Chapter 1: Just Friends, Right?

Elle’s Point of View

The rooftop was our place.

Mine and Liam’s.

It wasn’t anything fancy—just cracked cement, an old blanket tossed over shingles, and soda cans we always forgot to throw away. But up here, it felt like time slowed. Like I could pretend he was mine for just a little while longer.

Liam handed me a soda, his arm brushing mine like it always did. Casual. Familiar. Killing me slowly.

“You’re quiet tonight,” he said, tilting his head to look at me. “That’s new.”

I forced a smile, eyes on the horizon. “Just tired.”

Not a total lie. Just not the real one.

I was tired of almost. Tired of loving someone who never looked at me the way I looked at him.

He leaned back on his hands, that easy, golden-boy grin on his face. “You’re not stressing about midterms, are you? I told you—you’ve got it in the bag.”

“No. I’m just... thinking.” I swallowed hard. “Dangerous, right?”

He laughed, and it hit me straight in the chest. I hated how easily he could make me feel like I mattered—with just a smile. A laugh. A half-thought sentence.

I wanted to tell him. Tonight, maybe. I’d say it. I’d tell him that I was done pretending to be just the best friend.

But then, the rooftop door creaked open.

And just like that, the moment cracked.

Aiden stepped out, all quiet power and unreadable eyes, a beer in hand, his presence sucking the air right out of the sky. He didn’t say a word. Didn’t even glance at me.

Just stood near the edge, staring into the dark like it belonged to him.

Liam didn’t seem surprised. “Didn’t know you were coming up,” he said.

Aiden shrugged. “Didn’t ask.”

Of course not.

I shifted, suddenly aware of how I was sitting, of the way my hoodie clung to me in the breeze. It was ridiculous—how Aiden made me feel like I needed to guard every breath. Liam made me feel safe. Aiden made me feel... seen, in ways I wasn’t ready to be.

“You staying over again tonight?” Liam asked, pulling me back.

I nodded. “Yeah. Your mom said it’s fine.”

“Cool.” He smiled again, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “Actually... I was thinking.”

My heart picked up. Was this it? Was he finally going to say something?

But then—

“There’s someone I think you’d get along with. Really well.”

I blinked. “What?”

Liam looked out at the stars, like the words were easier if he didn’t have to see me hear them.

“You’ve always been good at reading people. And... I think you’d get him. Even if he’s a little rough around the edges.”

Aiden didn’t move. But I felt something shift in the air between us. Barely there. Tense.

“Are you...” I laughed, but it came out wrong. “Are you trying to set me up with someone?”

Liam didn’t answer.

He didn’t look at me.

And in that moment—when his silence spoke louder than any goodbye—I realized something:

Maybe Liam was never mine to begin with.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, suddenly cold even with my hoodie on.

“You think I’d... get along with him?” I asked, softer this time.

Liam still didn’t meet my gaze. He just nodded faintly, watching the sky like it held better answers than me.

And that told me everything.

He wasn’t just talking about someone.

He was talking about Aiden.

I turned my head slowly—barely, carefully—to glance at him.

Aiden was still by the railing, the city lights flickering below him like stars trapped in glass. His face was unreadable, lips set in a line, jaw clenched. But he wasn’t staring out into the night anymore.

He was staring at me.

I froze, caught mid-breath.

His gaze didn’t flinch away when I met it. There was no flicker of embarrassment or awkwardness, no attempt to look cool or casual.

It was just… steady. Like he meant to be caught.

My pulse jumped.

“I don’t know if I’m the getting-along type lately,” I murmured, trying to break the tension.

Still looking at me, Aiden said quietly, “Maybe that’s exactly the type someone needs.”

Liam shifted beside me.

My heart cracked right down the center.

Because for the first time in forever, Liam wasn’t the one grounding me in a moment like this.

He wasn’t the one making me feel noticed, or wanted, or understood.

And the worst part?

He knew it.

I could feel it in the way he didn’t argue. Didn’t reach for my hand like he used to when I got quiet.

Didn’t even pretend to fight it.

“You should head in soon,” Liam said, finally standing. “It’s getting cold.”

I blinked up at him. “You’re going in?”

He nodded, avoiding my eyes. “Yeah. I’m kind of wiped.”

And just like that, the rooftop that used to be ours became too big, too silent, too not-ours-anymore.

He walked past Aiden without a word, pulling the door shut behind him with a soft click.

I stayed still, heart thudding.

Aiden didn’t move either.

Then—quietly, low enough to be missed if I wasn’t already tuned to him—he said:

“You really don’t see it, do you?”

I turned to him. “See what?”

He finally looked away, back toward the lights below.

“The way he lets go of the things he wants most.”

“The way he lets go of the things he wants most.”

His voice wasn’t accusing. It wasn’t bitter either. Just... matter-of-fact. Like it was something Aiden had witnessed so many times, he’d stopped trying to make sense of it.

I stared at him, throat tight. “Are you talking about me?”

He didn’t answer.

Didn’t have to.

I should’ve been angry. Confused. Something. But all I could feel was this rising ache in my chest—like everything I believed was starting to tilt out of place.

“I didn’t ask him for anything,” I said, voice barely audible. “I didn’t ask to be... wanted.”

Aiden turned his head slightly, eyes catching mine again.

“You didn’t have to.”

I sucked in a breath, but it got stuck somewhere behind my ribs.

Because there was something in the way he said it. Like he had seen it all—every look, every touch, every time I tried to laugh a little too loud to get Liam to notice me.

And he had noticed.

All this time, he’d been the one watching.

The silence between us stretched, pulling tighter by the second.

Finally, I looked away first. I couldn’t hold it. Couldn’t hold him.

“I should go inside,” I mumbled, starting to stand.

But my knee caught the edge of the blanket, and I stumbled—barely—but Aiden was already there. His hand shot out and caught my elbow, steadying me like it was instinct.

Maybe it was.

His touch was warm, firm—but gentle. The kind of gentle that made your heart forget how to beat right.

I looked up—and he was already looking down at me.

Close.

Too close.

And still holding on.

For a second, I forgot Liam even existed.

For a second, all I could feel was Aiden’s hand around my arm, his eyes searching mine like he was trying to decide whether to let go—or pull me in.

“You okay?” he asked, voice rough now. Quiet.

I nodded.

But I wasn’t.

Because something about tonight had changed the air between us.

And I couldn’t pretend not to feel it anymore.