William has always kept his distance from his sister Layla's boyfriends-until Colton arrives.
With his charm and easygoing nature, Colton quickly becomes a welcome presence in William's life.
As the two bond over shared interests and late-night co...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
TWO WEEKS HAD PASSED since the kiss, yet the aftermath still rippled through Colton and William’s lives. The bond that had once felt unshakable was now threadbare, held together by little more than polite nods and awkward avoidance. Conversations that once flowed effortlessly were replaced by stilted greetings or total silence. Neither spoke of the moment that had caused the rift, but its weight hung heavily between them, growing larger with each passing day.
Colton dealt with the tension the only way he knew how—by avoiding it entirely. He threw himself into rebuilding his relationship with Layla. She seemed more open to his efforts recently, which gave him hope that they could find their way back to how things used to be. He planned small surprises—flowers left at her dorm door, late-night coffee dates, even a spontaneous picnic in the park. Each gesture felt like a step forward, like he was repairing something important in his life.
And yet, Colton couldn’t stop his mind from wandering back to William. The memory of the kiss wasn’t one he wanted to hold onto, but it lingered. It wasn’t the kiss itself that unsettled him—it was what it represented. The confusion in William’s eyes before he ran. The way Colton felt frozen, unable to process it in the moment. He’d pushed William away instinctively, but now he questioned if his reaction had been too harsh.
Despite his efforts to move forward, Colton found himself avoiding the house more often than not. When he wasn’t at Layla’s dorm, he buried himself in work or his studies. If he had to be home, he made sure to time his presence so he didn’t run into William. It wasn’t sustainable, but for now, it felt safer.
William, on the other hand, had taken a different approach to cope with the situation. The weight of guilt pressed down on him every time he thought about Colton, every time he replayed that moment in his mind. It wasn’t just the kiss—it was everything leading up to it. His feelings, bottled up and ignored for so long, had exploded in the worst way possible. Now, every time he saw Colton—or even thought about him—he felt a sharp pang of shame.
To distract himself, William began to branch out at school. For years, he had kept mostly to himself, content with a small circle of acquaintances and a focus on his studies. But now, he started joining conversations at lunch, laughing at jokes during class, and even making plans with a few classmates outside of school. It wasn’t that he wanted to replace Colton, but he needed something—someone—to fill the void.
Still, William couldn’t entirely escape his thoughts. The guilt of what he’d done simmered beneath the surface, always present no matter how many new friends he made or how much he tried to distract himself. He avoided Colton as much as Colton avoided him, retreating to his room or leaving the house whenever he thought Colton might be around. The distance felt like both a relief and a punishment.
The few moments when they did cross paths were excruciating. A shared glance in the hallway. A polite, mumbled “hey” before one of them quickly left the room. Each interaction was like walking on glass—fragile and painful. Layla noticed, of course. She wasn’t blind to the sudden shift between her boyfriend and brother.
