The Girl He Couldn’t Stop Hurting
For the rest of the class, neither Lucas Reed nor Hailey Brooks actually listened to a single word the professor said.
The room blurred into meaningless noise around them while heartbreak sat quietly between their desks.
Lucas could still see the tears shining in Hailey’s eyes every time he looked toward her accidentally. Meanwhile Hailey kept pretending to take notes despite the fact her hands trembled slightly every few minutes.
God.
This was exactly what he feared from the beginning.
Not dramatic screaming.
Not hatred.
Something worse.
A good person getting hurt anyway.
The second class finally ended, students flooded noisily toward the hallway while Lucas remained frozen beside his seat.
Hailey packed her notebook quietly without looking at him.
The emotional distance between them suddenly felt enormous.
“Hailey…”
She stopped moving for a second after hearing her name.
Lucas’s chest tightened painfully.
Because even now, part of him still wanted to fix this somehow despite knowing he probably couldn’t.
Finally, Hailey looked up at him.
And God.
She looked exhausted.
Not angry.
Just emotionally worn down in ways that made guilt hollow through his chest all over again.
“You know what the worst part is?” she whispered softly.
Lucas stayed quiet.
“I can’t even hate her.”
The sentence caught him off guard immediately.
Hailey laughed weakly to herself afterward while slinging her bag over one shoulder.
“I tried.” Her eyes lowered briefly. “Trust me, I tried.”
The sadness in her voice physically hurt him.
Because somehow even heartbreak hadn’t made her cruel.
Lucas stood slowly from his chair.
“You don’t deserve this.”
Hailey smiled faintly.
“No.” She looked at him carefully then. “But neither does Ava.”
God.
The honesty inside those words shattered him quietly.
Because there it was again — the thing making this entire situation unbearable.
Nobody here was a villain.
Just three people loving in different directions at the wrong time.
Hailey finally stepped toward the classroom door before pausing beside him one last time.
Then softly, painfully gently, she whispered:
“You already know where your heart goes when things get hard, Lucas.”
The sentence settled deeply into his chest.
Because she was right.
Every time confusion overwhelmed him…
he looked for Ava.
God.
Hailey saw that long before he did.
And maybe that truth hurt her most of all.
Before Lucas could say anything else, she walked away into the crowded hallway alone.
This time, he didn’t stop her.
Because honestly?
He didn’t think he deserved to anymore.
That evening, cold wind swept through Blackwood University while gray skies threatened another storm.
Lucas wandered across campus for nearly an hour without direction before eventually ending up outside the psychology building.
Of course.
His heart already knew where it wanted to go before his brain caught up again.
The realization terrified him slightly.
Students hurried around him carrying books and coffee while autumn leaves scattered across sidewalks beneath darkening skies.
Lucas leaned against the railing outside the building while exhaustion settled heavily through him.
Then suddenly—
“There you are.”
Ava.
The second he looked up and saw Ava Monroe walking toward him, something inside his chest loosened painfully fast.
God.
That alone answered questions he’d spent weeks trying not to face.
Ava noticed his expression immediately.
Of course she did.
Her own softened almost instantly afterward.
“What happened?”
Lucas laughed quietly without humor.
“She knows.”
Ava slowed slightly.
“The kiss?”
Lucas nodded once.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Cold wind moved softly through Ava’s dark hair while concern gradually replaced warmth inside her expression.
“How bad was it?”
The question nearly destroyed him emotionally because Ava sounded genuinely worried for Hailey too.
Lucas looked away briefly toward crowded sidewalks below.
“She cried.”
The words came out rougher than intended.
Ava closed her eyes softly after hearing them.
God.
The guilt between them suddenly felt crushing again.
Lucas rubbed tiredly at his forehead.
“I’m hurting her exactly the way she feared I would.”
Ava stayed quiet.
Not because she didn’t care.
Because she probably didn’t know how to comfort him without hurting herself too.
Finally, softly:
“What did she say?”
Lucas leaned heavily against the railing.
“She said she lost me the first time you made me feel understood.”
The second the words left his mouth, silence settled painfully between them.
Ava looked down immediately afterward.
And somehow the sadness in her expression hurt Lucas unexpectedly.
“She shouldn’t know you that well,” Ava whispered softly.
God.
Lucas stared at her.
“Why do you sound guilty for existing in my life?”
Ava laughed weakly under her breath.
“Because somebody else is crying because of it.”
The honesty inside her voice physically hurt.
Lucas moved closer instinctively.
“She doesn’t blame you.”
“She should.”
“No.” His voice softened completely. “She shouldn’t.”
Ava looked up at him then.
Gray eyes vulnerable again.
Dangerously vulnerable.
Lucas’s heartbeat became uneven immediately.
Because somehow every emotional conversation between them eventually became intimate without trying to.
Ava wrapped her arms loosely around herself against the cold wind.
Then quietly admitted:
“I keep waiting for you to realize choosing me makes you feel worse.”
The sentence shattered directly through him.
Because suddenly Lucas understood the fear she carried every second now.
Not that he didn’t care about her.
That eventually guilt toward Hailey would outweigh his feelings completely.
Lucas stepped fully in front of her before speaking softly.
“Being with you isn’t what hurts.”
Ava’s breathing changed slightly.
“Then what does?”
“The fact someone good got hurt while I figured out my heart.”
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Ava stared at him carefully while cold wind drifted around both of them.
Then quietly, almost heartbreakingly, she whispered:
“And if you had figured it out sooner?”
God.
Lucas knew exactly what she was really asking.
If he understood his feelings earlier…
would Hailey have fallen this deeply at all?
The thought made his chest ache.
But honestly?
There was another truth underneath everything now too.
Lucas looked directly at Ava.
“I still would’ve chosen you.”
The words escaped before fear could stop them.
Real.
Honest.
Terrifyingly real.
Ava froze instantly.
The entire world suddenly felt quiet again.
And for one suspended second, Lucas watched those words reach her fully.
God.
The emotion that entered her face afterward nearly ruined him completely.
Because nobody had ever chosen Ava first before.
He realized that immediately.
The way her eyes softened.
The way her lips parted slightly like she physically didn’t know how to react to being wanted that clearly.
Lucas’s chest hurt seeing it.
Ava laughed softly then.
Not sadly this time.
Almost disbelievingly.
“You really mean that.”
Not a question.
Lucas nodded once slowly.
“Yes.”
And suddenly Ava looked like someone standing in sunlight after surviving winter too long.
Beautiful.
Fragile.
Terrified to trust warmth completely.
God.
Lucas wanted to hold her so badly it physically ached.
Instead he stayed still.
Because somewhere across campus, Hailey Brooks was still crying because of him.
And no matter how much his heart leaned toward Ava now…
that guilt wasn’t disappearing anytime soon.