Liam refused to change his profile picture to a matching one with me. Again. But he had no problem letting that pretty new girl in his lab start a rumor that he was her boyfriend. I gave him an ultimatum: either clear it up, or we’re done. Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice tired through the phone. "She only said that to get some creepy guy to leave her alone, Chloe." He sighed. "I just spent ten hours on a plane to get back. Are you sure you want to fight about something so insignificant right now?" That was Liam’s go-to move. Matching profile pics? Insignificant. Posting a photo of me on his Instagram? Insignificant. And now, letting someone else call him their boyfriend and not shutting it down? Also, somehow, insignificant. What he really meant was that *I* was insignificant. I let out a long, slow breath, my voice surprisingly calm. "I don't want to fight either, Liam. That's why we're breaking up." 1 I always thought that when I finally said the word "breakup," I'd be a sobbing mess. But I wasn't. The tears had already run out during all the nights he’d ignored my calls and left my texts on ‘read’. "I don't agree to this breakup," Liam said flatly over the video call. His voice was cold, detached. He was multitasking, typing out an email on his laptop while he talked to me. His eyes never once met the camera. "Stop being dramatic, Chloe. You're not thinking clearly. We'll talk when I get back to campus." *Stop being dramatic.* His favorite three words. I took a deep breath. "What's the point, Liam? You and Ava look more like a couple than we do." He finally paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. His eyes, for the first time, flicked up to the screen. "Why would you say that?" Ava. The new girl in Liam’s grad program. While I was lucky to see Liam for a quick dinner once every couple of weeks, Ava spent ten hours a day with him in the lab. The university's homepage even had a featured story on outstanding research students with a picture of the two of them, side-by-side, smiling. Me and Liam? We had nothing. No matching profile pics, no tagged photos on Instagram, nothing. I only knew Liam was back in the country from his conference in Geneva because of Ava’s Instagram story. The night before, she’d posted a selfie of them at a café near the airport. The caption read: *So excited for my new mentor to show me the ropes! Big things coming! ?* The comments section was a flood of "OMG you two are so cute together! ❤️" and "Finally!! ?" Seeing it felt like a punch to the gut. My head just about exploded. I blew up his phone, calling and texting, but got nothing but silence. When I finally tracked Ava down on campus, she was laughing with a group of friends, looking shy and pleased. I asked her what the hell her post was about. She just blinked at me, playing dumb. "Chloe, what are you talking about?" I pulled up the post on my phone. Ava smiled, her voice a syrupy sweet. "Oh, *that*? Liam’s just agreed to be the lead on my new project. I'm so sorry, I had no idea you'd take it the wrong way." "The comments," I said through gritted teeth. "People think you're a couple." "I can't control what people assume," she said with a little shrug. "It’s not like I forced them to write that." I felt like I was punching a pillow. "Then please, clarify it. Tell them they're wrong." Ava flicked her hair over her shoulder, looking bored. "I'm super busy right now. Liam is waiting on my data for his paper, so I don't really have time to police my comments section. Besides," she added, her eyes sweeping over me with a look I couldn't quite decipher, "I'm a victim of this rumor too, you know. Why are you attacking me?" She paused, then delivered the final blow. "Honestly, if people were so quick to believe it, maybe you should think about why that is." That night, I cried until my eyes were swollen shut. It wasn't just because of Ava, but because of Liam's suffocating silence. How busy could a person possibly be that they can't find ten seconds to reply to a text? When he finally answered my video call, he had the look of a man dealing with a hysterical child. "She did it to get some clingy guy off her back." "She could have called campus security," I insisted, my voice thick. "Why did she have to do *that*?" Liam sighed, the sound crackling through the speaker. "Because it was complicated and a waste of time. The professor's deadline is breathing down our necks, and finishing the experiment is what’s important. I told Ava to delete everything. Can we just drop it now?" This was a person I’d loved for nine years, since we were dumb kids in high school. I tried one last time to be vulnerable, to crack myself