Never Just Friends

The Confession

Hanna

The silence between us felt suffocating. My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear anything else. Finn’s question hung in the air, heavy and waiting for an answer.

“Who?”

I swallowed hard, my mind racing. I could lie. I could say something to push him away, something to end this conversation once and for all. But I wasn’t sure what to say. The truth was, I didn’t even know what I wanted anymore.

Elordi’s name tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to think. “It’s Elordi,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Finn blinked, his surprise clear. “Elordi?”

I nodded, though my throat felt tight. “Yeah. Elordi.”

He stared at me, processing what I had just said, his face hardening. “Since when?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, suddenly unsure of everything. “It just… happened.”

Finn’s jaw clenched, and I could see the tension in his posture. He didn’t speak for a moment, just standing there, watching me, his eyes darker than usual. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I could feel the shift in the air between us.

“Does he know?” Finn asked, his voice tight, barely controlled.

The question caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected him to ask that. I hesitated, the weight of the lie pressing down on me. “No. Not yet.”

Finn let out a breath, looking away for a moment before his eyes flicked back to mine. “You should tell him.”

I blinked, unsure if I had heard him right. “What?”

“If you like him,” Finn said, his voice firmer now, “you should tell him. Before it’s too late.”

The way he said it, the way his voice dropped just slightly, sent a strange shiver through me. Was he talking about Elordi? Or was he talking about something else? Something he wasn’t saying?

My chest tightened. “Why do you care?”

Finn’s expression shifted, something unreadable crossing his face. “I don’t,” he said, but the words felt off, like they didn’t belong to him. “I just think you should be honest with him. With yourself.”

I didn’t know how to respond. Part of me wanted to ask him why he was pushing this—why he suddenly cared so much about what I did with Elordi. But I didn’t ask. Instead, I just stood there, feeling the weight of everything unsaid between us.

Before I could find the words, Finn turned, walking away without another word, leaving me standing alone in the hallway, my thoughts racing.