Chapter 13 #2
It’s been over for a long time. This is when you finally move on, said the reasonable voice in her head.
They both accepted hugs and well-wishes from their loved ones.
In the distance, Ariana’s eyes were drawn to Leah.
She stood a little further away from the chaos, her presence like a shadow looming.
Leah’s breath caught as she met Ariana’s gaze.
She expected to see happiness—but instead, reflected in her familiar hazel eyes, was only pain.
“Grace!” Hannah beamed, turning to her and Leah. “Can you believe it? We’re engaged!” The words hung in the air—sweet, and yet so bitter.
“I know! It’s amazing,” Grace replied.
Leah looked down at the homemade card, slightly crumpled in Ariana’s hand. She seemed to grip it tighter by the second. Leah stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ariana in a gentle embrace.
“I’m so happy for you,” Leah whispered.
“Can we talk?” Ariana whispered back.
Leah shook her head. She pulled back and extended the same embrace to Hannah. Whatever her intention in choosing now to propose, the facts were simple: Ariana was no longer Leah’s—and that stripped away any right she had to be upset.
She had to know what Grace wrote in that damn birthday card.
As the night began to wind down, guests retired to bed one by one, leaving Leah and Grace on the balcony.
“Are you okay?” Grace asked, concern creeping into her voice.
“I’m okay, just a little tired.”
Leah didn’t want to ruin the moment for Ariana, or Hannah, or even Grace—who was undoubtedly happy for her sister despite the loyalty she held for Leah.
“I’m sorry about all that,” Grace said softly.
“About celebrating your sister’s engagement? You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I know. I just think Hannah could’ve chosen a better time, that’s all. That was never going to be easy for you.”
“Whether I saw it on social media or in person, it would sting the same.” Leah forced a smile.
Grace put her arm around Leah’s shoulder. They snuggled beneath a thick wool blanket, her elbows pressing against the wooden balcony rail. The air was cool enough that she could see her breath in the light spilling from the living room windows.
“Thank you for always being there for me,” Leah said, resting her head against Grace’s.
“It goes without saying.”
“I know, but she’s your sister—and technically Hannah is your almost sister-in-law—but you still make me feel valued and understood. I love you for that,” Leah confessed.
“Yeah, well, I can always get another sister.” Grace teased.
“Hey! What’s this about another sister?” a voice called out.
Grace and Leah jumped, spinning to find Ariana wrapped in a blanket similar to theirs.
“Stop ear-wigging, dip-shit,” Grace fired back.
“Dip-shit.” Leah burst out laughing. “I haven’t heard you call her that in years.”
“The childhood trauma. I’m getting flashbacks,” Ariana joked.
“Do you mind if I have a chat with Leah?” Ariana asked.
Grace nodded. “I was just about to check on Ezra.”
She kissed her sister on the cheek as she walked by—a sweet gesture.
“Where’s Hannah?” Leah asked.
“She’s gone to bed. Long day of traveling.”
“Have you had a nice night?”
“It’s been wonderful.”
Ariana shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She removed a folded piece of paper from her pocket. As she turned into the light, Leah realised it was the card.
“I wanted to ask you about this—” Ariana unfolded it lengthways, revealing a sweet hand-drawn picture on the front, clearly coloured by Ezra.
“Yeah, about that—”
“I feel the same,” Ariana said.
“Erm . . .okay, can I just—” Leah took the card from her.
She didn’t want to let on that it wasn’t from her until she read the inside.
The first part was generic—no weird pet names, just a simple birthday message and a joke about needing Ezra to do the artwork because Leah couldn’t. All above board.
Until—
The last paragraph.
I never thought we would share the same space
again with such comfortable familiarity.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to get
to know you outside of what we used to be.
My love for you never changed, it simply took on
a new meaning, and that’s okay.
I wish you all the happiness in the world.
God damn it, Grace.
Leah closed her eyes briefly, trying to compose herself. The paragraph was sweet, in a sense. It crossed a line—teetering between too far and still forgivable—but she could live with it.
And, in truth, she meant it.
Somehow Grace had climbed inside her head and arranged the words in a neater order.
What she couldn’t live with was the sign-off.
All my love,
Leah
Not just a simple from or even love. She might as well have written I will always love you in bold letters with a red heart and a lipstick kiss.
“When you say you feel the same, what do you mean exactly?” Leah asked.
“All of it.”
“Okay . . .still not 100% sure what you mean.”
