It was supposed to feel like the suffocating weight had been lifted from Maddy's shoulders. But, it didn't quite feel that satisfying. Instead, relieving herself of the secret that had been holding her prisoner had planted a new seed of doubt and brought with it a frighteningly uncertain future.

"So you're not going back to Connecticut?" Maria asked, stretching her long limbs over Maddy's bedspread. She'd returned from Spain with darker skin and a near-constant hangover, but the holiday seemed to have refreshed her spirits.

"I don't know," Maddy said, sighing and peeling the last of the Blu-tack from one of the remaining photographs hanging on her wall. "I haven't heard anything. It was all really anti-climactic actually. He didn't believe me."

"Asshole," Maria muttered.

Asshole didn't even begin to cover Francis Greene.

"But at least his family would have nothing to hold over me if I never went back," Maddy said quietly.

"Well, it's not like you were going to school anyway."

Maddy tossed the photo into the pile of them she'd already removed. "Hey, you're not supposed to know that. If you tell Mom I'll murder you."

"Whatever," she said. "Are you doing anything today? We could go get a spa treatment and drink so much tequila we forget about boys?"

Maddy's stomach flip-flopped, and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm actually catching up with someone today."

"Chloe?" Maria asked. "She can come with us. I'm sure she can get away from that sex-god of a boyfriend for the day and spend some time—"

"Maria, that is so unnecessary," Maddy interrupted, screwing up her face. "It's not Chloe. It's someone else."

"Someone else? Do you even know someone else?"

Maddy shot her a look of warning. "Of course. He's a friend."

"He's a friend?"

"Oh, why do you have to make everything so inappropriate?"

"Who is it?"

Maddy rolled her eyes. "Knowing who you've been hanging out with lately I'm sure you'll find out eventually."

"No way," she said. "You still talk to Piers?"

"Sometimes," she muttered. Only when Maria caused trouble with his little brother.

"Fine. Leave me."

Maddy shook her head and abandoned her photo-removal operation to look in her closet. It had been a long while since she had left the house for any reason other than to drive to William's apartment to see Chloe. But for some reason, it didn't feel so absurd to be changing into regular clothes.

Maria left to try and convince their mother to go to the spa with her, and Maddy turned to the mirror. Slowly, she removed the dressing gown and pajamas she'd been wearing.

Her pregnancy had left her with more than just the torturous memories of her daughter. Her stomach was now streaked with stretch marks – along with her hips and boobs – and she was half-certain that she didn't even want another man to see her down there again. Though her insecurities felt so small compared to the guilt and grief that thrived within her, they suddenly felt a little debilitating.

Maddy reverted back to the baggy sweaters and loose jeans she'd worn when her stomach was slowly growing. She wasn't sure she could ever squeeze back into the tight party dresses and stiletto heels she used to live in ever again.

He'd suggested meeting at a pub for lunch seeing as she'd canceled her flight, one on the fringe of town where none of their past friends would ever venture. She was thankful for that at least. The thought of running into someone like Sophie Rutherford made her shudder.

Piers Lockhart had always been a bit of a dickhead. He was cocky and sly, and loved to sleep with multiple girls at once back in the day. Though they'd come close – a few drunken kisses and way too many flirty remarks – they'd never crossed into romantic territory, though God knows he tried.

Back then she'd been the same. Some had pointed out that she was a female equivalent of him with an adventurous sex life and a carefree attitude. It was that that had wound her where she was.

And it had landed him on the front cover of famous fashion magazines. Sometimes, the world just worked that way.

Piers' white-blonde hair was visible in the dim lighting as she descended the steps into the small English pub. It was that and his height that separated him from the diners around him, who were busily spending their lunch break catching up in small booths.

"Maddy," he said, his voice hanging funny in the air as she approached him. Clearly, her appearance had startled him, either because of the contrast to what it had been or because it was a straight out mess.

She gave a sheepish smile, tucking her purse under her elbow so she could lean up and hug him. "Hi, Piers."

"You look..." he tilted his head, a smile brewing at his lips. "Fresh. Really, you look good."

"Fresh?" She gave him a quizzical look. "Come on, you've called me a lot nicer things over the years."

"I feel like all of those are a little too derogatory now." He laughed, gesturing to the seat beside him. "It's really good to see you."

She didn't expect the ease at which she settled into being with him. After months of no contact with anyone she deemed a friend it was refreshing, like she was finally releasing a breath that had been pent up for a long time.

Seeing how much he'd grown seemed to remind her that the world had still been turning in her turmoil. He had aged magnificently. Though he'd always been good looking in high school he was at a new level of ethereal now, because she was certain Piers Lockhart had never been able to ignite butterflies by just brushing his fingers against her arm.

"So Yale isn't all it's cracked up to be, huh?" Piers asked, returning from the bar with two glasses of soda.

She shrugged. "I always knew college wasn't for me, and being dumped into one of the fanciest ones in the country didn't help that."

