Chapter 1 Standing There was enough.

The music was too loud. Not the kind that made you want to dance just noise, constant and sharp, pressing into Aria's head like it had something to prove. Conversations overlapped, laughter came too quickly, too easily. It felt forced. Like everyone here had agreed to pretend they were having a better time than they actually were.Aria stood just inside the doorway for a moment longer than necessary, scanning faces she barely recognized.

"This is why I don't come to things like this," she muttered under her breath. She only came because Iris insisted. "Ten minutes," Aria had said earlier. "I'm leaving after that." "You say that every time," Iris had told her earlier.

Aria exhaled slowly

She checked her phone. No New messages.

Iris? Gosh, where are you?"

She murmured it more to herself than to anyone else.She moved past the Restroom, weaving through people who didn't notice her and didn't need to. That was fine. She preferred it that way.

"Looking for someone?" She turned at the voice.

Daniel stood there, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a drink. He looked relaxed, like he belonged here in a way she never quite did.

"Iris," Aria said. "Have you seen her?"

He nodded toward the back hallway. "I think she went that way. A few minutes ago."

"Okay. Thanks."

She started to walk past him, but she felt it that pause, that slight shift in his attention. It lingered.

It always did.

"Don't take too long," he added lightly.

Aria didn't respond. She just kept walking.

The hallway was quieter. The music dulled into a low, distant rhythm. The further she went, the more the noise faded, replaced by something else stillness, almost. "Iris?" she called softly. No answer. She frowned slightly and took a few more steps. Then she heard voices.

She stopped. "...we shouldn't be doing this," Liam said. Aria's brows drew together.

There was a pause, and then Iris spoke. Her voice was softer than usual. Careful.

"Then why are you still here?"

Something about that tone made Aria's chest tighten. She didn't think. She just moved.

One step. Then another.And then she saw them.

They weren't just standing close.Liam's hand was resting at Iris's waist. Not awkwardly. Not like he was about to pull away. Like it belonged there.

Aria's steps slowed, but she didn't stop.

She watched as Liam leaned in slightly, his head tilting just enough and then he kissed her.There was no hesitation.

No confusion. Iris kissed him back.

Not like it surprised her. Not like it was a mistake. Like it had already happened before.

Aria stood there, her mind oddly quiet.

For a second, she expected something inside her to react. Anger. Shock. Anything.

But there was just... stillness.

Liam pulled back first, his hand still at Iris's side.

"This isn't right," he said.

Iris let out a soft breath. "Then why does it feel like it is?" he didn't answer, He didn't move away either. Aria shifted her weight, and the slight sound of her shoe against the floor broke the moment.

Both of them turned. Iris's face changed instantly. "Aria-" Liam froze.

Aria looked at them carefully, at the space between them that had suddenly appeared. At Iris's shoulders, tense in a way she had never seen before. At Liam, who looked like he was searching for the right words but hadn't found them yet.

"How long?" Aria asked.

Her voice was calm.Too calm.

Iris shook her head quickly. "It's not what it looks like," Don't," Aria cut in. Iris stopped.

Just answer the question. How long?"

Liam stepped forward slightly. "Aria, listen-"

"No." She met his eyes. "You don't get to explain it." he hesitated.

That was enough to tell her everything.

Aria folded her arms loosely, more to keep her hands steady than anything else.

"I just need to understand something," she said.

Neither of them spoke.

She glanced briefly at Iris, then back at Liam.

"Was I the one you chose..."Her voice didn't shake.

"...or the one you kept until you figured it out?"

Iris looked down immediately.

Liam said nothing.

The silence stretched just long enough to settle the answer in place.

Aria nodded once. "Okay."

"Aria, please-" Iris muttered

Aria turned back slightly.

"I would have rather you told me," she said.

Her tone didn't change. It didn't accuse. It didn't rise. "That's all."

Iris opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

There was nothing she could say that would fix this. They all knew it.

Aria didn't wait for anything else.

She turned and walked back down the hallway.

The music grew louder with each step, swallowing the quiet behind her. By the time she reached the front door, it was like nothing had happened.

Like everything was normal.She stepped outside.

The air was cooler. Quieter.Real.

Aria stood there for a moment, breathing in slowly, letting the noise fade out of her head.

Then she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone.

Liam's name was still at the top of her messages. She stared at it.

At the conversations. The plans. The small, meaningless things that had once felt important.

Her thumb hovered over the screen for a second.

Then she deleted the entire thread.

No hesitation.No second thoughts.

Some things didn't need closure.

They just needed distance.