Jaden didn't tell her where they were going.
They drove through winding neighborhoods framed by trees and quiet cafés, then out toward the coast. The city faded behind them, replaced by open skies and the glitter of water along the horizon.
"Where are we?" Lily asked, watching sailboats drift past on the distant bay.
"You'll see," Jaden said, eyes on the road, one hand casually on the wheel. "This place helped me survive the worst summer of my life."
Lily glanced at him. "What happened?"
Jaden hesitated. "When Ezra's mom died… it changed everything. We were fifteen. He shut down, and I didn't know how to help him. So I started coming here—to clear my head. It became our spot eventually. Just… not many people know about it."
They parked near a wooded path and walked a few minutes through the trees until the ground opened into a cliffside view of the ocean. Below, waves crashed gently against dark rocks. There was a small bench under a leaning birch tree, carved initials on the wood like a secret language.
Lily stopped. "It's beautiful."
Jaden sat, patting the spot beside him. "I thought you'd like it."
For a while, they didn't speak. The breeze brushed past them, tugging at Lily's hair.
Then Jaden said quietly, "Brielle's not really my person anymore."
Lily turned to him, startled.
"She used to be," he went on. "But it's like… we've grown into two different people who are just pretending we still fit."
Lily swallowed hard. "Then why are you still with her?"
"Habit. Guilt. Fear." He looked at her, eyes searching. "We've been together for two years. Everyone expects us to stay that way."
"And what do you want?" Lily asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Jaden didn't answer.
He just looked at her like he wanted to say something but knew he shouldn't.
Instead, he stood. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet."
⸻
They pulled up to a small white house with a blue door and potted flowers on the front steps. As soon as they walked in, the smell of lemon and vanilla wrapped around Lily like a hug.
"Mom?" Jaden called out.
A petite woman appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. Her smile lit up her whole face.
"There you are," she said. Then she noticed Lily. "Oh! You must be Lily."
Lily blinked. "You know about me?"
"Of course," Jaden's mom said, hugging her warmly. "Dan and your mom came over last week. I've been dying to meet you."
Lily smiled, overwhelmed by her warmth.
"She made lemon cake," Jaden muttered. "She always does when she's trying to win someone over."
His mom swatted his arm. "Hush, you. Come sit, both of you."
Over cake and tea, they talked about America, Sweden, and how weird it was to start over in a new place. Jaden's mom listened to Lily like she was the most interesting person in the room.
Later, as they got up to leave, she pulled Lily into a gentle side-hug.
"He's never brought a girl here before," she whispered.
Lily froze. "Oh. I mean—"
"I know," she said with a smile. "Just… be kind to his heart. Even if you don't mean to keep it."
⸻
When they got back to the house, Ezra was waiting in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, arms crossed.
"Where've you been?" he asked.
Jaden shrugged. "Took Lily to the cliffs. Figured she deserved the full Stockholm experience."
Ezra looked at Lily. "You okay?"
Lily nodded. "Yeah. It was nice."
Ezra didn't say anything, but something flickered behind his eyes something unreadable.
"Cool," he said after a moment. "I'll be upstairs."
He left without another word.
As Lily stood there, the silence in the kitchen suddenly felt heavier than the waves at the cliffs.
Something had shifted.
Not just with her and Jaden.
But between all of them.
And there was no going back now.
The weekend passed in a strange limbo. Lily couldn't stop thinking about Jaden his words, the way he looked at her on the cliff, his mom's parting whisper. She kept telling herself to be careful. To draw boundaries. But her heart wasn't listening.
On Monday, the tension hit her the moment she stepped into the hallway.
Ezra was different.
He wasn't cold, exactly but there was a slight distance now. Like someone had closed a window that used to let fresh air in.
He didn't walk with her to class. He didn't ask how her weekend was.
And he definitely didn't look at her the same.
At lunch, Lily sat beside Mia while Ezra and Jaden talked at the other end of the table. She felt like an outsider at a table she technically belonged to.
Then Brielle showed up.
Late, as always.
