When Charlotte agrees to fake date bad boy Mason to make her best friend and secret crush, Ben, jealous, she thinks it will be a simple arrangement. The rules are clear and she's certain of her goal: make Ben fall in love with her. So why does it seem like the lines always blur when Mason is around? *** Charlotte Anderson has secretly been in love with her best friend, Ben Hathaway, since childhood, though he's never seen her as anything but the girl next door. After witnessing Ben kissing another girl at a party, a heartbroken Charlotte accidentally admits her crush to notorious bad boy Mason Reed... who also happens to be one of Ben's closest friends. But Mason isn't going to tell Charlotte's secret; instead, he suggests they fake a relationship to make Ben jealous. They create a set of strict rules for the arrangement: no kissing when Ben isn't around, no sex, and no falling in love. But as their fake relationship progresses, and Mason's walls break down, Charlotte finds herself questioning her true feelings for both boys, and wondering if some rules are meant to be broken-especially when it comes to love. [[word count: 100,000 - 150,000]] Cover designed by Gillian Goulet (This story is a standalone title in the Dependency series) [[Wattpad Editors Choice: June 2021]]

Next Door Heartache is a summer romance wrapped in grief, guilt, and the kind of love that refuses to fade even when everything else does. ***** Hannah Blake returns to her childhood town with one silent goal: survive the summer without falling apart. But then she sees him. Adam Carter. The boy next door. The boy who kissed her when she was fourteen. The boy who never said goodbye. After losing her sister, Hannah wants to disappear. But grief doesn't bargain. And neither does Adam. He's different now. Taller. Louder. A little more broken. But still the only person who's ever known her without needing an explanation. Suddenly, they're orbiting each other again. Rooftop silences. Old swing sets. Shared playlists that ache like memories. His friends start calling her by name again. And for the first time in months. Hannah feels something that isn't numb. But Adam's not just a boy from the past. He's holding something back. And falling for someone while you're still grieving means, learning how to love with your hands shaking. As summer burns slowly into fall, the lines between before and after blur. Secrets unravel. Time runs out. And Hannah has to ask herself... How do you hold on to something that's already slipping through your hands? Book One of the Next Door series. "We accept the love we think we deserve." - The Perks of Being a Wallflower @ Stephen Chbosky Maybe the bravest kind of love is the kind that stays even when it knows how the story ends. [[word count: 90,000-100,000 words]] Cover Note: Artwork not mine. Design, title and all text are original by Lise Niengo. No copyright infringement intended. #1 quietmoments | 6/7/25

They were best friends before anything else. He was the boy who made her laugh when everything else fell apart. She was the girl who knew all his secrets, except the one he was scared to say out loud. But life doesn't always wait for the right moment. And love, sometimes, arrives too late... or exactly when it should.