Chapter 18

dang im writing a lot be grateful 🙂

lara’s laugh died a slow, awkward death when she realized no one else was laughing.

yoonchae was staring at sophia like she’d just confessed to a felony. sophia’s ears burned, dani’s hand still very much tangled in her hair like she owned the place.

“uh—” lara cleared her throat. “so. fake dating era?”

dani smirked. “wow, you’re quick.”

“you’re not subtle,” yoonchae muttered in korean, shoving the fallen pancake into the trash. “at all.”

sophia swallowed. this was spiraling faster than she planned.

from the doorway, a familiar voice cut through the tension like a blade.

“so it is real.”

manon.

every head snapped toward her. she stood there with crossed arms, unreadable, eyes flicking between dani’s hand in sophia’s hair and sophia’s very guilty face.

“manon—” sophia started, stepping forward instinctively.

“don’t,” manon said calmly. too calmly. “just… don’t.”

dani straightened, dropping the playful act immediately. “look, if this is about megan—”

“this is about everything,” manon snapped, the composure cracking. “you disappear into each other overnight, megan’s crying, sophia’s suddenly asking about ‘legs still working,’ and i’m supposed to just—what—clap?”

lara slowly stood. “okay! maybe we should all—”

“no,” manon said. “i want the truth. right now.”

silence stretched.

sophia’s chest felt tight. this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. this was supposed to be clean. controlled. a performance.

she looked at dani.

dani wasn’t looking at manon. she was looking at sophia. searching.

that’s when it hit sophia—harder than any guilt before.

dani didn’t know.

not really.

sophia took a shaky breath. “it’s fake.”

manon blinked. “what?”

“the dating,” sophia said, voice breaking despite herself. “it’s fake. i lied. about… about megan. about everything.”

dani’s smile vanished.

“soph,” she said quietly. “what do you mean you lied?”

sophia turned fully to her now, eyes glossy. “megan never said she didn’t like you. i said that because—” she laughed bitterly. “because i’m selfish. because i wanted manon back and i didn’t know how else to do it.”

the room went dead silent.

yoonchae’s mouth was open. lara had stopped breathing altogether.

dani took a step back, hurt flashing across her face before it hardened into something colder. “so you used me.”

“no,” sophia rushed. “i mean—yes, but—i never meant to hurt you, i swear—”

“congrats,” dani cut in, voice flat. “you did.”

manon looked like she’d been punched. “sophia…”

“i know,” sophia whispered. “i know i messed up. i just— you’re my home, manon. and when i lost you, i panicked.”

megan chose that moment to appear at the top of the stairs, eyes red, arms wrapped around herself.

“so,” she said softly. “none of this was real?”

no one answered.

dani exhaled slowly, nodding to herself. “cool. great. love that for me.” she grabbed her bag. “i need air.”

she brushed past megan without a word and disappeared out the door.

the slam echoed.

sophia felt like she might collapse.

manon didn’t yell. didn’t cry.

she just looked at sophia—really looked at her—and said quietly,
“you didn’t just break hearts, soph. you broke trust.”

and somehow, that hurt worse than anything else.

the house stayed unnervingly quiet after dani left.

no music. no chatter. not even yoonchae’s usual humming.

megan was the first to move. she stepped fully into the kitchen, placing her mug down with a soft clink that sounded way too loud in the silence. “so,” she said, forcing steadiness into her voice, “guess i should apologize for existing, right?”

lara winced. “megan—”

“no,” megan cut in, eyes shining. “i wanna hear it. was i just… convenient? like a prop in whatever this was?”

sophia shook her head violently. “no. god, no. you didn’t do anything wrong. this is on me. all of it.”

megan let out a shaky laugh. “funny. everyone keeps saying that, but i’m still the one who got pushed out of her own room.”

manon’s jaw tightened. she looked at megan. “i shouldn’t have said that to you last night. i was angry and i assumed things.” then, softer, “i’m sorry.”

megan blinked, clearly not expecting that. “…thank you.”

yoonchae shifted awkwardly. “uh. so. group meeting vibes?”

lara nodded immediately. “yes. absolutely. before this gets worse.”

sophia felt sick. “i don’t think i deserve to be in that conversation.”

manon turned to her slowly. “you don’t get to decide that. running away is what got us here.”

that stung. because it was true.

a beat passed.

