An incessant buzzing jolted me away the next morning. Cracking my eyes open a little I stretched my hand out groggily snatching the phone off the nightstand and lifting it to my ear.

"Hello," I greeted my voice thick with sleep.

Silence greeted me on the other end of the phone before an unfamiliar female voice asked. "Who is this?"

"Umm, I'm Gen, who are you?" I responded the confusion evident in my voice.

"Where's my brother?" she asked ignoring my question.

"Your brother," I parroted even more confused now. Why the hell was she asking me about her brother?

"Yes, my brother the person whose phone you're answering," the girl said slowly. And from the tone in her voice, I could tell she thought I was an idiot.

And that was when it hit me, her words finally penetrating my sleep-foggy brain.

Oh shit.

Wordlessly, I removed the phone from my ear and looked down at the familiar black case covering the phone.

The sound of my bathroom door opening grabbed my attention. I glanced up just in time to see Brooks stepping out of my bathroom wearing nothing but his gray sweatpants.

His sister forgotten as I gawked at him. My eyes slowly raked over his body before I met his eyes.

His lips spread in a wide smile when our eyes connected. "Look your fill?" he asked teasingly before his eyes dropped to his phone in my grip his smile faltering a bit.

Shaking my head I stretched the phone out to him. "Sorry, I thought it was mine," I mumbled apologetically.

Taking the phone from my hand he brought it to his ear.

"Em, I'll call you back later," he said to his sister. She said something to him that caused his gaze to flicker to me briefly before he looked away rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I'll call you back later," he told her before hanging up.

"I'm sorry I thought it was my phone," I apologized again.

"It's fine," he replied taking a seat next to me on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

I cringed as the events of last night came rushing back. "Ugh, I can't believe I threw up,"

"It's not a big deal Gen it happens," he said smiling gently at me.

I returned his smile grabbing his hand and giving it a grateful squeeze. "Thanks for last night, for being here I really appreciate it."

My eyes dropped to his lips and the kiss from last night came to the forefront of my mind. "Brooks....," I trailed off at a loss for words. I didn't regret the kiss and if I was honest with myself it was something I wanted to do for a while now.

But I wasn't ready to put my heart out there again. Especially with Brooks, I might be developing feelings for him but this could only end in a disaster.

As if he could read my mind. Brooks interjected before I could say more. "Don't overthink it, Gen, it was just a kiss."

Don't overthink it, Just a kiss. I should be happy with what he said right? I should be glad he wasn't pushing for more. So then why does it feel like he punched me in the heart?

Here I was stressing but it never crossed my mind that maybe the kiss meant more to me than it did to Brooks.

Doubt instantly flooded me. Did he kiss me back last night because he felt sorry for me after I told him about my tragic past?

It didn't look or felt like he pitied me, especially with the way he kissed me.

But now was not the time to overanalyze everything. So I buried down whatever confusing feelings I was having and plastered a bright smile on my face.

"Yeah just a kiss," I repeated meeting his gaze head-on. I swore his eyes flashed with disappointment before he quickly covered it up.

We both remained quiet as an awkward silence settled between us. Averting his gaze he ran his fingers through his hair before looking back at me a sigh falling from his lips.

"I have to go, I promised Lucas I'll help him with something," he murmured standing to his feet. Grabbing his t-shirt he quickly pulled it over his head. I wondered if he really had something to do with Lucas or if it was merely an excuse he was using to get away. Probably the latter.

"Okay," I forced smile. Watching him as he grabbed his keys off my nightstand before he made his way back to me. Bending at the waist he pressed a soft kiss on my cheek that involuntarily caused my eyes to flutter closed.

My eyes fluttered open when he pulled back. "I'll text you," he said before straightening himself up, grinning down at me but I could see it didn't reach his eyes.

I nodded.

He look like he wanted to say more but instead, he shook his head before walking out my door and disappearing down the hall.

Blowing out a frustrated breath I fell back on the bed, my head hitting the duvet cover with a dull thud.

"Fuck," I groaned into the quiet.

