One year ago… Alex's p.o.v
2020 or was it 2021? Leo started acting… weird. There were days when he followed her around, silently keeping man away from her. At first, she thought he was just being a good friend but then again, Lucas never acted like that with her, and she was starting to develop feeling for him. And other days, she'd catch Leo glaring whenever someone spoke to Jayden, as if their mere presence irritated him. It was confusing. She chose to ignore it at first, brushing it off as Leo just being Leo. But it didn't stop there.
Leo started treating her like a girlfriend. He bought her gifts, took her out for dinner always under the banner of "just friends" and drove her everywhere. Sure, friends could do all those things… but stack them together, and it felt like something more. Like they were in a relationship she hadn't signed up for. That was when she took a step back. She didn't want to lead him on, especially when she never saw him that way. It was easier to act cold, to pretend she didn't notice, to give him the space to either confront his feelings or let them go. She didn't give him the chance to complicate their friendship, and for a year, it worked. Things settled. Until they didn't.
Time passed. Leo and Lucas's popularity surged. They got invited to more parties, more events. One night, the three of them decided to go clubbing. Before heading to the club near campus, they joined a group of fellow medical classmates for pizza and drinks. In Alex's case just a dry lemon. Jayden, their first-year senior, met up with them later. When Leo and Lucas went to get drinks, she stayed behind, lost in her own world, until she noticed Jayden chatting with a few guys nearby. Then Leo's phone dinged. It had been left on the table. She glanced at the screen, and without thinking, typed in his password. She knew it by heart. And there it was.
Today
Leo: <
Lucas: <
Leo: I won't. Just make an excuse to get lost.>>
Lucas: <
Incoming call: Lucas…
She stared at the screen, heart racing, ignoring the calls. Suddenly, it all made sense Lucas wasn't around because he was helping Leo. Damn it. She had to run. Before she could talk herself out of it, she saw Leo coming back with their drinks… Dre a classmate who'd clearly had too much to drink stumbled toward her. And against her better judgment she kissed him. Right there in the club. It was desperate, reckless procrastination. He ground his body against hers. She pushed him off quickly and bolted. He'd find someone else to suck face with this club was full of bad decisions waiting to happen. But her own decision? It wasn't noble. It wasn't mature. It was just… saving their friendship.
Even though she ended up leaving with Leo that night, her heart wasn't in it. When she got home, she took a two-hour shower, sobbing. She scrubbed her lips raw. She was a medical student she knew the risks of impulsive kisses with strangers: herpes simplex, meningococcal bacteria… the list went on. She didn't want this. Not the guilt. Not the confusion. And definitely not the heartbreak she knew would come one day.
.
.
.
Present day…
From that day onward, Leo stopped making obvious advances. He'd grown unsure uncertain of what they were or what they could be. Under Jayden's ever-watchful eye, it hadn't taken long to realisethat the shift in Leo had nothing to do with Alex. Because at the end of that fateful night, it wasn't Alex who changed. It was Leo.
Jayden had watched the whole thing unfold and he saw his... disappointment. He saw it in Alex's desperate eyes when she begged Leo to go along with her lie, saw it in Leo's silence, in the way he didn't pull his hand away. She felt Leo's indecision; he fell in love with someone else it would be selfish of her to keep him in the past. He nodded he was trying to make up for the kiss last night. Shewas about to back down but Leo held her hand, tight and unmoving beneath Jayden's dark, unreadable stare. And that stare? It burned straight through Toby, who was safely tucked into Lucas's arms, protected and shielded. Damn that omega. If only he'd kept his mouth shut, none of this would have happened. Then came the voice that shattered the tension.
"The truth is… Alex, Leo I didn't tell Noah anything." Damn it. So, it hadn't been Toby after all. "Noah and I were speaking about last night, but what happened between me and Lucas"
She felt like a monster for ever believing he'd betrayed them. For seeing Toby as a traitor. When she caught sight of Jayden turning to leave, her fists clenched in unrestrained anger. But before she could act, Leo raised their still-joined hands to halt him, but he ultimately just dropped her hand and stayed silent. She knew Leo's pride would never let him, stop Jayden. Not in front of everyone. Not now. But hers? Her pride didn't have anything against securing someone else's joy. Last night had been proof. Whatever spark they once imagined between her and Leo… it didn't exist. Not like that. If she let herself come between her friend and his happiness, she'd never forgive herself.
"Jayden, stop."
"Leo and I are just friends. Last night proved his interest in me was misdirected, let me preface nothing happened between us." She took she gently pushed her friend, "I think you two need to talk. Besides… Toby and Noah need to grab something to eat before their final dance rehearsal or whatever they have been doing on this trip."
Come to think of it, what have they been doing apart from taking pictures and dancing? She turned around to give them space, and everyone followed, Noah is staring at her. They went to a cafe in the hotel area, Noah offered to pay for them and the total cost of the food costs way more than the portion. Lucas and Toby being disgustingly cute which made her sick. Last night they were together and she did not hate. She's trying to be open minded but she mind be not to enter a type of relationship Noah wants.
"Lex. What you did for Leo was admirable." When it came time to pay the bill, Lucas decided to insert himself because of course, he did with that smug little smirk he always wore when he was about to say something infuriatingly sweet. "Toby and I? We'll do the same for you too."