By mid-July, two truths finally collided.
The first came in the form of Phoebe's confession. One evening, she sat at Avery's bedside, her hands trembling as she spoke."I need to tell you something," she said softly. "I'm… going back. To Jakarta. For good."
Avery's breath hitched. She blinked, as if trying to process not just the words but the meaning. Her thoughts stumbled like broken steps. "You're… leaving? When?"
"In two weeks." Phoebe's voice cracked. "I didn't want to tell you while you were still healing. But… I can't stay here anymore."
Avery's world tilted. The girl who had held her hand through blood, through nightmares, through tears in front of the mirror was leaving and this time she would never come back.
Her chest burned. She turned on her side, facing away, tears slipping silently onto the pillow. She didn't want Phoebe to see her like this, not again. Her voice came out low, almost choked.
"After everything we've been through… every chance I gave you… you always chose to let go."
Phoebe's lips parted, but no words came.
Avery's tears kept flowing, her memories sharper than the pain in her scars. "Do you remember the first time? How I found out I was just the affair? You kept me in the shadows while you had your girlfriend… and I still stayed." Her voice cracked, trembling between anger and despair. "And when we broke up, and you chose me again, I thought—maybe this time. Maybe I was finally enough."
She wiped at her face, but the tears didn't stop. "But then I found you… with him. After everything. I saw you right after you'd been intimate with him in your guest house. Do you know what that did to me? To see it, to feel it? I was broken, Phoebe. Completely broken."
Phoebe's tears welled, spilling over as she pressed her hand against her mouth.
"And still… I let you go, because I had no choice." Avery's voice softened now, heavy with exhaustion. "But you ran back to your ex. Over and over, I was just second best. Always the one you left behind."
The silence after her words was sharp, unbearable. Avery's shoulders shook as she whispered, "I am grateful, Phoebe. For what you did the night of the accident. For holding me together when I couldn't. But I can't lie to myself anymore. You've broken me too many times. And I don't know if I'll ever feel whole again."
Phoebe sat frozen, tears streaming unchecked, her hands trembling in her lap. She reached forward but stopped halfway, fingers hovering in the air, because she knew—this time, there might be no reaching her.
Phoebe sat frozen, tears streaming unchecked, her hands trembling in her lap. She reached forward but stopped halfway, fingers hovering in the air. For a long moment, the space between them felt like a wall. Then, slowly, she placed her hand on Avery's shoulder.
Avery stiffened at the touch but didn't pull away.
Without a word, Phoebe slipped onto the bed, curling gently behind her. She wrapped her arms around Avery's waist, holding her close, her forehead pressed against the back of Avery's shoulder. The familiar warmth of her breath brushed against Avery's skin as Phoebe whispered, almost inaudible, "Just for tonight… let me hold you."
They lay like that, tangled in silence, the air thick with everything unsaid. Phoebe's grip tightened, as if by clutching Avery she could keep the moment from ending.
And then came the words Phoebe always seemed to retreat to when their fights reached their breaking point: "I want you to be my big sister. Someone who supports me, even if… we're not together."
Avery's heart clenched. She shut her eyes, tears leaking into the pillow. She couldn't accept it—not fully. She could never be just a sister to the girl who had once been her everything. But she also knew this was the reality she had to face: they would never, ever find their way back to each other.
So Avery stayed silent, letting Phoebe cling to her from behind, letting the night swallow their unspoken goodbye. Their last sleep together, not as lovers, not as exes, but as something fragile and unfinished, a bond that could never be mended the same way again.