The first thing Sienna felt was warmth.
Morning sunlight spilled across her bedsheets, soft and golden, brushing over the messy strands of her hair. She turned slowly, half expecting the night before to have been a dream the quiet car ride, the way Jace's voice trembled when he asked her to stay, the kiss that felt like it had rewritten every rule in her world.
But the ache in her chest was proof it had been real.
Her phone buzzed.
Jace: Morning, troublemaker.
Jace: Meet me later? Just us. No Carter, no drama.
She smiled, biting back a laugh. "Troublemaker," he'd started calling her after she spilled coffee on his sketchpad last week. The name had stuck warm, teasing, familiar.
Sienna: Where?
Jace: You'll see. 4 p.m. I'll pick you up.
Her heart lifted, just a little.
By the time the afternoon sun had mellowed into gold, Sienna stood outside her house, denim jacket half-buttoned, sketchbook in hand. Jace's car pulled up, and the sight of him leaning out the window made her pulse trip over itself.
"Hey, beautiful," he said softly.
"Hey yourself."
The drive was quiet but comfortable. The windows were down, wind teasing her hair, music playing low in the background — an old song that hummed of summer and first loves.
He didn't tell her where they were going until they turned into a narrow lane lined with trees, the leaves swaying lazily in the breeze. Ahead was the small city park the same one where Sienna used to sketch as a kid.
"Thought you might like it here," Jace said. "Peaceful. Hidden. Just us."
She smiled. "You were right."
They wandered toward the lake. Ducks drifted lazily across the water; somewhere in the distance, a child's laughter echoed. Jace slipped his hand into hers, and for a moment, the world felt weightless.
"I missed you," he said suddenly.
"You saw me yesterday."
"Still." He looked down at her. "You're all I think about."
Her breath caught. He wasn't supposed to say things like that so easily not when her heart was still stitched with the ghosts of Carter's words, Carter's promises. But Jace's honesty was disarming; it made her want to believe again.
They found a bench under an oak tree. Jace sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders brushed. "You ever think about what would've happened if we met earlier?"
She smiled faintly. "Maybe I wouldn't have been ready for you."
He leaned closer, eyes glinting. "And now?"
Her lips parted but before she could answer, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, frowned.
"Studio emergency," he muttered. "The photo submissions got mixed up. Give me ten minutes? I'll be right back."
"Go," she said, waving him off. "I'll wait here."
He squeezed her hand once before walking toward the parking area, leaving her with the hum of the breeze and the rippling lake.
Sienna opened her sketchbook. She began to draw the way the sunlight danced across the water, the way the branches curved like gentle arms above her.
"Still sketching by the lake," a voice said behind her.
Her hand froze.
She turned and there he was.
Carter.
In jeans and a dark hoodie, hands tucked into his pockets, looking exactly as she remembered and completely out of place in her present.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered.
He gave a small, sheepish smile. "Saw your post last week. You mentioned this park once I took a chance."
"Carter "
"I'm not here to bother you," he said quickly. "I just… wanted to see you. One more time."
Her heart twisted. "You shouldn't be here."
"Maybe not. But I couldn't stop thinking about last night."
"Last night?"
"At the showcase," he said softly. "The way you looked at him. The way he looked at you. It made me realize how much I ruined."
She didn't reply.
He stepped closer, voice trembling. "Sienna, I messed up. I thought I was doing the right thing by walking away by letting you breathe. But I never stopped missing you."
She felt the words dig into her chest like small, careful knives.
"Carter …"
"I don't expect you to come back," he went on. "I just needed you to know I still love you."
Her breath hitched.
The park was too quiet. Even the breeze seemed to have stopped.
"I can't " she started, but her voice broke. "You can't say things like that."
"Why not? Because of him?"
"Because it's too late."
He gave a sad smile. "Maybe. But some things don't end just because time passes."
Her eyes burned. "You left me when I needed you."
"I know," he said softly. "And it's the biggest regret of my life."
For a long moment, neither of them moved. The past and present collided in the space between their breaths.
Then Carter reached out, fingertips brushing her cheek hesitant, trembling.
"Sienna …"
"Don't," she whispered, but it came out too weak. Her body stilled, torn between memory and reality, between the boy who once held her heart and the one who'd just begun to heal it.
And before she could step back he kissed her.
It wasn't hard or demanding. It was soft, full of nostalgia and apology, the kind of kiss that felt like it belonged to a different lifetime.
Her eyes widened. For a heartbeat, she froze not kissing him back, not pushing him away, just … stuck her mind splintered between then and now.
And that was the exact moment Jace appeared.
He had a small paper bag in his hand snacks, two bottles of water but it slipped through his fingers when he saw them.
The sound of the bottles hitting the pavement snapped Sienna back to reality. She jerked away from Carter, breathless, eyes wide with horror.
"Jace "
But he was already stepping backward, expression unreadable, voice low and shaking. "So this is what I walked in on."
"It's not what it looks like "
"Really?" His laugh was short, sharp. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks exactly like what I was afraid of."
Carter turned. "She didn't "
"Don't," Jace snapped. "You've done enough."
"Jace, please," Sienna whispered. "I didn't I just froze."
He shook his head, pain flickering in his eyes. "You don't freeze when you know what you want."
The words hit harder than he meant them to.
"Wait," she said, stepping forward, but he stepped back again, like her touch would burn.
"Enjoy the rest of your day, Sienna," he said quietly. "And you " he looked at Carter, eyes cold "stay away from her."
Then he turned and walked away, shoulders stiff, not looking back once.
Sienna stood there, the echo of his footsteps fading into the wind. The park suddenly felt too empty, too loud.
Carter exhaled shakily. "I'm sorry. I didn't "
She turned on him, voice breaking. "Why did you do that?!"
"I … I thought
"You thought wrong!" Tears burned at her eyes. "You ruined everything."
"Sienna
"Go."
He hesitated. "Let me explain to him
"Just go!" she cried.
He swallowed hard, regret etched across his face, then slowly walked away.
Sienna sank onto the bench, shaking. Her lips still tingled not from the kiss itself, but from the mess it left behind.
She buried her face in her hands.
Jace's words replayed over and over. You don't freeze when you know what you want.
But she had known. She wanted him.
And now she'd lost him anyway.
That night, her phone lit up again one message from Carter, unread; another from Maya asking if she was okay; and nothing not a single word from Jace.
The silence hurt more than anything.
Sienna stared out the window at the same sky she'd once found comforting. Tonight, it felt colder.
Somewhere deep down, she knew this was only the beginning of something heavier a storm she didn't know how to stop.
And as the first tear slid down her cheek, she whispered to no one,
"I'm sorry."