Chapter 5
693 Words
Fiona didn’t tell Jared that she saw Jason.
Not right away.
She wasn’t trying to hide it, not really. It just didn’t feel like something that belonged in the light yet. The moment still clung to her skin like summer heat after sunset—uncomfortable and heavy.
But Jared noticed anyway. He always noticed.
“You okay?” he asked as they walked down the cobbled path behind the campus library, his fingers brushing hers lightly before lacing them together tightly. “You’ve been quiet since yesterday.”
She glanced up at him. His eyes were sincere, open—nothing like Jason’s unreadable ones.
“I ran into your brother,” she said finally, voice barely above a whisper.
Jared didn’t flinch. He just nodded, slow and steady. “Yeah. He mentioned.”
Her steps slowed. “He told you?”
Jared sighed and dropped her hand gently. “He didn’t say much. Just asked if we were serious or a fling.”
Her chest tightened. “And what did you say?”
“I told him that we are very serious about each other.” Jared’s gaze held hers like a challenge. “Unless you don’t think we are.”
“I do,” she said quickly. “I just... didn’t think he’d care.”
Jared smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “He didn’t care for six years, Fi. He only cares now because I got to you first.”
She didn’t say anything. Because part of her knew that was true.
Jason had always had everything. Everything except her.
And now, suddenly, she was the thing he couldn’t have, and desperately wanted.
What does he really want?
Is it me, or is it just the idea of not getting everything to himself?
The question gnawed at her.
That night, she lay in bed with her journal open, pen pressed to paper, but the words refused to form. Her thoughts weren’t as clear as they used to be. She was used to writing about unrequited love—about longing, about waiting.
She wasn’t used to being the one wanted.
The next weekend, it all came to a head.
She was on her way to meet Jared when she saw Jason again—this time near the quad. He waved her over casually, but his eyes told a different story.
“Walk with me, please” he said gently but confidently.
And against her better judgment, she did.
He didn’t say anything at first. Just walked beside her, hands in his pockets, a storm in his silence.
“You don’t look happy,” he finally said.
She gave him a hard look. “What do you know about how I look when I’m happy?”
Jason stopped walking.
“I know I was stupid,” he said. “I didn’t see you. I didn’t take you seriously. But I do now.”
She shook her head. “No. You see that Jared takes me seriously. That’s different.”
He stepped closer, too close. “You don’t still feel something for me?”
Fiona froze.
She hated that her heart reacted. That somewhere, deep down, her sixteen-year-old self still wanted him to want her.
But she wasn’t sixteen anymore.
“Jason…” Her voice cracked. “Don’t do this.”
“I can’t help it.” He reached out, brushing a braid from her face. “Tell me you don’t feel it. Tell me I’m imagining this.”
“I love your brother so much,” she said quietly.
Jason didn’t move. “But do you love me?”
Fiona blinked hard, willing her chest to stop shaking.
“I wanted to,” she whispered. “For a long time. But you weren’t there, you.....even kissed Lila my best friend and you want me to still love you.
About Lila..... he started but Fiona wasn't ready to hear any explanation, she lost a friend because of him, she wasn't going to go down that path anymore.
And then she walked away—again.
But this time, it didn’t feel victorious.
It felt like breaking something she hadn’t even meant to hold.
- Writer
