Buzz.
Buzz.
Clara pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the screen. Her expression shifted, not quite annoyed, not quite angry.
Somewhere in between.
She stared at the caller ID, then tapped decline and set it face-down on the coffee table.
"Everything good?" Liam asked.
"Yeah. It's nothing."
The phone lit up against the table.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Clara didn't touch it this time. Just let it vibrate against the wood.
Liam watched her jaw tighten. "You sure about that?"
"It's just Kyle." She said the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth.
Liam's stomach dropped. 'Kyle. Of course.'
"Oh." He tried to keep his voice neutral. "Your boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," Clara corrected. "Very ex."
Liam blinked. "Wait, what?"
"We broke up. Two weeks ago."
The phone lit up again. Buzz. Buzz. Clara grabbed it, switched it to silent, and flipped it face-down like that would make it stop.
Liam just stared at her. "You broke up?"
"Yeah." Clara tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I know it's probably weird hearing it like this. I would've told you sooner, but..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
"But you couldn't," Liam finished quietly.
Clara nodded. "Yeah. Because of him."
Liam leaned back into the couch.
Kyle and Clara breaking up was the last thing he'd expected to hear today. They'd been together for years, all through high school and into college from what he'd known.
"What happened?" he asked.
Clara sighed and leaned back into the cushions. Her grey sweater pulled tight across her chest as she crossed her arms, making a soft rise in her sweater as her hand settled there.
"He just... got worse, you know? All that jealous, controlling stuff from before?" she said. "It never stopped. It just kept getting worse and worse."
"Yeah, I remember how he was," Liam said, his voice tight.
'I remember all of it. The shoves. The threats. Him making sure I stayed away from you.'
"That got even worse after you left," Clara said quietly.
"Way worse. He started going through my phone. Asking where I was every minute. Getting pissed if I even talked to other guys." She paused. "Even if they were just asking for directions."
Liam stayed quiet, letting her talk.
"When you left for college," Clara continued, softer now, "he told me I had to stop talking to you completely. Said if I really cared about our relationship, I wouldn't keep texting you or calling you." She looked down at her hands.
"And I... I listened. I actually listened to him."
"Clara..."
"I know it was stupid," she said quickly.
"Trust me, I know. But he just kept pushing and pushing until I felt like I was the one being unreasonable. Like wanting to keep in touch with my best friend was somehow wrong." She laughed bitterly.
"He made me feel crazy for even wanting to text you."
Liam felt that familiar anger coiling in his chest. The same anger he'd felt every time Kyle had cornered him.
Every time he'd been shoved into a locker with a warning hissed in his ear. Every time he'd had to smile and pretend everything was fine because he didn't want Clara to feel torn between them.
"That's why I kept visiting your mom," Clara said.
"I couldn't talk to you, but I could still ask about you. And your mom would tell me everything. What classes you were taking, if you were eating okay, if you'd made any friends. We'd just sit there drinking tea and talk about you for like an hour."
"So what made you finally leave?" Liam asked.
Clara's expression darkened. "He got arrested."
"Arrested?"
"Yeah. Turns out he was dealing." She shook her head. "Pills, coke, whatever people wanted. He'd been doing it for months and I had no idea. I thought he just had money from his parents or whatever, but no. He was selling drugs."
"Shit."
"Yeah." Clara's voice went hard.
"The cops raided his apartment one night. Found everything. He got arrested and charged with distribution. His parents bailed him out, but..." She trailed off.
"That's when I ended it. I couldn't be with someone like that. Someone who'd been lying to me that whole time."
Liam's jaw clenched. 'Dealing drugs? That explained where all that money came from.'
"When you told him you were done," Liam asked carefully, "what did he say?"
Clara's hands twisted together in her lap.
"He lost it. Started yelling, saying I was abandoning him when he needed me most. That if I really loved him, I'd stand by him through this." She let out a bitter laugh.
"Can you believe that? He lied to me for years, got arrested for dealing drugs, and somehow I was the bad guy for leaving."
"That's bullshit," Liam said, his voice rising.
"I know. But he didn't see it that way. He kept calling, showing up at my place, trying to convince me to give him another chance." Clara's voice dropped.
"That's when I knew I had to get out. Not just out of the relationship, but out of here completely. He knew where I lived, where I went to school, everything."
The phone on the table lit up again. Another call. Clara didn't even glance at it.
