I was lonely. Confused. I ran away. I didn’t fight for you. But Zeke... he’s different. He was hiding, yeah, but not because he didn’t care. It’s the opposite. He was trying to protect you.”

Eve’s lips parted slightly. She wanted to argue. Wanted to hold onto the pain for just a little longer.

But Ames wasn’t done.

“He’s afraid, Eve,” he said gently. “Just like you. Just like me. But he stayed. He stayed by your side. Even when he knew that truth might break everything.”

Ames let out a quiet sigh and leaned back, looking up at the stars.

“Being in the public eye isn’t convenient,” he said. “Having your life laid out for everyone to watch, judge, and tear apart. It’s not fun. And having a powerful father breathing down your neck? That’s worse. Trust me. Let’s just say... we both have daddy issues.”

Eve let out a short breath and part laugh, part ache.

“I’m serious,” Ames said, glancing at her. “Can you really imagine the press snooping around your tail? Strangers knowing your name, digging into your past, twisting your story into something it’s not? Zeke didn’t want you to go through that. Especially not when you were just learning how to love again.”

Her throat tightened.

“And love isn’t always... perfect,” he said softly. “It’s not always happiness and sparkles and late-night calls. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it hurts. But the real thing is it’s worth the pain.”

He tilted his head slightly, looking at her now.

“You know the difference between him and me?” Ames asked. “I gave up on you, Eve. I let you go. I convinced myself that I didn’t need to explain. Zeke? He won’t give up on you. Not even now. Even after everything.”

Eve swallowed hard, eyes glistening again.

“I think,” Ames said quietly, “he needs you too. He’s strong, yeah. But even strong people need saving. And that’s what he did for you, right? He helped you heal. Maybe now... maybe he needs the same.”

Silence fell between them again.

Then slowly, Eve turned toward him, her eyes warm despite the tears still clinging to her lashes.

“You know, Ames,” she whispered with a small, broken smile, “you’re really something. I mean, giving me a whole heartfelt speech about my love life?” She nudged his shoulder gently.

Ames chuckled. “Hey, I had to make up for the years of ghosting somehow.”

She leaned in and hugged him, arms slipping around his waist, cheek resting against his shoulder.

“I understand what you mean,” she murmured. “And I think you’re right. About all of it. But…”

She pulled back slightly, eyes meeting his again.

“I think I need to think about all of it first. Because even if he needs saving... I need me too.”

Ames nodded, his expression soft, understanding.

“You know, when you ghosted me,” she continued, “you taught me something. Something I didn’t see right away. You taught me to stop choosing people who don’t choose me first. To stop pouring myself into someone else until I was empty.”

Her voice cracked a little, but she didn’t stop.

“You taught me how to love myself. And right now… I have to choose what’s best for me. Whether that means continuing or walking away, I have to know I’m doing it because I want to. Not because I’m scared. Or because I owe him anything.”

Ames smiled faintly. “That’s fair. And... honestly, I’m proud of you, Eve.”

“Yeah?” she said, smiling a little more genuinely this time.

He nodded. “Yeah. Really proud.”

They sat in silence again. Not the uncomfortable kind. But the soft, still kind. Like two people who had finally said what needed to be said.

The stars above them blinked gently in the night sky.

And for the first time all night, Eve didn’t feel broken.

Just... healing.

One breath at a time.

♡♡♡

It had been a week since the NYU Ball.

Since the heartbreak.

Since the truth.

Since the night Eve’s world cracked open and left her in the ruins of things she thought were real.

Semester break had started, and instead of going home to Queens, Eve found herself at Tia’s house, nestled in a quiet part of Long Island. It was calm here, still. The kind of place where time felt slower and hearts could breathe. Tia had insisted she stay, and Joy, their other best friend, was already there with a suitcase full of skincare, card games, and K-Dramas.

The three of them were sprawled across Tia’s bed, wrapped in blankets, still in their oversized pajamas despite it being late afternoon. The window beside them was cracked open, letting in a breeze that smelled like fallen leaves and something warm and earthy.

Eve sat near the window, hugging a pillow to her chest. Her eyes were distant, staring out into the yard next door.

Ames’ house.

Tia noticed. “You okay?” she asked gently.

Eve blinked, nodding slowly. “Yeah… Just thinking.”

