Moonlit Mountain (Caleb and Sarah)

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Aiden and Ethan, without a backward glance, led Hannah to the table next to ours. The one we used to share.

Chloe and I watched as Aiden and Ethan, the very picture of attentive boyfriends, fussed over Hannah, their laughter a grating counterpoint to the clinking of silverware. Chloe, bless her fiery soul, stabbed at her salad with a ferocity that would have made Attila the Hun proud.

"They didn't even ask how you were doing," she hissed, her eyes narrowed at the trio next to us."After...after what happened."

I shrugged, forcing a nonchalance I didn't feel. It didn't matter. None of it

did."They've made their priorities clear."

The rest of the meal passed in strained silence, the air thick with unspoken

words and a grief I couldn't disguise, no matter how hard I tried. As soon as

Aiden and Ethan's backs were turned, we made a hasty exit, the cool night air a welcome relief from the stifling atmosphere of the restaurant.

"Call me when you get to Seattle," Chloe said, pulling me into a hug that was

both fierce and desperate."And text me pictures of your wedding dress! It better

be fabulous, you hear me? You deserve a fairytale."

"I will," I promised, my voice catching.

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< (Finding Forever After...

Ven

We lingered for a moment, our goodbyes reaching mo at merity of whe-

ifs and unspoken regrets. Then, with one last squeeze of my hand, Chilse was

gone, disappearing into the night, leaving me alone with the ghosts of memories

and a heart that felt heavier than my suitcase.

Aiden and Ethan were still out when I got home. No last-minute apologies

no heartfelt confessions of love. It was just as well. This charade we'd been playing, this dance of denial and fading affections..it was exhausting It was time to wake up.

I woke the next morning to the sounds of chaos: doors slamming, Ethan's booming laughter echoing up the stairs, the insistent beeping of a moving truck backing into our shared driveway. They were back. And they were moving on Ironically, so was I.

The moving truck had barely pulled away when my phone rang. Mom

"Violet, darling," she said, her voice brimming with a cheerfulness that felt

jarringly out of sync with the dull ache in my chest. "What time's your flight? We

II pick you up."

"My flight's at seven," I replied, my voice catching as I glanced around the suddenly empty living room, my gaze lingering on the empty space on the wall where our framed photo - Aiden, Ethan, and I, our faces flushed with laughter, our arms slung around each other's shoulders-used to hang.

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"What are you up to?" Ethan's voice, laced with an unwelcome curiosity, startled me.

I turned, my phone still pressed to my ear, to find Aiden and Ethan standing

in the doorway, their faces a mixture of exhaustion and something else, something that looked suspiciously like regret.

"No one," I said, my voice clipped as I hung up the phone. The coldness in

my tone, a defense mechanism I hadn't realized I possessed, hung in the air between us.

A flicker of hurt crossed Aiden's face, his usual composure momentarily forgotten. "Violet," he began, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant, "about Hannah... it's not what you think. She's...she's been through a lot. I just want to help her."

"Yeah," Ethan chimed in, his usual swagger replaced by a pleading note that grated on my nerves. "We just feel sorry for her, that's all. And besides, it was you who introduced her to us. Remember?"

I met their gazes, my expression unreadable. "Why are you telling me this?" They both opened their mouths to answer, but the words seemed to catch in their throats.

"Because you care," they said in unison, their voices barely above a whisper. 12:22

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<(Finding Forever After...

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For a moment, just a heartbeat, our eyes met, and I saw a flicker of the old Aiden and Ethan, the boys who had known me better than I knew myself, who had anticipated my every need, who had loved me with a ferocity that had both thrilled and terrified me.

But the moment passed, shattered by the weight of unspoken words and the ghost of Hannah's presence in our midst.

"I don't care," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. The lie felt like a betrayal,

but I clung to it, my only shield against the pain that threatened to consume me."

You said she was just a friend. And so am I."

Silence descended, heavy and suffocating.

Aiden broke the stalemate, his voice low, tortured. "Violet, you know it was

never just friendship for me. Not with you."

Ethan nodded, his usual swagger replaced by a raw vulnerability that made

my

chest ache with a mixture of longing and a grief so profound I could barely breathe. "All these years... how I feel about you... it wasn't just friendship, Vi. It never was.*

They loved me. I knew that. But their love felt conditional now, tainted by

their need to save Hannah, to fix her. And what about me? Who was going to save me?

"No, I agreed, my voice barely a whisper."It's not friendship."

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< (Finding Forever After...

It would be something else soon.

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Strangers. We would be strangers.

Aiden's eyes widened, a flicker of panic in their depths. He took a step

towards me, his hand outstretched, but before he could utter another word, the

doorbell rang. Aiden's driver, here to collect the last of my things.

"I'll take care of that," I said, intercepting the driver before he could reach for

my suitcase. "You two go on ahead. I'll see you at the new place."

"There's no need for you to drive yourself," Aiden protested, his brow furrowing."Let him take you."

"Really, it's fine," I insisted, my voice firm, brooking no argument."Go help

Hannah. She probably needs you." The bitterness in my voice, impossible to

disguise, hung in the air between us.

Aiden opened his mouth to argue, but the insistent ringing of his phone

stopped him in his tracks. Hannah.

"Aiden?" Her voice, a needy whine that set my teeth on edge, echoed from

the phone."Are you almost here? I can't find my... everything's such a mess, and I'

m so useless, and..."

Aiden and Ethan exchanged a look, a silent conversation passing between

them. It was clear where their priorities lay.

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"Hannah needs us," Aiden said, his voice apologetic but firm."We'll talk later, okay?"

Before I could respond, he'd pocketed his phone and was ushering Ethan out

the door, their hasty goodbyes a hollow echo in the suddenly empty hallway. As

the front door slammed shut, a text from Hannah popped up on my phone, the words a slap in the face:

"Sorry, Violet! Didn't mean to steal your men again! Guess it'll be the three

of us from now on! Wish me luck with the move!*

I stared down at the message, my blood running cold. It was a taunt, a victory

cry from the girl who had, without even realizing it, conquered us all.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, a maelstrom of emotions - anger, sadness, a deep, bone-deep weariness - swirling within me. Don't worry about me, I typed back, my voice, even in my head, devoid of emotion. You three focus on your happiness. I'm out.

The message sent, I blocked her number, a strange sense of satisfaction washing over me as her name disappeared from my contact list. Then, with a decisiveness that surprised even myself, I blocked Aiden's number. And Ethan's.

It was time to let go.

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I picked up my suitcase, its weight familiar, comforting. This time, I wasn't

just leaving a house. I was leaving behind a life, a love, a future, that had slipped through my fingers like grains of sand, leaving behind only a dull ache and the faintest glimmer of what might have been.

It was time to build something new.