Breaking the Quiet
The morning sun slipped through the thin curtains, casting pale stripes across Amelia's bed. She hadn't slept. Not really.
She'd tried.
But every time she closed her eyes, she saw Eli's face before he walked away.
The way his voice broke at the stairwell door.
The kiss with Harrison still lingering on her lips.
And the look on Kai's face, like he'd just seen a car crash in slow motion.
Her stomach was twisted in knots.
Everyone was still asleep, or at least pretending to be.
The house was too quiet. Even the birds seemed unsure whether to chirp.
She slipped out of bed, still in the oversized hoodie she wore to sleep, and padded barefoot down the hall.
She didn't know where she was going, just away from the weight in her chest.
The kitchen smelled faintly of last night's leftovers.
She poured herself water, then dumped it out.
Her hands trembled as she braced herself against the sink.
That's when Lena's voice came from behind her, groggy but sharp.
"You look like a truck hit you."
Amelia turned. Lena stood in the doorway, hoodie falling off one shoulder, hair a frizzy cloud. She yawned, then narrowed her eyes.
"You okay?"
Amelia hesitated.
"I need to talk to someone. And I don't know who else… you're the only one who doesn't know anything yet."
Lena blinked. "Anything about what?"
Amelia leaned against the counter and finally let the silence break.
"I kissed Harrison."
Lena's eyes widened. "Wait, last night?"
She nodded slowly.
Lena's mouth fell open.
"Like, like a real kiss? Not one of those accidental-on-the-forehead-because-you re-passing-each-other-in-the-kitchen kisses?"
"No," Amelia said softly.
"Not even close.
It was… it was real. Intense. He said he's wanted to for a long time."
Lena sat down on one of the stools and blew out a breath.
"And… you kissed him back?"
Amelia nodded, shame creeping up her neck.
"And Kai walked in and saw us."
"Oh… my God," Lena groaned, rubbing her temples. "Wait, so does Eli know?"
"Not about the kiss," Amelia murmured. "Just that something happened.
I told him eventually… not everything, but enough.
He looked… hurt. Angry. Quiet. That's even worse with him."
Lena tilted her head, watching Amelia closely. "Do you like Harrison?"
"I don't know." She looked down at her hands.
"I thought I buried those feelings.
We were teenagers when he left. I didn't think any of it was still there. But when he kissed me, I… I didn't stop him."
"And Eli?"
"That's the worst part. I didn't even know I wanted more from Eli until I saw his face last night.
Until I realized what this might have meant to him."
Lena folded her arms.
"I'm gonna say something, and I don't care if it stings.
You need to figure your heart out, Amelia.
Fast.
Because if you don't, someone else is going to decide for you, and you're going to lose people you love."
Amelia's eyes welled up.
"I never meant to hurt anyone."
"I know," Lena said gently. "But feelings aren't harmless just because we don't say them out loud."
A pause passed between them.
Lena softened.
"I get it.
I do.
We're not kids anymore.
Everything's messier. Complicated.
"But you can't keep pretending this is just going to settle itself.
You're in the middle of something that could break our whole group."
Amelia pressed her hands to her face. "I feel like the villain."
"You're not," Lena said.
"You're just… caught between love and loyalty. But the longer you stay in between, the worse it gets."
Outside, a door creaked open. Footsteps. Muffled voices.
The house was waking up.
Lena stood and squeezed Amelia's hand.
"You're stronger than this guilt. Just stop hiding."
And with that, she walked off to make coffee, leaving Amelia in the kitchen, standing in the hush before the next storm.
The quiet had broken.
And there was no going back.
Shadows of What We Could Be
Harrison leaned against the cold kitchen counter, gripping the edge like it could hold him up.
The house was quiet now. Too quiet.
He could still feel the ghost of her against him, the warmth of her breath, the softness of her lips, the way she didn't pull away until the world shattered around them.
Until Kai saw.
Until everything started to fall apart.
His fingers curled tighter against the counter.
"What the hell did I just do?
It wasn't supposed to happen like that. Not with Kai walking in. Not with Amelia caught in the middle of a memory and a mistake.
He could still hear Kai's voice echoing in his skull.
"We're friends for goodness' sake. You think this emotional stuff won't ruin what we've built?"
The words hit harder than they should've, not because they were cruel, but because they were right.
He had wanted to believe this trip would be different.
To finally do something about the feelings he had shared with her before leaving years ago.
He had left her.
Because of his parents.
Because of the future they envisioned, they never asked for his opinion.
