I wasn't planning on leaving the Bennett residence as early as I did. In fact, I think Bridget was shocked when I told her I had to leave. I lied and said that my mom needed me home for something. I think she saw right through it, but knew that if I was lying, there was probably a serious reason for it. And there was. I couldn't be there knowing that Lucas and Candace were hanging out, were...hooking up. I mean, they kissed right in front of my face. Yeah, sure, she may have initiated it, but Lucas didn't stop it.

I don't understand him. I just don't. He was kissing me two days ago and now he's back to kissing Candace. Maybe I was right about Lucas all along. Maybe he really is just a player with no regard for anyone but himself. I thought...ugh, I guess I thought he could be different with me. I thought that I could be the exception.

Bridget offered to cover my Uber, but my mom was on her way home from the grocery store, and I caught her just in time to pick me up.

I'm currently standing at the beginning of the driveway because I didn't want anyone to notice me waiting right in front of the house.

I notice a car approaching, but it's not my mom's. It's Teddy's, and he slows down when he sees me.

He finally comes to a complete stop and opens the window that's on the passenger's side. "Need a ride?" he asks.

"No thanks. My mom's on her way," I say, but Teddy studies me.

"You okay?"

"Mhmm," I force myself to say through closed lips as I try my hardest to hold back any tears.

"You're not okay," he tells me. He unfastens his seatbelt and leans his body forward, reaching for the handle and pushing the passenger's door open. "Get in, Lily."

"Teddy, it's okay, really. My mom will be here any second."

"Well then it's a good thing that my house is on her way home, so it's not like you rerouted her for no reason."

A few seconds later, my mom pulls up right behind Teddy. "Tell her you're coming with me," he urges.

I eventually tell my mom to go without me and get into Teddy's car. He drives us to this empty, sandy lot that has a really beautiful view of the sky. We picked up a carton of ice cream from the local creamery on our way over and are currently sitting on the hood of his car, watching the sunset.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asks me as I bring a spoonful of ice cream to my mouth.

"Talk about what?" I play dumb and ask.

"So, it's going to be like that, huh? Keeping secrets from one another? Thought we were better than that."

I exhale, but lend him a smile. He's right.

"Your brother is such a dick," is how I initiate it, and I'm happy that my comment gets Teddy to laugh. I haven't seen him laugh in a while and I miss hearing the sound.

"You're just realizing that now?"

"No. I've known it since day one, but I don't know. I thought he'd pleasantly surprise me or something."

Teddy looks down and breathes out before picking his head back up. "You know we spent the day together on Sunday, right?"

"I heard. Your mom told me you guys took a day trip to Nantucket."

"Yeah. It was nice. Really nice. I forgot how much I enjoyed spending time with Lucas; how much we truly know each other despite how different we are."

I smile, and it's a genuine one. I can tell that Teddy means his words and I love hearing them. Like Bridget, I hope that Lucas and Teddy can eventually get back to the place that they were once in, and remember that – no matter what – they're brothers. They're blood.

"I'm really glad to hear that," I say and Teddy smirks at me. "What'd you guys do?"

"We talked. A lot. About all the things that we didn't talk about these last few years." He pauses, looking at the sunset before turning to face me. "We talked about you, too."

I watch Teddy as I process his words. Why does that thought scare me more than anything?

"You did?" I swallow.

"Yeah," he nods, and I can tell that he has more that he wants to say, which is why I keep quiet. "We talked about how we both want you, but how you only want one of us back."

"Teddy, I..." I don't even know what to say, I just feel the need to intervene. Because hearing Teddy know that I don't want him in the way that I want Lucas crushes me, and yet, I can't help my emotions from wanting who they want.

"You don't have to say anything, Lily," he tells me, respectfully. "I'm not looking for an explanation. I'm just telling you the truth."

I reach for his hand, covering it with mine, and his eyes follow the gesture. "Thank you, Teddy. For always being honest with me. I don't know what I did to deserve it."

He looks down, but I hold my gaze on him, waiting for him to look back up at me, so that I can say one more thing.

"I'm sorry," I confess with everything in me, but he pauses before speaking up again.

"Don't be," he tells me. He stays silent for a few seconds after that, and I can tell that there's more that he wants to say. "Can I ask you something?" he finally speaks up again.

"Of course," I tell him.

"If Lucas wasn't in the picture, could you ever want me like that?"

"Like what?" I softly pronounce. He hesitates – not because he doesn't know what to say – but because he's afraid to ask. I can see the trepidation in his features.

"Like I was the only thing you see in a room full of people?"