The Last Thing Hailey Needed to Hear
For the first time in weeks, Lucas Reed finally understood his own heart clearly.
Unfortunately, clarity didn’t make anything easier.
If anything, it made the guilt worse.
Because now there was no confusion left to hide behind, no uncertainty left to soften the damage. Lucas knew who he wanted. He knew whose presence calmed him, whose voice stayed inside his chest long after conversations ended, whose sadness physically hurt him to witness.
It was Ava Monroe.
And somewhere across campus, Hailey Brooks still loved him anyway.
God.
That truth followed him everywhere now.
The next afternoon, Blackwood University looked unusually peaceful after the storm. Sunlight filtered softly through orange autumn leaves while students crowded outdoor tables drinking coffee and pretending midterm stress wasn’t destroying them emotionally.
Lucas sat alone outside the humanities building trying unsuccessfully to finish literature notes when familiar footsteps approached slowly across the sidewalk.
His chest tightened instantly before he even looked up.
Hailey.
She wore a dark coat over a cream sweater while wind moved softly through loose strands of golden-brown hair around her face. A camera hung against her shoulder again, but unlike before, she looked tired in a way no amount of sunlight could hide.
God.
The sight alone filled him with guilt immediately.
Hailey stopped beside the bench before offering a faint smile.
“Hey, Rain Boy.”
The nickname nearly shattered him emotionally on the spot.
Because she still said it softly.
Still lovingly.
Even now.
“Hey.”
For several seconds, neither moved further into conversation. Students passed around them laughing loudly while cold wind scattered leaves across the pathways nearby.
Then Hailey quietly asked, “Can I sit?”
Lucas nodded immediately.
“Yeah, of course.”
She sat beside him carefully, leaving just enough distance between them to feel unfamiliar.
God.
Lucas hated that.
The silence between them stretched softly for a moment before Hailey looked ahead toward the crowded campus.
“You know,” she murmured quietly, “I kept thinking heartbreak would feel dramatic.”
Lucas turned slightly toward her.
“What do you mean?”
Hailey laughed weakly under her breath.
“I thought there’d be screaming or anger or some huge emotional scene.” Her eyes lowered briefly. “Instead it’s just… quiet.”
The sadness inside her voice physically hurt his chest.
Because she was right.
Their story never became ugly.
Only painful.
Lucas looked down at his hands while guilt settled heavily through him again.
“I never wanted to be the reason you hurt like this.”
Hailey nodded softly.
“I know.”
Then after a small pause, she added quietly, “That’s what makes this so unfair.”
God.
Lucas closed his eyes briefly.
Because no matter how carefully he tried handling this, he still ended up breaking someone kind.
Hailey leaned back slightly against the bench while sunlight flickered softly across her face through moving tree branches above them.
“Did you tell her?” she asked eventually.
Lucas already knew who she meant.
“Yes.”
Hailey nodded once slowly.
Another silence followed.
Then softly, “And?”
Lucas swallowed hard.
“I chose her.”
There it was.
Finally spoken aloud completely.
The sentence settled between them like something fragile breaking quietly.
Hailey didn’t cry immediately.
Honestly, that somehow hurt worse.
She just sat there very still while wind moved around them and students passed nearby completely unaware that her heart was cracking apart beside them.
God.
Lucas felt sick.
Finally, Hailey laughed softly to herself.
Not happily.
Almost disbelievingly.
“Wow,” she whispered. “Hearing it out loud really does something to you.”
“Hailey—”
“No, it’s okay.” Her voice trembled slightly despite the calmness she tried maintaining. “Actually, no, that’s a lie too.” She looked away toward the fountain nearby. “It really hurts.”
The honesty shattered directly through him.
Lucas moved slightly closer instinctively.
“I’m sorry.”
Hailey smiled faintly without looking at him.
“You know what’s sad?” she whispered. “Part of me still wants to comfort you when you apologize.”
God.
That nearly ruined him emotionally.
Because even now, while losing him, Hailey still loved him gently.
The silence afterward felt unbearably heavy.
Then finally Hailey turned toward him again, her eyes softer now despite the pain sitting visibly behind them.
“Do you love her?”
The question made Lucas’s heartbeat stumble.
Because unlike before…
this time he didn’t hesitate.
“Yes,” he whispered quietly.
God.
The word visibly broke her.
Lucas watched it happen in real time — the exact moment hope disappeared from her expression completely.
And somehow that hurt more than tears ever could.
Hailey looked down immediately while blinking hard against the emotion threatening her composure.
Then softly, almost like she was speaking to herself instead of him, she whispered, “I knew it.”
Lucas’s chest physically ached.
Because he did love Ava.
Not suddenly.
Not impulsively.
Quietly.
Steadily.
Like falling into deep water without realizing how far from shore you drifted until it was already too late.
Hailey wiped quickly beneath one eye before laughing weakly again.
“She’s really lucky, you know.”
Lucas frowned immediately.
“What?”
Hailey looked back at him carefully.
“The way you love people.” Her voice softened completely. “You make them feel seen.”
God.
The sentence nearly destroyed him.
Because somehow the girl he heartbreakingly failed still spoke about him with tenderness.
What kind of person survived being loved like that?
Hailey exhaled slowly before standing from the bench.
Lucas looked up immediately.
“You leaving?”
She nodded once.
“If I stay longer, I’m probably gonna embarrass myself emotionally.”
A faint smile touched his face despite everything.
God, he missed her already.
Hailey noticed the sadness in his expression then.
And suddenly her own softened painfully.
“You know what the worst part is?” she whispered.
Lucas stayed quiet.
“I think in another life, this would’ve been us.”
The sentence settled deeply inside his chest.
Because honestly?
Maybe she was right.
Maybe timing alone changed everything.
Hailey adjusted the camera strap on her shoulder slowly before taking one small step backward.
Then softly, heartbreakingly gently, she whispered the last thing Lucas Reed ever wanted to hear from her:
“I hope she loves you enough for both of us.”
God.
Lucas felt something inside himself break hearing that.
Because no matter how deeply he loved Ava now…
a part of him would probably always carry the memory of the girl who loved him loudly and lost him quietly anyway.