Aubrey walked into Tuesday already defeated. She wasn’t tired, exactly—more like emotionally overdrawn. Like her brain had bounced too many checks and the universe stopped accepting her attempts at functioning.
She tried to pep-talk herself while making coffee, but the mug slipped from her hand, hit the counter, and splashed everywhere like a tiny explosion.
“Great,” she muttered. “Love that for me.”
She cleaned it up, changed her shirt, and left the apartment before the day could get worse. Spoiler: it got worse immediately.
Halfway down the stairs, her phone vibrated.
Chase: Morning sunshine
Chase: Don’t fight me, it’s a vibe
Chase: Did you sleep
Aubrey: No
Chase: I knew it
Chase: I’m bringing you breakfast
Chase: Don’t lock your door
She nearly tripped.
Aubrey: NO
Aubrey: DO NOT COME
Aubrey: I’m serious
Chase: I’m already in the elevator
She spun so fast she hit the wall.
“Unbelievable,” she whispered.
She rushed back up, but the elevator dinged first. The doors opened. Chase stepped out holding a paper bag like he was delivering joy and chaos on purpose.
He blinked at her. “Were you… running toward me?”
“No,” she said too quickly.
“You were absolutely running.”
She snatched the bag. “Give me that.”
“Wow. Aggressive gratitude.”
“I’m leaving.”
“I’ll walk you.”
“No, you won’t.”
He followed anyway.
While they crossed the street, he kept glancing at her like he was checking her emotional battery level.
“You good?” he asked.
“No.”
“Okay. Honest. I like it.”
She sighed. “Stop liking things.”
“Impossible.”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t have the energy to argue.
Before she reached the office door, Chase said, “Hey. Don’t freak out today.”
“Too late,” she said.
He grinned. “Call me later.”
“Why would I—”
“Bye, Collins!”
He darted into the crowd before she could protest.
Inside, her office felt unusually hostile. Not from people—just the general mood of fluorescent lights and recycled air.
Sandra caught her immediately.
“Aubrey, I need the revised mock-ups by eleven,” she said.
“I thought that deadline was tomorrow.”
“It was,” Sandra replied. “Now it’s today.”
Aubrey blinked at her. “That’s not how time works.”
Sandra ignored her and walked off.
Aubrey sat, opened her laptop, and mentally screamed.
By ten, she was on her third coffee and second emotional breakdown. Quiet breakdown, but still.
She rubbed her face and tried to keep going. Her phone buzzed.
Caleb: Are you free later?
She sucked in a breath.
Aubrey: Maybe. Why?
Caleb: Wanted to see you.
She froze.
Wanted to see you.
Not “lunch.”
Not “are you okay.”
Not “need a break.”
Just… wanted to see you.
Her stomach did something unhelpful.
Aubrey: Okay
Aubrey: After work?
Caleb: I’ll be nearby.
She stared at the message another few seconds, feeling her pulse speed up.
And then—ding.
Chase: What time do you get off
Chase: Asking for chaotic reasons
Chase: And yes I’m being vague on purpose
Aubrey: NO
Aubrey: You already disrupted my morning
Chase: So???
Chase: Disrupting is my love language
She dropped her head onto her desk.
God. Help.
A coworker walked by and patted her shoulder like she was a tragic figure.
At 11:30, she finally finished the rushed mock-ups and emailed Sandra. Five minutes later, the response came:
This isn’t what I asked for.
Aubrey whispered, “Okay. Cool. Perfect. I’m jumping out the window.”
She stepped outside just to breathe. The cold air did nothing to clear her head.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Caleb: Outside when you’re free.
She turned and saw him standing across the street—hands in pockets, posture relaxed, eyes searching for her.
She exhaled. Something in her unclenched.
She walked over.
“Hi,” Caleb said.
“Hi,” she said, sounding exhausted even to herself.
“You okay?”
“No,” she admitted.
He nodded. “Want to walk?”
She did.
They walked in familiar silence. His presence steadied her heartbeat. She hated that she relied on that. She also really needed it.
“How bad is today?” he asked.
“Top ten worst,” she said.
“Of the week?”
“Of my life.”
He smiled softly. “That’s pretty bad.”
“Yep.”
They stopped at a bench. She sat. He sat beside her, leaving a comfortable gap. He didn’t crowd; he never did.
“You don’t have to talk,” he said.
“Good,” she said. “Because I can’t.”
He nodded again, patient.
They stayed like that a minute, until Caleb said, “Chase stopped by earlier.”
Aubrey nearly fell off the bench. “What? Why? When? Why?”
“This morning,” Caleb said. “He asked if I’d seen you.”
“Why would he—”
“He said he was making sure you weren’t ‘emotionally combusting.’”
Aubrey covered her face. “I’m going to kill him.”
Caleb laughed under his breath. “He worries a lot.”
“He annoys a lot.”
“That too.”
Her phone buzzed again.
Chase: Are you with him
Chase: Don’t lie
Chase: I have a sixth sense for these things
She groaned into her hands.
