Ethan cleared his throat and hedged, “Maybe I do.” She straightened and looked at him, a frown creasing her brow. Ethan gathered his courage, hoping it didn’t make this night more difficult. But talking about regrets made him feel compelled to be honest. “Paige, I value our friendship more than anything in the world. But i don’t want to regret not telling the truth. I’m not satisfied with it. Maybe I’ll regret it later, if I survive, but I have to tell you I’m in love with you.”

Paige gasped, and she shook her head. “Ethan, don’t. The three us are going to get through the night and get home—”

He held up a hand to stop her. “Which just makes me want to clear the air more. I don’t want to go back to daily life, holding back and wondering what might be different if I’d just opened my mouth.” She turned away, but he wasn’t going to let her stop him. Gently, he touched her cheek and guided her face back around so she had to look at him. “If you can tell me you haven’t thought about what we could have since we discussed it two years ago, I can step back and maintain our friendship with no hard feelings. Because I love you. I’ve loved you this whole time. And if there’s any chance you might still harbor some feelings for me beyond the friend zone, I think we should try this.”

Paige’s breath shuddered, and her lips trembled. Tears filled her eyes, and Ethan’s heart sank. Rather than opening a door, he’d upset her, and that was definitely a regret he couldn’t live with. He had to fix this, now, but how could he do that when he’d already spilled his heart?

***

Paige didn’ know what to say. To be honest, she’d locked away her own feelings that day. They’d gotten close quickly, and she’d started crushing on Ethan, dreaming about what kind of future they could have together. Both of them had similar interests, not only in a career but in the small things. They liked the outdoors but not necessarily physical activities. They both enjoyed reading, liked suspense thrillers in both books and movies. They liked cooking and trying new dishes. They could have been so happy together.

But when they’d kissed, reality had set in for both of them. There was no way either of them would have made it this far if they tried to focus on education as well as manage a relationship. Either they would have ended up in the midst of a terribe breakup and heartache, or they wouldn’t have been able to stay at the top of their program and achieve success, earning this trip.

Although now, she almost wished she hadn’t come, all things considered.

She started to deny that they should move forward and pick up where they had both decided it was best to leave off back then, but Kyle fidgeted and then cursed under his breath, catching hers and Ethan’s attention. Was that blood on his hands?

“Are you alright?” Ethan asked, getting up from where they sat.

Kyle cursed again. “I’ve got a nosebleed.” He leaned his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This always happens when I’m overwhelmed with stress.”

But Paige wasn’t worried about his nose. “Kyle, it’s not just your nose. Ethan?” She pointed to the trickle of blood that was increasingly larger coming from his left ear.

Ethan walked swiftly around the other side, and his eyes grew wide. So, it was both ears. “Kyle, man, something’s going on. Maybe you should lay down.”

Paige didn’t know if that was the best idea, but she had no real medical knowledge regarding bleeding ears, and her phone didn’t have enough battery to start looking things up on the internet, especially when there wasn’t Wi-Fi out here.

As if it wasn’t bad enough already, she watched in horror as blood began to ooze from under his fingernails. She got to her feet, trying to figure out a way to staunch the flow or to help the situation. Ethan had already started wrapping his hands, but the white sheets soaked through quickly, the red of the blood coming through within minutes.

To her horror, Paige noted that he now sat in a pool of blood that had to be coming from orifices low on his body, and the stream from his ears was now a virtual river. She wanted to take his shoes off and check his toes, but she didn’t dare. He started screaming and choking, making gurgling sounds as blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.