And when he came back, older and angrier at himself for still dreaming of her, he thought maybe the past was still open enough to rewrite.
But he didn't expect her to look at him like that again.
He didn't expect her not to say no.
"God…" he whispered to himself, running a hand down his face.
"What did I just ruin?
He paced slowly to the window. Outside, he saw Amelia in the garden with Eli.
Eli, the steady one. The one who never left.
They sat beneath the hibiscus tree. Harrison recognized it. Amelia always loved that spot. Safe. Quiet.
The way she looked at Eli, raw and vulnerable, tore something inside him.
He had kissed her like he still had a claim. Like his years of silence could be erased with one heated moment.
And Eli?
Eli had earned his place without ever needing to chase it.
Harrison turned away from the window.
The shame gnawed at him.
He hadn't planned it, that kiss. He'd only come in to help with the dishes, to maybe talk through the awkward lunch and the way she kept avoiding him.
But then… she was there, laughing softly, the kind of laugh that reached through time.
And he'd leaned in.
He saw it in her eyes: hesitation, confusion, maybe a flicker of longing.
And then he was too close. His lips brushed hers like a question he was too scared to ask aloud.
But now the answer was coming, just not from her.
From the silence.
From Kai's anger.
From the way Eli looked at her like she was something fragile, something worth fighting slow and steady for.
Harrison wasn't steady. He was a storm in the wrong season.
And maybe Amelia didn't need a storm.
He backed away from the window and slumped into a chair.
"Head in his hands.
He could still taste the goodbye in that kiss.
And it hurt.
Cracks Beneath the Calm
The air was thick.
The group sat around the lounge's circular coffee table, the half-empty juice glasses sweating like everyone else.
No music. No laughter. Just the low buzz of the ceiling fan and the pressure of something unspoken hanging heavy between them.
Amelia sat with her hands clasped tightly in her lap, eyes fixed on a crack in the tile.
Eli leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, his gaze flicking between her and Harrison.
Kai was the one who'd called the meeting, and the only one still standing, arms crossed, voice sharp.
"So, we just gonna pretend nothing happened?" he said finally.
Silence.
Not even Lena, usually the peacemaker, dared speak first.
Kai let out a short laugh.
"No one's talking? Cool.
Then I'll start.
Harrison.
Amelia.
The kiss, you gonna explain, or should we all keep pretending this group isn't about to fall apart?"
Harrison sat up straighter, jaw tight. "It wasn't planned. It just… happened."
"Just happened?" Lena echoed, stunned. "In the middle of the kitchen?"
Amelia flinched but didn't look up.
"And what if I hadn't walked in?" Kai continued.
"Would you two have kept going? Sneaking around behind us?"
"Stop it," Eli said, voice low but firm. "This isn't helping."
Kai turned sharply to him. "Is it not? Because maybe if you had said something earlier, we wouldn't even be here."
That did it.
Eli stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, come on," Kai scoffed.
"You think none of us noticed? You've been pining over Amelia since forever.
But you said nothing. So, guess what? Harrison swoops in, again, and now we're here."
Amelia finally looked up. Her voice trembled.
"This isn't about who said what first. I didn't want this. Not like this."
"Then what do you want?" Lena asked gently, the only one still trying to anchor the room.
"I don't know!" Amelia burst.
"I'm confused, okay? I didn't plan to kiss Harrison.
I didn't mean to hurt anyone. But I can't sit here and act like everything's fine either."
The silence returned, heavier than before.
Kai sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I just don't want us to lose what we have. We've been through too much.
If this turns into a love triangle or whatever."
"It already has," Eli cut in quietly.
All heads turned.
He met Amelia's gaze.
"You're allowed to be confused. But don't lie to yourself.
We all feel things.
And not speaking to them… doesn't stop them from growing."
Harrison sat back, guilt shadowing his face.
"Then maybe I shouldn't have come."
"No," Lena said sharply. "You did nothing wrong by showing up.
It's not about that. It's about how we handle this."
"We're not kids anymore," she added, voice softening. "But we're not so grown that we don't make messy mistakes."
For a while, no one said anything.
Just breathing.
Thinking.
Sitting in the awkward middle of truth and denial.
Finally, Amelie whispered, "Maybe we just… need space. From the drama. From each other."
Everyone nodded, slowly, even if no one wanted to be the first to stand.
Because whatever this group was before, light, laughter, shared late-night snacks, something had shifted.
The cracks had spread.
And it would take more than just one meeting to seal them.