Chapter 117: Girl Talk and Other Secrets
Friday.
Second paper of finals week(s). The dreaded follow-up to Tuesday’s exam, with Wednesday and Thursday acting like a buffer in between.
Wednesday had been... well, memorable. Rings—plural. She’d gotten hers, I’d gotten mine, and somehow the word husband had rooted itself even deeper in her vocabulary like it had always belonged there.
Thursday had been quieter, mostly spent in the safety of home, textbooks spread across the coffee table while she hummed and I pretended not to get distracted by every little expression she made when she studied.
And now it was Friday. Which meant back to campus, back to the exams, back to the chaos of people running around and stressing over which professor hated them the most.
Val walked beside me, as always. But today she wasn’t just walking. Today she was showing off.
Her hand swayed more than usual, her fingers adjusting her hair, tugging at her bag strap, brushing at imaginary lint on her shirt—all carefully orchestrated little movements that just so happened to flash the thin silver band now hugging her finger.
I didn’t call her out on it. I didn’t need to. The grin tugging at the corner of her mouth gave her away.
We’d barely made it past the first row of benches when Marina appeared, practically bouncing into Val with an enthusiastic, "Hey, girl!"
The two hugged tightly, Val giggling as though it hadn’t only been two days since they last saw each other.
"Morning," I muttered, giving Marina a nod.
She nodded back but froze mid-smile when her eyes caught the glint on Val’s hand.
"Oh my God." Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide, then narrowed with mock betrayal. "So it’s official now. I’ve lost my friend forever."
All three of us laughed. Val tilted her head smugly, wiggling her fingers like she’d been waiting for someone to notice.
Marina rolled her eyes dramatically. "No, but really—how do you even do it? How do you get him to say yes to things like this?"
Val turned, grinning at me like I was part of the joke. "Simple. I asked."
"That’s it?" Marina gasped, scandalized. "You just... asked?"
"She asked," I confirmed with a sigh. "And whined. And pouted. And trapped me in one of those arguments where no matter what I said, I was wrong."
Marina clapped her hands together, triumphant. "Classic, textbook Val. You never stood a chance."
Val smirked, unbothered. "Worked, didn’t it?"
I groaned under my breath.
But before I could steer the conversation somewhere else, the thought hit me, and I asked, "What about Trent?"
Val immediately perked up beside me. "Yeah. What about him?" Her voice was careful, but I knew her well enough to hear the undertone. She wasn’t just curious—she wanted to know if Marina had finally ditched the guy because she apparently doesn’t like him now.
Marina bit her lip, eyes darting between us. "Well..." She hesitated, then leaned in a little. "I went to visit him."
Val’s brows rose. "And?"
Marina glanced at me, then back at Val. "Maybe we should talk about it somewhere more... private."
I frowned. "Not fair."
Marina’s grin was quick, playful. "Sorry, Kai. It’s girl talk. And last time I checked..." she patted my arm like she was consoling me, "you’re not a girl."
Val pressed her lips together, looking at me with that soft, apologetic smile she always used when she was about to ditch me for girl talk.
"Really?" I muttered. "You’re just gonna abandon me like that?"
She squeezed my hand once. "Just for a little bit."
And then, just like that, she let go and followed Marina, their voices already dropping to hushed tones as they walked away, heads tilted toward each other.
I stood there, watching the two of them blend into the chaos of the hallway, Val’s hand still flashing that damn ring like it was a medal she’d won.
I leaned against the wall, folded my arms, and let my thoughts wander.
If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was this: no matter how many exams, no matter how many interruptions, no matter how much "girl talk" I got excluded from... Val always had a way of pulling me right back in.
---
Walking into class alone felt... weird. Not terrible, not even uncomfortable—just weird.
Normally Val would be right there next to me, either dragging me by the hand or tugging on my sleeve because I wasn’t walking fast enough. Today, she was still caught up in "girl talk," which apparently needed secrecy like it was national intelligence.
I picked a seat near the middle, laid out my pens, calculator, and exam slip. Everything in order. I leaned back, exhaling.
That was when a shadow fell across my desk.
"Hey," came a voice. Soft. Hesitant.
I looked up, blinking. Avery.
And honestly? For a second, I had to remind myself she still existed. Which was... rude. Really rude. But it was the truth. She’d slipped so far out of my life, it almost felt like she’d never been there at all.
