The Price of Regret

3. unanswered

Scarlett sat at her kitchen table, a cup of coffee growing cold beside her laptop. The bar exam was less than a week sway, and she was supposed to be deep in practice questions. But the soft buzz of her phone on the counter pulled her focus every few minutes.

Nick Rivers: Scar, stop ignoring me pelase.
Nick Rivers: Just hear me out, Scar
Nick Rivers: You can't ignore me forever

Scarlett closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She'd already muted his notifications twice, but somehow, her thoughts always drifted back to him. It wasn't just the messages—it was the history they carried, the weight of every unsaid word between them.

She got up, grabbed her phone, and skimmed the messages again. Her thumb hovered over the reply button before she shook her head and locked the screen. Focus, she told herself, setting the phone face down.

But the memories didn't need a notification to resurface.

Flashback: Junior Year of High School

It was the first snowfall of the season. Scarlett and her sister, Savannah, had been huddled on the front porch, watching as snowflakes dusted their tiny neighborhood. Across the street, Nick stood under the dim glow of a streetlamp, his breath visible in the cold air.

"Nick's staring again," Victoria teased, nudging Scarlett with her elbow.

Scarlett rolled her eyes, but her heart raced. "He's probably just waiting for his ride."

Victoria smirked knowingly. "Sure."

Before Scarlett could retort, Nick crossed the street. His hands were shoved into his jacket pockets, and he stopped at the base of their porch steps. "Hey, Rhodes."

"Nick," she said, pretending not to care that he was there.

"Can I talk to you?" His voice was quieter than usual, almost unsure.

Scarlett hesitated but stood. Victoria slipped inside, mouthing a teasing Good luck!

Once they were alone, Nick shuffled his feet. "Look, I—uh, I've been thinking about that night at the bonfire."

Scarlett froze. The bonfire. Where everything had changed between them. Where he'd pulled her aside, away from his friends and the crowd, and kissed her.

"What about it?" she asked, trying to sound indifferent.

Nick looked up, his usual bravado replaced by something softer. "It wasn't a mistake."

Her breath hitched. She'd replayed those words in her head for months, and now, hearing them from him, her walls started to crack. But before she could respond, a car horn blared. Nick's friends were waiting for him.

"Gotta go," he said, his mask slipping back into place. "See you around, Rhodes."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving Scarlett with more questions than answers.

Back to the Present

Scarlett shook off the memory, her chest tightening. She hated how easily he could invade her thoughts. Grabbing her phone, she saw another message.

Nick Rivers: I'm not giving up, Scarlett. Not this time.

Her frustration boiled over. She opened the message thread, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. But what could she say that wouldn't unravel her completely?

Instead of replying, she powered off her phone. The silence felt both liberating and suffocating. Scarlett buried her face in her hands, trying to push Nick's voice out of her mind.

Her apartment door opened, and Miles walked in, his warm smile a stark contrast to the storm brewing inside her. "Hey, babe," he said, setting down a bag of groceries. "How's the studying going?"

Scarlett forced a smile. "It's going."

Miles kissed her forehead, oblivious to the turmoil beneath her calm exterior. "I got your favorite snacks to help you power through."

"Thanks," she whispered, guilt gnawing at her.

As Miles unpacked the groceries, Scarlett realized she was standing on the edge of two worlds: the stable, predictable life she'd built with Miles and the chaotic, unspoken connection with Nick.

For now, she chose stability. But deep down, she knew the past wasn't done with her yet.

: ̗̀➛ੈ✩‧₊˚✧.*⋆·˚ ༘ *⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧<3 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗶 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺! <3