He found himself remembering moments from their friendship.

Small things he hadn’t paid enough attention to at the time.

The way Avery always remembered how he took his coffee.

The way she’d learned Emma’s favorite bedtime stories so she could read them when she babysat.

The way she’d shown up at his apartment with groceries and a listening ear after particularly hard days.

the way she’d been there, always there, in ways that went far beyond simple friendship.

How had he been so blind? On Thursday night, the evening before Emma’s play, Lucas was helping his daughter run through her lines one final time when his doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Emma announced, racing for the door before Lucas could stop her.

“Emma, wait.

You’re supposed to check who it is first.

” But Emma had already flung the door open, and Lucas heard her delighted squeal.

Aunt Avery.

Lucas’s heart stopped.

He walked into the entryway to find Emma wrapped around Avery in a fierce hug and Avery standing there with a small gift bag in her hand, looking uncertain.

“Hi,” she said, meeting Lucas’s eyes over Emma’s head.

“Hi,” he managed.

“I know we said we’d talk tomorrow, but I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to drop off Emma’s good luck gift before the big day.

” She held up the bag.

“If this is a bad time, it’s not,” Lucas said quickly.

Come in, please.

Avery stepped inside, and Emma immediately dragged her toward the living room, chattering excitedly about the play and her costume and how she’d practiced her lines so many times she could say them backwards.

Lucas followed, his pulse racing.

He hadn’t expected to see Avery tonight.

Hadn’t expected to feel this overwhelming rush of emotion just from having her in his space again.

“This is for you,” Avery said, handing Emma the gift bag.

for being brave enough to get up on stage and perform.

Emma tore into the bag with characteristic enthusiasm, pulling out a beautiful journal with stars embossed on the cover.

It’s so pretty.

I thought you could write about your acting experiences, Avery explained.

Keep track of all your performances, how you felt before and after, what you learned.

That way, when you’re a famous actress someday, you’ll remember where you started.

Emma threw her arms around Avery again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I’m going to write in it right now.

She raced off to her room, leaving Lucas and Avery alone.

The silence was immediate and heavy.

That was really thoughtful, Lucas said.

The journal.

I wanted her to know I was thinking about her, that I wouldn’t miss tomorrow for anything.

Avery twisted her hands together.

I should probably go.

I just wanted to drop that off.

Don’t.

The word came out more forcefully than Lucas intended.

Don’t go, please.

Avery looked at him, and Lucas saw exhaustion in her eyes.

Sadness, longing, everything he’d been too afraid to see before.

“Lucas, I can’t keep doing this,” she said quietly.

“This thing where we dance around each other and pretend everything is fine.

It’s killing me.

” “I know, I know, and I’m sorry.

I’ve been such an idiot.

You’re not an idiot.

You’re scared.

I get it.

” Avery moved to the couch and sat down.

And after a moment, Lucas sat beside her.

I’m scared, too.

Terrified, actually.

Of what? Of losing you? Of ruining our friendship? Of taking this risk and having it blow up in my face.

She looked down at her hands.

But I’m more scared of spending the rest of my life wondering, “What if? What if I’d been brave enough to tell you how I feel? What if you felt the same way? What if we could have had something amazing and I was too afraid to reach for it?” Lucas’s chest achd.

Avery, let me finish, please.

She took a shaky breath.

I’ve been in love with you for years, Lucas.

Years.

And I kept waiting for you to see me the way I see you.

Kept hoping that one day you’d wake up and realize we could be more than friends, but it never happened.

And I started to accept that maybe it never would.

When? Lucas asked, his voice rough.

When did you fall in love with me? Avery’s smile was sad.

Do you remember sophomore year when I had the flu and couldn’t leave my dorm room for a week? Lucas nodded.

He remembered.

He’d spent every night camped out in her common room, bringing her soup and medicine, keeping her company while she felt miserable.

You didn’t have to do that, Avery continued.

We’d only been friends for a year.

You had exams to study for your own life to deal with, but you showed up every single day.

And on the third night, when I was feeling particularly awful, you sat on the floor outside my room and read to me through the door because my roommate was worried about getting sick.

