070
1989 Words
~Alice pov
“What do you mean?”
I let out a shaky breath.
“Eunice told me something.”
His posture stiffened immediately. “That’s already a red flag.”
“She said Iris isn’t as innocent as I think.”
Rownan frowned. “Okay but..”
“She implied things.”
“What things?”
I swallowed.
“I don’t even know if she’s… if she’s been..”
The words tasted ugly.
“With who?” he asked carefully.
I let the worst thought spill out.
“What if she’s been f*****g my my dad?”
The silence after that was sharp.
Rownan stared at me.
“Alice.”
“She’s always going out, she’s always with thorne, how did they get close if her and my dad ain't fucking.And Eunice said…”
“Stop.”
His tone changed.
Not joking. Not gentle.
Firm.
“That’s not real.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes. I do.”
“How?”
“Because I know your dad. I know our Alpha.”
“And you think that means anything?”
“Yes,” he snapped. “It does. He can't stop so low.”
I looked away.
“You’re spiraling,” he said softer. “You’re hurt. So your brain is trying to find more reasons to justify the pain.”
“She hid Ky from me.”
“That’s not the same as sleeping with your father.”
“I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
That was the truth.
When trust cracks, everything looks suspicious.
Every memory replays differently.
Every interaction shifts tone.
“She looked at Ky like she remembered something,” I said quietly. “Like it wasn’t just a kiss tonight. Like it was… history.”
Rownan sighed. “ Ky loves iris.”
Before I could say anything else..
The hallway door creaked open.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
I didn’t have to look.
I knew that rhythm.
Ky.
She stopped a few feet away.
“I wasn’t going to interrupt,” she said quietly.
“But since my name is clearly in circulation…”
Rownan stood immediately.
“Oh good,” he muttered. “The chaos trio is complete.”
Ky ignored him.
Her eyes were on me.
“You’re thinking things that aren’t true,” she said.
I laughed hollowly. “Am I?”
“Yes.”
“You kissed my girlfriend.”
“She kissed me too.”
That landed hard.
Rownan muttered something under his breath about terrible timing.
Ky stepped closer.
“I left because of my family. Not because I didn’t want her.”
I flinched.
“That doesn’t help,” Rownan whispered.
Ky kept going.
“I loved her,” she said.
Loved.
Past tense.
“But I didn’t fight for her,” she added. “You did.”
I didn’t know what to do with that.
“She chose you,” Ky said firmly.
“Did she?” I shot back.
“Yes.”
“She hesitated.”
Ky’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not because she doesn’t love you,” she said. “It’s because she loved me too.”
The honesty was brutal.
“At different times,” Ky continued. “In different ways. But don’t twist that into something filthy or disloyal.”
I looked up at her sharply.
“You don’t get to tell me how to feel.”
“For what it’s worth,” she said quietly, “I’m not here to take her.”
I met her eyes.
“Then why did you kiss her?”
Ky’s expression flickered.
“Because I still love her.”
Honest.
Terrible.
Honest.
“And because I wanted to know,” she added softly, “if she still loved me.”
I laughed, “ I can't believe I allowed you to fool me. After everything, after how I allowed you into our friendship group.”
Ky didn’t look away from me.
She didn’t soften her tone either.
“You’re about to throw this away,” she said.
I folded my arms. “You don’t get to tell me what I’m doing.”
“She loves you.”
She said again for like the third time.
“That’s not the issue.”
“It is the issue.”
Rownan shifted awkwardly beside us. “I feel like I should hold up score cards or something.”
Neither of us laughed.
Ky stepped closer.
“Let’s be honest for a second,” she said quietly. “She forgave you.”
My jaw tightened.
What did she know?
Oh yes, Iris must have told her everything.
“Don’t.”
“No,” Ky insisted. “Let’s talk about it. She forgave you when Sasha was all over you.”
Rownan made a choking noise. “Oh. We’re naming names. Bold strategy.”
I ignored him.
“That was different,” I said coldly.
“Was it?” Ky shot back. “Because from the outside, it looked messy.”
I flinched.
Ky’s voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.
“She stayed,” Ky continued. “She chose you. Even when people whispered. Even when it hurt her.”
“That wasn’t the same,” I repeated, but it sounded weaker this time.
“She saw another girl touching you and she forgave you,” Ky said. “I kissed her once. Once. And you’re ending everything?”
“It wasn’t just a kiss,” I snapped.
“Yes, it was.”
“It was history. It was an unfinished feeling. It was hesitation.”
Ky inhaled slowly.
“You’re not angry about the kiss,” she said.
No I wasn't. I was angry because my girlfriend didn't pull back.
“You’re angry because you saw that she still feels something for me.”
The truth hit like a slap.
I didn’t respond.
