Cheryl's POVThe night tasted like strawberry vodka and artificial laughter.I was perched on a throne-shaped chair—pink velvet, gold trimming, too much of everything—wearing a tiara that felt like a joke and a dress that hugged me like a lie. It was Sabrina’s idea. A small bachelorette soirée with women I barely knew, most of whom couldn’t even pronounce my name right, but I smiled anyway. I sipped champagne. I let them fawn over the engagement ring on my finger, the way they gasped when I told them the wedding was less than 24 hours away.They looked at me like I was the luckiest woman alive.I felt like a prisoner.Every part of me was pretending. Every laugh, every nod, every "thank you" dripped with effort. And it wasn’t because Sabrina hadn’t tried—surprisingly, she had. She put together a cute event, decorated in soft rose gold and silver, with cupcakes shaped like wedding dresses and a playlist of 2010s love songs. The effort was there.But I wasn’t.Not really.Somewhere betw
CHERYL'S POVWhen my eyes fluttered open, the first thing that hit me was the scent—familiar and calming. My room. Lavender and something warm, musky—Oliver’s cologne, faint in the sheets.I was home.My body felt heavy, like I’d been under for hours. My head throbbed faintly behind my eyes, but it was dull now, not stabbing. The nausea that had gripped my stomach at the field had quieted into a sour echo. Manageable.I shifted slightly.I wasn’t alone.When I turned, Oliver was there beside me, slumped against the headboard, still dressed in the sports clothes from earlier. His arms were folded, and his mouth slightly parted in sleep. A lock of blond hair had fallen across his forehead, softening his usual hard angles. He looked… peaceful.I lay still for a moment, watching him. Breathing beside him.I didn’t know what I was waiting for.Permission, maybe.To feel something.When he stirred and blinked awake, the concern rushed into his eyes so fast it startled me. He reached out ins
SABRINA'S POVI watch Aiden carry her like she’s made of something precious. Crystal. Silk. Memory.Of course.Of course she had to pass out.Of course the moment couldn’t belong to me, or Oliver, or even the damn sports event that had taken two months to organize.No, it had to be Cheryl.The eternal damsel in distress.I could practically hear the invisible orchestra swelling around them—the hero and his wounded little songbird. I rolled my eyes and adjusted the collar of my tennis jacket, already walking away before Oliver could trip over his own feet trying to save her. If he were any more obvious, he’d write her a sonnet.I slipped my phone out of the inside pocket of my jacket. It had buzzed twice already, and I knew exactly who it was.I stepped behind the lemonade tent, the smell of sugar and lemon thick in the air. A soft breeze rustled through the trees. The crowd noise dimmed the farther I walked. I pressed answer and brought the phone to my ear.“Any news?” I asked, my voi
Aiden’s POVIt was the memory of her lips that haunted me most.Soft. Warm. The way they’d trembled under mine that night in her room, like they hadn’t been kissed in a long time—or like they had, but only by someone who didn’t know how. That kiss had branded me in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Not with logic. Not with reason. Only the ache that stayed in my chest whenever I saw her since.That night I snuck into her room had been reckless, maybe even stupid. But it was the only time since I lost her that I felt alive again.And now, here I was, at some goddamn community sports event, with her just a few feet away—but it might as well have been a continent.I spotted her the moment she got out of the car. Even though Sabrina had me by the wrist like some display doll, even though there were dozens of people milling about in bright shirts and tennis skirts, I only saw her.She was pale. Too pale. Her skin had this faint sheen like it was too tight across her bones. Her hand trembled
Cheryl’s POVI wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, my breath shallow and raspy as I crouched behind the bleachers. The sour taste in my throat clung stubbornly, and the world still felt slightly tilted, as though I’d stepped onto a carnival ride that wouldn’t slow down.But I was upright.Barely.I stood and straightened myself, bracing against the rusted metal of the bleacher frame, my knees wobbly beneath me like uncooked pasta. I swallowed hard, wiped the sweat off my temple, and smoothed down the front of my tennis skirt with trembling fingers.I could do this. I had to.I wasn’t going to be the wuss who sat out on her fiancé’s big family charity event. No matter how much my insides felt like they were curdling, I was going to show up and act like I had it all together—even if it killed me.I made my way back to the bleachers, my steps measured and slow, like someone walking across thin ice. Each movement jarred something loose inside my stomach, but I forced myself to breath
Cheryl’s POVI woke up to a storm in my body.The ceiling above me swayed slightly, like the walls of a ship rocking at sea. I blinked up at it, feeling the weight of nausea press down on my chest. My forehead was slick with something unpleasant—sweat or maybe the humidity—and my throat tasted like copper and cotton.I closed my eyes again, willing the feeling away. Not today, I pleaded internally. Please, not today.But my stomach groaned in protest, churning like something soured. I touched my forehead, and it was clammy, the kind of stickiness that made my skin feel two sizes too tight. The air in the room was thick, stale even. I hadn’t opened the windows the night before, and the warmth trapped in the space felt suffocating.That had to be it, I told myself. Bad air. Stagnant heat. Nothing serious.But deep down, I wasn’t convinced.Still, I couldn’t afford to fall sick. My wedding was a week away and the sports event was today, and if I even hinted to Oliver that I wasn’t feelin