Well, that went well.

~~~~~~~~~

My morning passed in a blur. I spent my time doing anything to help distract me from the events of the last fifteen hours.

My pencil paused when I heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway it had to be Mia finally getting home. She texted me last night saying she was sorry for everything and that she was spending the night with her mom. I figured as much since her mom only lived a little over an hour away.

I was sitting on the couch, sketching a dress I'm designing for my cousin Everly.

The door opened at shut behind her as she entered the house. My gaze remained focused on the sketch as Mia made her way through the living room.

"Hey," she said tentatively taking a seat on the arm of the couch.

"Hi," I repeated my voice devoid of any emotions as my attention remained fixated on the nearly completed sketch.

"Is that Everly's dress for her engagement party?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said as I continued shading the skirt of the dress.

"It's gorgeous Gen, she's going to freak when she sees it," she complimented.

"Mhmm."

"Are you only going to respond to me with one-word answers?" she questioned.

"Yup," I replied.

A tense silence settled between us, you could a pin drop before she finally broke spoke. "Gen, I'm sorry about last night, the things I said were fucked up," she said the guilt evident in her voice.

I released an annoyed sigh, as I unceremoniously dropped my sketchbook and pencil down on the coffee table. I turned on the couch and finally faced her since she walked through the door. She was watching me with a wary expression on her face as she nervously twined her fingers together in her lap.

"Yeah, it was fucked up, you made me sound like a heartless bitch that callously tried to erase any memory of Eli from my life," I said sharply. "I know it wasn't healthy how I refused to talk about him and how I packed up all our pictures and anything that reminded me of him. But I felt like I couldn't breathe. Whenever I looked around my room it was filled with the memories of our past and a constant reminder of the future we would never have," my voice cracking a little on the last part.

I felt my eyes burn with tears but I reigned in my emotions I cried enough last night. She still doesn't know the entire story but it wasn't something I wanted to talk about today but someday soon I will.

"I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Like I was slowly suffering," Mia's eyes turned glassy as she listened to me. "So I did what I had to do to breathe again, and you don't get to throw that in my face when you're angry," the pained feeling I felt last night resurfaced as the hurtful words she said during our fight echoed through my head.

"That's why I'm so mad. The fact that you used my pain as a weapon to hurt me when you were angry and that's not okay Mia," I said accusingly.

She nodded her head slowly. "You're right I was mad at myself for being stubborn and self-sabotaging my relationship with Nate," she confessed as a tear fell down her cheek. Lifting her hand she quickly wiped it away. "I'm sorry I took my anger out on you when you were only looking out for me."

"Mom and I had a long talk last night. She told me she started dating again," she nodded at my shocked expression. "That was my reaction too when she told me. After everything with my dad, I thought she would never move on. I told her about Nate and everything that happened and she apologized for how negatively her unhealthy relationship with my dad affected me. And she regretted staying with him that long when he constantly cheated on her but she doesn't regret being with my dad even after everything," she paused taking a breath before she continued.

"She said that love is all about taking a risk on the unknown you don't know what will happen, or where you'll end up. It might be the best thing that'll ever happen to you or you might crash and burn. And she's not letting the fear of failure hold her back from finding love again and I shouldn't either. And even though her relationship with my dad didn't work out she could never regret it because she got me out of it and I was the best thing that ever happened to her," she whispered the last part her voice thick with emotion.

I grabbed her hand squeezing it. I might be pissed at her but she was still my best friend.

She shot me a small appreciative smile as she weaved our fingers together, squeezing my hand back. "So I called Nate and I'm going over to his place went I'm done here I wanted to come and apologize to you first."

"I'm glad you did, and I hope things work out with Nate," I told her genuinely.

Releasing my hand she slid off the arm of the couch settling next to me before she threw her arms around my shoulders hugging me.

"I love you, Gen," she said squeezing me tighter.

"I love you too Mia," I replied, and even though I was still mad at her I knew we'll be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, I've been in a bit of a writing slump lately that's why it took me so long to post this.😩

But I finally sat down a few days ago and was able to write this chapter so I hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you for reading. ❤️