open and show him how much he was hurting me. "Liam, it’s about your attitude. I just... I just need to feel secure." The clacking of his keyboard started up again. His attention was already back on his laptop. "What I say doesn't matter. Facts matter. And security isn't something I'm supposed to give you. It's something you should give yourself." I was just so tired. I didn't have the energy to argue about who was right or wrong anymore. I didn't want to be that screaming, hysterical girl he saw me as. I sniffled, forcing back the lump in my throat. "Just change your profile picture to the one I sent you. We'll drop it after that, okay?" I could hear the soft, rhythmic tapping of his finger on his desk. He was thinking. Not about me, but about how to word that email. The email he’d been focused on since the start of our call. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "Only the truth matters. And the truth is, I'm with you. What other people think doesn't change the fact that you're my girlfriend." But I didn't want the "truth." I wanted all the stupid, meaningless, superficial things he looked down on. I wanted the proof. I was about to hang up when a new voice cut through from his end. A girl’s voice. Ava’s voice. "Liam, is she giving you a hard time again? I already explained everything to her the other day when she ambushed me. I can’t believe she’s still going on about it. I don’t get why she’s so insecure." I froze. My blood ran cold. It felt like I was standing naked in the middle of a crowded street. Ava was right there. Next to him. Which meant she'd heard every single word I'd just said. A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Liam, why is it that the first person you see after you land isn't me, but her?" Before Liam could answer, Ava’s smiling face squeezed into the frame. "Chloe, don't misunderstand—" I slammed my laptop shut. 2 The next day, Liam found me outside my lecture hall. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted. He probably flew back, dumped his bags, and went straight to the lab to work all night. "What do you want?" I asked, my voice flat. "That new Italian place you wanted to try is open. I’m free today. Let's go." He started walking, then realized I wasn't following him. He turned, looking back at me with a slight tilt of his head. It was his signature move—a quiet, unshakeable confidence that I would always, eventually, walk toward him. Any other time, I probably would have run and thrown my arms around him. But today, I turned and walked in the opposite direction. I heard his footsteps behind me, and then his hand was on my wrist. He rubbed his forehead. "Don't be like this, Chloe. I didn't go to see Ava. She showed up at the airport to pick me up. There was some urgent data we had to go over, so we just talked in the lounge for a bit." He held out a small paper bag. "I got you these on my layover in Brussels. They’re chocolates." Last month, after another conference, he’d brought me the exact same box of chocolates. I’d specifically, carefully, told him then. "Please, no more snacks. I’m not a huge fan. If you want to get me a gift, maybe some jewelry? Like a handmade bracelet, or even just a cute hair tie would be great." He had mumbled "okay." I thought he’d actually heard me. The bag hung in the air between us. He must have seen the look on my face, because his brow furrowed slightly. "Open it." "I told you I don't like sweets. Did you forget?" Liam looked blank for a second. I managed a small, humorless smile. "Did you get these for me because no one else wanted them? Or did you remember, but decided it was just easier to buy the same gift for everyone to save time?" Silence stretched between us. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he started to speak, but a cheerful, sing-song voice cut him off. "Liam, there you are! The professor just posted in the group chat about dinner tonight. You’re the only one who hasn't RSVP'd!" Ava bounced over, positioning herself right next to him as if she belonged there. Her eyes landed on the bag in his hand. She gasped, covering her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh my god, Liam, are you giving those to Chloe? I thought I told you, you don't give a girl chocolate." She held up her wrist, showing off a delicate silver chain that caught the sunlight. "Little things like this are so much better. I love mine." She smiled sweetly. "But hey, if Chloe doesn't want them, I’m starving. Mind if I take them off your hands?" She was already reaching for the bag, her fingers about to close around it, when Liam jerked his hand back. Ava's smile faltered. Liam didn’t look at her. His eyes were locked