"I always wondered how Maddy Danton got into Yale," he mused, sipping his drink and eyeing her over the rim of the glass. "The Eighth Wonder of the World."

Her gaze fell to her hands. "Me too."

Piers was good at picking up on a sensitive subject. Though he wasn't holding back from exploring conversation, he was mindful. He knew she'd been through a lot since leaving school, and though she could see the curiosity behind his pale eyes he didn't attempt to broach delicate topics.

"I've bumped into Li quite a lot. She's worked really hard on her label and it's really taking off. You should come with me to visit her in Paris sometime."

Maddy froze as she humored the idea of traveling with him. "Yeah, I mean that could be cool."

"She'll probably beg you to be the face of her next line," he said with a chuckle. "She misses you. We all do."

Maddy frowned. She didn't expect any of them to miss her, especially with how much she thought they hated her. And then, a homesick sadness pooled in her abdomen. She missed the old Maddy too.

"I just... this is really hard, Piers," she said, finally freeing them of the comfortable conversation topics that were quickly running out. "I've changed so much."

"Haven't we all?" He gave her a reassuring glance. "If it helps, I don't think so. This just feels like Maddy and Piers, minus the hateful banter."

"I'm not sure if I miss that," she mumbled, trying not to dwell on the darker worries swirling through her mind.

"I do," Piers said, the electrifying smile refusing to leave his face. It was almost infectious. "I miss when you'd kick my ass just for telling you that you looked hot, or storm up to me in the school hallway to tell me to stop my brother from talking to your sister. You had a lot of rage for someone so carefree."

She couldn't help but snort. "You just pushed my buttons. You really were an asshole in high school."

"Well then, I've changed too," he said, "I'd like to think of myself as a little more of a gentleman."

"Well you're still cocky, that hasn't changed."

"Neither has your smile."

She felt her cheeks heat red. "That is so lame."

"I'm serious," he said, folding his fingers beneath his chin. "I mean, everything else has little changes. Your eyes aren't as menacing without all that makeup, and I don't know, you just look more... mature. But your smile, it's still the same."

"And you're still trying to hit on me," she said. She had always thought f him as a perv, but this felt different. Maybe it was because they were older, or because she hadn't quite had a conversation that flowed so easily in a while.

"Just can't resist you, Danton," he said with a subtle wink. "Still can't."

"And how many girls have you told that to in the last twenty-four hours?"

"Zero, actually."

"In the last week?"

"None."

Conveying that she didn't for one moment believe him, she gave him a smile. "Anyway, you've mentioned Li, and I honestly couldn't give a fuck about the others, but how are Max and Zach?"

Piers grimaced. "Not great. Zach is back and Max is who knows where. All I know is that they broke up in Australia and now Zach is more or less under house arrest."

"Oh wow. Here I was thinking I was the only one trapped," she said, her voice far away.

"You're not trapped, Maddy."

He didn't know it was Francis. Though he probably suspected it, he had no idea of the boundaries that had been placed on her life because of someone he once called a friend.

"I hope not anymore," she said quietly. She hadn't heard anything about Francis in a week, not since he'd demanded her to leave his home. Maybe he wouldn't tell anyone he knew. Maybe he'd do what she did and would let the knowledge eat him from the inside out. Maybe he'd refuse to believe it at all.

"You're not. You've made mistakes, but not all of them were your fault. You've been through more than anyone I know, even though you've always been the happiest and kindest beneath all of that wild persona of yours."

She smiled to herself, remembering how easy things had been, before Monica Pennington had died despite Maddy being there to stop her, and before making the dangerous decision to sleep with Francis. She would have given anything to go back in time and change those things now. Maybe she could have escaped her poisonous group of friends and avoided all this mess.

Ever since she'd had her baby, everything had been bleak. Everyone skittered around anything that involved the old Maddy and what she'd been through. But maybe acknowledging it was the best way to bring her back. Maybe she didn't deserve to be forever indebted to the baby she could have had.

"The worst is over, Maddy," Piers continued. "We're adults now, you don't need to be controlled or feel obliged to anyone. All those people who made your life Hell are out of it now, and you can choose who stays. You're a prisoner in your own mind."

"God, since when did you get so philosophical?" she asked, letting out a breath.

"Since I've been trying to lure you out of your house all week," he said, reaching a hand out across the table to catch hers. His skin was warm and careful as his fingers wound between hers.

She watched where they were connected, trying to convince her brain to spindle together some words, but what he said was replaying in her mind. It was all in her head, the prison she'd created. Maybe she'd created it because she thought she deserved it, and maybe she did. But it was her choice to free herself. Her choice to move on.

"This better not be the last time I see you," Piers warned. "I don't care if you're sick of me. You're not getting rid of me yet."

She bit her lip and met his eyes, feeling a silly attraction that felt so foreign it struck her core.

"It won't," she murmured. She didn't quite want to be rid of him anyway.