“You read that entire ridiculous romance novel I’d been reading, complete with different voices for each character,” Lucas felt his throat tighten.

He’d forgotten about that.

“That’s when I knew,” Avery said softly.

“That’s when I realized you were different from anyone else I’d ever known.

and I fell in love with you right there listening to you butcher the dialogue of a bodis ripper romance novel just to make me feel better Avery Lucas tried again but she held up a hand I’m not done I need to say all of this before I lose my nerve she stood up started pacing I’ve spent over a decade watching you build your life I was there when you met Sarah I was there when you got married when Emma was born when your marriage fell apart and through all of it I kept my feelings buried married because I thought I convinced myself that being your friend was enough, that having you in my life in any capacity was better than not having you at all.

But it’s not enough anymore, Lucas said, understanding finally clicking into place.

No, it’s not.

Avery stopped pacing and looked at him.

And I know that’s not fair to you.

I know you see me as your best friend and nothing more, but I can’t keep pretending I’m okay with that.

It hurts too much.

Lucas stood up, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears.

This was it.

This was the moment.

He could keep being afraid or he could finally be brave.

“You’re wrong,” he said.

Avery blinked.

“What? You’re wrong about how I see you.

Wrong about what I feel.

” Lucas took a step toward her.

I don’t see you as just my best friend, Avery.

I haven’t for a long time.

I just didn’t let myself admit it because I was terrified of screwing this up.

Terrified of losing you.

Hope flickered across Avery’s face, quickly followed by skepticism.

Lucas, you don’t have to say that just because I’m not saying it because of anything except that it’s true.

Do you want to know when I figured it out? When I finally stopped lying to myself? Avery nodded, not speaking.

That night with the bookshelf.

when you asked if I ever thought about the future and then said you came home to an empty apartment when you said that’s the problem and I knew I knew you were talking about me about us and I panicked because I wasn’t ready to face it yet.

Lucas moved closer close enough that he could see the tears forming in Avery’s eyes.

But the truth is I’ve been in love with you for longer than I want to admit.

I just kept telling myself it was friendship.

Kept making excuses.

kept finding reasons why it couldn’t be real.

Because if it was real, I’d have to risk everything.

And the thought of losing you scared me more than anything else in the world.

A tear slipped down Avery’s cheek.

“Lucas, I love you,” he said.

The words, “Finally, finally coming out after years of being locked inside.

I love the way you remember everyone’s coffee order.

I love how you keep building blocks at your penthouse just for Emma.

I love that you’re brilliant and successful and powerful, but you still can’t figure out IKEA instructions.

I love your laugh, your smile, the way you scrunch your nose when you’re concentrating.

I love everything about you, and I have for so long that I don’t remember what it feels like not to love you.

” Avery was crying openly now, and Lucas reached up to wipe away her tears with his thumb.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out,” he continued.

“I’m sorry I wasted so much time being afraid.

I’m sorry for that night when you asked what we were to each other and I said best friends like an absolute coward.

But I’m done running.

I’m done pretending.

I love you, Avery Sinclair, and I want to be with you if you’ll still have me after I’ve been such an idiot.

For a long moment, Avery just stared at him, tears streaming down her face.

Then she laughed, a wet, broken sound, and closed the distance between them.

“You really are an idiot,” she said, her hands coming up to frame his face.

“But you’re my idiot.

” And then she kissed him.

The world seemed to stop.

Or maybe it started spinning faster.

Lucas couldn’t tell.

All he knew was that Avery’s lips were on his.

Her hands were in his hair.

And everything that had been broken inside him suddenly felt whole.

This was what he’d been missing.

This connection, this certainty, this feeling of coming home.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Avery was smiling through her tears.

I can’t believe you just said all of that,” she whispered.

“I can’t believe it took me this long to say it,” Lucas replied, resting his forehead against hers.

“So, what happens now?” Lucas pulled back slightly so he could look into her eyes.

“Now we stop wasting time.

Now we figure this out together.

Now we Dad, Aunt Avery, are you kissing?” They jumped apart to find Emma standing in the hallway, her journal clutched to her chest, her eyes wide with shock and delight.

Emma.

Lucas started his face burning.

We were just You were totally kissing.