Ky’s expression shifted,not smug, not victorious.
Just direct.
“You’re about to prove something dangerous.”
“What?”
“That you don’t trust her.”
“I…”
“And you’re about to give her more reasons to think I’m better for her.”
Rownan blinked. “Wow. That was… aggressively confident.”
Ky didn’t even look at him.
“You’re pushing her away,” she told me. “And if you do that, don’t pretend it was because of a kiss. It’ll be because you were afraid.”
My chest burned.
Before I could answer..
Footsteps.
Soft. Familiar.
I turned.
Iris stood there.
Her makeup slightly smudged. Her silver dress catching the hallway light. Her eyes wide.
She’d heard enough.
“Can we not do this like I’m not here?” she said quietly.
Everything in me reacted at once.
Hurt. Relief. Anger. Love.
Rownan immediately raised his hands. “Okay. I’m emotionally invested but not legally obligated. I’ll stand… here.”
He stepped back but didn’t leave.
Ky looked at Iris.
“I’ll say it in front of you too,” she said calmly. “You love her.”
Iris didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
The word was immediate.
My throat tightened.
“And I love you too,” Iris added.
There it was.
No hesitation now.
No hiding.
Just truth.
Silence filled the hallway.
Ky nodded once, like she expected that.
“I’m not asking you to choose,” she said. “I just don’t want her throwing you away because she’s scared.”
Iris stepped closer to me.
“I’m not confused about loving you,” she said softly.
“But you still love her,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than a lie would have.
Why would she love ky?
Was I not enough?
“It’s different,” Iris continued quickly. “It’s not the same. It’s not what I have with you.”
“Then why did you kiss her back?”
She swallowed.
“Because part of me never got closure. And for a second… it felt familiar.”
That word again.
Familiar.
“I don’t want to lie to you,” she whispered. “I don’t want to pretend my heart is simple. It’s not. I’ve loved two people in my life.”
Rownan muttered under his breath, “Relatable.”
Ky elbowed him lightly.
“I chose you,” Iris said firmly. “Every day. Even when it’s complicated.”
My eyes stung.
“But I need more than complicated,” I said quietly.
Iris’s face fell.
“I need to feel like I’m not competing with your past,” I continued. “I need to know that when someone leans in, you don’t wonder what if.”
“I don’t want anyone else,” she said.
“But you still want her too.”
The silence confirmed it.
Ky looked away.
Rownan stopped joking.
I let out a shaky breath.
“I forgive you,” I said finally.
Iris blinked. “What?”
“I forgive you.”
Her shoulders loosened slightly.
“But…”
There it was..
The word that changes everything.
“But I can’t keep doing this to myself.”
Her expression shifted from relief to fear.
“I love you,” I said. “So much it’s stupid.”
“Then don’t..”
“But loving you right now feels like I’m sharing you with a memory.”
Ky closed her eyes briefly.
“I don’t want to resent you,” I continued. “I don’t want to become the insecure girlfriend who checks every glance.”
“I would never make you feel like that,” Iris whispered.
“You already did.”
The words weren’t cruel.
Just tired.
Silence again.
The music from prom drifted faintly through the walls.
Life going on.
“I don’t want to lose you,” Iris said, voice breaking.
“You won’t,” I replied softly.
Her brows furrowed.
“I forgive you,” I repeated. “And I still love you.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks now.
“But maybe,” I said gently, “we’re better as best friends.”
The words felt like glass in my mouth.
Rownan inhaled sharply.
Ky didn’t move.
Iris stared at me like I’d just tilted the world sideways.
“You don’t mean that,” she whispered.
“I do.”
“You’re walking away.”
“I’m protecting myself.”
Her breathing turned uneven.
“I can fight for you,” she said desperately.
“I know.”
“And I would.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t want you fighting while still holding on to someone else,” I said softly.
“That’s not fair to either of us.”
Ky finally spoke.
“She’s not choosing me over you.”
“I know,” I replied.
“And I’m not trying to take her.”
“I know.”
I looked back at Iris.
“You deserve time to figure out what your heart really wants,” I said. “And I deserve someone who’s certain.”
She stepped forward like she might grab my hand…
Then stopped herself.
That hurt more than anything.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“I still want you.”
“I know.”
“And you’re still leaving.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
For a moment, none of us moved.
Then Rownan quietly said, “This is the worst prom in recorded history.”
Ky let out a broken half-laugh.
Iris wiped her cheeks.
“So what now?” she asked.
I forced a small smile.
“Now… we breathe.”
My chest felt hollow.
“But we’re best friends,” I said gently. “And maybe one day, when things aren’t tangled…”
I didn’t finish the sentence.
Because some endings don’t need hope attached.
I stepped back.
Just a little.
And that tiny space between us felt like miles.
- Writer
