HIS ROOMMATE

WAS I JUST A BACKUP PLAN

CHAPTER 26

KAI’S POV

Valerie was engaged to *him*. While she was dating Adrian. While Adrian was planning to propose.

I look at Adrian. He’s staring at Valerie now, but it’s not the same look. Not hurt anymore. Something colder. Older. Like he just realized the whole thing was a game and he never had a chance.

“My cousin,” Adrian repeats quietly. He closes the ring box with a soft, final *click*. The sound feels like a door shutting. “All this time. It was him.”

Valerie flinches. “Adrian, I didn’t—”

“You didn’t what?” He cuts her off, but his voice is empty now. No desperation left. Just exhaustion. “You didn’t think I’d find out? You didn’t think it would matter?”

He steps back. Puts distance between them. Between him and the ring. Between him and the girl he thought was his future.

The whole prom is watching. Phones recording. Whispers starting.

And I’m sitting here with Nathan’s words still ringing in my ears — *you look great* — feeling like I just got hit by a truck.

Adrian doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t look at anyone.

He just turns and walks away, ring box clenched in his fist, leaving Valerie standing there with tears running down her face and “I’m sorry” dying on her lips.

ADRIAN’S POV

My entire world just stopped.

Not slowed down. Not paused. Stopped. Like someone cut the power and everything went dark, except Valerie’s face, and the ring box burning a hole in my palm.

Why Marcus.

Of all people. Of all names in this city, in this country, in this universe… why did it have to be him?

He’s my cousin. For heaven’s sake. The guy I followed around when I was ten. The guy who taught me how to throw a punch and how to tie a tie. The guy I called when my parents died and I didn’t know how to breathe. I loved him like an elder brother. Like family. Like someone who’d never stab me in the back.

And Valerie…

I was ready to do anything for her. When my parents were alive, when they refused to give me money, I was ready to sell my car. Drop out. Move cities so we can be together. I memorized how she takes her coffee. I learned her mom’s birthday. I saved for six months for this ring, not because I couldn't ask Mr George to give me the money but because I thought if I loved her hard enough and buy it using my own money, it’d be enough to keep her.

How could they do this to me?

My cousin. My girlfriend. Behind my back. For six months. While I was planning proposals in my head and asking Ash if the diamond looked big enough. While I was kissing her goodnight and telling her she was my home.

How was it possible they got engaged without my notice?

Oh. Right. How could I have noticed when I was so busy trying to be the best boyfriend? When I was busy memorizing her favorite song and fixing her laptop and showing up early so she wouldn’t have to wait? I was too busy loving her to see she was already halfway out the door. To someone else. To my own blood.

The room’s still watching. I can feel their eyes. Phones recording. Whispers starting. Kai’s probably staring. Ash is probably yelling. But it’s all muffled now, like I’m underwater.

My fingers close around the ring box. *Click.* It shuts. The sound is tiny but it echoes in my chest like a gunshot.

Six months. She knew for six months and still let me plan this. Still let me get on one knee. Still let me think I had a chance.

Valerie’s crying now. “Adrian, I’m sorry—”

Sorry doesn’t fix this. Sorry doesn’t give me back the last six months. Sorry doesn’t make my cousin any less of a stranger.

I don’t answer her. Can’t. If I open my mouth I’ll either scream or break down, and I’m not doing either in front of the whole school.

So I turn.

One step. Then another. The marble’s cold under my shoes. The ring box digs into my palm.

My world ended at that table. Now I just have to figure out how to walk out of the ruins without falling apart.

As I step out of the hall, the night air hits me like a slap. Cold. Sharp. It burns my lungs and clears the fog for exactly two seconds before the pain rushes back in.

I close my eyes. Breathe.

Not fast. Not slow. I’m not running. I’m not storming out. I just… move. One foot in front of the other. Because if I stop, I’ll fall apart right here on the steps and let everyone watch.

I just want to leave this place. Leave the music. Leave the whispers. Leave the ring box in my pocket that suddenly weighs fifty pounds.

“Adrian!!”

Kai’s voice cracks behind me. I hear heels on marble. She’s running.

I don’t stop. Can’t. If I turn around I’ll see her face — that pitying, broken look — and I’ll shatter.

The parking lot is empty except for the cars and the streetlights buzzing overhead. My hands shake as I unlock the car. Fingers fumble. Key misses the ignition twice before it slides in.

The engine roars to life and I grip the wheel like it’s the only thing holding me together.

I pull out. Fast. Not reckless. Just… gone.

The prom fades in my rearview. The lights. The screaming. The moment Valerie stepped back and said no. The moment Marcus’s name left her mouth.

No matter how much I think about it, it still doesn’t make sense.

Six months. She was engaged to Marcus for six months. Let me plan a proposal for six months. Let me love her through those six months while she was already promised to someone else. To my cousin.

Marcus. The guy I looked up to. The guy I called when my parents’ funeral ended and I had no one left.

How do you process that? How do you go from “will you marry me” to “you’re engaged to my cousin” in under ten seconds?

The road blurs. Not from tears. Not yet. From speed. From the way my chest feels like someone’s squeezing it with both hands.

I don’t know where I’m going. I just know I can’t be there. Can’t be the guy everyone saw get rejected on one knee. Can’t be the cousin Marcus lied to. Can’t be the boyfriend Valerie fooled.

So I drive.

Windows down. Night air cutting my face. Radio off. Thoughts louder than the engine.

Kai’s voice echoes in my head: “Adrian!!”

She followed me out. She always follows me out when I’m breaking. But not this time. This time I need to be alone with it.

Because I don’t know how to be Adrian right now. The guy who had it all figured out. The guy who was ready to propose.

Right now I’m just… empty.

The road blurs past my windows. Streetlights turn into streaks. My hands are still gripping the wheel like if I let go, I’ll fall apart.

What happened to the two years we were together?

Three years. 1,096 days. Birthdays. Finals week. That stupid camping trip where her tent leaked and she slept in my sleeping bag. Prom last year when she wore blue because I said it was my favorite color.

Was that a lie too?

Every “I love you” whispered at 2am. Every time she said I was her home. Every time she picked me over everyone else at the table.

Was she just… acting? Was I the backup plan while she waited for Marcus to come back from abroad?

Why did she even bother saying yes when I asked her out three years ago? I remember that day. Rain on the library steps. Her hair soaked. Me shaking so bad I dropped the letter I wrote. She laughed, kissed my cheek, and said yes like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Was it pity? Did she see this broken kid whose parents just died and think “he needs someone”?

Or was it part of the game? Was dating me just the safest way to get closer to Marcus? I mean, we’re family. Same last name. Same dinners. If she was with me, she’d be around him.

The thought makes me sick.

My chest tightens. I have to pull over. Car idles on the shoulder while I rest my forehead on the steering wheel.

Three years. I built my whole world around her after my parents died. She was the one who stayed. Who sat on my floor and didn’t ask questions when I couldn’t talk. Who learned how I take my coffee. Who said “forever” when I was too scared to say it first.

If that was fake… then what the hell was real?

TBC