Bonus Chapter: Tell Nick I Brought His Phone

Nick isn't home.

The silence feels louder without him in it, which says a lot. It's just me and Lucas. No distractions. No soundtrack. Just the quiet hum of the fridge and the thrum of tension that's been waiting to explode.

Lucas leans against the kitchen counter, arms crossed, jaw clenched. I sit at the table, eyes on a chipped part of the wood. We haven't said much since Nick left with their mom for groceries. But the words are building. Piling.

"You're avoiding me," Lucas says finally, like a bullet to the chest.

I raise a brow. "You've got a short memory. You avoided me for two years."

He glares. "That's different."

"How?"

"Because I had a reason."

"So did I," I snap, standing now. "You think it was fun for me? Watching everything fall apart while you just disappeared?"

"I didn't just disappear," he says, louder now. "I didn't know what to say. What to do."

"You could've said anything. Instead, you acted like I didn't exist. Like what we had didn't matter."

Lucas steps forward. "Don't twist this into something it wasn't."

"Then what was it?" I ask, voice cracking. "Because you were my best friend, man. You were supposed to have my back. And you turned your back the second things got ugly."

He flinches. Doesn't deny it.

"I didn't know how to help," he says finally, quieter. "I didn't even know how to face myself."

"Yeah? Well now you get to face me."

The room sizzles. Every word feels like it should leave a scar.

Then the doorbell rings.

Neither of us moves at first.

Lucas breaks away and heads for the door. Opens it.

Camila steps inside like she owns the place. Like the tension in the room personally offended her.

"Good," she says, tossing her bag on the counter. "You're both here. About damn time."

Lucas blinks. "What are you doing here?"

"Nick forgot his phone," she says flatly. "And I had a feeling this house was about to implode."

She looks at both of us like we're toddlers mid-tantrum.

Alex scoffs. "This isn't your business."

Camila whips her head toward me so fast I swear the air shifts.

"Oh honey," she says, all sweet venom. "You made it my business the second you got tangled up in Nick's orbit."

"You both need to grow the hell up," she continues. "You," she points at Lucas, "keep playing the guilt card like it makes you noble, when really, it just makes you a coward. Say what you feel or shut up."

Lucas's face reddens. "I'm not a coward."

Camila's eyes narrow. "You've been hiding behind your 'I didn't know what to do' for years now. You don't get to throw pity parties for yourself when the person you left behind had to face the fallout alone. You don't get to tell me you're still figuring it out while Nick spent all this time wondering if you even cared. You've been running from this for so long because it's easier than being real."

Lucas opens his mouth, but she cuts him off.

"Let me guess, you left because you were too scared to mess things up, right? You were worried if you stayed, you'd make things worse?"

"I didn't—"

"Shut. Up." Camila's voice slices through his protests like a knife. "You left because it was easier. You always choose the easy way out. You cut corners and ran, and now you're standing here like you're entitled to a clean slate. But no, Lucas. You don't get to do that. You don't get to just show up and act like everything's fine. You broke this. So now it's on you to fix it. And you better stop blaming Nick for the mess you left behind."

I blink. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath.

"And you—" she points at me now, "—are so scared of wanting something real that you keep stringing Nick along like he's an emotional trial run."

I stiffen.

"That kiss?" she says. "That moment on the porch? Don't think I don't know. Nick tells me everything. And what do you do afterward? Nothing. Not even a damn conversation. You just ghost him in the house you both live in."

I look down, ashamed.

"You don't get to want someone and run from it at the same time. That's not how this works. Nick isn't a mirror for your confusion. He's a person. A messy, beautiful person who already has a whole buffet of abandonment issues. So if you're not in it? Say so."

The air in the room is crushed glass.

Camila sighs. "Feelings are scary. You're not special for being scared. You're just human. But if you care about him, if there's even a part of you that wants to try—then stop being passive and try. And if you don't…"

She looks straight at me.

"Let. Him. Go."

Silence.

Lucas runs a hand over his mouth like he's still digesting the verbal slap.

I nod once, barely.

Camila turns toward the door. "Tell Nick I brought his phone."

She leaves.

The door shuts behind her with more finality than force.

Lucas clears his throat. "She doesn't hold back, huh?"

"No," I say. "She really doesn't."

The silence this time is stunned. Not angry. Not tense. Just—processing.

Bruised truth laid bare on the kitchen floor.

And maybe… maybe now we can start cleaning it up.