Mia's POV
Rain was falling in gentle sheets, washing the city streets in a gray sheen, as though the world itself knew I needed cleansing. My shoes were soaked. My hair plastered to my face. My chest heaved with the weight of tears I hadn't allowed myself to release inside my apartment.
And still, I ran.
I ran from Liam's soft, pleading voice. I ran from Ace's steady, protective presence. I ran from Lily and James, from the warmth and worry and judgment and love I didn't know how to handle.
I rounded a corner and pressed myself against the wall of an empty alley. My hands shook. My chest constricted. I couldn't breathe.
"Stop."
The word sliced through the rain. Deep. Sharp. Familiar.
Ace.
I didn't turn. I couldn't.
"I'm not letting you do this," he said again, voice low, unwavering. The rain made his hair cling to his forehead. His dark eyes burned into mine. "Mia. You don't get to run from me. Not now. Not after last night. Not ever."
I swallowed, tears mingling with the rain on my cheeks. "I… I can't—"
"Yes, you can," he said, stepping closer. The world seemed to shrink around him. "You can because you've survived worse than this. You can because you're stronger than you realize. You're not alone."
My heart twisted painfully. Alone. That was exactly how I felt, and yet here he was, insisting I wasn't. I wanted to collapse into him, to bury my face against his chest and let everything fall away. And at the same time, I wanted to disappear entirely.
"You don't get it," I whispered. "I… I don't know what I feel. I… I'm confused."
Ace's jaw tightened. "Confused about me?"
I shook my head. "Confused about everything! About Liam! About you! About—"
He cut me off with a quiet, controlled plea: "Then let me help. Let me stand here and not go anywhere, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find out what you feel."
And that… that almost broke me.
Then I heard him.
"Can we talk?"
Liam. Soft. Gentle. Heart-wrenching. That voice I knew better than my own.
I turned, and there he was, soaked from the rain, eyes wide and sincere, stepping cautiously toward me. "Mia. I never stopped… thinking about you. About us. About how I left. I made mistakes—God, the worst mistakes—but I never stopped loving you."
Ace's hand twitched. I saw the tension in his shoulders, the flare of his anger restrained by something deeper. Protective instinct. Something primal.
Liam continued, oblivious to the storm next to him: "I came back because I couldn't let you go without telling you. Without showing you that I meant what I said the first time. That I still do."
The truth of it—his vulnerability, his honesty—cracked something inside me. My knees threatened to buckle. My chest ached. I felt like I was being torn in two directions, my heart lurching between the boy who had once been everything and the man who had saved me from myself.
Ace's voice was sharp now, deliberate: "You don't get to hurt her again. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Liam said quickly, slightly flinching at Ace's intensity. "I… I know. I don't want to hurt her. That's why I'm not asking for anything else right now."
I watched them, my body trembling. My pulse was frantic. I wanted to collapse. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to stay.
Lily stepped forward from the shadows of the alley, soaked but unwavering. "Mia. You need to say something. Stop letting everyone else decide for you. This is your life. Your heart. Your choice."
James nodded, standing beside her. "Exactly. No running. No hiding. Just… honesty. Whatever that looks like."
I closed my eyes, trying to steady myself. I felt rain mix with tears down my cheeks. My voice came out in a broken whisper: "I… I don't know what to do. I thought I was over Liam. I thought… I was finally moving on… but I'm not. And I—"
Ace's hand reached out, not to touch me forcefully, but just enough to anchor me. "Mia," he said, voice low, almost a growl. "Listen to me. You can't fix the past. You can't change what he did. But you can decide what's happening now. Right now."
Liam's expression softened. "I get that. I'm not asking you to decide anything now. I just… I needed to say it. I needed to be honest. And if you can't forgive me, or if you can't feel the same way… I understand."
I looked between them, my chest heaving, mind spinning. My heart thudded painfully in my ears. Every emotion I'd buried, every fear I'd avoided, every ounce of longing I'd denied—it all collided at once.
"I… I—"
But I couldn't finish.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't make a single coherent choice.
And then… I ran.
Not fast. Not far. Just enough to put space between me and the storm of emotions, the clash of past and present, the men who both loved me in different ways, the friends who refused to leave my side.
I didn't stop until I was halfway down the block, my chest burning, tears flowing freely, rain drenching me like baptism. I leaned against a lamppost, trying to gather myself, trying to breathe, trying to think.
And then I felt a presence behind me.
Ace.
His hand rested on my shoulder, firm, grounding. "Mia. Stop running. Please. Don't do this to yourself."
I shook my head, turning to him with desperation. "I can't! I… I can't deal with any of this!"
He cupped my face gently. "Then deal with me. Just… let me be here. I don't care if Liam's here, if Lily's here, if James is judging the world. I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere. Not for you. Not for me. Not for anyone else."
Liam stepped closer, voice soft and pleading again. "Mia… please. Don't push me away. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to be honest. To show you that I've changed."
The words were like a hammer to my heart.
Lily and James watched silently, giving space but ready to intervene if things spiraled.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus. I felt every beat in my chest, every twitch of every nerve, every pull from the people who loved me, cared for me, wanted me.
And I realized: I didn't know who I was anymore.
I didn't know what I wanted.
I didn't know how to feel.
I just knew that if I stayed there, I would break.
So I did the only thing I could.
I ran again.
The city blurred around me.
The rain stung my face.
And in my chest, two hearts were colliding: one from the past, one from the present.
And I didn't know which one I belonged to.