I woke up the next morning feeling like I was going to vomit. Having memorized Jade and Jaci's schedules, I went back to the house to basically pack up—with the help of Griffin—and move into Cayden's place. It felt weird to leave and also invasive on Cayden's part. But Cayden kept insisting it was fine.

"You know I'd offer for you to stay with me, but something tells me Cayden will take much better care of you." Griffin joked.

I rolled my eyes as I zipped my suitcase up, "What if I wanted to stay with you?" I questioned him in challenge.

Griffin waves me off, "Don't play girl, we know you wanna spend all day—every day with Cay bae."

I couldn't help but laugh at the nickname. "Griffin I cannot with you."

He chuckled to himself, finding his own joke funny as he zipped my other two bags up, sitting them over by my suitcases. "Fuck Jaci honestly. Have you talked to Jade yet?"

I pursed my lips, knowing Jade is the last person I want to talk to right now, her opinion might be different, but if it's not, I don't think I can handle more emotional baggage right now. "Eventually."

Griffin frowned, noticing my suddenly upset state, "I didn't mean to bring it up, Vin..." he trailed off as he walked over to me. "Seriously, you shouldn't let her affect you, she's clearly in the wrong—and whoever thinks otherwise is too. Fuck anyone and everyone who thinks you shouldn't be happy after all you've gone through."

I sighed. "I still lied."

Griffin shakes his head, "You were scared, Vin—plus who reacts that way to their best friend coming out?" He asked. "I honestly think the whole conversation with her only involved her gaslighting you."

The unsettling feeling wrapped around me as I processed that this might be the last time I stand in this room. I thought I'd be saying goodbye to this room—and house—after successfully graduating... drinking champagne with Jade and Jaci as we celebrate the end of our college era. This wasn't the way that any of this was supposed to go.

"Look let's just go... okay?" Griffin asked as he noticed my expression grow grimmer. "Maybe seeing Cayden would cheer you up—along with getting out of this house that holds the base of all the memories."

I nodded silently as Griffin helped me with my bags. Exiting the house one last time, knowing I'd probably never be back was hard. It brought tears to my eyes. Even though Jaci said some really shitty things to me, this all still stings. Really fucking bad. Does that make me weak? Does that mean I have no self-respect?

When the uber pulled up in front of Cayden's condo, I grabbed my bags and exited the car.

"Just remember, you deserve better Vin. And you finally have people in your life that will help you achieve that," he said with a soft smile, which easily made my heart melt, feeling appreciated. "Also don't forget to text me and tell me about all the great sex you have! Will there be any mutual mastur—"

"Griffin!" I laughed cutting him off before all of New York could hear mine and Cayden's business.

"Love you!" he called as I walked into the condo building with flaming red cheeks.

Seeing Cayden—even after it had been a couple of hours—felt like comfort. Seeing her felt like home—if I'm being honest, but I'm sure it's too soon to say something like that to her. I still felt bad moving into her space, what if she feels obligated too? I don't want her to feel like she has to do something just because she was put in a weird position.

As if Cayden could sense my discomfort she said, "It's just the lesbian stereotype," she assured me, making me laugh. "We're just uhauling."

The statement, even if she made it seem light and joking, was a reassuring step, and it made me feel somewhat better knowing she could joke about it.

After dropping my bags off at Cayden's condo and kissing her goodbye, I headed to the gym nearby. It felt weird going to Cayden's gym, but I needed some form of release, and the gym was the only constant in my life—it'd been my routine since high school. The entire walk to the gym, I felt so anxious that I would run into anyone I knew, which was crazy, I mean I'm in New York. Yet, suddenly the odds felt higher than usual knowing my luck. I'd probably even run into both Jaci and Sebastian since the universe would probably find that funny.

By the time I was walking back to Cayden's after the gym, I was exhausted from being on edge. I didn't see anyone but that didn't mean I was in the clear. All I could think about was how much was still left in the school year, and that I'd probably run into someone at some point.

As I was walking, my phone vibrated. When I saw it was from Jaci, my heart pounded in my chest and I felt like I might throw up on the busy sidewalk I was currently walking on.

I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean any of it. I was just hurt, she'd written. Can we talk? I feel awful.

I looked at the screen, unable to process it right now. I was glad she reached out, even if I didn't quite yet know if I'd forgive her—much less talk to her. Either way, I needed to handle one thing at a time right now, and she wasn't that one thing.

She sent another message quickly after. I haven't told Sebastian anything yet.

The text actually meant something to me. She really hadn't told Sebastian yet? That explained why Cayden hadn't mentioned anything about Sebastian—it was because Sebastian didn't know.

I nearly let out a sigh of relief, but I also knew it was naïve to think I was in the clear. Did I want Jaci's apology? Did I want her back in my life? I really did miss her and I knew that was part of her personality—she could be a little fiery when she wanted to be. But for her to say all of that... there must've been a grain of truth in there.

My head hurt from how much had been going on. I just wanted to lay down—preferably in Cayden's arms.

I dragged my feet up to Cayden's condo that I still didn't feel comfortable referring to as mine—or ours—feeling like I might cry as soon as I saw her. It'd just been one of those days.

To my surprise, Cayden was standing in the living room when I walked in. She had a small smile on her face and around her, she'd decorated the entire apartment. There were balloons, streamers, even a cheesy welcome home banner.

"What's all of this?" I asked, feeling like I was going to cry now for a totally different reason.

"Your entire life has blown up and it's at least partially my fault and I know a party doesn't make up for that but..." Cayden gestured around her. "I felt like at least turning you moving in into a celebration rather than something sad might make this easier."

"This is so nice," I said, my eyes widening as I notice the white roses. "Did you get me flowers?"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure what your favorite kind was—"

"Anything," I said and walked over, kissing her. "Thank you. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, which is saying a lot considering you've already been so nice even just letting me move in. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I just... I really care about you," Cayden said. "I know this is very fast and living together will be hard. We've really fast-tracked this one, but it's the circumstances. We'll find a way to make it work."

"Yeah," I said, smiling a little bit at her.

"But I was thinking maybe we could invite some people over if you're up for it? I have some friends who I've already told to tentatively clear their schedules so we can all hang out," Cayden said. "Friends unrelated to Sebastian."

I nodded, thinking it might be nice to have people around who reminded me that my entire world wasn't just my old friends. "That sounds really nice," I said. "Can I invite Griffin?"

"Your fake boyfriend? Yes, absolutely," Cayden said. "I need to scope out the competition." I let out a laugh and kissed her again, unable to believe how fortunate I was.