The text came out of nowhere:
Aeron:
Wanna get ice cream after school?
Just friends. Chill.
Translation:
This is totally a date but I'm emotionally repressed and terrified of rejection so I'm slapping the word "friends" on it like duct tape over a volcano.
I stared at the message.
Then at Mina.
Then back at the message.
"HE SAID 'JUST FRIENDS,'" I whisper-shrieked.
She blinked. "Girl. He wants to emotionally spoon you over waffle cones. GO."
After School.
I showed up outside the ice cream shop wearing what I hoped was a "casual but cute" outfit and not a "please love me" ensemble. (It was both.)
Aeron was already there. Hoodie. Jeans. Hands in his pockets. That soft, slightly awkward boy energy that somehow made my spine collapse.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
He held the door open for me.
My brain: This is not a date this is not a date this is—oh my GOD he smells good.
Inside: Mint Chocolate Feelings.
We sat by the window. I got strawberry. He got rocky road. (Of course he did. Drama boy.)
"I didn't know what to say after… everything," he said quietly.
"I didn't know if I should say anything at all," I replied.
Pause. Brain static. Mutual emotional loading screen.
Then—he reached for a napkin and accidentally brushed my hand.
I jumped. He froze.
"You okay?" he asked, voice gentle.
"No," I said honestly. "Not even a little."
His expression cracked open. Not sad. Not happy. Just… raw.
"Same."
The Talk.™
"I feel like I broke something," I said. "Between all of us."
"You didn't," Aeron replied. "I think it was already cracked."
"But I made it worse."
"No," he said. "We did. Me. Damian. All of it."
He looked at me.
"I don't care about winning anymore. I just… want to be someone you can trust again."
My chest physically ached.
I looked away. "And if I can't choose between you and him?"
"Then don't," he said softly. "Not yet."
That broke me.
Because he wasn't pressuring. He wasn't pushing.
He was waiting.
Waffle cone in hand. Heart wide open.
And suddenly, I wanted to cry. Not because I was sad.
Because I finally felt safe.
Leaving the Shop.
Outside, the sky was cotton-candy pink.
He walked me halfway home. Quiet. Close. Hands almost brushing.
Then he stopped.
"Hey," he said.
I turned.
He looked like he was about to say something.
Something big.
But then—
His phone buzzed.
He glanced at it.
Face. Went. Blank.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
He hesitated. "I have to go."
And just like that, he turned and walked away.
Fast.
Gone.
Leaving me standing there...
Waffle cone dripping.
Heart melting.
And absolutely no idea what just happened.
End of Chapter 13