#in other news i realized iola is literally jackie from that's 70s show they're both obsessed (?) with marriage

[beencaughts]

o16, o19, o30 ly :))

⊰ v. princess and the moon ⊱

“I’m so sorry. I really fucked up this time.”

Luna accepted Prince’s proposal without really thinking anything through. She knew she loved him and didn’t want to live without him again. That was all she needed to feel confident enough to say yes. But when she woke up in the morning, Luna couldn’t help but feel like she let Prince off easy. They argued about his disappearance a lot, but Luna never felt like he really understood how hurt she was. They wouldn’t have fought so much if he did. She isolated herself from her friends and made big life changes to deal with the pain of losing him only to cry herself to sleep anyway. Those months without him did a number on Luna. She needed him to see that. Luna fumbled nervously with the sleeves of her sweater, her knees tucked under her chin as she took a deep breath. “Prince, we need to talk.” The look of confusion and worry on his face made her want to pacify him immediately but she decided against it. “I agreed to marry you because I know I don’t want to live without you. I love you, but I can’t really marry you if you won’t see how much you fucking broke me,” she says, the last part coming out in a sad laugh. “I’m still so fucking hurt, so I need you to just listen to me and try to understand so I can get over it.” Luna felt as though she was being dramatic but this was apart of her healing process. She imagined many times what she would say to Prince if given the chance and she couldn’t be engaged to him without saying it all first. Luna told him everything from the time he left to now. She was She started crying halfway through her spiel and never really stopped. “Every time I saw you and we’d argue, I’d be scared that was the last time I would see you. When I accepted your proposal, I said yes because it was a promise you wouldn’t leave me again. You fucking ruined me, Prince, and you never said sorry for it.” Luna felt too embarrassed to look at him. No matter how many times she’d done it, she could never get used to being vulnerable around Prince. She felt herself being pulled into his embrace. “I’m so sorry. I really fucked up this time.”

⊰ and ⊱

Luna barged down the street not really caring about who or what was in her way. This probably wasn’t the best time for her to be doing this considering she just talked Prince out of murdering his dad but she was livid. How could her friends not tell her that Nick was a paid killer? Luna considered Nick to be a really close friend, and she couldn’t believe that he was getting paid to probably kill innocent people like her mom. “Fuck off!” Luna snarled as she whirled around to face Prince, ripping her arm from his grasp. Nick started to catch up to them, but he was also smart enough to stay a few feet behind. There were many things Luna wanted to say and do to Nick— none of them positive. Now it was Prince’s turn to talk her down. “I’m so sorry. I really fucked up this time.” Luna chuckled sarcastically. “You’re sorry? You left for me for a year because I didn’t tell you that Matt was fucking was your sister, but you expect me to accept your ‘sorry’ when you’ve been friends with an assassin for years and didn’t tell me?” Luna felt more hurt than anything. Prince knew better than anyone how much her mom’s death affected her. It never got easier for her to accept that her mom was gone or that someone wanted to hurt her family so bad that they paid for it. Luna still had nightmares about that day, sometimes having anxiety about them one day coming back to finish the job. And all this time, there was someone just like them with her almost every day. “All of you are liars. My mom was the reason I came. She’s the reason I am here, and all I’ve done is befriend people who support criminals like the ones that killed her—that tried to kill me. You, Prince, are the biggest hypocrite of them all. You broke my fucking heart all because I didn’t tell you about Panda and Matt, but this whole time you were hiding something from me too. So thank you for once again pouring salt on my cuts.” Luna turned away from Prince and continued on her journey, hoping he got the hint that she wanted to be alone. So many things that she thought she was getting over started to hurt her all over again. It took time for Luna to forgive her friends when she blamed them for Prince leaving her. And it definitely took time for Luna to forgive Prince but all of that was gone. Her ring suddenly felt ten times heavier on her hand as she thought about his betrayal. Maybe it was a sign that she wasn’t ready to marry him after all.

