Mia's POV
I didn't know how long I'd been walking. The city felt endless, stretching out in slick streets and blurred lights, every shadow a reminder of the storm inside me. My shoes were soaked through. My coat clung to me like a second skin. My hair plastered to my face. My chest heaved, ragged and raw, and my lungs ached with every breath.
I'd run from Liam, run from Ace, run from myself.
But running didn't work anymore.
Every step forward, every block I put between me and my apartment, didn't calm the storm inside. It only amplified it. Every heartbeat screamed. Every memory clawed at me. Every choice I hadn't made pressed down on me like a weight too heavy to carry.
I ducked into a small park, the rain still falling in soft sheets, and collapsed onto a bench. I buried my face in my hands, shivering—not from the cold, but from the rawness of everything I was feeling.
Why was my heart divided like this?
Why did one moment with Ace feel like coming home, and one look from Liam feel like nostalgia and heartbreak fused into a single impossible thing?
I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of it. Trying to untangle the knots.
And then I felt it.
Presence. Not behind me, but beside me.
"I told you to stop running."
I froze. Ace. His voice, low and commanding, and yet careful, gentle.
I didn't turn. "I… I can't think."
"Yes, you can. You just refuse to trust yourself."
I felt him sit down beside me. Close. Safe. And somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I hated that safety. That grounding. Because it made the other feelings—Liam, the past, the heartbreak—burn hotter.
"Talk to me," Ace said softly. "Tell me what's going on."
I let out a shaky laugh. "Do you really want to know?"
He didn't answer. He just waited. Patience folded into intensity, like a coiled spring.
"I'm… I don't know. I thought I was over him. I thought I had moved on. I thought… I wanted someone steady. And I do. I do want someone steady. But…" I choked on the words. "…every time I look at Liam, every time he speaks, it's like… it's like he's never left. And I hate that. I hate that I feel this. I hate that my heart isn't simple. I hate—"
"Shh," Ace said, cupping my face gently. "Breathe. Just breathe. You're not supposed to have it all figured out. You're not supposed to have perfect emotions or perfect timing. You're human. That's why you feel so much. That's why your heart is messy, because it belongs to you and you alone. Not to him. Not to me. To you."
The words pierced me. And I realized, painfully, that I had been running not from Liam or Ace or the confrontation, but from myself. From admitting what I really wanted. What I really felt.
Ace's thumb brushed my cheek. His eyes—dark, stormy, full of raw emotion—locked onto mine. "Mia… tell me. Not about him. Not about anyone else. Tell me what you want."
I swallowed hard. The truth clawed its way up my throat. "…I want… you. I want you. Even with all of this. Even with everything that's happened. I… I don't know about Liam. I don't know if I can forgive him completely, or if I'll ever feel the same way again. But I know I feel this—" I pressed my hand to my chest. "…for you. Ace. And it terrifies me."
He exhaled, a long, slow release, like the tension he had been holding melted away. And then he did something I wasn't expecting. Something that made my knees nearly buckle.
He kissed me.
Not a desperate, frantic kiss. Not a possessive, claiming kiss. But a steady, grounding, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere kiss. His lips pressed to mine, firm, warm, gentle, and every ounce of fear and tension and running melted away in that moment.
I clung to him. Not because I had answers. Not because I had closure. But because I needed this. Needed him. Needed the truth of us.
When we finally broke apart, breathless and trembling, Ace rested his forehead against mine. "Do you understand now?" he whispered.
"I… I think so," I murmured. "I… I love you, Ace."
And he smiled—this slow, relieved, almost broken smile. "I love you too, Mia. And I'll wait. I'll wait through everything. I'll wait until you're ready to stop running."
We stayed there, wrapped in each other, letting the rain soak us, letting the world blur away, letting the storm inside me finally settle.
But then reality returned.
Liam.
I hadn't thought about him. I hadn't needed to. But I knew he was waiting. Watching. Hoping. I had to face him. I had to deal with the consequences of honesty.
I pulled back, letting Ace keep his hands on my shoulders. "We… we need to talk to him. I can't just—"
Ace nodded. "I know. But you're not alone in this. He'll hear you. And we'll handle it—together."
We walked back toward the street, soaked, muddy, dripping, but anchored in the truth I had finally admitted.
Liam waited, and his expression shifted when he saw Ace at my side. Guarded, tense. Hurt.
"I—" he started.
Ace stepped forward, firm, voice sharp: "You don't get to manipulate her heart. You don't get to guilt her or pressure her. She decides. Not you."
Liam swallowed, visibly shaken. "I… I know. I just… I wanted her to hear me. To understand I—"
"She understands," I said, voice trembling but strong. "She understands everything. And right now… I need time. Space. To process everything. That includes what happened with you, Liam. But it also… includes Ace."
Liam's face fell, but he nodded. "I… I get it. I'm sorry. I just—"
Ace cut him off with a quiet, firm warning glance. "You hurt her again, and you won't just face me—you'll face consequences for every ounce of pain you bring. Understood?"
Liam nodded. "Understood."
The rain fell heavier. Lily and James finally appeared from the shadows, giving us space but their presence a comforting wall of support.
I exhaled. I finally exhaled.
I didn't have all the answers. I didn't know what the future held. I didn't know how to untangle the past or navigate the present perfectly.
But for the first time in a long time, I wasn't running.
I was standing.
I was choosing.
I was alive.
And I knew, without a doubt, that whatever came next, I would face it with Ace by my side.
Because that was the truth I could no longer deny.