change of heart 9

Liam had always been the kind of guy who liked to keep things simple. Work hard, keep your head down, don't get too attached—those were the rules that had served him well over the years.

But Maya?

Maya was complicated in a way that made him want to throw every single one of those rules out the window.

They'd been seeing each other for a few weeks now. Nothing official, nothing too serious—at least, that's what Liam kept telling himself. But the more time he spent with her, the harder it was to pretend this wasn't turning into something real.

And that scared the hell out of him.

"You're overthinking this," Daniel said, watching Liam stare at his phone.

"I'm not," Liam muttered, even though he definitely was.

Daniel snorted. "Dude. You've been looking at that text for five minutes. Just answer her."

Liam exhaled and set his phone down. "It's not that simple."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Oh no, it totally is. She asked if you wanna get dinner. You say yes. Boom. End of existential crisis."

Liam shot him a look. "You're enjoying this way too much."

Daniel smirked. "A little, yeah."

Liam leaned back in his chair, rubbing his jaw. "I just don't wanna screw this up."

Daniel's smirk faded. "Liam, come on. What are you actually afraid of?"

Liam hesitated. He wasn't good at this—talking about feelings, admitting when something got under his skin. But if there was anyone who wasn't gonna let him dodge the question, it was Daniel.

Finally, he sighed. "I'm not good at this stuff, man. Relationships. I've never really had one. Not a real one, anyway."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Okay. And?"

Liam frowned. "And what?"

"And… so what?" Daniel asked. "Nobody's asking you to be perfect, Liam. Maya likes you. You like her. That's kinda how this whole thing works."

Liam scoffed. "Yeah, until I inevitably mess it up."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Dude. You spent years thinking you had people like me all figured out, and then you actually got to know me and realized you were wrong. Maybe apply that same logic to yourself for once."

Liam stared at him.

Daniel huffed. "What I'm saying is—you don't know how this is gonna go. And yeah, maybe you will mess up. But if you don't even try, you're just proving yourself right before you've even failed."

Liam let out a slow breath. "When did you get so wise?"

Daniel grinned. "Somewhere between watching you stress over a three-word text and realizing you're a lost cause."

Liam shook his head, but he was smiling.

He picked up his phone, typed out a response, and hit send.

Liam: Dinner sounds good. Pick you up at 7?

Maya's reply came almost instantly.

Maya: I like a man with a plan. See you then, tough guy.

Liam chuckled. Maybe Daniel was right. Maybe he didn't have to have it all figured out. Maybe—just maybe—he could let himself try.

For the first time in a long time, that didn't seem so scary.