"I'M HONESTLY...shocked that she would do this to me, especially with him. Of all people, why did it have to be James?" He straightened up and drew in a deep breath, trying to steady his chaotic mind. "I mean, I get that we were going through a rough patch, and quite frankly we still are, but I thought she'd stay loyal, you know?"

He shook his head, letting out a small chuckle.

"What?" I confusedly asked him. What could make him laugh at a time like this?

"This whole situation is ironic. Here I am talking about Nicole's loyalty to me when I wasn't even loyal to her either during that time. Maybe this was just karma for that kiss in New York."

Ouch. Does that mean he regrets kissing me? I know I told him that I regretted kissing him when he asked me about it, but we all know that what I said was far from the truth.

Trying to ignore the sting of his words, I replied seriously yet softly, "But that doesn't justify her actions, and besides, this started happening before New York. You shouldn't feel like you deserved this because we kissed. No one deserves to go through what you're going through."

I also wanted to say that we only kissed, whereas Nicole and James were more intimate. But given the circumstances right now, I think it was best that I didn't verbally express those additional thoughts.

"You should become a life coach with all of your wise knowledge," Milo teased, his lips slightly curved up as he stared at me deeply. Without saying anything, I softly chuckled along with him. If only I could take my own advice sometimes. "But in all seriousness, thanks for coming with me. It felt good to get out those thoughts."

"Yeah, well, it was a nice distraction for a while from my problems," I sighed, knowing that although being here with Milo gave me serenity, we'd eventually have to go back to reality and face our problems head-on.

"If you need to get anything off your chest, I'm here too, okay?" He said with sincerity. I nodded in response, but if only he knew what was going on in my chaotic mind behind my seemingly placid expression. How even though I tried to push away the thoughts that linked to him, they kept popping back up without my permission, refusing to let me forget about him.

"You know, I'm glad you came along with me," Milo smiled, his eyes burning wildly through me.

"You just said that," I giggled like a school girl. Oh my god, could I be any more obvious?

"Did I?" Milo's smile grew wider as he stared at me with that same gleam in his eyes that always causes a shiver to run down my spine.

A calm breeze picked up, disrupting the smooth surface of the pond while leaves rustled gently around us. As some of my hair fell in front of my face, Milo tucked it behind my ear. I only realized then how close we were to each other, like some magnetic force was pulling us closer.

Goosebumps formed on his arm as he shifted closer, his arm resting next to mine. Even though it shouldn't have, it made me ecstatic knowing that he felt it too, that crazy electric current that passed through whenever we came into contact with each other.

His hand slowly trailed from my ear to my cheek at a painstakingly slow rate, the tip of his thumb brushing lightly against the apple of my cheek. Our eyes were glued to each other and I could see all of the little brown flecks in his eyes, luring me in even more.

Red flags were going off in my mind like crazy as he inched closer, his eyes flickering down for a moment before coming back up again. We just finished a conversation about staying loyal, yet here we were, our faces a centimeter apart, and neither of us was putting in an effort to stop from getting even closer.

Finally, his lips lightly grazed mine, and the electrical sensation was overwhelming. As if the world was sending a wake-up call, his phone began to vibrate as it shrilled loudly, a grim contrast to the quiet forest that enveloped us into seclusion.

My eyes widened at what just happened and I immediately pulled away. Milo closed his eyes, looking slightly disappointed, as he reached into his pocket.

As soon as we saw the name, I frowned, the corners of Milo's lips also pulling down. He swiped his thumb across the screen and placed the phone next to his ear.

After a few short phrases, Milo said, "Yeah, meet me in an hour?... Sure... Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I—" I covered my face with my hands from embarrassment.

"Shh, you don't need to apologize. It wasn't your fault," Milo assured me even though it was still wrong.

"That was her, wasn't it?" I asked nervously, looking away to a leaf falling from a tree to distract myself from the pang of guilt bubbling inside.

He nodded, looking down at our hands between us as he noticed that his hand somehow found its way to rest on top of mine.

"We should go back. It's starting to get late anyway and we don't want to be out here if a bear comes out from behind a tree," Milo joked, attempting to ease some tension that quickly erupted. I attempted a soft laugh, trying to ease my nerves.

The ride back to Berkeley was suffocating. So many unspoken thoughts lingered in the air, and even though Milo rolled down the windows to let out some of the hot air in his car from being in the sun for so long, the breeze blowing throughout the car still did nothing.

I needed to stop putting us in these situations, especially if he ends up staying with Nicole in the end.

∞

LATER THAT NIGHT, the front door closed gently while Ava and I binge-watched Stranger Things instead of studying for an upcoming test in true procrastinator fashion.

Ava and I both looked at each other simultaneously, anxiously curious to know what type of state Nicole was in, calm or distraught. We stayed silent and I listened carefully but failed to pick up anything that was happening outside of my room.

The next morning gave me my answer though. As I entered the living room with the shared adjacent kitchen, I saw Nicole, a cup of water to her lips.

"Good morning," she said calmly when she noticed my presence. Although she possessed a calm demeanor, the bags and dark circles under her eyes gave away that she did not have a pleasant night nor was feeling her best at the moment.

With my book bag slung over my shoulder, I returned the gesture and asked, "You okay?"

Her lips pressed into a line as she shook her head, looking down into her cup she held between her hands on the counter.

"Do you want to talk about it? It may help you feel a little better to get it off your chest," I suggested, attempting to word it so that I didn't sound like I was intruding into her business. Even though the three of us have all grown a lot closer than when we first met, I still didn't want to overstep a boundary.

"Milo and I broke up."

My eyes widened, but I quickly composed myself, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that."

I strolled over to Nicole and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around me and I heard a quiet sniffle next to my ear. We stayed there for a few more seconds before she pulled back, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I might've gotten your shirt a little wet," she softly smiled.

"Don't worry about it," I said as my lips curled up to ease some of her stress. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

She nodded, "Well, I'll let you go. I don't want to be the reason why you're late for your morning class."

After exchanging goodbyes, Nicole shuffled back to her room while I was on my way to my morning warm-up for dance.

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A/N: hello! As always, thank you for reading and I hope you're still enjoying the story! ♡

-Karlee 💛