"He's been calling nonstop since he found out I transferred schools," she said.
"Ever since he got out on bail, he won't leave me alone."
Liam frowned. "Does he know you transferred to my school?"
"I don't think so. At least I hope not." Clara bit her lip.
"That's part of why I came by this morning. To tell your mom I'd transferred and to... I don't know. Maybe warn her in case he showed up looking for me."
Liam's hands curled into fists on his lap.
"I always knew something was wrong when you just stopped talking to me," he finally said.
"It didn't make sense. One day we're texting about stupid stuff, and the next you're just... gone."
"I'm sorry," Clara said quietly. "I should've found a way to tell you what was happening. But he watched everything I did. Every text, every call. I couldn't reach out without him knowing."
"How'd you even get my number this morning? I changed it when I moved for school."
Clara stood and walked over to the small desk near the window.
She pointed at the clipboard hanging on the wall, the same one that had been there since he was a kid. His mom used it for phone numbers and reminders.
"Your mom told me ages ago to take your number from here if I ever needed it," Clara explained.
"You wrote it down before you left for school. She said it was just in case something happened and she needed to reach you."
Liam walked over and looked at the clipboard. His current number was written at the top in his own handwriting.
"I never called though," Clara admitted. "Even after we broke up, I just... I didn't know if you'd even want to hear from me after I ghosted you like that." She looked up at him.
"But this morning, when I found your mom on the floor, that number was the only thing I could think of."
They were standing close now. Close enough that Liam could see the faint freckles scattered across her nose.
Close enough to notice her mascara had smudged slightly from crying earlier.
"I never liked him," Liam said.
Clara let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I know. You made that pretty obvious."
"No, I mean..." Liam hesitated. "It was worse than you knew. He didn't just act like a jealous boyfriend around you. When you weren't there, he was completely different."
Clara's eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"
"He bullied me," Liam said, keeping his voice even. "Told me to stay away from you or he'd make me regret it." He paused. "It happened all the time. Pretty much every day you weren't around."
Clara's eyes went wide. "What? Liam, why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because you were happy." The words came out simpler than he meant them.
"Or at least you seemed happy. And I didn't want to mess that up just because he was being an asshole to me behind your back."
"That's..." Clara shook her head, her voice rising slightly. "That's really stupid. You should've told me."
"Yeah, probably."
"I would've broken up with him right then if I'd known he was doing that to you."
"Would you though?" Liam gave her a sad smile. "Back then? Really? You would've just believed me and ended things?"
Clara opened her mouth, then closed it. Her shoulders sagged. "I... I don't know. Maybe not. He had this way of twisting things, making me doubt myself." She looked down. "I hate that. I hate that I let him get in my head like that."
"It's not your fault."
"But I should've seen it. Should've noticed something was off." Her voice cracked. "I hate that he did that to you. I hate that I stopped talking to you because of him. I hate all of it."
She stepped closer, and the space between them shrank to almost nothing.
"What can I do to make it up to you?" Clara whispered.
Time froze.
Sunlight stopped moving across the wall. The dust particles in the air hung perfectly still. Clara's face locked mid-expression, lips slightly parted, eyes glistening.
appeared in glowing letters directly in his vision.
[Option 1: "You don't owe me anything." +0 Lust Points]
[Option 2: "There's only one way to make it up to me." Kiss her. +2 Lust Points]
'Wow, the system's really pushing it today. First time it's trying to make me do something this drastic.'
Liam stared at the second option.
[98/100]
'Two points. That's exactly what I need to hit one hundred.' He exhaled slowly. 'Maybe there's no need to panic.'
He made his choice.
Time crashed back into motion.
"There's only one way to make it up to me," Liam said.
Clara blinked. "What?"
He didn't answer. Just leaned in and kissed her.
Clara froze only for a breath before she grabbed his shirt and pulled him in like she was starving for him.
The kiss turned filthy fast, tongues sliding, her lips wet and eager. Liam gripped her hips and yanked her tight against him.
Clara moaned into his mouth, grinding up against him without thinking, her body begging for more as his hand started to roam.
When they finally pulled apart, both of them were breathing harder than before.
Clara looked up at him, cheeks flushed, lips swollen from the kiss.
"That was something."
Above her head, the number shifted.
[100/100]
Liam searched her eyes. "You didn't hate it, right?"
She shook her head, breath unsteady. "No."
"Good." He pulled her closer. "Because I've been waiting years for this."