on me, his tone stubborn. "They're for you. Take them." I took the bag from his hand. His shoulders relaxed a fraction. "I'm sorry," he started, "I just saw them and thought you might like—" I ignored him and turned to Ava with a bright smile. "You wanted these, right?" Ava’s expression flickered, but she nodded, her smile returning. "Well, if you don't mind… Of course, if you want them, I would never take your gift." "Oh, I don't mind at all." With a flick of my wrist, I tossed the entire bag into a nearby trash can. Ava froze, her eyes widening as they started to well up with tears. I gestured with my chin toward the garbage. "Since you want them so badly, feel free to go get them. It would be a shame to waste your dear Liam's thoughtful gift." Liam took a half-step forward, then stopped himself. He looked at me, and his expression was a complicated mess of confusion, exhaustion, and a deep, profound weariness I’d never seen before. Finally, he spoke, his voice low. "Do you have to be so damn aggressive all the time?" And in that moment, all I could do was laugh. It was funny, wasn't it? Liam could remember Ava's preferences and see her crocodile tears, but he couldn't remember a single promise to me or see my own hands clenched so tight my knuckles were white. I took a deep breath. "That box of chocolates was your apology gift. I don't want it, so I threw it away. Who exactly am I hurting?" Liam just frowned and turned to leave. "We'll go to dinner when you've calmed down." 3 A full week went by. Liam didn't call. He didn't text. He probably thought this was just another one of our usual fights. Me throwing a tantrum, him going silent, and then me, after I'd cooled myself down, coming back to him like nothing had happened. And he was right about one thing. I did go find him. I walked right up to the door of his lab. Several heads turned in my direction, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and speculation. One guy with a loud voice and a friendly face came over. "Hey, can I help you? You looking for someone?" "Liam," I said. He let out a low whistle. "Damn. Another one. Our boy Liam is in high demand, huh?" He puffed out his chest. "You know, it's a real mystery. I’m a catch, too. How come no one ever shows up here looking for Leo?" He was annoying. I tried to step around him. "Whoa, hey, don't go," he said, blocking my path, his expression turning a little more serious, though the grin never left his eyes. "For real, though, I'm just giving you a friendly heads-up. Liam’s already taken." He nodded his head in Ava's direction. "But hey, if you need someone to talk to, I'm way more fun than he is." Just then, Ava looked up and saw me. Her friendly demeanor vanished, replaced by a guarded, hostile look. She walked over to me. "Chloe. What are you doing here?" I smiled. "Since nobody else seems willing to clear things up, I figured I’d do it myself." Leo looked confused. "Clear what up?" Ava cut him off, her voice suddenly small and timid. "Leo, can you give us a minute? This is kind of a private thing." After he shrugged and walked away, Ava looked at me, her eyes pleading. "I told you, I only said those things to get that guy to back off so it wouldn't mess with my lab work. And… I honestly thought your relationship with Liam was so strong that no one would actually believe it. I guess… I guess I was wrong." She bit her lower lip. "Maybe… maybe I just got lucky. Or maybe… maybe it’s because you and Liam are never really public about your relationship, so people just filled in the blanks? I mean, if you two were really solid, it wouldn't matter what anyone else said, right?" Suddenly, a sly, knowing smile curved her lips. "You know, Chloe, I'm actually kind of jealous of you. You've been by his side for so long. But… if a relationship is so fragile that a little rumor can shake it, is that kind of company even worth having?" She immediately looked down, her voice getting louder, projecting for an audience. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean it like that. Yell at me if you want. Just please don't be mad at Liam." Right on cue, I heard his voice from behind me. "What's going on?" I didn’t have to turn around to know he was frowning. I looked around the lab, at all the curious faces watching us. I clapped my hands together once, sharply, getting everyone's attention. Then I held up the small digital voice recorder in my hand. "You know what, Ava? You're right. I don't think it is worth it." I looked straight at her, my smile unwavering. "So let's make things a little more interesting." As her eyes widened in horror, I pressed the play button.
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