"Shut up, Noah."
He grinned into his coffee.
I closed the door. Leaned against it. Took a breath.
"I need to talk to you about Emily," I said.
The grin faded. He set his coffee down. Closed his laptop. Turned his chair to face me.
"Okay," he said. "Yeah. We should talk about Emily."
I crossed the room and sat on the edge of my bed.
"She knows everything," I said.
"I know."
"She asked if I was in love with him. I couldn't answer. Which was an answer."
"Yeah, it was. But there's nothing you can do now."
"I just feel bad," I said.
"Well, Liam, Not to be a dick. But you didn't handle it well."
I looked up at Noah. I wanted to be mad, but he was completely right.
"I know it hasn't been easy but Emily is good people… and you hurt her," he said.
"I fucked up." I shook my head. "I'm just worried she's going to tell someone."
Noah was quiet for a moment. Thinking.
"She's not going to out you," he said. "I know Emily. She's hurt—she has every right to be—but she's not cruel. She's not going to blow up your life because you broke her heart."
"I wouldn't blame her if she did."
"Maybe not. But she won't." His voice was certain. "Give her space. No more texts. No more calls. Let her process. If she's ready to talk, she'll reach out."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then you live with it. You hurt someone. That has consequences. Not all of them are fixable."
Hard truth.
"I owe her a real apology," I said. "Not the panicked bullshit in the parking lot."
"You do. But not yet. Right now an apology would be for you, not for her."
He was right. I hated that he was right.
I lay back on my bed. Stared at the ceiling. The water stain. The buzzing fluorescent light. My ceiling. My world.
"She said something that night," I said quietly. "Before she got in the car. She said she hoped he was worth it. Hoped Alex was worth throwing everything away for."
Noah was quiet for a beat. "Was he?"
I thought about this morning. Alex's face in the grey light. The pillow crease on his cheek. The way he'd saidIt's nice. Waking up with you.The British meditation lady. The magazine under my hip. The way he'd grinned when I stole his hoodie.
