KARA

It had been a long night. The kind that blurred the edges of time—late dinners turning into later conversations, their laughter quiet and close enough to fog up windows. I don’t even remember what sparked it. Just that somewhere between sarcasm and silence, Cass cracked.

He didn’t say it dramatically. There was no violins moment. Just a shrug.

“The one time I tried to do ‘real,’ it blew up in my face. So now I keep it light.”

And for a second, I saw it. The version of him that wasn't armor and smirks. The one who once tried. Got burned. And decided never again.

But then he ruined it.

“By the way,” he added casually, reaching for his water glass, “I told Eli about… ya know. The bathroom.”

My stomach dropped. “You what?”

He looked at me like I was overreacting. Like confessing a make-out session with your best friend’s maybe-girlfriend was just… boy talk.

“You told Eli?” I said, standing up, anger flaring in my chest. “Why would you do that?”

He frowned, confused. “Because I want you. I don’t want to share you. I want all of you for me.”

The room shifted.

“I hated watching you with him,” he continued. “The stupid inside jokes. The way you leaned into him like you weren’t faking it. I hated pretending I didn’t care.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“I saw you kiss him on trivia night,” he said quietly. “And I wanted to punch a wall.”

“Cass—” I tried, but he stepped closer.

“I want the bathroom moments. The mid-conversation glances. The way you look when you’re too tired to perform. I want you.”

He didn’t say love, but everything in me heard it.

I didn’t mean to kiss him.

Or maybe I did.

One second, I was staring at his mouth. The next, I was tasting the regret I swore I’d never have.

It started slow. Careful. But then he deepened it, hungry like a man who finally let himself starve.

I pulled back, breathless. “Rules,” I whispered.

“I know, I know. We have to keep it PG,” he said, but he grinned like he wasn’t sorry and leaned in again. One last kiss, slow and savoring. Then he stepped back.

“See you tomorrow.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

I stood there, completely still, lips swollen, heart ruined.

Tomorrow I was supposed to end this. Tell them both. Choose.

But tonight, I knew the truth:

I’d already fallen.