Emma shrieked, jumping up and down.

I knew it.

I knew you liked like liked each other.

Avery started laughing.

And after a moment, Lucas did, too.

Leave it to his daughter to interrupt the most important moment of his life.

Emma ran over and threw her arms around both of them.

Does this mean Aunt Avery is going to be your girlfriend? Are you going to get married? Am I going to have a mom again? Whoa, sweetheart.

Slow down, Lucas said, though his heart was so full he thought it might burst.

Let’s take this one step at a time, okay? But you like each other, right? Like for real? Lucas looked at Avery, saw his own happiness reflected in her eyes.

Yeah, Emma, for real.

Finally, Emma said dramatically.

You two took forever.

After they’d calmed Emma down and convinced her to go to bed, though not before she’d made them promise to tell her everything that happened next, Lucas and Avery found themselves back on the couch.

This time with Avery tucked against his side, her head on his shoulder.

“Your daughter is something else,” Avery said, smiling.

“She gets it from me.

” “The dramatic flare or the inability to mind her own business?” “Both.

” They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just being together, and Lucas marveled at how natural it felt.

“How right.

” “I’m still scared,” Avery admitted quietly.

“Me, too,” Lucas said.

“But I think being scared together is better than being scared alone.

” “What if we screw this up? What if dating ruins our friendship?” “What if it doesn’t? What if it’s everything we’ve both been looking for?” Avery lifted her head to look at him.

“When did you become the optimistic one?” About 5 minutes after I realized I was in love with you and you loved me back.

Turns out reququited love makes you stupid and hopeful.

Stupid and hopeful.

Avery repeated.

That should be our couple motto.

We have a couple motto already.

We’ve been together for like 20 minutes.

We’ve been together for over a decade.

Lucas, we’re just making it official now.

Lucas kissed her forehead.

Fair point.

They talked for hours about everything and nothing.

About their fears and hopes.

about how they’d navigate this new chapter, about what they’d tell their friends and family.

They talked about taking things slow for Emma’s sake, about being careful and thoughtful, about not rushing into anything.

But underneath all the practical considerations, there was joy.

Pure uncomplicated joy at finally being able to be together after years of dancing around their feelings.

When Avery finally left that night after one more kiss at the door that left Lucas’s head spinning, he stood in his living room for a long time just processing everything that had happened.

He’d done it.

He’d been brave.

He’d told the truth.

And instead of losing everything, he’d gained something more precious than he’d ever imagined.

His phone buzzed with a text from Avery.

Thank you for being brave enough to say what we were both thinking.

I love you.

Lucas typed back immediately.

I love you, too.

See you tomorrow at the play.

Wouldn’t miss it.

Try to get some sleep.

You, too? Not likely.

Too happy to sleep.

Lucas smiled at his phone like a lovesick teenager.

Emma was right.

He probably did make heart eyes at Avery, but now he didn’t have to hide it anymore.

He was just heading to bed when another text came through.

By the way, we’re still building that furniture at my place, right? I bought it specifically so we’d have projects to do together.

Absolutely.

Though I’m pretty sure we’re going to be terrible at it, obviously, but we’ll be terrible at it together.

Together, Lucas typed back.

I like the sound of that.

As he finally climbed into bed, Lucas felt lighter than he had in years.

The fear was still there.

He wasn’t naive enough to think everything would be perfect from here on out.

Relationships were complicated, especially when you were adding romance to a decadel long friendship.

There would be challenges, adjustments, difficult conversations, but for the first time in his life, Lucas felt ready to face those challenges because he wouldn’t be facing them alone.

He’d have Avery beside him, not just as his best friend, but as his partner, his love, his future, and that made all the difference.

The morning of Emma’s play dawned bright and clear, as if the universe itself had decided to cooperate with Lucas’s newfound happiness.

He woke up with a smile on his face for the first time in weeks.

the memory of last night’s confession still warm in his chest.

Everything had changed, and yet nothing had changed at all.

Avery was still Avery.

He was still himself.

But now there was this new layer to their relationship, this acknowledgement of feelings that had been hiding in plain sight for years.

Emma bounded into his room at 7 in the morning, far too energetic for someone who should still be sleeping.

