Chapter 19: Confessions in the Dark

"I am so entirely tired of just being your best friend, Lily," James confessed, the words finally slipping out with a quiet, devastatingly honest vulnerability that made his voice drop an octave, resonating straight through the quiet night air. "I have been hopelessly in love with you for as long as I can possibly remember, and every single day I spend pretending we're just two kids playing by the creek feels like I'm wasting the only thing that actually matters in this entire world."