“About him?” Joy chimed in, raising an eyebrow from where she was braiding Tia’s hair.

Eve smiled faintly. “About all of it, honestly.”

Tia turned, brushing Eve’s knee with her hand. “Ames’ whole family left for Hawaii the other day. Big family vacation or something. I think Ames went too. I saw his cousin post something on i********:. Matching outfits. A lot of pineapples.”

Eve exhaled a laugh, but it was quiet.

“And Zeke?” Joy asked softly.

“He hasn’t called,” Eve said. “Hasn’t texted. Not once.”

“That’s actually surprising,” Tia said.

“No,” Eve said, staring back out the window. “It’s not. It’s... him. Zeke’s always known when to give me space. He knows when to hold back. He respects my silence.”

She paused.

“And maybe... maybe that hurts more.”

Joy and Tia didn’t say anything for a while. Just let her sit with it.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Eve confessed. “Part of me still hurts. But another part of me... misses him. Like crazy. And I keep thinking that what if I never get to see him again? What if I pushed away something good?”

Tia took her hand. “Maybe he’s giving you space now... but that doesn’t mean he’s not hoping you’ll meet him halfway.”

Just then, a shout from downstairs.

“GUYS!” Joy yelled from the kitchen. “You need to see this right now!”

The girls scrambled off the bed and ran downstairs, socks sliding over the hardwood floor. Joy was in the living room, holding her phone, her face pale.

She turned the screen to them. A news video was playing.

“Authorities are now confirming that Ezekiel Wade Delaire, son of British Prime Minister Wallace Delaire, has gone missing.

CCTV footage shows Ezekiel at JFK International Airport last Tuesday, walking alongside his father and fiancée, Princess Madison of Meldovia. However, as the group approached the gate for their flight to London, Ezekiel abruptly broke away and was last seen sprinting through a staff-only corridor.

He has not been seen since.

Sources say he left behind his identification and security clearance, making his current location unknown.”

The footage showed the grainy image of Zeke walking beside his father and Madi, flanked by guards. And then, like something out of a movie, Zeke suddenly turned, broke into a run and disappeared down a corridor, vanishing like a shadow into thin air.

Eve’s heart stopped.

“He ran?” she whispered. “He actually ran…”

Back upstairs, she stood by the window again, arms folded, trying to calm the sudden storm rising in her chest. The thought of Zeke out there alone, somewhere, possibly hurt or worse was a knot twisting in her stomach.

She sighed and looked across the yard again.

And froze.

A figure had just stepped into the backyard of Ames’ house.

At first, she thought it was Ames but something was off. The figure was little shorter than Ames but still tall. Because Ames is 6'4 ft but this guys is still taller but leaner. He wore a dark hoodie, the hood pulled low over his face.

Then another figure appeared, Ames. Standing beside the hooded one.

Eve squinted.

“Wait,” she said.

Tia looked up from her bed. “What?”

“I thought you said Ames was in Hawaii.”

“He is,” Tia said, coming to the window. “His whole family’s there.”

“Then who....”

The hooded figure looked up.

Their eyes locked.

Eve’s breath caught.

It was him.

The hoodie fell slightly back, and there was no mistaking it. Yes, the guy is a little shorter than Ames but taller because he is 6'2 ft. And also, The soft brown hair that had grown longer. The sharp eyes. The jaw she used to sketch in the margins of her notebooks. The boy she thought she might never see again.

“Zeke,” she whispered.

Then suddenly Joy shouts.

“Zeke!!”

He blinked in surprise, his body tensing. He looked at Joy and look at Eve like someone seeing sunlight for the first time after days of rain.

And Eve , she didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate.

She ran.

Down the stairs. Out the door. Barefoot.

The grass was cold beneath her feet, the wind tugging at her hair, but none of that mattered.

“ZEKE!” she called again, louder now, tears already springing to her eyes.

He stepped forward from the shadows.

And in that moment, the week of silence, the ache of betrayal, the confusion and pain, none of it mattered.

He came back.

To her.

♡♡♡

The cold grass tickled her feet, but Eve didn’t stop running.

She burst through the back gate between Tia’s house and Ames’, her breath short, her heart in her throat.

Zeke stood there in the open backyard, under the pale afternoon sky, his hoodie loose over his shoulders, his eyes wide and uncertain.

Eve stopped just a few steps away from him.