Caleb looked amused. “He really does check on you.”
“I hate it.”
“You don’t,” he said.
She glared. “Stop understanding things.”
He smiled, gentle. “Okay.”
The breeze cut across the street, and instinctively, Caleb shifted slightly closer—not touching, not invading, just warm enough to feel intentional.
Aubrey’s heart flipped like it was late for something.
She swallowed.
“Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“This is… complicated.”
“I know.”
“You don’t even know what I mean.”
“I don’t,” he admitted. “But I’m here anyway.”
Her throat tightened.
She looked at him—really looked—and suddenly something inside her felt too big for her chest.
That’s when her phone buzzed again.
Chase: I’m two blocks away
Chase: DON’T LET HIM LEAVE
Chase: I’m bringing something
Aubrey whispered, “No no no no—”
Caleb: “What’s wrong?”
“He’s coming here.”
“Chase?”
“Yes.”
Caleb sighed—but gently. “Okay.”
Aubrey shook her hands in the air. “Why is this happening to me?”
Caleb considered this.
“Because you let us in?” he said softly.
She froze.
She felt that in her ribs.
Before she could respond—
A familiar voice yelled from down the street:
“COLLINS! MORGAN!”
Aubrey died inside.
Chase jogged toward them holding a small box wrapped in butcher paper. He looked too excited for someone who had clearly caused the chaos he was now running into.
Aubrey hissed, “Turn around. Pretend we’re dead.”
Caleb stood up slowly. “Let’s just see what he wants.”
“I KNOW WHAT HE WANTS,” she said, panicking.
Chase reached them, slightly out of breath. “There you are.”
“Why are you here?” she demanded.
“I brought something.”
“We don’t want it.”
“You don’t know that yet.”
Caleb looked at him. “What’s in the box?”
Chase grinned. “I’m glad you asked.”
“No one asked,” Aubrey said.
Chase ignored her and opened the box dramatically. Inside was—
“Oh god,” Aubrey whispered.
Cookies.
A dozen huge bakery cookies.
Still warm.
“You’re kidding,” she said. “You bribed us.”
“I incentivized morale.”
Caleb took one. “These are good.”
Aubrey glared at both of them. “Stop forming alliances.”
Chase smirked. “Too late.”
They stood there, the three of them, in a triangle of emotional disaster. Aubrey crossed her arms, trying to hold herself together despite the fact that two men had shown up for her on a random Tuesday afternoon, and she had NO idea how to regulate that.
“So,” Chase said, hands in pockets, rocking on his heels. “What are we doing?”
“I’m going back to work,” Aubrey said immediately.
“No,” Chase said.
“Yes,” she shot back.
Caleb held up a calming hand. “Let her decide.”
Chase looked at her. Really looked.
“You good?” he asked.
“No,” she answered honestly.
He nodded. “Okay. Want backup? Or space?”
She blinked.
The question surprised her.
“…Space,” she said.
Chase nodded once—serious for once. “Got it.”
He backed up two steps.
Then looked at Caleb.
“You staying with her?”
Caleb looked at Aubrey, letting her decide.
Aubrey swallowed. “Yeah. He can stay.”
Chase nodded again—this time smaller, tighter.
“Okay,” he said. “Text me if anything happens.”
“I won’t,” she said.
“You will,” he corrected softly.
Then he turned and walked away.
Aubrey watched him blend into the street before she realized Caleb was looking at her.
“You all right?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “Still no.”
He nodded. “Want to sit again?”
“Yeah.”
They sat.
Quieter this time.
He didn’t reach for her. He didn’t move closer. He just stayed next to her like she was something fragile he refused to mishandle.
After a minute, she said, “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Let people… be around me.”
Caleb thought for a second. “You’re already doing it.”
“It feels like I’m messing everything up.”
“You’re not.”
“You say that a lot.”
“Because it keeps being true.”
She took a shaky breath. “I hate feeling like this.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know who I’m supposed to be with. Or what I’m supposed to feel. Or why I can’t just—be normal.”
Caleb paused.
Then said, very carefully, “Aubrey… normal doesn’t mean anything. You get to figure this out at your pace.”
She stared at him. “Why are you so patient?”
He shrugged once. “Because I care.”
Her breath faltered.
The words hit harder than she expected.
She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and nothing came out.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to say back.
Caleb didn’t push.
He looked at her gently, and said, “You want me to walk you back?”
She nodded.
They stood, walking in step without thinking. When they reached her building, she hesitated again like her feet didn’t want to move.
Caleb noticed.
“Aubrey.”
She forced herself to meet his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said quietly. “Even if things are messy.”
Her heart cracked open a little.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay,” he echoed.
He stepped back just enough. “Go before you’re late.”
“Right.”
She walked inside.
He waited until the door closed.
And only then did he leave.
Aubrey stood in the empty elevator, clutching her bag like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
Two men.
Two different kinds of safety.
Two different kinds of trouble.
And her?
She was somewhere in the middle, trying not to drown in the fact that—
for the first time in a long time—
she wasn’t facing life alone.
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