THE PRICE OF LOVING HIM

being Liam's friend, that I could keep my feelings locked away in some hidden corner of my mind. But every

breeze soft, and the faint hum of students chatting and laughing filled the air. Liam lay bac

l be in five years?" he asked sudden

ars? I don't know. Hopefully writing full-time. Maybe living

his brow furrowed in thought. "A n

at storytelling. But when I looked into Liam's eyes, the answer came easily. "It'd probably be a

crooked and teasin

ng back. "But isn't th

race. For a moment, I thought he might say something-something that would shatter the fragile bal

g to lighten the mood. "Where do

igning something that matters. A building that people actu

coming out without hesitation.

his head. "You're always

I said, my voice ba

tell him then, to lay everything bare. But the fear of los

changed t

-

something more. Liam had become my best friend, the person I turned to for everything. But

called me ou

an unfamiliar urgency. "Can you com

partment, my mind racing with possibilities. When I arrived,

utiously, sitting

med and tired. "I screwed up,"

happ

complicated. She wanted more, but Liam wasn't ready to give it. He had end

d to comfort him, to take away his pain, but I a

," I said gently. "Sometimes t

with something I couldn't quite plac

said, the words slipping o

ding all this time. But then he leaned back, closing his eyes w

dante. Should

he girl he

-

y glance, every shared laugh, every late-night phone call felt like a dagger to the he

journal, scribbling down every thought

* I wrote one night, tears staining the

much it hurt, I couldn't walk away. Because even if he could never be mi

I told