If I Stayed | Christian Yu

CHAPTER FOUR - FABIAN

[Christian.] It's Getting Loud in Here.

The Morales living room smelled like garlic bread and nostalgia.

Mrs. Morales was dancing around the kitchen with a glass of sangria in one hand and a spatula in the other, laughing the way she always did; loud, warm, full of life.

Mr. Morales was already grilling Malik about his "latest little model friend" like they'd seen each other last week instead of last year. Kenji somehow found the snacks before anyone else - already halfway through a plate of something before anyone noticed.

And Aaliyah?

She was near the hallway, tucked just behind the counter, watching her mom. But every so often, her eyes flicked toward him, quick glances, like she thought he wouldn't catch them.

But he caught every single one.

"Christian, sweetheart! Sit down before your food gets cold!"

"Yes, ma'am," he called, smiling.

He slid into a seat at the long wooden table - the same one he used to do homework at after school. The same table where he and Aaliyah made TikToks during lockdown, crying from laughter because nothing turned out right. The same table with that tiny dent in the wood from the time they dropped her camera filming their fake cooking show.

Some things hadn't changed.

She sat across from him. Not beside him. Not too close.

A safe distance.

Her smile was soft, familiar.

He matched it without thinking.

"You still can't eat spicy food, huh?" she teased, reaching for the salad.

He smirked. "I've evolved a little."

"Mhm. Still cry over jalapeños?"

"Emotion is strength," he said, dead serious.

She laughed - real, easy, full.

And God... he'd missed that sound more than he wanted to admit.

The table filled up fast - Malik cracking jokes, Kenji retelling tour stories with way too much drama, her dad asking about Christian's new music like he hadn't already seen it on YouTube.

For a little while, Christian let himself sink into it. Into the warmth. The rhythm of this house. The comfort of her family. Of her.

Then the door opened.

"Sorry I'm late," someone called. "Work was chaos."

And just like that... the energy shifted.

There he was.

Fabian.

Tall. Put together. That too-perfect business-casual look like he'd walked straight out of a lifestyle magazine. He kissed Aaliyah's cheek on his way in, one hand finding the small of her back like second nature.

Christian felt it in his gut.
Not because it was flashy.
Because it was easy.

Normal.

And Aaliyah smiled up at him - soft, sweet, natural - and that hit harder than anything else.

Because that used to be his smile. Not publicly. Not officially. But in all the ways that mattered.

"Hey babe," Fabian said, sliding into the seat next to her. "Hope I didn't miss much."

"Just Kenji losing his passport," Aaliyah said with a little laugh.

"Twice," Kenji chimed in. "Lost it twice. For the record."