Aftermath

Blue's POV

The window creaked as I pushed it open, the night air slipping in, cool against my skin.

Brian hesitated for half a second before stepping forward, climbing in with the ease of someone who had done it a hundred times before. The past rushed in, thick and suffocating.

He landed softly on the floor, straightening up. The dim light from my bedside lamp cast shadows on his face, making his already unreadable expression even more impossible to decipher.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

He was taller now, broader. The boy I knew had disappeared, replaced by someone sharper, darker. But his eyes the ones I used to know better than my own were still the same. And right now, they were locked onto me with an intensity that made my stomach twist.

I folded my arms, pretending my pulse wasn't out of control. "You do realize we have a front door, right?"

A ghost of a smirk tugged at his lips. "Didn't think I was invited."

I scoffed. "You weren't."

Silence stretched between us, thick with all the words left unsaid.

Then, he exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Blue….."

"Don't." I cut him off before he could say whatever excuse he was about to throw at me. "You don't get to act like nothing happened. Like you didn't just leave without a word and show up years later expecting everything to be normal."

His jaw tightened. "I never expected it to be normal."

"Then why are you here?" I shot back, hating the way my voice wavered at the end.

He hesitated. For the briefest moment, something flickered across his face regret, maybe? Pain? But just as quickly, it was gone. Buried.

"I don't know," he admitted.

That pissed me off even more.

I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Wow. That's great. You disappear without an explanation, come back just as suddenly, and now you don't know why you're here?" I shook my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. "You really are unbelievable."

I turned away, blinking fast, refusing to let him see even a hint of weakness. But before I could take a step, he spoke again.

"I wanted to see you."

The words were quiet. Almost like he hadn't meant to say them out loud.

I froze, fingers curling into fists at my sides.

"That's not fair," I whispered.

"I know."

I finally turned back to him, forcing myself to look him in the eye. "Then why did you do it?" My voice cracked, but I didn't care. "Why did you leave?"

He looked at me, really looked at me, and for a second, I thought he might actually tell me.

But then, just like before, I watched him shut down. His face hardened, his shoulders tensed.

"I can't tell you."

My stomach dropped. "Can't, or won't?"

His silence was my answer.

I let out a breath, shaking my head. "You should go."

He let out a sharp exhale, running a hand through his hair. "Blue, I.." He stopped, looking frustrated, then shook his head. "I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But I don't want things to be… like this."

I blinked.

"Like what?"

"Weird. Tense." He let out a bitter laugh. "Like I don't even exist."

I stared at him. "Maybe you should've thought about that before you left."

His jaw clenched. "I know."

I hated that he was saying all the right things. That part of me wanted to believe him, wanted to just accept a truce, to erase the last two years and pretend like he hadn't broken something in me.

But I wasn't that girl anymore.

"You don't get to just say 'sorry' and make it all okay, Brian."

He nodded slowly, like he expected that.

But then, quietly, he said, "I'm still sorry."

For a second, something in my chest cracked. But I forced myself to push it down.

"Goodnight, Brian."

A flicker of something crossed his face disappointment? Defeat? I didn't know.

But he just nodded, stepping toward the window.

"Goodnight, Blue."

And then he was gone.

I stood there for a long time after he left, staring at the open window, the night air swirling around me.

I hated him for leaving.

But I hated myself more for wanting to let him in.

Brian's POV

I shouldn't have gone to her window.

I knew it was a mistake the second I knocked.

But seeing Blue downstairs at dinner, pretending I didn't exist, pretending she didn't care it did something to me. Something reckless.

I needed to see her.

Needed to be near her, even if she hated me.

But standing in her room, looking into her eyes after all these years, I realized something:

She wasn't the only one who had changed.

I had, too.

And whatever I was now whoever I had become I wasn't sure I could be the person she needed me to be.

Not when I was still keeping secrets.

I had never wanted anything more than to tell her. To take the weight off my chest, to let her know why I did what I did.

But I couldn't.

I let out a shaky breath, raking a hand through my hair.

Maybe she was right to hate me. Maybe I deserved it.

But I still couldn't stand the thought of her looking at me like a stranger.

I didn't deserve a second chance.

But that didn't mean I wasn't going to try for one.

Even if all I could get was a truce.

I walked back to my room, shutting the window behind me. But sleep never came.

Because for the first time in a long time, I wasn't just haunted by the past.

I was haunted by her.