Chapter 7 SECOND CHANCES

They didn't announce it.

Didn't make it "a thing."

But suddenly, they were talking again.

Slowly. Gently. Like testing the temperature of water you once drowned in.

Texts about class turned into random memes.

Study sessions ended with long silences that felt almost... peaceful.

They walked together without planning to.

Not quite friendship.

Definitely not a relationship.

But something was growing again. Something with roots this time.

Liam – Trying to Be Better

He didn't flirt. Didn't push. Didn't try to win her back.

He just showed up.

When her project was due at midnight and she forgot to print it, he ran to the library.

When she mentioned missing her old camera lens, one magically appeared in her locker with a sticky note: Borrowed, not bought. Promise.

He didn't expect thanks.

But she gave it.

Quietly. With a glance that lingered longer than before.

Trusting Liam again wasn't just scary-it was infuriating.

How could her heart still race when he brushed her hand?

How could she want to talk to him about her dreams, her fears, her childhood again?

She'd been proud of moving on. Proud of healing.

But healing, she was learning, didn't mean you stopped caring.

It just meant you knew the risk.

And every time Liam looked at her like she was the center of his entire sky...

She remembered exactly what it felt like to fall-and crash.

One night, as they walked under the same tree where they'd shared their first kiss, Ava paused.

"Do you remember what you said to me here?" she asked.

Liam nodded slowly. "That you made me feel like I was more than the mess I came from."

"And then you left anyway."

"I didn't leave you," he said, voice low. "I left myself. I didn't think I deserved you."

A pause.

"You still might not," she whispered.

But she didn't walk away.

Maya noticed the shift.

"He's trying," she admitted. "I can see it."

Ava exhaled. "And that's what scares me."

"Why?"

"Because trying means I might start hoping again."

Maya touched her shoulder gently. "Then make sure he earns that hope this time."

A week later, a party on campus threw them into a storm of old habits.

Music. Crowds. Drinks. Friends who remembered the past too well.

A girl leaned in too close to Liam. Someone whispered in Ava's ear about how fast guys like him move on.

Ava started to walk out.

But Liam followed her.

"Ava, wait-"

"I told myself I wouldn't go through this again," she snapped, eyes wet. "You and me-whatever this is-I can't do it if I'm just going to be a pit stop again."

Liam looked wounded-but he didn't run this time.

He stepped closer. Voice steady.

"You're not a pit stop. You're the destination."

She blinked.

"That line sounds rehearsed," she murmured.

"It's not," he said. "It's terrified. Honest. Mine."

She didn't reply.

But her hand didn't pull away when he reached for it.

Later that night, they met on the rooftop again.

He brought warm tea. She brought silence.

"I'm not asking you to forget what happened," he said.

"Good. Because I can't."

"But I am asking you to believe that I'm trying to be someone better now. Not just for you. For me."

Ava looked at him.

"Then show me. Don't just say it. Show me."

And he nodded.

That was the beginning of their second chance.

Not perfect.

Not fast.

But real.

It started with the little things.

Liam didn't try to make her laugh-he just let it happen.

Ava didn't search for signs in everything he did-but she noticed when he remembered her schedule, her favorite snack, how she liked her notes color-coded.

They weren't in love again.

But they were in orbit again. And that was dangerous territory.

Still, neither pulled away.

At night, Ava journaled again.

Not because she needed to-but because Liam's name had started appearing in her thoughts, uninvited.

He's different now, she wrote.

Quieter. Softer. Less like a storm, more like rain.

But I don't know if that means he's real, or just tired.

She stared at the words long after she stopped writing.

Because the truth was... she missed him.

Even the way he used to annoy her in the halls, the way he used to pull her close by the sleeve and say, "You overthink everything. But it's kinda hot."

And she hated how that memory made her smile.

He didn't ask for another chance.

Instead, he just started earning it.

He helped Maya with her brother's art fundraiser-because Ava mentioned it in passing.

He left Ava alone when she needed space, but texted her jokes at midnight just to say: Still awake. Still here.

And when Ava had a presentation, he was the only one who stood up to clap at the end-even when no one else did.

"He's different," Ava admitted one night.

Maya raised a brow. "Different how?"

"He listens more. He doesn't try to fix everything. Just... stays."

"Do you trust him?"

Ava hesitated.

"I want to."

"That's not the same as do you."

"No. But it's closer than before."

The party was loud, humid with too many bodies and not enough air.

Ava hadn't planned to go-but Maya dragged her.

Liam hadn't planned to be there either-but his best friend insisted.

They didn't know the other would be there until it was too late.

The second Ava walked in, she saw Liam-cornered by a girl named Brielle.

Brielle, who used to flirt with him.

Brielle, who once whispered to Ava that Liam "wasn't the settle-down type."

Ava's stomach turned.

She didn't wait. She left.

Liam spotted her just as she turned toward the door.

He followed her out into the night, the music thumping behind them like a bad heartbeat.

"Ava-wait," he called, catching her wrist.

"Don't," she said, yanking it away. "Don't follow me just to explain why Brielle had her hand on your chest."

He sighed. "Nothing happened."

"It's not about what happened. It's about what I felt. And I don't want to feel this way again, Liam."

He looked genuinely hurt. "So you're going to walk away because of something you assumed?"

She glared at him. "No. I'm walking away because I've been here before. And I promised myself I wouldn't be that girl again-the one who makes excuses for you."

His voice softened. "I'm not asking for excuses. I'm asking for time. Patience. A chance to prove that I see you now in a way I didn't before."

Her eyes stung.

"I never wanted perfect. I just wanted real. And honest. And enough."

"And that's what I'm trying to be," he said.

His voice cracked on the last word.

"I'm not just sorry, Ava. I'm scared. Scared that this time, it's you who won't choose me back."

And for a second, something in her chest shifted.

Because that? That was real.

They didn't kiss.

They didn't hold hands.

But they sat on the curb together for an hour, neither saying much, the city lights soft on their faces.

Eventually, Ava leaned her head on his shoulder.

Just for a moment.

And Liam let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding for weeks.

Later that night, they found their way back to the rooftop.

Liam brought tea. Ava brought the silence.

They didn't need a grand speech.

Just the quiet promise of showing up.

Every day. Every time.

Ava thought to herself while still pondering on what she actually wanted... Maybe second chances aren't about forgiving the past. Maybe they're about believing in the possibility of a better version of the same story.

And maybe...

This time, we write it together.