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola’s eyes stung from the mass amount of tears pooling in her eyes. She felt like she couldn’t move fast enough to get away from Jason. His voice trailed after her, but she kept walking away not really knowing where she was going. Iola had work obligations that she couldn’t get out of the night of Jason’s big art show. She really wanted to support him, but no one was willing to change their schedule. Luck must’ve been on her side, though, because her photo shoot ended early and left her enough time to still make it. She hadn’t told Jason that she was on her way because she wanted to surprise him but once Iola got there, she was the one in for a surprise. Iola was stopped in her tracks at the sight of Jason talking to his ex, a scowl etched onto the blonde’s face. Iola always got the feeling that his ex didn’t like her because she still had feelings for him, but Jason always swore that it was nothing and they were just friends. Iola getting jealous was like the boy who cried wolf: the one time she was rightfully jealous, it was hard to take her seriously. And right she was. Iola could tell that his ex was being flirty, but she never expected that the girl would be bold enough to kiss him. An audible gasp left Iola which drew attention to her presence. The last thing Iola saw was an evil glare from the girl and Jason moving towards her before she took off. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so angry at Jason because he didn’t seem susceptible to the kiss, but it left Iola wondering what had he done to make his ex feel like he would be. “I’m so sorry. I really fucked up this time,” Jason said finally catching up to her. Iola whirled around, her finger poking him in the chest as she seethed. “Why the fuck was she even there, Jason? I mean is she really that damn important for you to invite her here? God, every time I got mad about you sleeping with someone else you made me feel like an idiot even when you tried to hide that you were getting dinner with her. You didn’t even tell me you invited her! Maybe I wasn’t completely crazy to be scared that you found someone else.” Iola was trying so hard to contain her anger before she did anything stupid. Jason had always been the one exception, and she didn’t want that to change even if she felt like she was completely justified. Iola turned away from him as she attempted to remember everything she learned in anger management, but it was no use especially the more he spoke to her. Her hands balled into fists as a last ditch effort to contain her anger. “Jason,” Iola started calmly with clear venom in her voice, the tears never stopping. “Don’t even bother coming home. Don’t text me or call me. When I’m ready to talk to you, I will. And if you ever speak to her again, we’re done. Jason, you think you’ve seen me angry, but you haven’t even seen half of it. I gave you my heart. Don’t fucking break it.” Her expression turned to complete sadness as she said the last sentence, her voice cracking. Iola walked past Jason, bumping into his shoulder before she got any more upset.

⊰ july 17th ⊱

Arianna thought that she and Zayn were in a good place in their marriage. She thought that they were past the drama that happened when they were only dating. They were young then so they were bound to make mistakes. Now, they were adults and had a family. Four kids were a lot, but they managed to keep the spark alive in their relationship— or at least Arianna thought they did. She was in the midst of putting their youngest child down for a nap when Zayn strolled in from the night before. “Leilani wouldn’t stop asking for you this morning. Why didn’t you come home last night or at least tell me you weren’t?” Arianna questioned, her eyes narrowing suspiciously and her arms folding across her chest. He mumbled something about falling asleep at his friend’s place, kissed her on the forehead, and went upstairs to their bathroom. Arianna had pure intentions following him up there. She was suspicious, but she didn’t want to fight or argue about him staying out all night. Ari just wanted to spend time with her husband before it was time to pick up the kids. However, she could feel the lump in her throat forming at the sight of hickeys and scratch marks all across her husband. “Oh my god,” Ari whispered in horror. Her face was buried in her hands as she paced the floor. Arianna could accept that when Zayn cheated in the past, he was only hurting her. She could leave him and there wouldn’t be any consequences. But she couldn’t accept that now he was hurting their family. Could she really leave him knowing that their family was on the line? “We have kids! We have a family. Ho—How could you do that to them? To me?” Her shaky hands were tangled in her hair trying to make sense of it all. Why would he cheat knowing they have a family? Arianna could only blame herself. He’d cheated on her before. If Zayn was willing to sacrifice his family for a one night stand, then maybe she was the root of the problem. She sat at the foot of their bed, defeated. “I’m sorry I’m not enough,” Ari spoke softly as her tears spilled down her cheeks. “I stuck by you through every mistake, every fuck up. I married you and had four of your kids, and yet I’m still not good enough for you. All I have ever done was love you with my whole heart. Why is it so impossible for you to love me like that too?” Arianna finally looked up at Zayn with pure hurt in her eyes. The sound of their son crying pulls her attention away from her husband. Wiping her face free of tears, she goes to comfort him - deciding it would be better to finish their conversation after she had time to get over the initial shock and think.

