I stop just close enough that her back nearly grazes the wall, close enough to feel her breath fan against my collarbone. My hand comes up before I can second-guess it, and I cup her face — gently, like I'm holding something rare, fragile, breakable. Like one wrong move might shatter her and me with her.
Her breath catches, eyes wide, like she can't decide if she wants to lean into my touch or run from it.
"Caroline..." My voice is rough, almost reverent. "I know I've said dumb shit in the past. I know you've got a voice in your head that sounds like me — and it hurts you."
Her lashes flutter. She blinks once. Twice.
"But baby," I whisper, thumb brushing along her cheekbone, "if I could, I'd go back in time and slap that stupid teenage version of myself for ever making you feel anything less than perfect. Because you are. You always were."
I swallow, my chest so tight it almost hurts. "And I swear — no one has ever come close to making me feel what I feel for you. What I still feel for you. No one. Because it's always been you."
Our eyes lock, the air between us thick and unmoving. Neither of us speaks.
"Say something," I murmur, almost afraid to breathe.
"It's always been me?"
"Yeah..." The word leaves me on a slow exhale. My mouth curves, the faintest, most fragile smile tugging at it as I nod. "I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. And nothing's changed."
My thumb keeps tracing her cheek, slow and reverent, like I could memorize every inch of her face by touch alone.
God, I missed this — missed her. Missed being this close, close enough to feel her warmth and pretend for just a second that nothing ever went wrong.
And then — I see it. The tiny flicker in her expression, the way her eyes soften just enough to make my lungs forget how to work.
She believes me. Holy shit, she actually believes me.
Hope explodes in my chest like a blown tire at full speed, leaving me dizzy and breathless.
For one wild, reckless heartbeat, I want to grab her and hold her so tight she'll never doubt me again, press my mouth to hers until the truth burns into her skin — that I love her, still, always.
But then it's gone.
Her face shutters, hardens, like someone slammed a door in my face. Those soft, shining eyes turn to ice, and the suddenchill spears through me so fast it's like being doused in liquid nitrogen — spine to soul, frozen solid.
"Do you really expect me to believe you've loved me all this time — when you've spent years screwing different girls every chance you got?"
It's like she swings a sledgehammer straight into my chest. My stomach bottoms out, the blood rushing from my face so fast I feel weightless, like I've just stepped off a cliff with no parachute.
Fuck.
"That's funny. That's hilarious, actually."
She lets out this sharp, bitter laugh and shakes her head. Then she pulls back — two steps, three — like she needs as much distance from me as she can get.
"And you say you didn't tell me you liked me because you were afraid it would ruin our friendship? That you thought it was all one-sided?"
She scoffs, her voice cutting, disbelieving.
"Bullshit!" The word snaps between us like a whip, and my chest tightens.
"Don't stand there and lie to my face, Zach." Her voice shakes — not weak, but furious. "If anyone knew, it was you. My feelings weren't exactly subtle. I shoved them in your face every single damn day."
Her glare pins me where I stand, freezing me in place like a rookie standing under the arena lights with the whole rink watching him choke.
"I was the girl waiting for you to finish practice every single day — no matter how late it got — just so we could go home together, because I knew how exhausted you were to drive home."
She sucks in a sharp breath and shakes her head, anger flashing like a lit match. "I was that girl singing every TaylorSwift song like a lunatic — loud, off-key, dramatic — like they were my freaking love letters to you."
