Chapter 3The 99th Faded Love Letter

The fever made my whole body feel heavy and sluggish. My brain was a step behind.

It was a long rectangular table. Everyone else was scattered on the sides, leaving Declan and Nancy sitting dead center like royalty.

They looked like the real couple. I was just the intruder crashing their party.

Right.

I almost forgot. Declan and I were officially broken up.

I had absolutely no right to be angry or jealous.

When I just stood there without reacting, Nancy's smile froze. She suddenly jumped up, looking incredibly flustered.

"I am so sorry. This was the only empty seat earlier. I will go sit somewhere else right now."

But Declan reached out and pulled her right back down. His voice was laced with alcohol.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Serena, leave Nancy alone."

He had that same, infuriatingly calm expression.

I literally hadn't said a single word. How was I the one being unreasonable?

The irony made me sick.

I dug my nails hard into my palms, trying to steady my trembling legs. I turned around, fully intending to walk right back out.

One of Declan's roommates rushed over and grabbed my arm. He pulled a chair up on Declan's other side.

"Come on, Serena, don't be mad. We were just messing around. It's a huge night, none of us want Declan's girl missing out. You look super pale. Have you even eaten? Just sit down and get some food in you."

Standing was somewhat manageable. Sitting down and smelling the heavy grease of the restaurant food made my stomach violently churn.

I gripped my chopsticks tight, swallowing down the nausea. "Declan and I broke up. Did he forget to mention that?"

The chaotic noise in the private room vanished instantly. You could hear a pin drop.

Clatter. Nancy's chopsticks hit the floor.

She muttered a quiet apology. When she bent down to pick them up, a tiny smirk flashed across her lips before vanishing entirely.

Declan's perfect composure finally cracked. He furrowed his brows and glared at me.

"Serena, do you have to ruin the mood for everyone?"

I stood up briskly and let out a dry laugh.

"Then I will just leave."

"I am clearly irrelevant here. I won't ruin your celebration any longer."

Without another word, I walked out of the restaurant.

My fast walk quickly turned into a run.

The freezing night wind sliced against my face like actual blades. But this masochistic, physical pain somehow made the suffocating ache in my chest feel a little better.

I thought I had run far enough. I finally collapsed by a streetlamp, dry heaving from exhaustion.

Then I heard Declan's voice right behind me.

He wasn't just exceptionally smart. He was athletic, with long, terrifyingly fast strides. He had chased me down while dragging his rolling suitcase, not looking out of breath in the slightest.

"Explain yourself. You want to throw us away just because Nancy took your spot?"

He reached out to pull me up, but his tone was full of that typical, condescending interrogation.

I slapped his hand away and turned my face.

"Do you even need to ask? You were the one who dumped me."

Being sick made me disgustingly fragile. The tears just kept coming, no matter how hard I scrubbed my eyes.

I rubbed my cheeks until they burned, silently cursing myself for being so pathetic.

Suddenly, a warm weight settled against my back. The familiar scent of his clean soap, mixed heavily with expensive liquor, wrapped around me.

He pulled me into his chest with one arm, using his free hand to pinch my cheek and shake it lightly.

His voice dropped low, his hot breath brushing against my ear. "I'm sorry. You know I only said that because I was angry."

"It was wrong of me to let Nancy replace you. But her family is drowning in debt. She needed this opportunity way more than you did."

"You are completely different. You have endless options. You can just pay out of pocket to study abroad with me, and we can still be partners in the program."

He then pressed a small, red velvet jewelry box into my palm.

"An apology gift. Stop being mad at me, okay?"

My entire body went rigid. My brain short circuited.

A drunk Declan was terrifyingly affectionate. It was overwhelming.

He was notoriously rigid. On a normal day, he wouldn't even hold my hand unless we were hidden on a quiet campus trail.

Apologizing while pulling me into a hug? That was unheard of.

I stared blankly at the velvet box in my hand. I opened it.

When I saw what was resting on the cushion, the tiny bit of hope that had just resurrected plummeted straight down and shattered.