⊰ v. what if ⊱

“You’re damn right you fucked up this time!” Arianna seethed. She shouldn’t have been so angry since it was her fault Ashton even did the things he did, but the emotions just spilled out of her. She couldn’t believe that Ashton was bold enough to do things that made Zayn suspicious of them. She hated Zayn would even think to question her even if he was right to do so. Arianna always told Ashton that she never wanted to choose between her husband and Ashton (as backward as that sounds), but in this moment it was obvious who’d she choose. “God, Ashton, what happened to being lowkey? You are 24, not 5. Fucking act like it and stop throwing tantrums every time you see my husband, okay? I choose to be with him because I love him. If you cared about me even just a little, you would respect that.” There was irony in Arianna’s words because she wasn’t even respecting her marriage by sleeping with Ashton. She felt the anxiety creeping in her chest as she thought more about her affair. Zayn was far from perfect but he didn’t need to be. Arianna would much rather deal with all the bullshit he put her through than to live without him. Ashton would never be able to understand that. All Arianna could see was his face when he asked her if there was something between her and Ashton. He was so sure that she would never do anything like to him when she denied it. “Oh my god. I’m a horrible person,” Arianna panicked as she paced the room with her hands in her hair. “This was a mistake. We were a mistake. Look, Ashton, whatever this is is over. I can’t do this anymore.” Arianna was in tears at this point, running around the room trying to find her things to get home. She could hardly breathe and felt dizzy. And even though Ari had probably just broken his heart, Ashton pulled her into his arms to comfort her. “I’ve really fucked up. I love him, Ashton. I can’t be without him. What have I done?” Arianna managed to get out as she cried into his shoulder. Maybe Ashton fucking up was what Ari needed to actually work on her marriage instead of running to him whenever things got tough. 

⊰ v. katie and leo ⊱

Leo didn’t know to process the fact that Katie wanted to fuck his dad. All this time he thought she’d been coming around more, dressing more provocatively, and flirting because she was finally ready to be more than best friends. His feelings for her never went away, but he was able to contain them when they had the understanding that they were going to see other people. However, with his thinking that Katie wanted to be with him, his feelings were front and center which he was regretting deeply. After Eli spelled everything out for him, Leo had done everything in his power to avoid her. He would leave for school later so he wouldn’t have time to pick her up. He changed his routes to class and spent the least amount of time at his locker as possible. Leo even went as far to ask his parents to not let Katie in. “Why?” Luna asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. He shrugged. “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I don’t want to get her sick.” Leo didn’t want to see her so badly that he was willing to deal with his mom babying him to cure his non-existent illness. Leo missed her like crazy but he told himself it was for the best. He could only keep up this game for about two weeks before she came barging in his room hotheaded as ever. “Can’t you take a fucking hint?” Leo spat venomously. “Since you can’t, I’ll spell it out for you: I don’t want to see you ever again. When we chose to put off dating for other experiences, it didn’t mean come ‘round here and use me to be a slag for my dad.” Leo regretted his harsh words almost instantly after they left his mouth. He was always an asshole to other people but never her. He wanted to so badly pull her into his arms and tell her he didn’t mean any of it when she became visibly upset, but his demeanor never faltered. Leo tried telling himself that it was what she deserved. He moved closer to her until Katie’s back was against the wall and he was in her face. “I thought you wanted to be with me. I was more than ready to be with you, but I’m glad Eli stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life. Now get the fuck out, Katie,” Leo growled, the last sentence coming out through gritted teeth. He stormed out of his room and outside, ignoring his dad’s question about where he was going. If Leo was thinking properly, he wouldn’t have let Katie see her way out while only his dad was home but he needed to get away from her—the girl that broke his heart.

“It wasn’t what it looked like!”

