The Boy Caught in Between
For the next few days, Lucas Reed avoided both of them.
Not intentionally at first.
Then very intentionally.
Because suddenly every interaction felt dangerous.
Every smile from Hailey Brooks carried unspoken feelings behind it now. Every quiet moment with Ava Monroe felt emotionally loaded in ways Lucas no longer knew how to survive properly.
And honestly?
He hated himself a little for it.
Because somehow two girls had trusted him with their hearts before he even understood his own.
The guilt from that realization sat heavily inside his chest constantly.
Thursday afternoon brought cold wind and dark clouds over Blackwood University again. Students rushed between buildings while fallen leaves scattered across sidewalks beneath gray skies.
Lucas sat alone outside the humanities building pretending to read while mostly just spiraling internally.
His phone buzzed softly.
Hailey:
Are you alive or being dramatic again?
A second message arrived immediately.
You disappeared.
God.
The disappointment hidden beneath those simple words hurt.
Before Lucas could answer, another notification appeared.
Ava:
You missed the library yesterday.
That one hurt too.
Different.
Quieter.
But somehow deeper.
Lucas stared at both messages feeling emotionally exhausted already.
Because no matter who he answered first…
some part of him immediately felt guilty toward the other.
This was becoming impossible.
That evening, Hailey finally cornered him outside the student center.
Literally cornered him.
“You’re avoiding me,” she announced while folding her arms dramatically across her oversized sweater.
Lucas looked mildly alarmed.
“I’m walking to class.”
“You changed routes twice.”
Fair.
Cold wind moved loose strands of golden-brown hair around her face while students passed noisily around them.
God.
Even now, she still looked beautiful enough to completely ruin his ability to think clearly.
Hailey studied him quietly for a second before her expression softened slightly.
“Did I scare you?”
The vulnerability in her voice caught him completely off guard.
Lucas frowned immediately.
“What?”
“The other night.” She looked down briefly. “After I told you how I felt.”
Guilt hit him hard enough to make his chest ache.
Because the truth was—
yes.
Not because Hailey liking him felt bad.
Because it felt important.
Real.
And Lucas suddenly realized he had the power to hurt her now.
“You didn’t scare me,” he admitted quietly.
“Then why are you disappearing?”
God.
There was no good answer.
Lucas rubbed tiredly at the back of his neck before finally whispering:
“Because I don’t know what I’m doing.”
The honesty in his voice seemed to affect her immediately.
Hailey’s expression softened more now.
Then quietly she asked the question both of them had been avoiding.
“Is it because of Ava?”
Silence.
And honestly?
That silence answered enough already.
Hailey looked away first.
A faint laugh escaped her, but sadness lived underneath it.
“Wow.”
“Hailey—”
“No, it’s okay.” She shook her head softly. “Actually, no, that’s a lie. It really isn’t okay.”
The pain in her voice twisted painfully through him.
Because for the first time since meeting her, Hailey sounded insecure.
And somehow that felt completely wrong.
“She likes you too, doesn’t she?” Hailey whispered.
Lucas swallowed hard.
“Yeah.”
The word visibly hurt her.
Even though she expected it.
God.
Hailey stared past him toward crowded campus pathways while trying very hard to keep herself emotionally together.
Then finally she murmured:
“You know what sucks?”
Lucas stayed quiet.
“I think I noticed her noticing you before I even admitted my own feelings.”
That sentence landed heavily between them.
Because suddenly Lucas realized this wasn’t just painful for him.
These two girls had probably been silently hurting beside each other for weeks already.
And somehow he’d been too emotionally clueless to fully see it.
Hailey looked back at him eventually.
Eyes softer now.
Tired.
“You don’t have to choose right this second,” she whispered. “But Lucas…” Her voice cracked slightly. “Please don’t make us feel stupid for loving you.”
God.
The sentence nearly wrecked him emotionally right there outside the student center.
Because he never wanted either of them to feel that way.
Not Hailey.
Not Ava.
Not anyone.
Lucas stepped closer instinctively.
“I would never—”
“I know.” Her smile looked fragile again. “That’s why this hurts.”
Then before he could say anything else, Hailey reached up unexpectedly and fixed the collar of his hoodie gently.
Such a tiny gesture.
Such an intimate one.
And somehow that almost hurt worse than tears would’ve.
“You look cold,” she murmured softly.
Lucas’s chest tightened painfully.
Because even heartbroken, she still cared about him automatically.
God.
Hailey stepped back afterward.
Then quieter:
“I think I need space tonight.”
The disappointment inside him arrived instantly.
But he nodded anyway.
Because she deserved that much.
Before leaving, Hailey looked at him one last time beneath gray skies and falling leaves.
And the sadness in her eyes stayed with him long after she disappeared into the crowd.
Later that night, Lucas ended up exactly where he always went when emotions became too loud.
The library.
Warm lights glowed softly between towering shelves while rain started tapping gently against windows outside.
And of course—
Ava was already there.
She sat near their usual table wearing headphones while highlighting notes across scattered psychology textbooks.
The second Lucas approached, she looked up.
Immediately her expression shifted slightly.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Like some part of her always expected him eventually.
“You look terrible,” she murmured softly after he sat down.
Lucas leaned back heavily in the chair across from her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
God.
Even exhausted, he still found comfort in her dry humor.
For several moments, silence settled naturally between them again.
Then Ava closed her notebook slowly.
“You talked to her.”
Not a question.
Lucas nodded once.
Ava looked down briefly afterward.
And somehow that tiny reaction hurt him unexpectedly.
“She deserves better than this,” he admitted quietly.
Ava’s eyes softened immediately.
“She does.”
The honesty stung.
Lucas stared toward rain-covered windows while frustration twisted through his chest.
“I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“I know.”
“You believe that?”
Ava looked at him carefully across the table.
“Yes.” Her voice softened slightly. “You’re not cruel enough to do this intentionally.”
God.
The fact she still understood him that gently nearly destroyed him emotionally.
Lucas rubbed tiredly at his eyes before whispering:
“I think I’m hurting both of you anyway.”
Silence.
Then quietly, painfully honestly:
“You are.”
The words landed hard because she didn’t say them angrily.
Just truthfully.
Ava leaned back slightly in her chair afterward.
“But I also think you’re hurting yourself too.”
Lucas laughed weakly under his breath.
“That sounds very psychology-major of you.”
A faint almost-smile appeared.
“It’s exhausting, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“Caring about people this much.”
The sentence settled heavily between them.
Because somehow Ava always found the exact center of what Lucas felt before he could explain it himself.
And honestly?
That terrified him sometimes.
Rain filled the silence softly afterward.
Then unexpectedly, Ava spoke again.
“She kissed you yet?”
Lucas blinked once.
“What?”
Ava looked down at her notebook calmly.
“Hailey.”
The question caught him off guard completely.
“No.”
Ava nodded once like she wasn’t emotionally affected by the answer at all.
Lie.
A painfully obvious lie.
Lucas studied her quietly for a second before asking carefully:
“Would it matter if she did?”
For the first time all evening, Ava looked genuinely shaken by a question.
God.
That answer alone told him enough.
Ava looked away almost immediately afterward.
“Yes,” she whispered softly.
The honesty in that single word physically hurt.
Because suddenly Lucas realized something terrible.
No matter what happened next…
someone was eventually going to watch the person they loved choose somebody else.
And honestly?
He didn’t know how any of them survived that kind of pain.