Saturday afternoon found Aria wrapped in a blanket burrito on her couch, scrolling through terrible reality TV shows while eating leftover pizza. A rare moment of peace.
Until her doorbell rang.
She groaned. "If that's Gwen trying to drag me out for bottomless brunch, I swear—"
She swung the door open.
And froze.
Standing there, holding a bottle of wine and a sheepish grin, was Mark.
As in Mark the Ex. The one she hadn't seen in nearly a year — the one who broke her heart, the one she may or may not have dramatically blocked on everything after their ugly breakup.
"Hey, Aria," he said.
She blinked. "Uh… what are you doing here?"
"Look, I know I don't deserve to show up like this. But I… I heard about what happened at work. Lawson getting canned, you saving the day. I guess it made me realize how much I've missed you."
Oh no. No, no, no.
Before she could respond, another voice called out from down the hall.
"Babe, you left your hoodie at my place—"
Ethan.
In jeans and a worn T-shirt, hair a mess, carrying her hoodie like it was the most normal thing in the world.
His eyes landed on Mark, and his entire face changed.
"Oh," Ethan said, eyes narrowing. "Who's this?"
"Ethan, this is—"
"Mark," Mark cut in. "Her ex."
The air went thick.
Ethan's jaw flexed. "Funny. She doesn't mention you."
Mark bristled. "I'm here to talk to her. Alone."
"Nope," Ethan said, stepping up beside Aria, casually wrapping an arm around her shoulders like it was second nature.
Aria groaned internally. This was the absolute last thing she needed.
"I don't need rescuing, Cole," she muttered.
"I'm not rescuing. I'm supervising."
Mark scoffed. "Really, Aria? Him?"
And that did it.
Aria stepped out from under Ethan's arm.
"Okay, first of all — you don't get to have an opinion. You gave that up when you dumped me over voicemail because you were 'too busy finding yourself in Bali.'"
Mark flushed.
"Second, Ethan may be insufferable, annoying, and a pain in my ass, but he's also honest, loyal, and happens to make me laugh so hard I snort."
Ethan grinned at that.
"And third — you showing up now, after everything? Not romantic. Pathetic."
Mark opened his mouth, closed it again, then shoved the wine at her.
"I just… thought you should have this."
"I'm allergic to cheap wine," she deadpanned, handing it right back.
He left without another word.
The second the door shut, Ethan turned to her.
"You okay?"
She exhaled. "Yeah. I think I finally am."
There was a beat of silence before he smirked.
"So, you think I'm loyal and funny, huh?"
"Don't make me regret it, Cole."
"Too late."
She rolled her eyes, grabbed her pizza box, and flopped back onto the couch.
"You're buying me dinner for emotional damage."
"Deal. But I'm picking the place this time."
"Only if it's not that weird sushi fusion thing you like."
"Blasphemy."
And just like that — the tension melted, and they fell right back into their usual rhythm.
The mark of something real.....