He looked tired. His jaw was tense, his lips slightly chapped, a backpack slung over one shoulder. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was messy, like he hadn’t slept in days.

But he was here.

Zeke.

“I thought you were gone,” Eve said, her voice trembling. “I thought you left.”

Zeke shook his head slowly. “I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.”

From the porch, Tia and Joy peeked out, eyes wide. Ames stood behind Zeke, arms crossed, his usual smirk missing. Then, like they’d quietly agreed, the three of them stepped back inside the house, closing the door to give them space.

Now it was just the two of them, standing on the cold earth between everything broken and everything still possible.

Zeke exhaled hard, stepping closer.

“I saw Ames from the airport,” he said. “I didn’t know what happened. I saw him with his family and i asked for help. I just...I knew I couldn’t get on that flight.”

Eve blinked. “Wait. You planned this?”

“Not completely,” he admitted. “But I knew once I was at the airport, I had to make a choice. My father was watching me. Madi was beside me. Everyone was ready to put me on that plane like I was some... display item. A prince for the press. A puppet for a future I didn’t choose.”

He looked down, fists clenched. “I saw the gate ahead of me, and all I could think was you. That I hadn’t said goodbye. That I had messed everything up and if I stepped on that plane, I’d never see you again. I’d never be free to choose you. So I ran.”

Eve’s lips parted, her chest tight.

“I took a risk,” Zeke said. “I slipped out of the secure area through a staff hallway I used once before during a private flight. Ames picked me up outside the terminal in his cousin’s car. We didn’t even talk much. He just opened the door and said, ‘You really are in love with her, huh?’”

Eve covered her mouth, tears burning behind her eyes.

“I’m not hiding anymore,” Zeke said. “I’m not lying. I know I hurt you. I know I should’ve told you everything earlier. I was scared. Not just of what my father would do but of losing you. Because you’re not like anyone else. You’re not temporary. You’re the only thing that’s ever felt real.”

He took a step closer, voice trembling.

“I’ll stay. I’ll do everything I can to make this right. I’ll fight my father, I’ll deal with the press, the rumors, all of it. I just don’t want to lose you, Eve. Not now. Not ever.”

The wind tugged at her sweater, and for a moment, Eve just looked at him.

Really looked.

Zeke, the boy who once helped her stand when she was too afraid to feel again. Zeke, who used to doodle beside her with his sleeves pushed up and a shy smile on his lips. Zeke, who gave her space when she needed it and chased her when it counted.

She remembered what Ames had said:

He needs you too. He needs saving like you did.

Her voice was quiet but steady.

“I’m not mad anymore,” she whispered.

Zeke blinked, caught off guard. “You’re not?”

She shook her head. “No. Not now. I needed to be, for a while. I needed to feel it. But I also needed time to understand.”

She stepped closer, their shoes almost touching.

“You didn’t lie to hurt me,” she said. “You lied because you were scared. Just like I used to be. Just like I still am, sometimes.”

Zeke’s eyes shimmered.

“I know now,” she said, “that love isn’t always this perfect thing. It’s messy. It hurts sometimes. But it’s also worth trying for especially when the person on the other side is fighting for you.”

He swallowed hard, jaw shaking slightly. “So… what does this mean?”

Eve looked up at him, her hand reaching up to rest gently on his chest.

“It means,” she said softly, “that after everything… after the secrets, the pain, the ball, and the quiet....”

She paused, her voice catching.

“After all of that… I’m still your girlfriend.”

Zeke’s breath left him like a wind knocked out of his lungs. He let out a broken laugh, then pulled her into him—tight, desperate, safe.

Eve melted into his arms, her fingers curling into his hoodie.

“I missed you,” he whispered into her hair.

“I missed you more,” she whispered back.

They stayed like that for a long while. No more running. No more lies. Just the truth sitting quietly between them.

Eventually, Zeke pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against hers.

“Eve?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what’s coming next. The press, my dad… maybe worse.”

“I know,” she said.

“But I do know this if you’re beside me, I think I can handle it.”

Eve looked up at him, smiling through her tears.

“Then let’s handle it together.”

He nodded. Then kissed her slow, tender, full of everything left unsaid and everything still to come.

And in the silence of Ames’ backyard, under the fading sky, two people stood holding onto something fragile, but real.

Love. Still bruised, but healing.

Together.