⊰ v. princess and moon ⊱

Stacey was something of a mortal enemy to Luna. She didn’t understand why this girl was so persistent about snagging Prince, but the fact that he was willing to encourage her just to make Luna jealous pissed her off. Luna couldn’t take her eyes off of them. Prince was leaning over Stacey as he often did with her. Luna didn’t want to say that her feelings were hurt but she couldn’t ignore the dull ache of sadness in her heart. Anger was just the only emotion that she was able to project at the moment. Luna tried to not seem upset when the two of them approached the group she was with, not wanting to give Prince the satisfaction of knowing that his plan was working. However, the moment that Prince was about to walk away from her with Stacey, she couldn’t let him. “I want to talk to you,” Luna smiled. Her face fell into a scowl once her back was to Prince and she was pulling him through the crowd of people to go somewhere with fewer witnesses. “Fuck you, Prince. What the hell is wrong with you?” Luna hissed as she shoved Prince as hard as she could the second they were alone. “I know I was brushing you off but for you to try and get back at me by flirting with her? I ought to fucking kill you!” Luna’s hands were hitting Prince wherever they could make contact. It hadn’t taken long before he was gripping her wrists and yelling in her face that it wasn’t what it looked like. Luna rolled her eyes. If Prince was trying to make it seem like he was flirting then that was what he was doing, no? Nevermind the fact that even if Prince knew that he wasn’t flirting, Stacey thought he was and she was going to throw it in Luna’s face the next time they ran into each other. If Prince cared even a little bit about Luna’s sanity at school, he’d have chosen literally anyone else. “Well, you got what you wanted, Prince. You’ve got my attention. What the hell do you want?” And just like every time they argued, their mouths ended up on each other. Luna wasn’t very interested in that, though. Her lips traveled to his neck, nipping and sucking wherever she could. When she pulled away, Luna smiled at the marks she left behind. Her lips slowly approached Prince again but this time they stopped at his ear. “Have fun explaining why those weren’t there 10 minutes ago.” Luna allowed herself to linger for a few more seconds before she shoved Prince away again and walked away from him, texting Cassie that she was ready to leave.

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola always tried to tame her jealousy and anger. It wasn’t healthy to be so possessive, but the thought of Jason being with someone else made her sick to her stomach. He was her soulmate — they were endgame. Iola and Jason had plans to go out with Lip and June tonight. Unfortunately, Iola had to take a rain check because she was swamped with homework, but she encouraged Jason to still go. She wouldn’t be able to pay much attention to him and there was no reason for them both to suffer. Iola only made it halfway through her paper before she sighed out of boredom. “Time to procrastinate for 3 hours,” She mumbled to herself, her hand immediately going for her phone. Iola checked Snapchat and was happy to see that Lip posted on his story. She might as well live vicariously through his posts. A smile graced her lips at the sight of Jason. His cheeks were the perfect shade of rosy and his pupils were huge. She was happy to see him having fun until she went to the next video. Iola noticed that there was a girl with her arm wrapped around Jason’s waist, her body all over him as she attempted to get in the video. And to make matters worse, that was the last video Lip posted for the night. Iola checked June and Jason’s story but to no avail. Her mind started racing with possibilities. She liked to think that afterward Jason pushed the girl off and said he had a girlfriend, but her mind kept thinking about him doing the opposite. The more she thought about Jason actually entertaining that girl, the angrier she became. Jason was naive especially when he drank. To him, the girl probably wasn’t doing anything wrong. Iola tried to distract herself by getting back to her paper but all she could think about was that video. By the time Jason came strolling in, Iola had driven herself to insanity. When Jason went in to kiss her, Iola dodged his lips. Instead, she shoved her phone in his face which projected the video that made her so angry. She could hear Jason sigh. “It wasn’t what it looked like!” Iola rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest as she waited for Jason to explain. 

⊰ july 17th ⊱

Being married to a celebrity was hard. There was always going to be someone to start drama between them. She understood it when their drama made for good television, but its been years since they were on TV. No one gained anything from trying to cause tension in her marriage anymore. Her phone lit up constantly from the influx of people tagging her in a picture of Zayn. She could admit that the pictures definitely looked questionable. His arm was around the lady’s shoulders and they were laughing together as they headed to wherever. Arianna was trying not to get in her head about it but with his history of cheating, it was really hard not to. She was never the jealous or possessive type because, despite everything, Ari still trusted her husband. She convinced herself that every time he’d stepped out of their relationship, it was because he still wasn’t used to being committed. Arianna started dating Zayn knowing that he messed around with nearly everyone. It was going to take time for him to adjust to monogamy. But deep down she still held a bit of grudge which was why these pictures did kind of bother her. Arianna tried to seem unbothered when Zayn came home, but she could never get anything past him. He immediately knew that there was something up with her. “I know it’s probably nothing, but the internet would not stop tagging me in this,” Arianna said, showing him the pictures while her eyes focused on the ground. She felt relieved when Zayn assured her that it wasn’t what it looked like. The girl was just someone new on his team and he was only trying to calm her nerves before her first meeting. Ari was probably being too trusting, but she figured that he would’ve admitted if it was something else going on like he had before. With a single nod of her head, Arianna wrapped her arms around Zayn and stood on the tip of her toes to give him a kiss. “Zayn Malik, you’re lucky I’m not crazy or else you’d still be in big trouble,” Arianna pointed out with a smile. 

