Liam's POV
The sun rose slowly, golden light creeping over the rooftops like it was too afraid to interrupt the fragile peace between two people who'd seen too much, lost too much, and still stood.
I hadn't slept. Ava had drifted off sometime around four, curled against my chest, her hand still laced with mine like she was anchoring me to the earth.
I watched her breathe. Counted the seconds. Memorized the curve of her cheek, the way her eyelashes flickered as if even in sleep, she was fighting battles.
When she stirred, blinking up at me with a small frown and hair tousled across her face, I smiled.
"Morning, baby," I whispered.
She groaned and pushed her face back into my chest. "Too early."
I chuckled, the sound muffled by her hair. "It's noon."
Ava's POV
I sat up with a dramatic sigh, rubbing my eyes like a kid. The weight of everything we'd been through hadn't left, but it felt...lighter somehow.
"We're still alive?" I asked.
"Barely," Liam teased, but then he grabbed my hand again. No jokes. Just us.
I stood by the tiny kitchen window, sipping coffee from a chipped mug. Wearing his shirt. Watching the street. Watching the quiet.
He leaned against the counter beside me.
"Stop staring like a simp," I muttered.
"Too late. You're stuck with a simp," he grinned.
God help me, I didn't even hate it.
Liam's POV
"What do we do now?" she asked.
I looked at her. The way the morning light caught her hair, how her shoulders still carried the echoes of every storm. And still she stood.
"We stop hiding," I said.
She blinked. "From your mom? From Langley?"
I nodded. "Yeah. From everyone. We go public. We tell the truth."
She looked at me like I'd gone mad. Maybe I had. I didn't care.
"They'll eat us alive."
"Then let them choke."
Ava's POV
It wasn't some genius masterplan. It was messy, and reckless, and totally us.
I uploaded the video I'd secretly taken of Veronica and Becca—not enough to ruin them, but enough to shake the lie.
Then Liam went live.
He spoke to the world with nothing but raw truth. I stood behind the camera, heart pounding.
"My name is Liam Cross," he said. "And everything you know about me is a lie."
He ripped it all open.
The engagement.
The manipulation.
The people behind it.
Me.
"I fell in love with a girl the world told me I shouldn't," he said. "And I'm done being quiet about it."
My breath caught.
The video went viral. Chaos followed.
Liam's POV
News vans outside the apartment. Reporters yelling my name. One of them tried to grab Ava's wrist. I hit him.
Didn't even feel bad.
Then came the letters. The warnings. The suits.
And then came the car.
Black. Silent. Parked across the street for three nights.
On the fourth, she said, "We should leave."
I said, "No. We end this."
Ava's POV
We met them face to face.
Langley. Liam's mom. The architects of our pain.
"Son," Langley said with fake warmth.
"Don't call me that," Liam snapped.
His mom was cold and perfect. I wanted to punch her.
They offered hush money. We offered leverage.
Liam dropped a flash drive on the table.
"If anything happens to us, this goes public."
Langley's mask cracked.
"You think you're clever?" his mom sneered.
"No," Liam said. "We're just done being scared."
Liam's POV
We walked out of that building alive.
Three weeks passed. Then six.
Langley started to fall. My mom resigned. Veronica vanished from the spotlight.
It wasn't victory. But it was enough.
Ava's POV
Three months later, we stood on a rooftop.
Graduation certificates in hand.
"Look at us," I said. "Trauma bonded and college educated."
He laughed. "Power couple arc complete."
He wrapped his arms around me.
"You still want to burn it all down?"
"Nah," he said. "I want peace."
I nodded. "Then let's build something better."
He kissed my forehead.
And for the first time in forever, the world didn't feel like an enemy.
Not with him.
Not anymore.
The End.