Ivey's Pov
The café was warm. Safe. The kind of place that made you want to slow down. But no matter how many sips of coffee I took, I couldn't quiet the noise in my head.
Josh's voice. His hands. That girl. Her lipstick smudged across his mouth like a stain that wouldn't come off my memory.
Lucas had gone up to grab napkins, and I sat there staring at the empty plate in front of me, my stomach turning despite the food. My hands were shaking. Just a little. But enough.
When he slid back into the booth across from me, I couldn't look at him.
He noticed immediately. "Hey… you okay?"
I opened my mouth to say yes.
But I couldn't say anything and before I knew it…
Lucas was already sliding into my side of the booth before I realized I was crying.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, hands covering my face. "I don't even know why, I was fine, I was fine a second ago—"
"You don't have to apologize," he said softly, sitting beside me now, his arm resting along the back of the booth but he didn't touch me or at least not until I leaned into him.
"It's like I keep reliving it," I said, barely breathing. "I keep seeing them. Her. Him. I feel stupid. So stupid."
"You're not stupid, Ivey," he said, more firmly this time. "What he did. That wasn't about you. That was his choice. His mistake."
"But I let him," I said, voice breaking. "I let him hurt me. Again and again. I kept telling myself it wasn't that bad. That I was overreacting."
Lucas's voice was low but fierce. "That's what people like him do. They make you question your own pain. Make you feel small so you won't leave."
I shook my head. "And I stayed. I stayed."
"You stayed because you loved him," he said. "Because you believed in the good in him. That doesn't make you weak. That makes you human."
Tears slid silently down my cheeks, falling onto my lap. I didn't even try to stop them.
Lucas shifted so he was facing me fully now, legs turned toward mine, hands resting palm-up between us. He didn't grab me. Didn't rush me. Just waited.
And when I reached out, placing my trembling fingers into his, he held them like they were made of glass.
"I don't know how to be okay again," I whispered.
"You don't have to know," he said. "You just have to keep going. One breath at a time. And I'll be here. Every step."
That broke something deeper. But this time, when I cried, it wasn't from being shattered. It was from being held.
And for the first time, the pieces didn't feel quite so sharp.
Lucas's Pov
I hate to see her like this. She seems so… so hurt and so weak.
No — Ivey is strong. I know that.
It's just that she's been carrying too much for too long.
And now it's finally too heavy.
Watching her cry like that, right here in this booth, made something twist deep in my chest.
She kept wiping her face like she was ashamed of the tears, like showing emotion meant she was falling apart.
But all I could think was how brave it was, to let someone see the wreckage you usually hide.
I wanted to fix it. I wanted to make it all go away.
But I knew better.
You can't fix heartbreak like a bruised knee. You just have to sit with it.
So that's what I did.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said quietly.
Her hand was still in mine, fingers curled loosely like she wasn't sure if she deserved comfort.
God, if she only knew. She could have screamed at me, pushed me away, said something cruel, and I still wouldn't have moved.
Because she's Ivey.
And she's more than what he made her believe.
She sniffed, finally looking up at me. Her eyes were red and watery, but still beautiful in that way only real things are.
"I don't get it," she said, voice rough. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
I exhaled slowly. "Because someone should be."
Her lip trembled again, but this time, she didn't look away.
I wanted to reach out and brush her hair behind her ear, or wipe her cheek, but I didn't.
Not until she leaned her head against my shoulder again, her breath slowing just enough to tell me she was letting go.
Just for now.
Just enough to breathe.
And I promised myself that I would be the one who stayed.
The one who didn't break her.