Chapter 14
620 Words
The first few days felt like a dream.
Late-night calls. Unplanned meet-ups. Fingers intertwined while walking across campus. Jared made space for her in the smallest ways—a second toothbrush in his bathroom, her favorite snacks in his kitchen, an open invite to his heart.
But life, of course, didn’t pause just because they’d chosen each other again.
Whispers followed them on campus. Eyes lingered longer than they should. The gossip didn’t have to be loud to echo.
“Isn’t that the guy who was messaging his ex?”
“I heard she was into his brother first.”
“Must be nice being second choice twice.”
Fiona heard them all.
And at first, she brushed it off. They don’t know us.
But one afternoon, as she walked out of the library and caught two girls laughing behind their hands—her name caught mid-snicker—something inside her cracked.
Hey she screamed at the girls, the four of them looked at her in shock and fear.
I dare you to repeat what you just said, Fiona said with an expression that can make anyone to flinch, the four of them hurriedly left the library in fear.
She walked straight to Jared’s apartment, didn’t knock, just let herself in. He looked up from the couch, surprised.
“What happened?” he asked, standing.
Fiona didn’t answer. She just walked into his arms and buried her face in his chest.
“I’m tired,” she whispered.
He held her tighter. “Of what?”
“Of being someone people talk about like I’m a headline. Of being the girl who got played. Or chased. Or pitied.”
He pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes. “You’re not any of those things.”
“Then why does it feel like I’m always the story someone else gets to write?”
Jared cupped her face gently. “Because you’ve let too many people hold the pen. Including me. But you’re the author now, Fiona. Don’t let their voices drown out your own.”
She looked at him, tears brimming but not falling. “What if I’m scared that this thing we’re building… it’s too fragile?”
“It’s not,” he said. “It’s fire. And fire doesn’t break. It burns through.”
---
Later that night, Fiona got a call she didn’t expect.
Jason.
She stared at the screen, debating. Then answered.
“Fiona,” he said, voice unusually quiet. “I know you’re probably done with me. But I need to say something.”
“I read your letter,” she replied.
“I figured,” he said. “I meant every word.”
“I know.”
A pause.
“I just want you to know… I’m leaving.”
Fiona’s breath caught. “What?”
“I got accepted into a grad program in Boston. I leave next week.”
She didn’t know what to say.
Jason exhaled. “I think maybe we weren’t meant to be anything more than almost. But I’ll always wish I’d seen you sooner.”
She swallowed. “Me too.”
A beat.
Then he chuckled softly. “Tell Jared… if he breaks your heart again, I will fly back and knock him out.”
Fiona laughed, for real this time.
“I’ll let him know.”
---
After she hung up, she stood at her window, the city lights flickering below like a thousand little choices.
She was no longer a girl waiting for someone to love her.
She was a woman who had survived heartbreak. Who had fallen, risen, and chosen herself—even in the arms of someone else.
And that made her love fierce.
Unapologetic.
Real.
- Writer
