Vanessa’s breath hitched audibly, and I could picture the doubt etched across her face. “Then why does it feel like you’re lying to me?” she asked, her voice breaking.
Logan sighed, the sound heavy with frustration. “You’re my priority right now,” he said softly, but there was strain beneath his words, as if he were trying to convince himself as much as her. “I’m here for you, Vanessa.”
I ducked into an empty classroom before they could notice me lingering. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat a painful reminder of what I’d just heard. His words—You’re my priority—echoed in my mind, over and over, like a mantra I couldn’t escape. It wasn’t the truth of them that hurt the most; it was hearing them directed at someone else.
After school, I saw them again. They were walking toward the parking lot together, their conversation quiet but intense. Vanessa’s voice was soft, almost pleading, while Logan’s expression was one of deep concern. His hands were tucked into his pockets, his posture tense, as though he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the sight of them together was enough to make me turn the other way. I gripped the strap of my bag tightly and kept walking, my heart pounding in my chest as the distance between us grew.
That night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and replaying every moment I’d ever shared with Logan in my mind. The way he used to look at me, the way his laugh could make everything feel a little less heavy, the way he made me feel seen even when I wanted to disappear. I missed him more than I could stand, the ache in my chest growing with every memory that surfaced.
But I couldn’t ignore the fact that Vanessa needed him now. She was broken in a way I’d never seen before, and Logan—Logan was the kind of person who couldn’t walk away from someone in pain, no matter what they’d done. That was who he was. That was part of why I’d fallen for him.
No matter how much I wanted to reach out, to tell him how much I missed him, I knew it wasn’t my place. Vanessa’s shadow loomed large between us, and as much as I hated it, I couldn’t bring myself to cross that line. For now, all I could do was watch from afar, my heart heavy with longing and regret, and hope that someday, somehow, things would be different.
That night, I told myself Logan was just trying to help Vanessa heal, that his words were meant to reassure her in a moment of vulnerability. I reminded myself of all the reasons why Logan was the way he was—loyal to a fault, always trying to fix what was broken.
But the truth was harder to swallow.
Logan wasn’t just protecting Vanessa. He was protecting himself—from the chaos, the drama, the fallout that would inevitably come with being with me. It was easier for him to anchor himself to Vanessa’s mess than to risk the storm that came with us.
The ache in my chest deepened as the realization settled in. Logan wasn’t choosing Vanessa over me—not in the way the whispers suggested—but he wasn’t choosing me either. And that hurt in a way I couldn’t even begin to explain.