Epilogue 2
LIAM
The reception is in full swing. Loud music. Laughter even louder. But all I can hear is the pounding in my skull and the hollow echo in my chest.
And me? I’m fucking miserable.
Phern plops into the empty chair beside me, cheeks flushed from dancing, a half-eaten cupcake in one hand and curiosity in her eyes. “Look how happy they are.”
I follow her gaze, and yeah, it’s a sight. Sam and Charlie are on the dance floor, lost in each other like the rest of us don’t exist. The way he looks at her, like she hung the stars. And the way she clings to him, face lit up like he’s her whole damn world?
It guts me.
I take a long swig of beer, but it’s not strong enough. I need something darker. Meaner. Something that burns.
Phern nudges me, catching the shift in my expression. “Everything okay?” she asks, more careful now. “I noticed Olive didn’t come tonight.”
Her name hits like a sucker punch.
I swallow hard, stare straight ahead. “Yeah. ”
Phern just looks at me. Doesn’t push. Doesn’t blink. Just waits.
I sigh and rub a hand down my face. “She didn’t come because she left.”
“What?”
There it is. The crack in her voice, the first break in the lightness of the evening.
“She left this morning,” I say, trying to sound casual. It doesn’t work. “Said this whole thing was a mistake. Me. Us. Everything.”
Phern’s face softens, the cupcake forgotten in her lap. “Liam.”
I laugh, bitter and low. “Guess happy endings aren’t for everyone.”
Across the room, Sam dips Charlie, and she laughs like her heart is weightless.
And mine? Mine feels like it’s still out there somewhere on the tarmac, standing beside a woman who couldn’t look me in the eye when she told me goodbye.
And it’s all my damn fault.