I rubbed the towel through my damp hair as I stepped back into the open-plan living space of my apartment. Despite scrubbing my face vigorously in the shower, I was pretty sure I still had paint in weird places. But at least most of it was gone.

Sophie sat on my couch, casually strumming my old guitar. Her silk black pajamas shimmered slightly in the light as she hummed an off-tune melody.

"You know," she said without looking up, "this thing is disgustingly dusty. You should really clean it."

I flopped onto the couch next to her. "I don't really feel like playing it anymore," I said with a shrug. "I guess I just grew tired of it."

That was a lie. The truth was, I loved my guitar. My mom had taught me how to play when I was little, her voice always carrying the melody while my fingers stumbled over the chords. She made it look so easy. I wasn't nearly as good a singer as she was, but playing the guitar had always been our thing. A way to connect, and it was our thing.

But ever since Jake, I hadn't touched it. I used to write songs about him, about us. Now, every time I tried to play, it brought back memories I'd rather forget.

Sophie glanced at me, her smirk subtle but knowing. "Still, you should clean it. You never know when inspiration might strike again."

I rolled my eyes again, this time with a bit more effort. "I know what you're implying, and no, you're wrong."

She placed the guitar down and grinned. "Whatever you say."

Ignoring her, I grabbed the basket filled with the products we'd bought for our long-overdue girls' night and sat down beside her. Sophie rummaged through the items, pulling out the face masks with a dramatic sigh of relief.

"I've been needing this," she said, stretching her arms like she was about to take a nap.

"You work hard," I said, opening one of the masks. "And after everything you've been through, you deserve it."

She interrupted me mid-sentence. "-We deserve it. We've both had our fair share of horrors lately."

I laughed and started applying the charcoal mask to her face. "You've got a point there."

As I carefully smeared the mask onto her skin, Sophie's expression shifted to something mischievous. "So..."

I immediately sat up straight, cutting her off. "No. I don't want to talk about it."

Her grin widened. "Oh, come on! You can't just pretend I didn't walk in on that. I deserve an explanation, at the very least."

With a sigh, I continued applying the mask. "There's nothing to explain. Liam and I are just friends. And, you know, fake boyfriend and girlfriend. That's it. We were just messing around."

Sophie raised a skeptical brow. "Friends, maybe. Fake boyfriend and girlfriend? Not so much."

I paused, narrowing my eyes at her. "What are you getting at?"

"Well," she said, dragging out the word, "you're only supposed to be in a fake relationship when you're in public. But from what I saw, you two seem to have a pretty convincing act going on in private too."

I shook my head and resumed her mask. "I told you-we've become friends. Friends can act like that too, you know."

"Uh-huh," she said, her tone dripping with doubt. "Friends don't look at each other like that."

I rolled my eyes. "You're delusional."

She smirked. "Delusional I may be, blind I most certainly am not."

We sat in silence for a while after that, and when I finished her mask, I handed her the bottle so she could do mine.

As she carefully applied the mask to my face, she said, "Would you ever consider it?"

"Consider what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Liam," she said plainly. "Would you ever consider that there might be something between you two? Maybe not now, but in the future?"

I didn't answer right away.

Would I ever consider it? The idea hadn't even crossed my mind until Sophie brought it up. But now that she had, I couldn't help but think about it. Liam was sweet, thoughtful, and somehow always managed to make me laugh even on my worst days. He saw parts of me that I thought no one else ever would. But could I really see us as more than just friends?

"I don't think so," I finally said, my voice soft. "I doubt he'd be interested in someone like me anyway."

Sophie paused, frowning. "Someone like you?"

I hesitated, then sighed. "Someone broken."

The words tasted bitter on my tongue. If Liam was smart, which I know he is, he'd know how much anger and saddness I've kept inside. There were moments I let it slip, so I knew he saw it, and that was only a little bit of what I kept inside. So how could anyone want to be with me after that?

"Emma," Sophie said firmly, grabbing my hand. "You're not broken. You've been hurt, yes, but that doesn't make you any less whole. And something tells me that Liam thinks so too."

Her words hung in the air, and for a moment, I felt a flicker of hope, but I turn that feeling away as quickly as it arrived.

I gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Soph."

She squeezed my hand, then released it. "Now, give me that nail polish," she said, her tone lighter. "It's time to make your toes fabulous."

As she painted my nails, I decided to turn the tables. "So, any news on lover boy?"

Sophie groaned dramatically. "No. And even if there was, I wouldn't want to hear it. He's dead to me."

I smiled. I knew how much Daniel had hurt her, and I wasn't going to push. He didn't even have the decency to end things properly-just left her hanging in the worst way possible-by saying absolutely nothing.

She deserved so much better than that. Someone who would treat her with the love and respect she deserved.

"Someday, you're going to find someone amazing," I said softly. "Someone who isn't a total idiot."

"Well, that makes two of us," she said, winking.

Her words made me think of Jake again.

What we'd had wasn't love-it was comfort. We'd stayed together because it was easy, because it was what everyone expected. But over time, we'd grown apart, and neither of us had the courage to admit it, until Jake was the one who decided to act on it.

I realized now that what I wanted wasn't what we'd had. I wanted real love.

As Sophie admired her freshly painted toes, I smiled. For now, I had her love, and that was enough.