“Dad, Dad, it’s play.

” She launched herself onto his bed with enough force to nearly knock the wind out of him.

And it’s also the day you and Avery are boyfriend girlfriend.

Lucas groaned, pulling a pillow over his face.

Emma, it’s too early for this much enthusiasm.

It’s never too early for love, Dad.

That’s what grandma always says.

Grandma says a lot of things.

Emma yanked the pillow away, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

So, are you going to marry Aunt Avery? Because that would be so cool.

She could move in here and we could all live together and she could read me bedtime stories every night.

And whoa, slow down there, sweetheart.

Lucas sat up, running a hand through his sleepm hair.

Aunt Avery and I just started being more than friends yesterday.

We’re not getting married tomorrow.

But you’re going to marry her eventually, right? The question caught Lucas off guard, even though he probably should have expected it.

Emma had never been one for subtlety.

I don’t know what’s going to happen eventually, he said honestly.

But I do know that on Avery is very important to me and I want to see where this goes.

Is that okay with you? Emma threw her arms around his neck.

It’s more than okay.

I’ve been waiting for you to figure this out forever.

You’re 7 years old.

You haven’t been waiting for anything forever.

It feels like forever when you have to watch your dad make hard eyes at someone and not do anything about it.

Lucas tickled her sides until she shrieked with laughter.

Where did you learn the term hard eyes anyway? The internet, Dad.

I’m very cultured.

You’re very something, Lucas muttered, but he was smiling.

They spent the morning in a flurry of activity, making breakfast, running through Emma’s lines one final time, making sure her costume was ready.

Lucas tried to focus on being a supportive parent, but his mind kept drifting to Avery, to the way she’d looked at him last night, to the feeling of her lips on his.

to the future that suddenly seemed bright and full of possibility.

His phone buzzed around noon with a text from Avery.

“How’s the star of the show doing?” Lucas smiled and typed back, bouncing off the walls with excitement.

“How are you doing?” “Nervous, happy, terrified, all of the above.

” “Same.

Want to talk about it tonight after the play? Right now, I just want to focus on being there for Emma and maybe seeing you.

” Maybe.

Okay, definitely seeing you.

I missed you and it’s only been 12 hours.

Lucas’s heart did a ridiculous flip in his chest.

He was 32 years old, a grown man with a child in responsibilities, and he was grinning at his phone like a teenager with his first crush.

“Is that Aunt Avery?” Emma asked, appearing at his elbow with her usual impeccable timing.

“Yes, are you going to see her before the play?” “She’ll be at the play, remember?” I mean before before like to kiss her and stuff.

Emma, his daughter giggled and ran off, leaving Lucas shaking his head.

He was going to have to have a serious conversation with his mother about what exactly she’d been telling Emma about relationships.

The afternoon crawled by with agonizing slowness.

Lucas helped Emma get ready, making sure her costume fit properly, braiding her hair the way she liked it.

He took approximately 700 pictures, much to Emma’s exasperation, and tried not to think about the fact that in a few hours he’d see Avery again.

His phone rang at 5:00.

Avery’s name flashed on the screen, and Lucas answered immediately.

“Hey,” he said, his voice coming out softer than he intended.

“Hey, yourself.

” Avery sounded breathless.

“So, I may have done something.

” Lucas’s stomach dropped.

What kind of something? Don’t panic.

It’s a good something.

Probably.

I hope.

She paused.

I’m outside your apartment.

Lucas blinked.

You’re what? Outside in the parking lot.

I wanted to see you before the play.

Is that weird? That’s probably weird.

I should have asked first instead of just showing up.

I’m coming down, Lucas interrupted, already heading for the door.

Emma, I’ll be right back, he called out.

Going to see on Avery.

Emma’s voice drifted from her room.

Yes.

Tell her I said hi and that I love her and that she better get a good seat for the play.

Lucas took the stairs two at a time, his heart pounding with anticipation.

When he burst through the lobby door into the parking lot, he saw Avery leaning against her car, looking beautiful and nervous in dark jeans and a soft blue sweater that matched her eyes.

For a moment, they just stared at each other.

Then Lucas crossed the distance between them in three long strides and pulled her into his arms.

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