Darius had left a few minutes behind them, after asking if I wanted him to stay, questioning my insistence that I was fine, and finally being pushed out the door.
None of us had brought up that night again, after Nialldid the thing.
Things had been easier, though.
More like before.
Niall and I felt like friends again, and he was the one who worked out with me for the most part while Larson and Darius played video games. Even at 1 AM.
Since they were gone, my house felt sad and empty. My mind kept going back to the life Niall and I had shared, before.
And the conversation I had with him after Jonah told me he and Gwen were going to give a relationship another try. The onewhere he told me to think about whether he would actually risk losing both me and Larson.
Jonah texted me to ask if I wanted to go for a run that afternoon, when I was spiraling on my spin bike.
After a particularly brutal panic attack that revolved around possibly losing my fated mate, I agreed.
Niall had never experienced my energy feeling like a boost, so there was still a damn good chance Jonah and I were fated.
It was a good thing Merrily, Kat, and I had planned a girls' night that evening, because I couldn't handle a night alone or at a club.
Girls' Nightwas basically just the code Merrily and I used fortalking about strong emotionsso Callum and Darius would know that was what we were doing. Dare rarely showed up to those, but he needed the warning.
When I got to the orchard, I tried to hand Jonah one of my earbuds, but he didn't take it.
He started a conversation, instead.
"Your ex seems interesting," he said.
Geez.
Niall was the very last thing I wanted to talk about.Particularly with Jonah.
"Niall is his own person," I agreed. "How's it going with Gwen?"
"We're taking it slow," he said, trying to play it cool and failing with flying colors.
"You guys totally hooked up."
He was clearly trying to fight a grin. "Maybe."
"And?"
"I missed her," he admitted.
I knew the feeling.
Knew it far too well.
Too well to even picture killing her for it.
We hadn't talked like this since he became the Beta, so I continued the conversation.
"Is the engagement back on?"
"Kind of. Not completely, but it's not off the table. We're testing the waters. Trying to see if we can be fully comfortable together. All of the shit with Simon was hard on her, and I'm still trying to move past everything that happened between us."
"You seem happy," I said.
