“Good.”
“But Netflix…” He drags out the word. “That’s different.”
I flop back onto the pillow, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know if I even want that. Any of it. My life is barely hanging together with tape and coffee.”
Tristan softens, rare for him.
“Don’t do it for you, Jade. Do it for the kids who aren’t as strong as you but want to be.”
I swallow.
“Do it for the kid who’s thinking about taking a bottle of pills,” he continues quietly. “Do it for the kid walking into school today praying no one sees him. Do it for the girl who hasn’t told anyone she’s hurting.”
“Tristan…” My voice cracks. “Stop. I hear you. I do.”
“Then hear this too,” he says, firmer. “Let me talk to my agent. Let me talk to my dad’s people. Let me help you—not as Leo’s friend. As yours.”
That hits harder than I expect.
“Just… let me talk to my parents first,” I say. “And Susan. And Irene. Especially Irene. She’s like the adult whisperer.”
“Good,” Tristan says. “Because, uh… one more thing.”
I brace. “What.”
“The Leo thing.”
Of course.
“This is destroying him,” Tristan says bluntly. “He pretends he’s fine, but he’s not. Like, at all. That kiss you guys did? You lit him on fire and then ice-bathed him in the same minute. He’s losing it.”
I stare at the hotel curtains glowing with early winter light.
“He broke up withme,” I remind him. “He left me to the wolves.”
“I know,” Tristan says. “And I’m not excusing it. But don’t pretend the gilded cage on his side is easy either.”
I stiffen.
Tristan lowers his voice, tired, honest.
“He didn’t just lose you, Jade. He lost his crown. He lost his status. He lost the version of himself he thought he was supposed to be. And yeah—fine—that’s privilege. But pain doesn’t check tax brackets.”
I breathe out slowly.
Tristan continues:
“I’m your friend. But he’s my brother. And for the first time since sixth grade… I’m actually worried about him.”
Silence pulses between us.
“I get it,” I whisper finally. “But it’s too much right now. Everything is too much.”
“I know,” he says. “But you guys can’t keep doing the kiss-hate-kiss-hate loop. You either talk—or you mutually destroy each other.”
I close my eyes.
Because I know he’s right.