“we should find dani,” yoonchae said quietly. “before she does something stupid. she gets… dramatic when she’s hurt.”

lara grabbed her keys. “i’ll drive. megan, you coming?”

megan hesitated, then nodded. “yeah. i owe her an explanation too.”

the front door shut behind them, leaving sophia and manon alone for the first time since everything exploded.

the air between them felt heavy. fragile.

sophia sat down slowly at the table. “you hate me,” she whispered.

manon didn’t answer right away. she leaned against the counter, arms crossed, eyes fixed on a crack in the wall. “i don’t hate you,” she said finally. “but i don’t recognize you either.”

sophia’s throat closed. “i was scared.”

“so was i,” manon snapped, emotion finally breaking through. “you think it didn’t hurt watching you pull away? watching you choose everyone else but me?”

“i chose you,” sophia said desperately. “that’s the problem. i chose you in the worst possible way.”

manon laughed humorlessly. “yeah. you did.”

silence again. but this one wasn’t empty—it was full of things they were too afraid to say.

outside, somewhere down the street, dani sat on a curb with her head in her hands, phone buzzing nonstop in her pocket.

she ignored it.

because for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t sure who she could trust anymore.

dani let the phone buzz until it stopped.

then again.

and again.

finally, she dragged it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.

my love💕 (6 missed calls)

chaeeee

balas mom

she scoffed, locking it without replying. the streetlight above her flickered, bathing the sidewalk in that ugly yellow glow that always made things feel worse than they already were.

“fake,” she muttered to herself. “all of it.”

footsteps approached.

dani stiffened. “i swear to god, if that’s sophia—”

“it’s not.”

megan’s voice was quiet. careful.

dani looked up. megan stood a few feet away, hands shoved into her hoodie sleeves like she didn’t know what to do with them. lara and yoonchae lingered farther back, giving space.

“go away,” dani said, eyes burning. “i already humiliated myself enough.”

megan shook her head. “i won’t. not until you hear me out.”

dani laughed sharply. “hear what? that you secretly hated me? because trust me, sophia already sold that story real well.”

megan flinched. “i never said that. i never even thought that.”

dani’s smile faltered—just for a second.

“i liked you,” megan continued softly. “i still do. but i didn’t know how to say it without ruining everything. and then last night, manon came into my room crying and said sophia didn’t care about anyone but you and that you two wanted space, and i thought… i thought i was the problem.”

dani swallowed.

“this morning,” megan went on, voice cracking, “you told me you didn’t like me. and it felt like confirmation. like i’d imagined every look, every laugh.”

dani stood abruptly. “stop. please.”

megan stepped closer anyway. “sophia lied to both of us.”

silence.

dani stared at the pavement. “so i was just… a pawn.”

“no,” megan said firmly. “you were collateral damage. and i’m so sorry.”

lara finally spoke from behind. “we all are.”

yoonchae nodded. “especially sophia. she’s… not okay.”

dani scoffed. “funny. she seemed pretty comfortable this morning.”

“she wasn’t,” yoonchae said. “she was shaking.”

that made dani pause.

“…she was?”

megan nodded. “she hates herself right now. not that it fixes anything. but it’s true.”

dani exhaled slowly, pressing her palms into her eyes. when she dropped her hands, they were trembling.

“i don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “i trusted her. i trusted all of you.”

megan hesitated, then reached out, gently taking dani’s hand. “then don’t decide tonight. just… come home. please.”

after a long moment, dani squeezed her hand once. “okay. but i’m not promising forgiveness.”

“that’s fair,” megan said, managing a small smile.

back at the house, sophia sat curled on the edge of the couch, knees pulled to her chest. manon stood by the window, pretending to watch the street.

headlights swept across the room.

manon stiffened. “they’re back.”

the door opened.

dani stepped in first.

their eyes met.

and in that moment, sophia knew—whatever happened next would either tear them all apart…

or force the truth out into the open, no matter how much it hurt.

no one spoke at first.

the door clicked shut behind dani, and the sound felt final—like a period at the end of a sentence no one wanted to finish.

sophia stood up immediately. “dani—”

“don’t,” dani said, not loudly, but with enough weight to stop her cold. “not yet.”

sophia froze, hands clenched at her sides.

megan slipped off her shoes, lingering near the stairs like she didn’t know where she belonged anymore. lara and yoonchae hovered by the kitchen, pretending not to eavesdrop while absolutely eavesdropping.

dani took a breath and looked around the room. “i need everyone to hear this. because i’m done finding out things secondhand.”

manon straightened. “okay.”

dani’s eyes finally locked back onto sophia. “was any of it real?”

sophia’s voice came out small. “my feelings for you? yes. my intentions? no.”

dani blinked. “explain.”

sophia swallowed. “i love you. not like that—but you’re my best friend. when the rooms changed, i panicked. i felt like i was losing everything at once. i told myself i was fixing things, but really… i was controlling them.”

dani laughed bitterly. “so you decided my heart was collateral.”

