Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience. – Victoria Holt
Purple veins adorned Zach's neck. Right before his eyes was the love of his life in the arms of another man.
Never in their three years together did Zach imagine Aerith being held by a man other than him.
Regret filled him when the severity of his foolishness bore fruit at the expense of him losing the love of his life.
While it was true that he had a silly bet with his friends years ago, he accepted defeat and even paid his dues the moment he realized he was in love with her.
He could have told her about the bet and came clean about it but he was too scared to admit it.
He was too scared to lose her because he knew that once Aerith finds out about why he approached her, she would never give him a chance to come near her ever again.
And that was exactly what was going on right now.
His veins painfully pulsed against his skin. He knew he fucked up because, at that exact moment, the guy who was holding Aerith with his vice grip was Hunter Ma, the engineering department's prodigy.
He was the envy of many male students at Harvard for carving a name for himself without the backing of his own family and was already running his own start-up tech company even before graduation.
Setting aside those facts, the most important detail was who Hunter Ma secretly liked.
Zach knew Hunter's secret. He could see how the latter eyed Aerith in secret every time she was around, and the thing that kept Hunter from stealing Aerith was that Hunter never touched what was never his the way he never wanted people touching what belonged to him.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Zach cursed as he ran towards Aerith and Hunter's direction.
Today, terror coursed through Zach's veins as the inevitable future flashed before his eyes. It was not only his relationship with Aerith would end, but his friendship with Hunter too, because he knew those two too well.
If Aerith stays true to her words, if she said she was done with him, then there would be no more turning back and only moving forward for her.
Hunter, on the hand, would be the typical Hunter that Zach grew up with. He would never touch what wasn't his, but when an opportunity arose, he would sink his claws and never let go. Fuck family. Fuck friendship. What's Hunter's was his alone.
Zach knew in his head and in his heart that once those two held onto each other's arms, they would never let go, and that was exactly what happened when he was a step away from Aerith Ang and Hunter Ma.
Aerith and Hunter fell on the grassy lawn with her laying on top of him.
She buried her face on his chest, relieved that it was him whom she saw first coming towards them.
If there's one person whom Zach couldn't touch on the campus, it would be Hunter—his best friend. "Help me, please please, H."
"Okay. Get off me first, you're heavy." Hunter pushed Aerith off of him, rolling her to the side.
When he found his balance, he extended a hand to get her back on her feet and he patted the patches of soil and grass off of her—dusting her clean.
Hunter frowned. It was his first time seeing Aerith like a mess. And not just physically mess, but emotionally wrecked.
Aerith and Hunter's heads snapped to towards the direction of Zach's voice.
"Thanks, bro. We just had a little argument." Zach tried to grab Aerith's hand but she hid behind Hunter's back.
"Don't let go of me, H," Aerith pleaded. She bunched up his shirt in her hand, clutching on him for her dear life.
"I won't let go of you and you will do the same," Hunter replied, looked over his shoulder, and met Aerith's green eyes that pooled with confusion.
"What?" Aerith asked to clarify what he just uttered but was distracted when Zach spoke.
"Aerith, baby, listen to me. We need to speak with each other alone. Please," Zach pleaded, his hand stretched out for her taking.
"I don't think that's going to happen, Zach. You heard her. She's coming with me. I'll let you guys talk it out later."
"Yes!"
"No!"
Zach and Aerith exclaimed in unison.
"I don't want to talk to you ever again, Zach. You won your bet and now we're done. Let's go, H. I have a dare to finish."
Aerith grabbed Hunter's hand and yanked him towards the athletics complex's exit. Her eyes blazed with determination with each step she took away from the tree where Zach stood frozen.
"Just… take care of her for me, buddy." Zach didn't press on. He knew Aerith didn't have it in her to give away something so precious out of anger, and he trusted Hunter a little not to take advantage of Aerith too.
Pushing his eyeglass up his nose, Hunter rubbed his nape as he let Aerith drag him away.
The fallen leaves on the grassy lawn made crunchy sounds as Aerith and Hunter took rushed steps, stepping on it in the process. They walked towards Aerith's car that was parked along the street.
Behind them was Kevin who silently watched everything unfold before his eyes. If it was up to him, he would land a punch or two on Zach but he didn't want to get in trouble.
Kevin's brows knitted as he held the door open for Aerith and Hunter, slamming it shut in his anger when the two were finally inside.
The nerve of that guy to hurt the little one.
He contemplated whether he should tell the King of what happened.
Kevin shivered in his spot. He would surely not tell Queen Olivia because that lady was a textbook example of crazy.
Kevin knew if Queen Olivia finds out that her little one's heart was broken, she would surely not leave any stones unturned.
He could still remember how Queen Olivia got her revenge on Princess Natalia of Vuono, preventing the bratty princess from ever messing with her again.
Stealing a glance in the rearview mirror, Kevin watched as Aerith propped her elbow on the window console, breathing in the passing view of brick-wall buildings of Harvard.
It took them less than five minutes to reach Aerith's apartment. Hunter followed her like a shadow inside her room.
To Hunter's shock, Aerith locked the door as soon as they got inside and pushed Hunter with so much force he bounced on the bed as he landed.