The silence after that day felt heavier than any noise.
I'd replayed every second in my head the park, Carter's sudden kiss, Jace's face when he saw us. That flash of disbelief and hurt in his eyes haunted me like a nightmare I couldn't wake from.
At school the next morning, the halls buzzed with gossip, but his name was the only sound that reached me. I spotted him once, across the quad, surrounded by a few classmates. He laughed at something one of them said, yet the sound was sharp, brittle. When his eyes met mine, the laughter stopped cold. He turned away before I could take a step.
I spent the next few hours pretending to focus in class, but my chest ached. My phone stayed stubbornly silent no messages, no calls. Not even a single "why."
By late afternoon I couldn't take it anymore. I walked to the parking lot, the same one where he usually left his motorcycle. It wasn't there, but something else caught my eye a small, dark wallet on the pavement, half under a bench.
I bent down and picked it up. The leather was familiar. The silver initials engraved at the corner J.C.
My breath caught.
Inside were the usual things his ID, a few folded bills but tucked in the inner slot was a small, worn photo. Of me.
It wasn't even a good one; my hair was messy, sunlight caught my eyes mid-blink. He must've taken it that day at the café when Maya had forced me into a candid picture. How had he even gotten this copy?
Behind it, folded small, was a slip of paper. A note written in his scrawled handwriting:
"She doesn't even know how much she changed me."
I sank onto the bench, the air leaving my lungs.
For a second, the world blurred every doubt, every rumor fading until all that existed was that single sentence. He did care.
And yet he'd walked away.
Anger bubbled under the hurt. I clenched the wallet, stood, and started walking no plan, just movement. My feet carried me through streets washed gold by sunset until I reached the tall gates of his apartment building.
The guard recognized me; I mumbled that I needed to return something. He nodded and waved me through.
By the time I reached his door, my pulse was a drumbeat in my ears. I knocked once. No answer. I was about to knock again when the door opened.
Jace stood there, hair messy, jaw tense, eyes darker than I'd ever seen them.
"Sienna." His voice was low, almost tired. "Why are you here?"
I held out the wallet. "You dropped this."
He glanced at it, then at me. "You could've just left it with someone."
"I wanted to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about." He turned, but I stepped inside before he could close the door.
"Jace, it's not what you think."
He laughed once, bitter. "I think I saw you kissing your ex, Sienna. I think that's pretty clear."
"It wasn't he just" My voice cracked. "He kissed me. I didn't even"
"Didn't what? Push him away? Because from where I stood, you didn't look very surprised."
His words hit like shards of glass. "You don't get to say that," I whispered. "You don't get to assume the worst of me after everything."
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing. "You don't get it. I told myself not to fall for you. And then I did. And the moment I do, you"
"I what?"
He looked at me then, really looked. The anger in his eyes flickered with something raw, almost breaking. "You let him touch you."
"I didn't let him," I said, voice shaking. "I froze. I was shocked. I" I held up the wallet. "I found this. I saw the photo, Jace. The note."
His jaw tightened. "You went through my stuff?"
"I wanted to understand why the guy who said he cared couldn't even look at me."
The air between us was sharp and charged.
He stepped closer. "Because I can't unsee it, Sienna. That moment. Him. You."
"And I can't stand you thinking I wanted it!" I shouted. "You think this doesn't hurt me too?"
Something in him shifted anger giving way to hurt. "Then why does it feel like I'm the only one fighting for us?"
"I've been fighting since the first day you looked at me like I wasn't enough," I said, tears burning my eyes. "But you keep pulling away the second it gets real."
He stopped moving. Silence stretched thin and trembling.
Then, softly: "You think I don't want you?"
I swallowed. "Then prove it."
He stared at me, eyes stormy, chest rising and falling hard. "Don't ask me to do that right now."
"Why not?"
"Because if I touch you, I won't stop."
The words hung between us, heavy with everything unspoken.
For a second, no one moved. The only sound was the rain starting to tap against the window. I could see the conflict in his face the part of him that wanted to stay angry, and the part that wanted to close the space between us.
I whispered, "Maybe you shouldn't stop."
He exhaled shakily, taking one step closer. My back met the wall. His hand brushed my cheek, hesitated, then dropped.
"I can't," he said, voice rough. "Not when I still see him every time I close my eyes."
"Then look at me," I said. "Right now. Just me."
His eyes met mine, and for a heartbeat, the world tilted. The tension was unbearable like standing too close to a flame.
He stepped back, as if burned. "I need time."
"Time?" I repeated. "You think time's going to erase what you feel?"
He didn't answer.
So I pressed the wallet into his chest, my hand trembling. "Then take your time. But don't pretend this means nothing."
I turned to leave, the weight in my chest making it hard to breathe. I reached the door then heard him whisper my name.
I stopped.
He looked down at the wallet, then back at me. "That note you read it wasn't finished."
My heart stuttered. "What?"
He walked closer, holding my gaze. "It actually said, She doesn't even know how much she changed me… and how much it scares me."
Something inside me cracked open.
Before I could say anything, the door behind us swung wider. Carter stood there, rain-soaked, his eyes darting between us.
"Sienna," he said breathlessly, "you left your phone in my car. I"
Jace's expression turned to stone.
Carter stepped in, holding the phone out, oblivious to the storm in the room. "We need to talk."
"Not now," I whispered.
But he didn't listen. "I meant what I said yesterday, Sienna. I still love you."
Jace froze. My throat went dry.
Then before I could reactCarter leaned forward and kissed me.
It wasn't deep or long, but it was enough.
Enough for Jace to see.
Enough to undo every word I'd said.
He didn't speak. Didn't shout. He just looked at me once eyes hollow, heartbreak carved into every line of his face then walked past both of us and out into the rain.
"Jace!" I called, but my voice barely reached him.
By the time I ran after him, the elevator doors had already closed.
I stood there, the echo of that final look burning through me.
The wallet was still on the floor, its photo half-peeking out, as if reminding me what I'd just lost.
And for the first time, I wasn't sure how to fix it.