Lie to Him, Moan for Me!

Given up

**MAYA – POV**

The second I stepped through the door, I felt it.

Like walking into a storm I already knew would drown me.

My laughter died mid-sentence. Emma's arm brushed against mine, grounding me, but my eyes had already found him. Nathan. Sitting across from Liam.

His head was down, like he couldn't bear to look at me.

Good. Because I couldn't bear to look at him either.

Not with *Liam* sitting right there—smiling when he saw me, like the world hadn't just cracked beneath his feet. Like I hadn't been the one holding the match.

"Maya."

My name sounded different coming from him now. Softer. Desperate. Hopeful in a way that shattered me.

I wanted to run. To disappear.

But I didn't move.

Couldn't.

I just stood there like the coward I was, caught between the boy I broke and the boy I was breaking for.

"Hey," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

Emma's arm came across my waist like a shield. She didn't say anything, but her message was clear: *I won't let you fall apart here.*

Liam stood up halfway, already talking. "Didn't expect to see you here."

His smile made my stomach turn. Because he thought this meant something. Thought it was a sign.

He looked at me like I was the answer to a prayer he hadn't stopped whispering.

"Join us," he said. "Just for a second."

God.

I couldn't.

I looked at Nathan—just for a heartbeat—and he looked down immediately. Like my eyes burned. Like he couldn't face what this was any more than I could.

"I didn't know you'd be here," I said. It was the truth. But it felt like a lie, too.

Because it didn't matter who *planned* this.

We were all here now.

Liam's smile only grew. "Still feels like a sign, doesn't it?"

His hand motioned to the empty seat next to Nathan like that was supposed to be my place.

But it wasn't.

Not anymore.

Emma's grip on me tightened slightly, silently urging me to walk away.

"Maya," Liam said again, like just saying my name might keep me from slipping through his fingers. "Please."

I looked at him then.

Really looked.

And I saw it all — the heartbreak, the confusion, the blind faith. And it crushed me.

Because I had no right to be his heartbreak.

Not after what I'd done.

I didn't know what to say. I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn't come. They lodged in my throat, thick and guilty. My eyes darted to Nathan again, needing something—reassurance, maybe, or just a reason not to crumble.

He didn't look at me.

And somehow, that hurt the most.

"I can't, Liam."