"I didn't realize you were in town."

I had heard the door open and assumed it was Katie returning to start the study group she had promised Shelby over a month ago, but the first words I heard out of Shelby's mouth indicated that that wasn't the case.

"I didn't realize I would be running into you in my old living room."

Crap.

Shelby had shown up just a few minutes earlier, expecting to find Katie answering the door. When it had been me instead, she had seemed surprised but not terribly upset about it. Remembering the conversation I had had over the phone with her just two hours earlier, I felt a tad bit uncomfortable letting her into an apartment that wasn't mine, but I had done so nonetheless.

I had assumed that Katie would be returning home after her dinner with Sydney and company. But apparently she had forgotten to come home.

I braced myself for entering the living room and walked out from the kitchen, carrying a bag of microwavable popcorn that I had planned on eating in Katie's room by myself.

The scene that met me was one I had never wanted to find: Sydney Porter and Shelby Toth, both staring at me with the most accusatory glares I had ever been greeted with.

"This looks much worse than it is." I started out with.

"Who are you talking to?" Sydney snapped.

"Both of you."

There was a small silence, and I later wished I had appreciated that silence more.

Before the storm broke.

"You know, I really didn't expect to find your ex-girlfriend in your life just a few hours after you invite me to the engagement party."

They were the only words Shelby managed to squeeze in throughout the next few minutes.

"You invited her to the engagement party?"

"What did you expect me to do, after you walked in here with Captain Orchestra on your arm?"

"'Captain Orchestra'?"

"I'm on the spot, you couldn't have really expected me to come up with something better."

"Yeah you're right, "not a con man", I should have expected more from that."

"Don't even start, you changed your name and it's all boring and adult now."

"We're in our twenties, Connor!"

"That doesn't mean we have to be adults yet. Some of us are still in college."

"And some of us are beginning our careers."

"No one asked you to move to New York."

"No one asked you to end our relationship, and yet here we are."

"Wait, what?"

"Everybody shut up!"

Through the arguing we hadn't heard the door opening and closing, and all turned to find Katie standing two feet behind us.

"It's embarrassing that you can't be left alone for a few minutes." She muttered, stomping into the living room and kicking off her shoes. "I have to study with Shelby. Sydney is staying with us, so she can stay in the apartment, but Connor, get out."

"Whatever." I muttered, my head spinning. "I don't need this."

I tossed the bag of popcorn on the sofa next to Shelby and grabbed my jacket before slamming the door behind me.

I took a deep breath after slamming the door to Katie's apartment, standing alone in the hallway, my back pressed against the wall with the room number on it. There was so much that I had wanted to say to Sydney, but I hadn't. I had yelled at her and gotten defensive, and there was nothing I could say to take back any of it. I had made things worse.

Her last words rang in my head.

"No one asked you to end our relationship, and yet here we are."

Here we are.

I didn't even know how I had ended up here.

My life had been so sure for the past four years. I had thought Sydney was the one for me. I had thought we were going to get married and have kids and grow old together. I had thought that that was our path. The one that we were destined to take. There was no other reason for two pen pals to fall in love if it wasn't fate pushing them together.

But fate was doing all the work. Towards the end, we weren't helping.

I stayed with my back pressed up against the wall, and my mind was carried back to a moment exactly a year earlier, in this same hallway, my voice hushed so my words wouldn't be heard from inside the apartment. Sydney's apartment.

"Sorry about them. It's not like them to act out."

"They're drunk. It's to be expected." I laughed, taking Sydney's hand in mine. She looked legitimately worried about what I thought, as if we hadn't had the same group of friends for a year and a half now.

"I just feel bad." She whispered, giggling as the sound of crashing glass could be heard from inside the apartment. "I wanted tonight to be special."

"It was special." I grinned, "Don't worry about it. I loved the dinner, and I loved the night."

December 28th, 2019. It was the second anniversary of the night I had flown out to California to visit Sydney as a surprise after Christmas. She had been over the moon. We celebrated the day every year since, as she felt like she owed me for such a wonderful surprise during our senior year of high school.

"I love you." Sydney grinned, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing herself against my chest. "I don't know what I would do without you in my life."

"I don't think I'd be able to make it without you in my life." I replied, kissing the top of her head. It was true; I couldn't imagine my life without Syd. She was my entire world, and had been for the past almost-three years.

I loved her unconditionally. I couldn't imagine anything pulling us apart in the slightest. In my head, I had already mapped out ten different ways to propose to her when the timing was right. I knew she was the one I was going to marry.

How lucky I felt to have found The One so early in life.

And yet here I stood, a full year later, wondering how in the world I could have possibly gotten everything so wrong.

I wasn't going to marry Sydney. I wasn't going to end up with the girl who made me weak in the knees when she got dressed up for a night out. I wasn't going to end up with the girl who made my heart skip a beat every time she smiled. I wasn't going to end up with the girl who challenged me and made me grow to be a better person with every passing day. I wasn't going to end up with my number one choice.

I was going to have to settle for second best.

And it was entirely my own fault.

A/N: Apology time.

Ya'll are the sweetest and most understanding readers ever, and I am so sorry for the missing updates. I was on track with actually updating on time (and actually getting into the swing of college) and then this personal thing came up out of nowhere and took me by surprise, and kind of sucked the creative juices right out of me. But I should be good now, it just took a little while to get back on my feet. 

So Sunday/Wednesday updates are a go!

I love you guys so much and am so grateful for your support and understanding. Let me know your thoughts on the chapter! Honestly when I was planning the story as a whole I didn't think you guys would hate Connor so much at this point so this chapter was trying to humanize him a little bit! (and also give you a little Connor/Sydney nostalgia)

-Katherine