Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 48 - WHO WANTS DINNER?

He flinched a little, like he expected me to coat it in sugar. Not today.

“But you’re still here,” I added. “So talk to me.”

He exhaled hard, ran his hand through his mess of hair, and said, “I just wanted to feel… wanted. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t go looking for Olive. But the night, I... my mind shut down and I thought I lost her... I made the worst choice I’ve ever made.”

His voice cracked on that last word, and I could feel the guilt in him. Thick, tar-black guilt that stuck to every breath. I hated him for what he did, but I also saw it, how lost he was in his own skin.

“And Olive?” I asked quietly.

“She... she was always there. And I was weak. I wanted someone to tell me I mattered when Betty was slipping away from me. I thought… maybe I was already the villain in her story.”

I nodded slowly. “So you decided to become one.”

He swallowed hard.

“Inez, I think about that night every hour. Every second I sat next to Betty in that room, I thought, ‘Why did I do it? Why didn’t I wait? Why didn’t I fight harder for her?’ And now, I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me. I don’t even know if she’ll ever wake up.”

I finally turned to him. “James… You broke her. She trusted you. Not just with her love, but with her healing. Do you get that?”

He nodded, tears trailing quietly down his face. “I know. And if she never speaks to me again, I’ll understand. But I’ll still show up. Every day. I’ll carry the weight of what I did until she doesn’t have to anymore. I just ... I want to be better. Even if she never loves me again.”

I studied him. Really studied him. Not the James who danced barefoot in beach sand or blasted Taylor Swift to make Betty laugh. Not even the James who kissed her under a lamp post like a scene out of a movie. But this James, hollow-eyed, shattered, rebuilding himself one breath at a time.

“I don’t believe in quick forgiveness,” I said. “But I believe people can change. If they choose to. Not for someone else, but because they can’t live with who they’ve been.”

He nodded. “Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll become someone better… even if she never sees it.”

I stood. “Then start now. Not for Betty. Not for anyone. For you.”

He stood too, slowly. “Can I… Can I sit with her tonight?”

I looked at him for a long moment. Then nodded. “One hour. Matt’s on rotation after that.”

And as we walked back toward her room, past the humming machines and pale lights, I didn’t know if James would ever earn Betty’s forgiveness. But maybe… just maybe… he could earn his own.

The cafeteria was louder than usual, plastic trays clattering, sneakers squeaking, laughter rising and falling in erratic bursts like a city in motion. But in the eye of that storm, there she was.

Olive Augustine Reyes. The golden girl without a kingdom. She sat at the far end of the lunchroom, shoulders curled inward, picking at a sandwich she hadn’t even bitten. Her hair was still perfect, curled at the ends, but something in her eyes looked chipped, like glass stretched too thin. No one sat near her. Not the cheerleaders, not the theater kids, not even the Instagram clique that usually hovered around her like satellites.

Alone.

And I wanted to hate her. I really did. For what she did to Betty. For the pain James caused because of her. For being the match that ignited everything and then pretending she didn’t smell the smoke. But I remembered what Matt said last night in the waiting room, how none of them made it out clean. How this whole thing broke everyone, not just one girl. So I walked up to her. Just walked, like my boots were made of lead and guilt and something heavier I couldn’t name.