She dropped her designer bag onto the bench beside Jaden, leaned in, and kissed his cheek with a little too much force like she was marking territory. Her eyes immediately scanned the table.
Then landed on Lily.
"Morning," she said, saccharine sweet. "Sleep well, roomie?"
Lily stiffened. "Yeah. Thanks."
Brielle smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You're looking cozy lately. Must be nice, having two guys to show you around."
Jaden's fork paused halfway to his mouth.
Ezra's jaw twitched.
Mia jumped in before the tension could thicken further. "Lily's just trying to survive high school in another country. Let's not make it weird."
Brielle gave her a sharp little laugh. "Oh, sweet Mia. Everything's always weird."
Ezra stood suddenly, grabbing his tray. "I'm not hungry."
He walked off, and Jaden hesitated for half a second before following.
Lily sat frozen.
Mia leaned over and whispered, "Brielle knows. Or at least… she suspects."
Lily's chest tightened.
"Ezra too?" she asked.
Mia hesitated. "Ezra notices everything. Especially when it comes to Jaden."
⸻
That evening, Lily found Ezra in the garage, tuning his bike. The room smelled like oil and metal and quiet anger.
"Hey," she said, stepping in.
He didn't look up. "Hey."
She lingered by the workbench. "You're mad."
"No," Ezra said. "I'm disappointed."
Lily's stomach sank. "In me?"
"In both of you."
He finally looked at her, eyes tired, voice steady. "You think I don't see the way you look at each other? I grew up with him, Lily. I know when something's changed."
She said nothing.
"Look," Ezra said. "Jaden's like my brother. And you—you're family now. You think this isn't complicated for me too?"
Lily blinked. "Why would it be?"
Ezra looked away. "Doesn't matter."
That struck her. Harder than she expected.
"Ezra… if I've messed anything up—"
"You haven't," he said, cutting her off. "Yet."
Then he turned back to the bike, and the conversation was over.
But Lily walked away with one clear thought:
She wasn't the only one hiding feelings.
Not anymore.
Lily sat cross-legged on her bed, trying to focus on a page in her history textbook, but the words blurred together. Her thoughts kept circling back to Ezra's disappointment, Brielle's venom, and the way Jaden had looked at her in the car.
Then came the knock.
Soft. Familiar.
She looked up, and there he was—Jaden, leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
He stepped inside but didn't sit. Just stood near the window, staring out at the darkening sky.
"I talked to Ezra."
Lily nodded slowly. "Yeah. Me too."
"He's not wrong," Jaden said after a beat. "I haven't exactly been clear about anything lately."
Lily didn't speak. She didn't trust herself to.
"I think… I owe you some honesty," Jaden said. "About Brielle."
Lily looked up then, and Jaden exhaled like he'd been holding his breath for weeks.
"When we first got together, it was good. She was this burst of color loud, confident, unpredictable. I liked that. I needed that back then."
He leaned against the wall, eyes distant.
"But over time, it stopped being fun. She'd get mad if I didn't text back in ten minutes. She hated when I hung out with Ezra without her. She started seeing everyone as a threat." He paused. "Especially girls."
Lily's heart twisted. "Including me?"
Jaden gave a small, sad smile. "Especially you."
"I haven't done anything," Lily said softly.
"I know." He looked at her now, fully. "That's not the point to her. The point is that I notice you. And that's enough to make her feel like she's losing control."
Lily looked down. "So why are you still with her?"
"Because we've been together for two years. Because we've been through so much. Because sometimes I feel like ending it would make me the bad guy, and I've already spent so long trying to be the guy who doesn't leave."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Lily asked, "Do you still love her?"
Jaden didn't answer right away.
"I think… I love who we used to be," he said. "But not who we are now. And I don't know how to say that without destroying everything."
Lily nodded slowly. "Maybe it already is."
Jaden pushed a hand through his hair. "You didn't do anything wrong, Lily. I just need you to know that."
She nodded again, but her heart ached anyway.
Because the worst part wasn't that he didn't love her.
It was that he still wasn't free.
And Lily wasn't sure she'd survive waiting for something that might never come.