⊰ v. what if ⊱  

Arianna chuckled at Ashton’s assurance, shaking her head. They were definitely more than friends no matter how much they tried to convince themselves they weren’t. Of course, they could never really be more than friends but the feelings were still there. It made sense why Ashton would try to assure her that he wasn’t seeing someone else. “Ashton, it doesn’t matter what it looked like to me. You don’t have to keep your girlfriends or hook-ups or whatever a secret. I don’t know if you know this, but I actually vowed to spend the rest of my life with someone else,” Arianna said sarcastically as she flashed the ring on her hand. She did feel a bit jealous of the girl, though. Whoever she was was experiencing the life Ari could’ve had with Ashton if he chose not to leave the show. Arianna always wondered what would’ve come out of their relationship but by the time she could get the answers, she was already married. It was hard knowing someone else was living her what if. Arianna pushed her feelings to the side, though, to show Ashton that she was there for him just like he was for her. Ari snatched the phone back out of his hand, admiring the girl on the screen. “Hm, she’s cute. What’s her name? Where did you meet her? Do you like her? Did you ask her to be your girlfriend? Is she as good in bed as me?” Arianna joked. He still looked like a deer caught in headlights despite her attempt to lighten the mood. Sighing, Arianna takes a seat next to him. “Ashton, seriously. It doesn’t matter if you see her. I was joking about the last question. Really, tell me everything else. I want to know.” Arianna ruffled his hair playfully, finally being able to get a smile out of him. Did she really want to hear about this new girl? Not really, but she pretended to just like he probably pretended to listen to her when she talked about Zayn. Ari just wanted to be there for him like he was for her all those times even if it were as genuine as she would have liked.

“I’m sorry. It’s just the best option for me right now.”

⊰ v. princess and moon ⊱

When Luna decided to keep her friends’ secret, she never expected that it would lead to this. She thought she was being a good friend, but she never considered it would mean she was being a bad girlfriend. They all had secrets that they were keeping from someone. If it was her duty to tell those secrets then Luna would’ve told Pandora about Prince’s actual job. His words hurt her because he spoke as if Luna didn’t love him more than anything or anyone. It was almost as if his inability to accept Panda and Matt outweighed everything else including her. Luna couldn’t help the sigh that slipped past her lips. She wasn’t trying to seem like it but she was frustrated and wasn’t that good at hiding it. “I didn’t even know that long, Prince! Do you really think I was the first person on their list to tell when I’m dating you, the person they definitely didn’t want to know? Panda begged me not to tell you, and she’s been my friend since the first day I walked into that school. What was I supposed to do?” Luna sounded panicked, desperate even. She felt Prince growing more distant from her every day, and she wasn’t willing to let him go that easily. For the first time since they’ve known each other, their lovey moments outnumbered their bad moments. Instead of dignifying her with a response, Prince instead mumbled something about needing space to think. Luna latched onto his arm, the tears in her eyes begging him not to leave. They needed to talk about this not run away from each other. And it was as if he could read her mind when he said “I’m sorry. It’s just the best option for me right now.” There were still tears in her eyes but now all she could feel was anger. If Prince was willing to throw away everything they built because his sister was exercising free will, then maybe Luna shouldn’t care so much either. “Whatever, leave. I don’t know why I even bother with you. You can’t think about anyone but yourself,” Luna said as she threw his arm away from her forcefully. She practically sprinted to her room and slammed the door as hard as she could. Her back rested against the door, her hands running through her hair out of frustration. Luna was just praying that Prince would snap out of it and soon. 

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola knew that one day her overbearing desire to get married was going to scare Jason off eventually. He made it clear that he wasn’t ready and her unwillingness to accept it caused them to clash constantly. It didn’t help that this argument came a week after finding out that Jason was with someone else while they were broken up. Iola already felt insecure about that and now his insistence on waiting to get married only made it worse. “Jason, if you don’t want to marry me because that girl showed you there’s more than just me then you should just admit it!” Iola yelled, throwing her hands up at her side. She was taken by surprise when Jason didn’t respond to her and instead stalked out of her room. It didn’t take a genius to know that he was going for the door, so she ran past him to block his path. “Are you really going to leave right now? We’re not done talking about this. Why does it piss you off so badly that I love you so much I want to marry you like yesterday?” Iola considered that he put the blame on him not being ready to spare her feelings. Four years wasn’t a huge age difference, but she was 19 and he was 23. There were some obvious maturity differences between them in certain aspects. Maybe he wouldn’t be ready to commit to her until she was more mature since he did pick 26 as the age to get engaged. Iola could come up with conspiracy theories all night, really. She could tell that Jason was over the conversation by the way he gathered her in his arms, kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry. It’s just the best option for me right now.” He assured her that they would talk tomorrow, but she was almost positive it wouldn’t be about this. Not feeling like talking about this anymore either, Iola shrugged her shoulders and moved out of his way. “Leave if that’s really what’s best for you. I see there are more important things than reassuring your girlfriend that you only have eyes for her especially after she found out you were a big whore,” Iola smiled sarcastically before heading to her kitchen. What better way to make herself feel better than by eating her feelings?