"Oh," I said finally. "Hey, Avery."
Her lips twitched at my tone—like she already knew where this was going. "Can I sit?"
I hesitated, just a beat too long.
She caught it instantly. "You’ll probably say no," she muttered, almost sharp. "Forget I asked."
I frowned. "Did I do something?"
Her shoulders lifted with a tired exhale. "You asked for space, Kai. So I gave it to you. I figured maybe, eventually, you’d walk up to me. Maybe you’d say something, anything. But it’s like you’ve forgotten me completely."
That landed heavier than I expected. For a moment, I just sat there, staring. Then the words slipped out, a little harsher than I intended:
"I don’t really think I owe you an explanation."
Her eyes widened. Hurt flickered there, quick but visible. She nodded once, more to herself than to me. "I didn’t mean it like that. I only—"
I cut her off. "We can’t be friends, Avery. Not now. Val doesn’t like you. My hands are tied. Sorry."
Silence pressed between us. Avery looked like she wanted to argue, to defend herself, to fight for something—but then her gaze dropped.
To my hand.
The ring.
Her jaw tightened. "Wow," she said quietly. "You two don’t hold back, huh?"
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "I’ll just... go."
And just like that, she turned and walked away, shoulders squared, back stiff.
I leaned back, rubbing a hand over my face.
If this had been before—before Val, before all the chaos, before everything shifted—I probably would’ve felt like a villain for shutting her down so coldly. But now? Now it barely scratched. I felt... almost immune. Like Val had reshaped me without me even noticing. Maybe she really was changing me more than I realized.
The door opened again, pulling me out of my head. Marina walked in first, heading straight for her seat. Val trailed behind her, waving absently before veering toward me.
The second she dropped into the seat beside me, I started counting in my head.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four—
"Guess what Marina said," she whispered, leaning in, eyes bright with secrets.
That’s my girl right there. Classic Val.
I tilted my head, playing along. "What?"
Val lowered her voice even more, like anyone around cared enough to eavesdrop. "She went to Trent’s place."
I raised a brow. "Yeah?"
"They talked," Val said, dragging out the word as though she was unspooling a story I’d been waiting on. Her lips curved, savoring it. "Not just small talk either. Serious talk. About... everything."
I leaned in a little, curious despite myself. "Like what?"
"Like whether she still had feelings for you." Val’s eyes flicked to mine deliberately, testing me.
I lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "I don’t know. Probably not."
For a moment, she just looked at me. No frown, no pout—just that calm, steady gaze of hers. She trusted me. I could see it in the way her lips softened instead of pressing tight, the way her shoulders stayed loose. Whatever doubts she had, they were never about me. It was everyone else she didn’t give the benefit of the doubt.
Then her mouth curved, like she’d been holding back a piece of gossip. "Apparently that was one of the first things Trent asked her. He wanted to know if she was hung up on you, or if what she wanted was real."
"And?"
"She told him no." Val grinned faintly. "Said she’s done, that she knows where your heart is. That if she was going to move on, it had to actually be moving on, not circling back to the same old mess."
I exhaled slowly, surprised at the pang of relief in my chest.
Val tapped her finger on the desk as she continued. "And then it shifted. Trent wanted to know if she could handle him. His flaws. His screw-ups. He didn’t sugarcoat it. He asked if she really thought he could be loyal."
I arched a brow. "What did she say?"
"She said she didn’t know. Not for sure. But she was willing to find out."
Val’s grin widened as if she’d been waiting to drop the next part. "And then, somewhere in between all that..."
I already knew where this was headed. "Yeah?"
> "They kissed."
I smirked. "That all?"
Her grin widened. "Nope. They had sex."
I choked back a laugh, biting my lip as I leaned closer. "Marina will flip if she finds out you told me."
Val shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world. "You’re my husband. Obviously I tell you everything."
Something warm curled in my chest at that. Not because of how easily she said it, or how much she seemed to believe it—it was that she already lived it. She didn’t just play the role of a wife or act like one for fun. She already was one. All we had left was to make it official.
Beside me, she tapped her pen against her notebook, humming softly to herself, her attention already shifting back to her exam prep.
And me? I just sat there, staring at her, letting the realization sink in.
For all the noise, the chaos, the interruptions, the distractions—she was steady. She was certain. She was mine.
---
To be continued...