I was curled up on the couch in the living room of the bungalow, half-watching a random rerun of a sitcom I used to love, when the door opened, and Avery burst in, her backpack slung over one shoulder and her eyes wide with something I couldn’t quite read.
“Sis.” She dropped her bag on the floor and kicked off her shoes in one fluid motion. “You are never going to believe what happened today.”
I sat up straight, immediately on alert. “What? Did someone say something at school again?”
Avery shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Actually, things are way better now. People were being normal. No one was whispering or asking me if you guys broke up. A couple even said Hudson seems like he’s actually sorry.”
I blinked. “What are you talking about?”
She stared at me, realization dawning as her eyes widened. “You haven’t seen it.”
“Seen what?” I asked, my brows drawing together.
Avery pulled out her phone, tapped a few times, and then handed it to me. “Watch this. The whole thing.”
The video was already queued up—a sit-down interview with Hudson in his living room. His sleeves were rolled up, and he looked tired. Nothing like the polished action star the world usually saw.
I hit play.
Elena Vargas’s voice filled the bungalow. “Hudson, you’ve always been famously private about your dating life…”
My breath caught at the rawness of his answers. How open he was with her. And the way he was brutally honest as he owned up to his mistakes.
He kept going, laying everything bare. Admitting he let Maddie get too close, that he made excuses every single time I tried to tell him something felt wrong, that the photos, the rumors, the dress leak all happened on his watch. He said everything I’d waited months to hear, and more.
When the clip ended, I just sat there, staring at the black screen.
Avery dropped down beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched. “So what do you think?”
I swallowed hard, trying to sort through the storm inside me. Part of me wanted to cry. Throwing the phone across the roomsounded like a great idea, except Avery would kill me if I broke it. And a tiny, terrifying part of me wanted to crawl through the screen and demand to know why it had taken him this long to say those words.
“He sounded different.” My voice came out shaky. “Like he actually gets it now.”
“Yeah, he was pretty clear about how badly he messed up,” Avery agreed. She reached over and took my hand. “But you’ve heard him sound sorry before. The question is whether he’s finally willing to do the work.”
I nodded, my throat feeling tight. “I know. That’s what scares me. I still love him, Aves. So much it hurts. But I can’t go back to wondering every day if he’s going to let someone in his life make me feel small again. I refuse to be the only one fighting for us while he turns a blind eye to the damage being done.”
“Then make him prove it.” Avery squeezed my hand. “You’ve been choosing him quietly for months while he let Maddie walk all over you. One good interview doesn’t erase that. You don’t have to forgive him yet. You don’t even have to answer him right away.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like there’s an easy answer.”
Avery reached over, snagged a forkful of the leftover cake, and bumped her shoulder against mine. “Eat something before you spiral. Sugar helps.”
“It really does,” I agreed as I took a bite too.
We sat there eating cake for a few minutes before Avery murmured, “Reach out to him if you want. You’re the only one who can decide what’s best for you. Whatever it is, I’ll have your back. Always.”
I pursed my lips as I thought about her suggestion. “I mean, I did say that I needed space until Maddie wasn’t in his life. And now she’s gone. But it feels like it’s too soon after how hurt I was. If I let him back in too quickly, will he really learn his lesson?”
“I’m probably not the right person to ask.” Avery shrugged. “I’ve never gone on a first date with a boy, let alone been invested enough to be hurt at all.”
“Fair point.” I leaned my head back to stare up at the ceiling. “But I don’t really care what other people think about me. Except you.”
“Right back at ya, Sis.” She mirrored my position, her arm pressed against mine as she looked up too. “I’m not going to judge you if you decide to let Hudson back in.”
“Ugh, I cannot believe I’m actually considering reaching out to him already.”
“Remember what Grandma used to say about cutting off your nose to spite your face?” Avery bumped my shoulder.