♡♡♡

The back door creaked softly as Ames stepped back inside Tia’s house. The warmth of the living room wrapped around him like a comfort he hadn’t known he needed. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over his shoulder through the window one last time and just to make sure they were okay.

Eve and Zeke, still outside. Still talking. Still standing close.

He didn’t let himself feel too much.

“Ames?”

He turned. Joy was standing in the hallway, arms crossed and a faint smile on her lips.

She stepped closer. “You’re brave, you know that?”

Ames raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t exactly storm the gates of Buckingham Palace.”

Joy rolled her eyes with a soft laugh. “No. But you let the guy your ex is in love with hide out in your house for three days. That takes something.”

Ames sat on the edge of the couch, stretching his legs out, sighing through his nose. “I didn’t do it for Zeke. I did it for her. And… maybe a little for me, too.”

Joy sat across from him, tilting her head. “Are you okay?”

He gave her a long look. “Honestly? I’m sad. Not devastated. Just… quietly sad. Because there was a part of me, a small, stupid part, that still wondered what if. What if I didn’t mess up back then? What if I’d just stayed?”

His voice drifted off.

He looked down at his hands. “But I don’t regret anything. Not after what I did to her two years ago. Ghosting her like that leaving her when she was already hurting. Maybe this was how it was always supposed to go. Maybe this is how I make it right.”

Joy smiled gently. “Zeke’s not a bad guy.”

“No,” Ames agreed, nodding. “He’s not. He ran from his own father. He’s risking everything. And I get it now, Eve’s in love with him. Not with me. Because he’s sure about her. He’s ready. And I’m… still figuring myself out.”

There was a long pause.

Joy leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “You’re not a bad person, Ames. You’re just flawed. Like the rest of us.”

He gave a small, crooked smile. “Thanks.”

A few minutes later, the scent of roasted chicken and garlic rice filled the air. Tia’s mom poked her head out of the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready!”

They gathered around the table. Tia, her parents, Joy, Ames, Zeke, and Eve, whose cheeks still carried the faint trace of dried tears, though her eyes were softer now. Zeke sat beside her, unusually quiet but grounded. He didn’t reach for her hand, but his knee brushed hers, and that was enough.

As they passed plates and poured iced tea, laughter began to bubble up. Tia’s dad cracked jokes about the news, while Joy and Tia teased Ames for eating like he hadn’t had a proper meal in a year.

“Can you believe these two were hiding in the house next door for three days?” Tia suddenly announced, pointing her fork at Zeke and Ames.

Eve’s jaw dropped. “Wait....three days?”

Ames chuckled. “Yup. Hiding in plain sight. Zeke saw me the airport and begged for a place to disappear. I didn’t know you were staying here too, not until Joy opened the window and screamed.”

Eve looked at Zeke. “You could’ve knocked.”

“I didn’t want to mess things up more,” he said, his voice soft. “I wanted to wait until you were ready.”

After dinner, while Tia and Joy stayed behind to clean up the table, Eve and Ames ended up at the sink, sleeves rolled up, hands full of soap and bubbles.

“Thanks,” Eve said suddenly, passing him a rinsed plate. “For helping him. Even though… you hated him.”

Ames snorted. “I still kinda do.”

Eve laughed. “You’re the worst.”

He smirked. “But I didn’t hate him for you. That’s the difference.”

Eve handed him another dish, quieter this time. “Why’d you really help him?”

Ames wiped the plate dry. “Because you love him. And I want you to be happy. And because… I hope one day I get the chance to love someone that much too. Someone I’d run for. Someone I’d fight for.”

He looked out the window for a second, then back at her.

“I wish in my next life,” he said, voice soft, “I could be someone like him. Someone fearless.”

Eve smiled, placing the last spoon on the drying rack. “You don’t need a next life to be brave, Ames. You’re already becoming that guy.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “We’ll see.”

Eve nudged his shoulder. “And love? You’ll find that too. But for now… love yourself a little.”

He gave her a half-hearted look. “Easier said than done.”

“Well,” Eve said, grinning now, “You are the worst. So that means you can also be the best.”

They both burst out laughing.

In the background, music played softly from Tia’s speaker. The kitchen lights flickered gently above them, and in that small slice of normal, there was peace.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was good.

It was healing.

And sometimes, that was more than enough.

♤ END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ♤