The cool evening air wrapped around Nathan like a familiar cloak as he made his way to the café where he was meeting Sarah. The lake meeting earlier that afternoon had been heavy with unspoken truths, but something in the air tonight felt different. There was a weight to the atmosphere, something that hinted at the emotional storm that was about to hit. Nathan couldn't shake the feeling that this conversation, like all the others, was going to take them deeper into the labyrinth of their tangled history.
He had spent the rest of the afternoon questioning his own feelings, trying to decipher what Sarah had meant by her words, what it all meant for them, for their future. And yet, every time he thought he had it figured out, doubt crept in like a shadow. Sarah had never been good at giving him answers, but tonight... maybe tonight would be different.
As he approached the café, he saw her standing by the door, her figure silhouetted against the soft light spilling from inside. Her back was to him, but Nathan could feel the pull of her presence like an electric current.
"Sarah," he called out, his voice breaking the quiet.
She turned at the sound of his voice, her lips curving into a small, uncertain smile. But there was something in her eyes—something far away—that made Nathan's heart tighten. He had seen that look before, many times, and it never led to anything good.
"Hey," she said softly, her voice barely rising above the murmur of the passing crowd. "Thanks for meeting me."
"No problem," Nathan replied, though the tension in his shoulders betrayed the lie. He was already bracing himself for whatever was coming next.
They walked into the café together, the warm light inside doing little to ease the cold gnawing at his gut. Sarah led him to a small table in the back, away from the clattering noise of other patrons. She sat down first, her hands folding neatly on the table, her eyes trained on the surface, unwilling—or maybe unable—to meet his gaze.
Nathan sat down across from her, his heart pounding in his chest. "So, what's this all about, Sarah? You said you needed to explain something."
She hesitated for a moment, then finally looked up at him, her eyes searching his face as if trying to gauge how he would react. "I've been thinking about everything. About what happened with Lewis. About us."
The mention of his brother's name made Nathan's breath catch in his throat. He knew this was coming; he knew the past was always waiting just beneath the surface, threatening to break free. "What about Lewis?" Nathan asked, his voice tight.
"About how it all ended," she said, her voice faltering. "How I pushed you both into places we didn't belong. How I made choices that hurt everyone."
Nathan shook his head, leaning forward. "You didn't make us do anything, Sarah. We're the ones who fucked up. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I didn't have a hand in all of this. But you don't get to keep carrying this weight. It wasn't just you."
Her eyes softened, but there was still that distance between them. "I know that. But I also know that I hurt you, Nathan. And I don't know how to fix it."
Before he could respond, the café door opened with a soft chime, and Nathan's eyes immediately found the familiar figure standing in the doorway. His heart sank. It was Lewis. And he was standing there, looking right at Sarah, his eyes intense and filled with something Nathan couldn't quite place.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze. Sarah's gaze shot to Lewis, and Nathan could see the tension in her posture, the way her breath hitched. She didn't even look at him as she stood, her chair scraping harshly against the floor.
"Nathan, I think we need to talk," Lewis said, his voice calm but laced with something dangerous. It was a tone Nathan knew too well, the one that meant he was ready to fight for what was his.
Sarah looked between the two of them, her face flushed with something between guilt and panic. "Lewis, I—" She stopped herself, taking a shaky breath. "I didn't expect you to show up here."
"I'm not letting this go, Sarah," Lewis said, his eyes hardening. "Not when I know the truth now. I've been patient long enough. I've watched from the sidelines, hoping things would get better, but they're not. You've been stringing us both along."
Nathan's pulse quickened, and he could feel the weight of the room shift. The air had thickened with unspoken words, the kind of words that could destroy everything if said out loud. He clenched his fists under the table, his gaze locked with his brother's.
"You don't get to do this," Nathan said, his voice low and dangerous. "This is between Sarah and me. Whatever happened between us, it's over."
Lewis smiled, but there was no humor in it. "Is it? You think this is all over? You think because you had your moment of reckoning that I'm just going to back off?"
Sarah's eyes flicked between the two brothers, her face pale. "This isn't helping anyone. You're both fighting for something that doesn't even exist anymore."
"Sarah's right," Nathan muttered, standing up from the table, his chair scraping across the floor. "We've all been through enough. I'm done with this. I'm done with the games, with the pain. I can't keep doing this to myself."
"You think I don't feel the same way?" Lewis shot back, standing up as well, his hand slamming onto the table. "I've spent the last few years thinking it was all a misunderstanding. But I see it now. Sarah was always going to choose you, wasn't she? And you, Nathan, you couldn't even see it until it was too late."
Nathan's eyes widened. His heart stopped for a second. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb," Lewis sneered. "I see it now. She's always loved you, even when she was with me. And I've been the fool, thinking it was something else."
"Lewis, please—" Sarah's voice trembled, but she was cut off as Nathan turned to face her.
"Is that true?" he asked, his voice shaking with disbelief. "You never loved him? It was always me?"
She looked at him with an expression he couldn't decipher, and for a moment, everything fell silent. The world seemed to stop moving as Sarah's gaze flickered between the two men—two men who had both loved her, and both had been left broken in the process.
"I... I don't know anymore," she whispered.
In that instant, Nathan's world shattered. He wasn't sure what hurt more: the fact that he'd never been enough for her, or the truth that his brother had always known a part of her heart that he never would.
And for the first time, Nathan felt the heavy weight of loss crush him completely.
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