My chest tightened. “Seth is my mess to sort out. Not yours.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You still want him back.”
I didn’t look away. “Yes.”
“You think I’m just going to bless that,” he said.
“No,” I answered. “I don’t need your blessing. I just need you to stop sabotaging every chance we might have. You don’t have to like us. You don’t have to support us. You just have to stop playing God with other people’s lives because you’re scared. And you let me tell Seth the truth.”
He flinched again, softer this time. “You really think I’m that bad?”
“I think you’re hurt,” I said. “And you’ve been hurting other people to feel less alone in it.”
Silence settled between us. The lake wind filled it. My fists were still clenched, but not out of a need to hit something anymore. It felt more like I was trying to hold myself together.
Nick looked past me, toward the streetlights. He seemed smaller now, not in size, but in certainty. Like some part of him had finally cracked open.
“I was jealous,” he said quietly. The words sounded heavy. “At first, it was simple. You on the ice, doing everything I wanted to do but better. Then you and Seth. You picked him after tellingme it didn’t feel right with me. I watched you two disappear at the end of every summer and told myself I didn’t care, but I did. I cared so much it made me sick. After a while, it became habit. Hating you. Distrusting you. I didn’t even remember why. It was just what I did.”
I let the admission sink in. It felt like someone had finally named the monster that had been sitting between us for years.
“And now?” I asked.
He shrugged, shoulders dropping with the motion. “Now I’m alone. My brother won’t talk to me. Silas won’t answer my messages. I’m standing on a path by a lake, yelling at someone I’ve known half my life, and I’m so tired I can barely stand it.”
Something inside me eased. Not forgiveness. Not yet. Just the slightest loosening around a knot that had been there since we were kids.
“I’m tired, too,” I said. “Tired of being your villain. Tired of letting your anger decide my life. I want something different.”
He looked at me then, really looked, and I saw the effort it took not to scoff or lash out or build a new wall.
“You think you can fix it with Seth?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. The honesty tasted strange but right. “But I know I can’t even try if I’m still dragging this shit behind me. I’m done fighting you.”
He exhaled slowly. “So what, we’re nothing now?”
“We’re two people with a lot of history,” I said. “Some of it good, most of it bad. We can decide not to add any more to the pile.”
He huffed. “Real poetic, Pierce.”
“It’s the best you’re getting,” I said.
For a moment, his lips quirked like he might smile. It faded quickly, but it was there.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” he said.
“I didn’t ask you to,” I replied. “Just stop trying to ruin me every chance you get. I’ve done that to myself enough. Don’t need your help.” I thought of Seth up on that roof, eyes bright with hurt, voice steady as he let me go. My chest ached.
“He’ll come around,” I said. “He’s your brother.”
We stood there in the cold, the water moving in dark sheets behind him, the streetlights glowing behind me. It wasn’t a truce. Not exactly. It was more like calling a time of death on a battle that had gone on too long.
Finally, Nick stepped back. “I need to grow up,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “So do I.”
He turned and walked away. For once, I didn’t feel the urge to chase him or shout something after him. I watched him until the dark folded around him, then turned toward campus.