47 you posted it?
By the time all five of us are in the same place again, it already feels different.
Not in a dramatic, obvious way. No one says anything about it at first, no one points it out, but it's there-in the way things settle instead of spark, in the way I'm not bracing myself for every interaction like I used to.
It's lighter. Less like we're performing something and more like we're just... here.
Jess is talking too loudly about something that doesn't matter, Declan is matching her energy like it's a competition, Riley's half-paying attention but clearly tracking everything at once, and Caiden-
Caiden is leaning back in his chair, looking like he always does. Except he's not. And apparently, neither am I. Because it takes less than a minute for it to click. Not for me, for them.
Jess stops mid-sentence.
Declan actually goes quiet.
Riley just looks between us once, slow and deliberate, like she's confirming something she already suspected.
And then Jess's eyes widen. "Oh my God."
I don't even have to ask what she means. I can feel it.
It's in the way I'm not avoiding looking at him. In the way he's not either. In the way there's no tension sitting between us anymore, no edge, no need to prove something. It's just... there.
Jess points between us like she's about to expose a conspiracy. "No. No, you guys-"
Declan leans forward, squinting slightly, then breaks into a grin. "Oh, that's not fake anymore."
I roll my eyes, but it doesn't land the same. It's softer, automatic instead of defensive.
Riley just nods once. "Yeah."
"That's it?" Jess turns to her. "That's all you're going to say?"
"You can see it," Riley says simply.
Jess turns back to us, looking like she's about to combust. "You can literally see it. It's in your faces."
I hate that she's right, because she is. It's not something we said, not something we announced, but it's obvious anyway.
In the way Caiden looks at me like he's not holding anything back. In the way I don't feel the need to look away first. In the way everything between us feels settled instead of staged.
Jess makes a high-pitched noise. "Oh my God, I knew it."
Declan snorts. "You always think you know everything."
"And I was right."
"You're accidentally right most of the time."
"Still right."
I shake my head slightly, trying not to smile at how quickly they've turned this into their thing. "Can we not make this a whole-"
"You're together," Jess cuts in, completely ignoring me. "Like, actually together."
I hesitate for half a second.
Then, "Yeah."
She loses it.
"I knew it," she repeats, louder this time, grabbing Riley's arm like she needs physical confirmation. "I literally knew it."
Riley pulls her arm back with a small smile. "You've said that about everything."
"And this time I'm correct."
Declan leans back, watching us with open amusement. "So we're just not even pretending anymore?"
"Nope," Caiden says easily.
And there's something about how simple that sounds coming from him that settles something in my chest.
Jess looks like she might start planning something immediately, which is exactly when I decide to redirect before this turns into something worse.
"So," I say, cutting in, "there's actually something I need to ask."
That gets her attention instantly. "What?"
I look straight at her. "You posted it?"
There's a pause, a very specific kind of pause.
Jess freezes.
Riley's head turns slowly toward her.
Declan already looks entertained.
Caiden just glances between us, like he knows this is about to be something.
Jess blinks once. "Posted... what?"
"Jess."
She presses her lips together, which is the first sign she's about to either lie or spiral. Or both.
"The car photos," I say, keeping my voice steady. "The ones that started everything."
Another pause.
And then-
"Oh."
Riley exhales slowly. "Jess."
Jess lifts her hands immediately, already defensive. "Okay, wait-before you get mad-"
"So you did," I cut in.
"It was a private account," she says quickly. "It wasn't even supposed to-like, I didn't think it would spread like that-"
"You posted them," I repeat.
"I was helping," she insists, like that makes it better. "You guys were clearly not getting anywhere on your own."
Declan actually laughs at that.
"Not helping," Riley says flatly.
Jess points at me. "Look at you now!"
"That doesn't mean-"
"It worked," she says, doubling down. "You're together. You're welcome."
Riley turns fully toward her now, unimpressed. "You didn't tell me."
"That's what you're mad about?" Jess asks, incredulous.
"Yes."
Jess throws her hands up. "I knew you'd shut it down!"
"Because it's insane."
"It's effective."
Declan leans back, grinning. "I'm with Jess on this one."
"Of course you are," Riley mutters.
I sit there for a second, letting it all settle. Because yeah-my first instinct is to be annoyed. It wasn't my choice. It wasn't something I agreed to. But at the same time-
I glance at Caiden. At the way he's watching this play out, calm, not tense, not distant. At the way everything between us feels now.
And I exhale.
"You're actually insane," I tell Jess.
"I prefer 'strategic,'" she says immediately.
I shake my head, but I can't stop the small smile that slips through. "Don't do that again."
"Noted," she says, which absolutely means nothing.
Riley sighs quietly, like she's already accepted this is a lost cause.
Declan is still entertained.
And Caiden-
He doesn't say anything. He just meets my eyes for a second, something quiet and knowing in it.
And that's enough. Because as chaotic as everything that led here was-
as out of control as it felt at the time-
it still led here.
To something real.
And for once-
I don't feel like I need to fight that.