“Do you need me to repeat everything you said?” Ariana laughed.
“It might help.”
And she did—almost word for word. Leah’s heart swelled. She looked at Ariana’s lips, pale pink tinged with blue as the cold crept in. She shouldn’t want to kiss them, but she did.
“Do you know, when we got home earlier, before I saw Hannah, you were going to say something.”
“I was?” Leah replied.
“Yeah, you said my name, then went quiet.”
“I don’t remember.”
She did. Vividly.
Every interaction with Ariana was imprinted in her brain like a childhood song. It didn’t matter how many years passed, or how many other songs played in between—she remembered every lyric.
“What is it you’re afraid of, Leah?” Ariana whispered.
“Excuse me?”
“You keep shutting me out. I just want to know what you’re feeling,” Ariana said.
“You lost any right to know my feelings years ago.” Leah snapped.
“See? This is what you do—you shut down, you don’t give us a chance to talk it out, to understand each other. That’s why—”
“Don’t you dare say that’s why we didn’t work!” Leah cut her off.
“I wasn’t going to—”
“How dare you! What gives you the right to question me after all these years? I don’t owe you anything. You owe me!”
“How do I owe you, Leah?”
“Did you forget what you did?”
Ariana sighed. “I did things in the most respectful way I could, given the circumstances.”
“Pftt, okay.” Leah turned toward the water.
“How would you have done it differently? I’d love to know.”
Leah snapped her head back. “I wouldn’t have left!” she yelled.
Ariana glanced at the glass doors. They were firmly shut. She put her finger to her lips in a panic.
“Are you shushing me?” Leah’s eyes widened.
“Can we dial it down a notch, please?” Ariana begged.
The wind howled softly. Leah shivered beneath the wool blanket. Silence stretched, heavy with their history.
“Would you understand if I said leaving you will always be my biggest regret?” Ariana said nervously.
“How can you say that?” Leah took a deep breath. “You can’t say things like that. It isn’t fair.”
“To who? Hannah? Because she knows it is—regardless of where it led me.”
Leah looked away. “I don’t know how you want me to take that.” Her voice trembled.
“I just want you to know it was never easy for me. I thought I was doing the right thing—me being with Hannah, and you . . .”
“Being heartbroken?” Leah scoffed.
“No—you moving on. Finding someone who could give you the love you deserved.”
“As you can see, that’s worked out really well for me.” Leah frowned.
Ariana stepped closer. “I thought I was doing the right thing,” she whispered.
Leah’s heart began to race.
“I don’t understand—”
“It was never about you, Leah. It wasn’t anything you did, or something you couldn’t give me.
I needed to understand what Hannah still meant to me, and I couldn’t do that and keep you.
I made peace with that decision, but ultimately it was the hardest decision of my life, and I need you to know that. ” Her voice broke.
“What about me?” Leah thought of all the sleepless nights, the solo coffee shop dates, the evenings crying over social media posts—all leading to this moment. Pride had kept her silent, masked the hurt, the questions, the confusion. Now it all came crashing down.
“What about what I wanted?” she asked softly.
“What was I supposed to do? Tell you I wasn’t sure of my feelings for Hannah and then have you wait while I figured it out?”
The air thickened. Silence pressed in, broken only by a distant chorus of chirps and squeals from the woods.
“I wouldn’t have waited—” Leah snapped. But they both knew she would have.
“Well, exactly. And I loved you too much to ask that of you.” Ariana’s voice lowered.
Leah shivered. “I think I should go inside—”
“You know . . .when Hannah proposed, that should have been the happiest moment of my life. Love is supposed to be simple. I forced a smile, but my heart felt a million miles away, tangled in the past . . .with you.” Ariana’s voice cracked, tears welling.
“I don’t know what to say—”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Fear flickered across Ariana’s face—had she said too much? Champagne courage had loosened her tongue.
“Where do we go from here, Ari?” Leah pleaded. She needed guidance, a sign, something.
Ariana shut down. “To bed. It’s getting late.”
“Okay.” Leah nodded.
Acceptance wasn’t hard-fought; she was used to Ariana shutting down. It had been the pattern since the breakup. No explanations, no drawn-out closure—just silence after a week of unanswered texts.
“Goodnight, Ari.”
“Good—night, Leah.”
As Leah slid the glass door open to the warmth of the lake house, she could’ve sworn Ariana said goodbye, not goodnight.