“i know,” sophia whispered. “and i hate myself for it.”

“self-hate isn’t accountability,” dani shot back.

that one hurt. because it was true.

megan took a tentative step forward. “dani, for what it’s worth… when you were ‘fake dating’ sophia, it didn’t make me jealous. it just made me think i’d imagined what we had.”

dani turned to her. the anger in her face softened into something more fragile. “i never wanted to hurt you.”

“i know,” megan said. “that’s why it hurt so much.”

silence again.

manon finally spoke, voice steady but tired. “this started because no one said what they actually felt. including me.”

all eyes turned to her.

“i assumed,” manon continued, “that sophia would always come back to me without me having to ask. and when she didn’t, i got defensive. i pushed megan away, and i made dani feel like an outsider.”

sophia looked up sharply. “manon…”

“no,” manon said softly. “i need to own that.”

dani studied her for a long moment. “okay. so now what?”

no one had an answer.

yoonchae broke the tension with a hesitant, “maybe… boundaries?”

lara nodded. “and honesty. like, brutally so.”

dani exhaled. “i need space. from you,” she said to sophia. “not forever. but right now, i can’t be your pawn or your shield.”

sophia nodded immediately, tears spilling over. “i understand.”

dani turned to megan. “and i need to figure out what i feel without lies in the middle.”

megan smiled sadly. “same.”

dani grabbed her bag again. “i’m staying at my sister’s tonight.”

manon frowned. “you don’t have to—”

“i do,” dani said gently. “or i’ll explode.”

she headed for the door, pausing only once. “i don’t hate you, soph. but you broke something. and it’s gonna take time.”

the door closed behind her.

this time, the silence didn’t feel explosive.

it felt… aftermath.

manon sat down heavily on the couch. sophia sank beside her, not touching.

“i really screwed up,” sophia whispered.

manon looked at her, eyes soft but guarded. “yeah. you did.”

outside, dani breathed in the night air, phone buzzing again.

inside, nothing was resolved—but for the first time, nothing was hidden either.

and that was the beginning of whatever came next.

t/w: self harm (make sure you do not take self harm lightly, you aren’t alone in this 💕)

megan didn’t say goodnight.

she slipped upstairs while everyone was still wrapped in their own guilt, her footsteps quiet, practiced. the click of her bedroom door sounded harmless—normal.

until the lock turned.

downstairs, no one noticed at first.

minutes passed.

then longer.

lara was the one who frowned first. “has anyone… seen megan?”

sophia’s stomach dropped.

manon was already moving. she took the stairs two at a time, knocking once, then again. “meg?”

no answer.

“megan,” manon said louder, panic threading into her voice. “open the door.”

inside, megan sat on the floor with her back against the bed. she knew exactly where to find what she needed. when she’d first moved in, she kept a shoebox of things for almost every situation under her bed.

the razor cut across her skin once.
then twice, and a third time.

she felt stupid for crying earlier. stupid for believing things that weren’t said out loud. stupid for thinking she could just be fine.

quiet people don’t make messes, she thought.
they disappear instead.

the knock came again, harder.
“megan,” sophia’s voice cracked through the door. “please.”

megan pressed her forehead to her knees, breathing shallow. she didn’t answer. answering meant explaining. explaining meant existing.

outside, yoonchae’s voice trembled. “the door’s locked.”

lara’s hands were already shaking. “this isn’t like her.”

manon swallowed hard. dread settling deep. “meg, unlock the door right now. i’m serious.”

silence.

then—a sound. small. wrong.

that was all it took.

“call for help,” manon said sharply, fear overtaking her completely. “now.”

the next moments blurred—voices raised, footsteps rushing, the weight of realization crashing down on all of them at once.

because whatever misunderstandings they’d been drowning in, whatever jealousy or guilt or pride had fueled this mess—

none of it mattered more than her being alive.

and behind the locked door, megan broke.

2149 words 

😀