⊰ july 17th ⊱

Arianna and Zayn were complicated people respectively and together. They both had their own demons to battle: Ari with her depression and self-harm and Zayn with his addiction. They were bringing a lot of baggage to the relationship, but as long as they had each other, it seemed as if they could overcome it all. Arianna wished it were that easy, though. While she was slowly but surely getting better, her boyfriend was doing the complete opposite. Ari tried her best to help him, but it was nearly impossible if he wasn’t willing to help himself. When Zayn decides to finally take the steps to get better, Arianna felt relieved. She already spent so much time visiting him in hospitals and she didn’t want to do that anymore. Ari wanted to see the man she loved happy and healthy, no matter how much it pained her to be away from him. Arianna lingered awkwardly by the door where his bags sat. She’d been holding in her tears all morning, but she reminded herself that she couldn’t be selfish. This was for him to get better. However, the moment he turned to her to give her a proper goodbye, the sobs spilled out of her. Arianna immediately ran into his arms and held him as tight and as close as she could. She buried her face in his chest so he wouldn’t have to see her ugly cry before he left. “I’m going to miss you, babe. So much,” She cried, Ari’s voice muffled by his shirt. She appreciated Zayn comforting her even though it was her who should’ve been giving him peace of mind before he left. Arianna shook her head when she heard him apologize about going with the best option for him. It caused her to pull away and her hands to cup his face. “No, you don’t have to apologize. I know this is good for you. I’m just gonna miss you like crazy. Who else am I going to cuddle with all day? Or who’s gonna make me tea? Who’s going to annoy me all day? And most importantly, who’s gonna sex me up?” Arianna chuckled, hoping to see Zayn mirror her. She wanted him to leave with the image of her being her typical annoying and joking self, not a sobbing mess. Arianna connected their lips for a kiss, gently yet passionately. She wasn’t going to be able to kiss him for weeks; Arianna needed to take advantage of the time she had to do it. Finally being able to pull herself away, Ari gave him another smile. “Don’t forget about me, yeah?” She laughed weakly, watching him pull away from to gather his things in his hands. 

⊰ v. what if ⊱

Arianna couldn’t say she didn’t see this day coming. She knew Ashton was going to eventually realize that he deserved more than what she was giving him. The tears streamed down Arianna’s face, a sad smile on her lips. She didn’t want to believe that this was the end of them. They could never truly be just friends and that was sad because right now Ari wasn’t only losing someone she loved, she was also losing one of her closest friends. Arianna rested her head on his shoulder gently while her hand rubbed his back soothingly. “I’m sorry. It’s the best option for me right now.” Arianna chuckled because it was the best option for him yet he sounded so broken up about it. Removing her hand from his back, she took his hand into hers. She turned to face him and forced him to do the same. “I’ve hurt you for a long time. You don’t have to be sorry for doing what’s best for your heart,” she assured him. Arianna didn’t want to let go of Ashton, though. She was selfish and every time she told him she never wanted to choose between him and Zayn, she meant it. Not in the way of choosing who to be with though that was also a part of it. She never wanted to choose who was in her life. Ari loved Zayn more than anything, but his faults tended to outshine his good qualities more frequently than she’d have liked. And Ashton, he was sweet and gentle. He never judged her despite everything she was doing being immoral. He accepted her for who she was. She was going to miss having someone like that in her corner. Her hand went to cup his jaw softly, her thumb wiping away the tears on his cheeks. She leaned in slowly as to not scare Ashton away. Arianna kisses Ashton gently. Her lips lingered on his for a while, wanting to savor the last few moments they had left together. Pulling away, Ari rested her forehead against his. “I’ll always be here for you, Ash. Whenever you want me to be.”